Business

An international CSR conference will be held in Dhaka later this month focussing corporate social practices of German businesses. Organised by the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the conference will be held on October 28, chamber officials told

Declining shipments of apparels had earlier kept the demand for cotton dull, but revival of export to the US and EU markets has pushed up cotton procurement by Bangladeshi spinners sharply in the past few months, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture. The report shows that Bangladeshi spinners purchased 9,14,000 tonnes ... Read more

Bangladesh will be able to take part in the decision-making process of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the country has been elected a council member of the union, telecom regulator BTRC said yesterday. At an election on Tuesday, Bangladesh got 123 votes out of 161 and acquired the sixth position, beating giants like Australia, India ... Read more

Grameen Krishi (agriculture) Foundation (GKF) has tied up with a leading Japanese agro-company, Yukiguni Maitake Company (YMC) Ltd, to produce mung beans in Bangladesh. Both the sides entered into a joint venture agreement yesterday. Prof Muhammad Yunus, chairman of GKF, the agriculture arm of Grameen Bank, and

The Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) will announce next week a uniform interest rate for microfinance institutions, officials said. “MRA will give a cap on lending rates and some slabs,” said Lila Rashid, a director of MRA. She, however, did not say what the maximum rate would

North-West Power Generation Co Ltd and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) yesterday signed an agreement to set up a peaking power plant to produce 150 megawatts of electricity. According to the agreement, the Chinese company will install the plant at Soydabad in Sirajganj at a cost of Tk 962.5

The government on Monday decided to reopen five state-owned jute mills under the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation for rejuvenating the industry. The mills to be reopened include Quami Jute Mills in Sirajganj, Daulatpur and People’s jute mills in Khulna, MM Jute Mills in Chittagong and the second phase of the Rajshahi Jute Mills,

The wage board finalised yesterday the draft copy of new pay structure for garment workers without any changes. The new monthly salaries will come into effect from November 1. A minimum pay at entry level has been fixed at Tk 3,000 a month from the previous amount of Tk

Each country to set up two markets once a week The Cabinet on Monday approved the Memorandum of Understanding and Mode of Operation that Dhaka is expected to sign with New Delhi for setting up border markets. The commerce ministry placed the proposal for the operation of four markets initially on the frontier at the ... Read more

The central bank has given all banks directives to go by educational criteria in recruiting members of their staff. In a circular yesterday, Bangladesh Bank (BB) said it found some banks not complying with the criteria with regard to traditional and GPA (grade point average) evaluation systems. Asking the banks to strictly follow the education ... Read more

Despite a fall in migrant movement to the Middle East, revenues of Dubai-based carrier Emirates from Bangladesh were not affected as it banked more on travellers to long-haul destinations, Europe and the US, an official said yesterday. “We witnessed a huge pressure of labour traffic in 2008. But when travel by migrant workers

German fashion and lifestyle company s.Oliver yesterday opened its new office at Gulshan to strengthen outsourcing from Bangladesh. s.Oliver’s Asian Chief Operating Officer Bernd Hanemann said his company has been expanding business in Bangladesh because the country has a reputation of producing quality clothing

Bangladesh Bank will introduce a two-taka metal coin Tuesday with the pictures of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with national flower Shapla (water-lily). According to a competent source, initially the coin will be released from the head office of the central bank, and it will be available at other branches

Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd (DBBL) has launched its 1000th ATM at the factory premises of the GlaxcoSmithKline Bangladesh Ltd., Fouzderhat Industrial Area, Chittagong. Sayem Ahmed, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board inaugurated the 1000th ATM by drawing money from the ATM using DBBL Nexus Card on Sunday. The Chairman in his speech extended his ... Read more

Robi Axiata Ltd, a leading mobile phone operator of the country, has launched its career website at a hotel in city on Sunday. The career portal will facilitate potential applicants to apply for any new job offered by Robi. “The career portal will serve as a bridge between the employment seekers and the management to ... Read more

Availability of housing finance in Bangladesh is increasing but only for the high-income groups, World Bank said, suggesting policy reforms for ensuring access of the lower-income people to housing finance. Less than 10 per cent of the potential borrowers have access to housing finance, said World Bank in its report titled ‘Expanding Housing Finance to ... Read more

United Airways (BD) Ltd has strengthened its fleet by adding two aircraft last week to cement its foothold on domestic and international aviation market. The size of the airline’s fleet has now been raised to six from four. “The measures we’ve taken are aimed at expanding our network as well as ensuring

Facilities offered for businessmen, private firm staff The City Bank introduced American Express Corporate Cards in Bangladesh yesterday, targeting a growing number of business travellers. The Amex Corporate Card and Gold Corporate Card, the latest in American Express credit cards, which were launched in the country earlier, offer a range of payment and transaction

Yet to make cars, Bangladesh is set to enter the global automotive industry by hosting a Draxlmaier lab for designing interior facilities for top brands like BMW, Mercedes and Cadillac. World’s leading suppliers to auto industry, Dräxlmaier Group decided to set up it’s a state of the art design lab in Dhaka, the company’s first ... Read more

DSE crosses 7,400-point mark The government is planning to invest the employees’ provident fund in the local bond markets to increase the balance of the funds, officials of the finance ministry have said. They said the balance of the provident fund declined to around Tk 260 crore at the beginning of the current financial year ... Read more