HSBC Bangladesh yesterday awarded six exporters for their contribution to promoting Bangladeshi products on the international market.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith handed out the prestigious “HSBC Export Excellence Awards, 2011” to the winners at Radisson Hotel in the capital.
The winners were Zaber & Zubair Fabrics, Urmi Group, Qualitex Group, Pran Group, Janata Jute Mills and Bay Footwear.
The third HSBC export excellence awards honoured winners from five categories: readymade garments and textiles exporters (Group-A and Group-B), EPZ enterprises, traditional and emerging sectors, and small and medium enterprises.
Each exporter was given the “Exporter of the Year” trophy for promoting the “Made in Bangladesh” mark throughout the world.
Zaber & Zubair Fabrics, a company manufacturing various home textile products for export mostly to Europe and North America, got the award under RMG and Textile: Group A, for companies with an annual export turnover of over $50 million.
Md Nurul Islam, chairman of Noman Group, the owning company of Zaber & Zubair Fabrics, received the award on behalf of the company.
Urmi Group, a woven garments and fabrics manufacturer, got the award under RMG and Textile: Group-B, for companies with an annual export turnover of less than $50 million.
Director of the group Asif Ashraf received the award.
Qualitex Group, a fully export-oriented towel manufacturing company, won the award under the Exporters in the Export Processing Zones of Bangladesh category.
Qualitex General Manager Altaf Awan received the award on behalf of the company.
Pran Group and Janata Jute Mills were jointly awarded under the Exporters in the Traditional and Emerging Sectors category with an annual export turnover of more than $3 million.
Amjad Khan Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Pran-RFL Group, which produces and reprocesses agricultural products, received the award on behalf of the company while Janata Jute Mills Director Saiduzzaman Khan received the award.
The award under Small and Medium Enterprises category with an annual export turnover of less than $3 million went to Bay Footwear Ltd, a leather footwear manufacturer that exports vulcanised safety shoes and other shoes primarily to Europe & East Asia.
Ziaur Rahman, managing director of Bay Footwear, received the award.
Speaking as the chief guest, the finance minister said Bangladesh had huge prospect to grow further as the country developed the necessary skills to compete in the global market.
He said the Bangladesh economy had witnessed a positive growth due to the presence of three key elements: progressive cultivator, productive industrial workers and vibrant entrepreneurs.
Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, said, “Our exporters resiliently maintained positive export growth even at the peak of the global financial crisis.”
He said awards like this one acclaiming excellence in export performance were important confidence boosters that inspire exporters to aim for newer heights.
HSBC’s Group General Manager and Head of Commercial Banking Asia Pacific Noel P Quinn said the key activity of banking was to make good relationship with customers rather than focusing only on transactions.
He said Bangladesh was in the top 20 markets for HSBC.
Andrew Tilke, chief executive officer of HSBC Bangladesh, said, “I congratulate the winners for their achievements and also for the important role they play in Bangladesh’s development and prosperity.”
He said Bangladesh had three key advantages: geographical location between India and China, cost competitiveness, and strong entrepreneurial sprit fuelling economic growth of the county.
Mahbub-ur-Rahman, head of corporate banking of HSBC Bangladesh, said, “With its global presence, international connectivity and world-class trade solutions, HSBC is passionately committed to helping exporters unlock a world of potential.”
“We want to see Bangladesh from a trade deficit country to a trade surplus county within the next 10 years,” he said.
HSBC also paid special tribute to Samson H Chowdhury, the founder chairman of Square Group, who died on January 5 this year.
The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, KPMG and Bangladesh Brand Forum worked as HSBC’s strategic partners in the initiative.
Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star; Matiur Rahman, editor and publisher of Prothom Alo; and Adeeb H Khan, senior partner of KPMG were also present.
-With The Daily Star input
