Bangladesh: ADB focuses on regional trade, cooperation: country director

Dhaka, June 27 (The Daily Star): The Asian Development Bank aims to finance infrastructure projects in Bangladesh that help boost regional cooperation, Kazuhiko Higuchi, the ADB's newly appointed country director, said yesterday.

Regional cooperation can bring annual benefits of $12-$15 billion among the member countries, he said at the monthly luncheon meeting of American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka yesterday.

The Manila-based lender focuses on the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Programme to finance key infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, such as roads, railways, information communication technology, tourism and energy.

ADB has so far financed nine projects worth $816.77 million in Bangladesh under the SASEC programme since 2001, Higuchi added.

The SASEC programme, set up in 2001, brings together Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in a project-based partnership to promote regional prosperity.

The programme seeks to strengthen cross-border connectivity by creating multi-modal transport networks to boost intraregional trade, and open up trade opportunities in Asia.

Higuchi stressed dialogue among the member countries to foster regional cooperation. “Continuing dialogue is a must to promote regional integration.”

Aftab ul Islam, president of AmCham, said regional cooperation does not get a momentum in South Asia mainly due to mistrust among neighbouring countries.

He stressed the need for enhancing people-to-people contact in the region with more exchanges between businesspersons and civil society members.

Islam urged ADB to finance mega-hydro power projects in Nepal to address electricity shortage in the region, as the country's potential stands at more than 83,000 megawatts.

Mohammad Zahid Hossain, principal economist of ADB's Dhaka office, also spoke.

Bangladesh: Commodity imports see a big jump

Dhaka, June 27 (The Daily Star):

Imports of five commodities that see high demand during the month of Ramadan rose between 23 percent and 82 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of the fiscal year.

In the same period, imports of various types of pulse, including gram, increased by 23 percent, according to the central bank statistics. Annual demand for gram is 8 lakh tonnes, 70,000 tonnes of which is consumed during Ramadan, data from the commerce ministry shows.

Bangladesh has produced 10,000 tonnes of gram and imported 1.18 lakh tones this year, Commerce Secretary Mahbub Hossain told reporters yesterday. Letters of credit have been opened for importing another 60,000 tonnes of gram.

Prices of the popular iftar items will not increase during Ramadan though its demand has gone up, Hossain said.

Gram prices fell 15 percent to Tk 55-60 a kg yesterday from a year ago, according to a report of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

The central bank data shows that imports of dates shot up 62 percent in the first 10 months of the fiscal year, while LCs opened for imports rose 82 percent.

Onion imports went up 76 percent in the same period and onion worth $153 million was brought in, according to the LC settlement statistics.

Besides, LCs opened for importing onion increased by 78 percent and LCs have been opened for $165 million for importing the spice used for preparing iftar items.

Annual demand for onion is 22 lakh tones. In the last season, the country produced 13.58 lakh tonnes of onion. Onion is imported mainly from India through land ports.

On average, 200 tonnes of onion are imported a day, the ministry officials said.

Local onions were selling at 3.85 percent lower than in the previous year, while the prices of the imported variety marked a rise of 4.84 percent yesterday, according to the TCB report.

In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, sugar import was 1.77 percent higher from the corresponding period last year, but the LC opening  increased by around 36 percent and LCs were opened for around $665 million.

LC opening for import of sugar soared on the eve of Ramadan, a commerce ministry official said.

Annual demand for sugar is 14.5 lakh tonnes. Sugar prices fell 4 percent to Tk 46-48 a kg yesterday from the previous year.

LCs opened for refined edible oil went up about 30 percent in the first 10 months of 2013-14 from the same period last year, and LCs worth $455 million were opened for importing different varieties of edible oil, according to the central bank.

However, LCs opened for crude edible oil amounted to $700 million though it was about 22 percent lower than in the same period last fiscal year.

Hossain said prices of essentials would not increase in Ramadan.

The items people consume in large quantities are adequate in supply, he said. “If the businessmen artificially increase the prices, the government will intervene in the market through the TCB,” he said.

Necessary steps have been taken so that commodity prices do not shoot up during Ramadan, he said.

An intelligence agency has already identified the spots where extortion takes place, he said. “The list has been sent to the home ministry for taking necessary action.”

Bangladesh: New company to get telecom transmission licence

Dhaka, June 27 (The Daily Star):

The telecom ministry plans to award the third transmission licence to Bahon Ltd among four companies that sought permissions.

Bahon will join two other national telecommunication transmission network (NTTN) companies Fiber@Home and Summit Communications.

Abubakar Siddique, telecom secretary, said Bahon is the only eligible company to get the transmission licence among the four applicants.

NTTN companies rent out their optical fibre cable capacity to the voice, internet or data service providers. The ministry is preparing the paperwork for the new licensee.

In February, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) sent the applications of four applicants -- Bangla Phone, Mango Teleservices, B-Connect and Bahon -- to the ministry to consider for NTTN licences.

The telecom ministry has been the licence approving authority for any telecom licence since 2010, when the Telecom Regulatory Act was amended.

Before that, the regulator used to issue licences.

 “Our target is to lay the optical fibre cable network in 64 districts within the next three to five years so that the mobile, WiMax or internet service providers can get connectivity,” said Syed Samiul Huq, managing director of Bahon. 

The other shareholders of Bahon are Syed Ruhul Huq, chairman, Salma Islam, a director, and Farzana Lucky Ali, a director, according to its application.

Bangladesh: Remittance eludes productive sectors

Dhaka, June 27 (The Daily Star): Only 25 percent of the remittance-receiving households invest in productive sectors after paying for livelihood necessities, while others do not, the statistical agency said in a survey yesterday.

Remittance receivers spend 39 percent of funds on food and non-food items, according to the survey by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

BBS surveyed 9,961 households between January 2013 and June 2014.

The main purpose of the survey is to identify the different uses of inward remittance, said Dilder Hossain, programme director of the survey, Use of Remittance 2013.

Almost 8.6 million Bangladeshis are currently working abroad.

Nearly two million additional young people join the labour force every year and the outflow of workers will continue in the future due to the country's lack of ability to create jobs at home, Hossain said.

People from Rangpur invest the highest—36.63 percent of remittance, while those of Sylhet invest only 16.33 percent. In the last year, homebuilding takes the largest share of remittance—72.05 percent, followed by flat purchase standing at 15.89 percent, Hossain added.

Barisal as a division spends 81.84 percent of remittance on home construction, followed by Khulna at 80.47 percent, Rangpur at 79.96 percent and Rajshahi at 78.92 percent.

Dhaka spends the lowest in home construction, while topping the list of flat buyers with 68.30 percent. 

Nationally, 56.96 percent of households receiving remittance save from the income. Banks are the biggest custodians of savings from remittance income, Hossain said.

About 84.01 percent of total savers kept their savings in banks in different forms: savings accounts, savings bonds and timed deposits. 

Banks are the main saving destinations in all divisions, he added.

Among the major expenditures from remittance: 77.99 percent is spent on land purchase, especially on the divisional level.

Remittance receiving households of Barisal, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur spend the majority of their income to purchase land.

Remittance receivers in Chittagong scored lowest with 56.06 percent of funds spent on land purchases, followed by 62.70 percent in Sylhet, the survey showed. Most migrant workers lack higher education, with very few professionals, like doctors and engineers, in the mix, Hossain said. 

The majority, 62 percent, are below secondary school certificate level, while only 2.41 percent have professional education, the survey revealed.

Banking is the most popular and widely used system for sending remittance, Hossain said. 

Two-thirds of remitters use proper banking channels to send money home, and 6.87 percent use Western Union. 'Hundi', an illegal system of sending money, is used by 10.04 percent of remitters, data showed. Around 96 percent of remittance is transferred as cash.  

The BBS survey aimed to estimate the share of investment, savings, and consumption as part of total inward remittances and to identify the socio-economic conditions of the remittance receiving households and to provide supplementary information for national income accounting.

Bangladesh: GP re-launches service centre in Ctg

Dhaka, June 27 (The Daily Star): Bangladesh cricket team all-rounder Nasir Hossain yesterday re-launched Grameenphone Centre at GEC in Chittagong city.

The outlet is one of the most preferred GP service experience zones for local customers.

Shah Mohammad Ibrahim Azad, GP's Chittagong regional head, and Mohammad Ziaul Huda, head of GEC centre, also attended the event in Nasirabad.

Customers met Nasir during the daylong event and 10 lucky customers had dinner with Nasir at Peninsula Hotel in the city. Nasir is a brand ambassador of Grameenphone.