Month: January 2022

The Islami Bank Training and Research Academy (IBTRA) organised the workshop “The Challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution in Banking Sector” Saturday in the capital.

Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and CEO of the bank, inaugurated the programme as chief guest. SM Rabiul Hassan, principal of the IBTRA, presided over it.

The workshop was addressed by Mohammed Ishaque Miah, general manager, and SM Tofayel Ahmad, joint director and system analyst, of the Bangladesh Bank.

Additional Managing Director Md Omar Faruk Khan; deputy managing directors Md Mostafizur Rahman Siddiquee, Md Altaf Hossain and Md Nayer Azam, Taher Ahmed Chowdhury, and Chief Risk Officer Mohammad Ali attended the workshop on a virtual platform along with around 500 executives and officials of the bank.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Cleaner and greener production cannot come at free of cost, Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said Sunday.

“There is a sharp disconnect between sustainability and pricing mechanisms. Supplying countries like Bangladesh have their challenges and constraints. So we need more strategic collaboration in this regard,” he added.

Faruque was addressing the programme “Securing Green Transition of the Textile and Readymade Garments Sector in Bangladesh” organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in the city.

“Environment sits at the top of our agenda at the BGMEA and the sector at large. Bangladesh has the highest number of LEED Green factories in the world, with 157 certified by the USGBC – 47 platinum rated, 96 gold rated,” the BGMEA president said.

“These green factories are equipped with all the eco-friendly features and emit around 40 percent less carbon than a conventional factory. However, we need technical assistance with regard to access to technologies, and building capacity of our human resources to embrace the green technologies and processes.”

Saber Hossain Chowdhury, member of parliament and chairman of the Standing Committee on Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, attended the programme as chief guest.

Christine Johansson, deputy head of mission and head of development co-operation at the Embassy of Sweden, also spoke while the programme was moderated by CPD Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun.

Mohammad Hatem, executive president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Shams Mahmud, former president of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and managing director of Shasha Denims, Md Fazlul Hoque, managing director of Plummy Fashions and former president of the Bangladesh Employers’ Federation, also spoke.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

The Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangladesh and the Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries.

South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun, during a recent meeting with Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman handed over the MoU cross-signed by his Korean counterpart, Minister Lim Heysook.

Upon agreement on the text, the MoU signed by Minister Yeafesh was sent to Korea in November last year through a diplomatic channel, said the South Korean Embassy in Dhaka on Sunday.

Due to the pandemic situation, both sides could not hold a face-to-face signing ceremony, it said.

The MoU was concluded to strengthen the implementation of the agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the two governments signed in May 1995.

The MoU stipulates various areas and forms of cooperation including the establishment of a joint committee.

On the occasion of the signing, Ambassador Lee said the MoU has laid an important institutional foundation to further promote cooperation in the area of science and technology between the two countries, and expressed his commitment and willingness to this end.

During the meeting a variety of issues on scientific and technological cooperation were discussed.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Speaker in a dialogue and launching a programme of ‘securing green transition of the textile and readymade garments sector in Bangladesh’ have emphasized policy support and easy access to green funding opportunity.

The event was organized on Sunday in the city by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in collaboration with Sweden Sverige, an initiative of Sweden Embassy in Dhaka.

They said the entrepreneurs have built 157 green factories in Bangladesh so far, which is the highest in a single country in the world.

“The textile and readymade garments contribute 84.4 per cent of the export income of Bangladesh and employ around 4.5 million people, mostly women. Now the country achieves top position in the world by setting up the highest number of green factories,” they highlighted.

Saber Hossain Chowdhury, MP, chairman of Standing Committee on Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, present as the chief guest in the programme.

Faruque Hassan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Mohammad Hatem, executive president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BKMEA), Md. Fazlul Hoque, managing director of Plummy Fashions Limited and former president, BEF and BKMEA, Nazma Akter, founder and executive director of Awaj Foundation, Mohammed Zahidullah, chief sustainability officer, DBL Group spoke at the event.

Christine Johansson, deputy head of mission and head of development co-operation, Embassy of Sweden, also spoke in the function while the programme was moderated by Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director of CPD.

Saber Hossain urged specific proposals from the BGMEA and BKMEA, to include those in the next fiscal budget to support sustainable green transition of factories.

He also asked labour leaders and owners to work with cooperation for developing the sector which will bring benefits to workers and owners as well.

Faruque Hassan said Bangladesh achieved a significant position in the transition of green factories in the world by the initiative of entrepreneurs with huge investment, so the buyers should consider paying more as they honoured the green production.

He emphasized state initiative including policy support with easy conditions for disbarment of green funds for secured and sustainable transition of green factories.

Replying to a query he said, “We employed all the workers who had lost their jobs during the pandemic, if anyone left asked them to contract with the BGMEA, we would arrange a job form them.”

He urged incentive and tax reduction for green factories as acknowledgement of investment in these factories.

Bangladesh has 157 factories in the textile and readymade garment sector which achieved Green Factory Certificate. Of these, 47 received Platinum and 94 Gold Certificates.

The objective of the programme is to contribute towards enhancement of environmentally sustainable and climate-neutral growth in Bangladesh with productive employment opportunities for women and youth.

As part of this programme, CPD will undertake research, expert consultation, dialogue, and outreach activities. The research will examine the state of ongoing initiatives in the textiles and RMG sector of Bangladesh and make policy recommendations.

In a keynote presentation, Fahmida Khatun stated that after Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category in 2026, the country will have to comply with stringent compliance requirements in many areas including the environment not only to access global markets but also to remain competitive.

The government, the textile and RMG sector need to have a clear strategy for accomplishing environmental and sustainability commitments in areas such as clean energy, waste management, robust climate actions, the emerging EU Green Deal, and Circular Economy frameworks, she said.

The programme will explore barriers to green transformation, review existing fiscal measures, identify best practices suitable for green transformation, and build up evidence on how green transition in this industry will generate new opportunities to benefit firms workers, economy and society CPD will undertake knowledge gap analysis, data generation and research consultation, dialogue, and dissemination activities as part of this programme.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Speakers at a consultation on the formulation of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) on Sunday stressed the conservation of the hill forests in Bandarban to save the region from climate disaster.

The consultation was jointly organised by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Economic Relations Division (ERD) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

The speakers expressed concerns over the native species destroying plantation and horticulture practices. Although horticulture is bringing economic benefit to the farmers, rampant use of pesticides has emerged as a major threat to biodiversity, they said.

Considering different vulnerability factors including extreme level water scarcity, deforestation, worsening biodiversity, flash flood Bandarban district was selected to conduct the consultation.

Bandarban has been ranked second among the climate-vulnerable 10 hotspots in Bangladesh.

The country on the other hand is ranked seventh among the climate-vulnerable countries globally (South Asian hotspots, World Bank, 2018).

Additional Secretary of the MoEFCC and National Project Director of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Formulation Project Md Mizanul Haque Chowdhury informed the participants about Bangladesh’s priorities outlined in SDG, Delta Plan 2100, Perspective plan, five-year plan and its ambition to graduate from a Least developed country to a middle-income country.

“We are committed to implementing the Glasgow Climate Pact signed during the COP26. We will work in close coordination with all the public and private entities, development partners and the people to keep the temperature well below 1.5 degrees Celsius and protect the biodiversity”

He explained that the objective of the consultation was to understand the local vulnerability issues and get feedback from the participants on these for incorporation in the NAP.

Mizanul Haque was present as the chief guest while Amal Krishna Mandal, Join Secretary, Wing Chief, Economic Relations Division (ERD) was present as the special guest.

Bandarban Deputy Commissioner Yasmin Parvin Tibriji, chaired the consultation.

More than 80 representatives from district administration, local government representatives, civil society representatives, sectoral experts, professionals, journalists and academia attended the event and provided their valuable comments and feedback to enrich the plan with locally specific climate adversities and adaptation needs.

Participants from different parts of the Rangamati and Khagrachari districts joined over zoom.

While delivering the keynote presentation, Professor Dr Ainun Nishat, Team Leader of the NAP Formulation Consortium said, “We will incorporate the locally-led adaptation practices in the NAP”.

He drew examples from the changing patterns of the climate and added that Chattogram Hill Tracts is heavy rainfall region and it is a major contributing factor to flash floods causing havoc.

“We have to adopt measures on how to tackle such challenges”, he said.

For successful implementation of the NAP, he underlined incorporation of the NAP in the local, national and sub-national development planning and transformative capacity building.

Khan Jamal Lusai, botanist and former academic emphasised on maintaining the navigability of the rivers and regular flow of water in the hill Charas would transform the life and livelihood of the hill people.

“As there is no cultivable plain land, the hill people have no other choice but to do Jhum cultivation and produce cotton, vegetables and fruits”.

He also said that Jhum cultivation is not as productive as it was in the past.

“We need to look beyond Jhum cultivation and introduce economic activities that support the livelihood of the hill people,” he said.

Ripon Chakma, executive director of Trinomul Unnayan Sangstha said that Use of herbicide and pesticide in mango cultivation is destroying the hill ecosystem. Large scale horticulture destroying the native species is likely to harm the ecosystem and biodiversity in the entire hill tracts regions.

Rafiqul Islam, deputy director, Department of Agricultural Extension said, “We can consider conducting a study on season-specific availability of water in different regions. Based on the findings, we can erect permanent dam and reservoirs on an experimental basis and harvest rainwater”.

Buddhojoti Chakma, Correspondent of Prothom Alo said that destroying the biodiversity will only result in destroying the natural sources of water.

Monirul Islam Monu of Kalerkantho said that Introduction of exotic horticulture without any study can be deadly for the biodiversity of the hill region.

“Furthermore, we must stop burning our forests in the illegal brick fields and stone excavation.”

A K M Azad Rahman, Programme Officer-Climate Change, UNDP said, “Bandarban and the entire CHT needs special adaptation measures” He advocated for Village Common Forest (VCF), a traditional practice to conserve community land for ecosystem services among other adaptation measures.

Amal Krishna Mandal said, “We are confident that we will have a country driven NAP that will document locally led adaptation efforts”.

Yasmin Parvin thanked the participants and said that The NAP should put utmost priority on solving the water crisis and land slide in the Bandarban as well as the entire CHT region.

“We will continue such dialogues with all the relevant public agencies and stakeholders to address our local problem in a coordinated way.”

The country on the other hand is ranked seventh among the climate-vulnerable countries globally (South Asian hotspots, World Bank, 2018).

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzak MP said that safe food will be ensured for all in the next 3-4 years.

“It will be possible to ensure safe food for all in the next 3-4 years and the incumbent government is working tirelessly to ensure this,”.

The minister said this while addressing as the chief guest at the Shadow Parliament on “appropriate steps of the government to ensure safe food” at FDC in Dhaka on Saturday.

For ensuring safe food, the government has enacted ‘Safe Food Act’ and the Safe Food Authority has been formed, he added.

Mentioning that safe food should also be ensured in case of export, the minister further said that efforts are being made to produce safe crops. Production activities have already started in accordance with good agricultural practices.

The Minister further said that in order to ensure safe and nutritious food, the income of the common man must also be increased. If income and standard of life cannot cannot be improved, the incidence of adulterated and unsafe food will increase.

Therefore, the government is taking and implementing effective initiatives for mechanization, commercialization and processing of agriculture in order to increase the income of the people and improve the living standards of the large rural agricultural population.

The Minister said fertilizer subsidy will cost Tk 28,000 crore in the current fiscal year. So far, a subsidy of Tk 19,000 crore has been given, and another Tk 9,000 crore will be required by next June.

This huge amount of subsidy will be required due to the price hike of fertilizer in the international market and increase in transportation cost, he added.

Though the government is worried about the source of such a huge subsidy, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said she will not raise the price of fertilizer at the moment for the welfare of farmers. Although the pace of other development activities has slowed down, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will continue to subsidize fertilizer, the minister concluded.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Sylhet WASA will be established soon to solve the problem of water and sewerage in Sylhet metropolis, said Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam.

The minister said, “There is a need to build environmentally friendly, sustainable and people-oriented drinking water supply and sanitary drainage systems for the people of the metropolis.”

Sylhet is one of the most important cities in the country. Due to population and urbanisation, the dwellers need to be provided with much needed civic amenities, said the minister in a meeting on setting up of ‘Water Supply and Sewerage Authority’ (Sylhet WASA) in Sylhet City Corporation area as per ‘Water Supply and Sewerage Authority 1996’ organized virtually on Sunday.

Tajul Islam informed that necessary instructions have been given to the Ministries, Departments, Offices and Agencies concerned to take immediate action for issuing Gazette Notification, Organogram, Formulation of Employment Rules and other activities as initial steps for formation of Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Sylhet WASA) in Sylhet metropolis.

The Minister also expressed hope that it will be possible to establish Sylhet WASA very soon.

Stating his ministry is working tirelessly to protect the overall environment by adopting and implementing realistic sustainable projects for the development of drinking water supply management in urban and rural areas, he said the government has placed more emphasis on surface water use by reducing dependence on groundwater resources.

To this end, various steps have been taken to increase the use of river water in urban as well as rural areas, digging ponds, and using surface water through rainwater harvesting.

In this regard, he further said, in accordance with SDG, it has been assured to use 70% surface water by 2030. And Bangladesh will achieve the target before this time.

The LGRD minister said there are water problems in many countries of the world. “Being a riverine country, we have fewer problems with water than many other countries. Even after this capacity, we are working to ensure drinking water and a healthy sewerage system in remote areas of the country.”

Mentioning that the country is moving forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said that unprecedented success has been achieved in the development of all sectors due to collective work not only in water but also in other sectors.

Meanwhile, taking part in the meeting, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said the population of Sylhet has increased many times over. So it became urgent to establish a WASA there.

He thanked the LGRD Minister for taking the initiative to establish Sylhet WASA from this realization and assured all possible assistance for its speedy implementation.

The meeting was attended by Senior Secretary of LGRD ministry Helal Uddin Ahmed, Mayor of Sylhet City Corporation Ariful Haque Choudhury and senior officials of the ministry concerned.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

Lack of skilled manpower is hindering the private sector’s efforts to reach various development targets set by the government, Md. Jashim Uddin, president of the country’s apex chamber said on Sunday.

The FBCCI president was speaking at its Standing Committee meeting on National Economic Policy and Planning, 8th Five Year Plan, SDG and Vision 2041, held at FBCCI Icon Hall.

He said the garment factories are running with a 15 to 20 per cent skill manpower shortage.

Therefore, entrepreneurs have to depend on foreigners for various positions of management. Although there is no shortage of highly educated youth in the country, there is a lack of necessary skills required in the industry, he said.

The government runs many technical education institutes, but they fail to provide the desired quality manpower. The government must focus on creating skilled manpower to achieve various economic and development goals, he said.

He emphasized that it is imperative to harmonize the formal education curriculum with the industry’s needs.

He called upon the National Skills Development Authority to be more dynamic.

Jasim also called for the recruitment of skilled manpower in government offices to meet the challenges in the post-LDC period.

He said that in future, free trade agreements should be signed and new strategies should be adopted to protect local industries after becoming a developing country. Therefore, the government agencies will need more dynamic and skilled manpower to deal with the more complex global trade issues.

The FBCCI Chief also called upon the government agencies to consult with the private sector before formulating policies. Formulating policies without consulting with private stakeholders often makes them difficult to implement as they do not reflect the field level realities.

Earlier in the discussion, various challenges of industrialization in Bangladesh came up.

The speakers said that the industrialization of the country is mainly stuck in Dhaka and Chattogram. Establishing economic zones across the country alone cannot decentralize the industry unless township is built.

The members of the standing committee spoke on economic development as well as reduction of inequality, improvement of education, Industry-Academia linkage, and formulation of national strategy on the 4IR, women empowerment, and increase in use of renewable energy.

At the meeting, the Director in Charge of the committee Dr. Nadia Binte Amin said the SME sector contributes up to 80 per cent to the economies of developed countries. In Bangladesh this is only 60 per cent. Government policy cooperation needs to be further enhanced to harness the potential of the SME sector.

The meeting was presided over by the Chairman of the committee AKM Shamsuddoha. Among others, also present were FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Directors Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal, Md. Naser, Syed Almas Kabir, Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, Advisor Manzur Ahmed, Standing Committee Member Shamim Ahmed, Tasfia Jasim, ASM Mainuddin, Syed Habib Ali, Munir Ahmed, Ayesha Siddique, Shamima Shirin and Dr. Md. Nazmul Islam.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

The month-long 26th Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) ends on Monday.

The ministry of commerce will hold the closing ceremony at the Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center, the permanent venue of the fair at Purbachal of the capital. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi will be the chief guest in the closing ceremony.

The trade fair did not take place last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The fair was held at a permanent venue in Purbachal for the first time this year.

However, due to the new venue and Covid-19, the gathering of consumers was not as much as expected.

The month-long 26th Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) ends on Monday.

The ministry of commerce will hold the closing ceremony at the Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center, the permanent venue of the fair at Purbachal of the capital. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi will be the chief guest in the closing ceremony.

The trade fair did not take place last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The fair was held at a permanent venue in Purbachal for the first time this year.

However, due to the new venue and Covid-19, the gathering of consumers was not as much as expected.

Source: United News of Bangladesh

The price of rice is increasing being control despite a record production and the highest stock in silos, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said on Sunday.

Since rice is the staple food the country will have to further boost the grain production at any cost, the minister said at a meeting to review the progress of his ministry’s Annual Development Programme at Bangladesh Secretariat.

“We are unable to control the price hike,” he told the meeting.

He urged scientists, agriculture extension officials and all others concerned to work sincerely for increasing food production.

He asked officials not to waste time in lobbying to become projects directors in the hope of earning extra money through corruption and irregularities.

“The project directors are recruited after considering professional skill, eligibility and leadership quality,” he said.

“Please do not go for lobbying to become a project director for taking illegal facilities through irregularities and corruption,” he said.

He said those who are in charge projects have to maintain transparency in spending funds.

Razzaque also asked the officers concerned of the ministry to monitor the project work strictly.

According to the ministry, it has 71 projects in FY2021-2022 with a total allocation of Tk 2,928 crores. So far, 32 percent work has been implemented till December 2021, higher than the national ADP implementation of 24 per cent.

Source: United News of Bangladesh