Asif Ibrahim, second from right, outgoing president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI); speaks at the conclusion of a conference on "Positioning Bangladesh: branding for business" at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka yesterday. AKM Fahim Mashroor, president of BASIS; MA Sabur Khan, newly elected president of DCCI; and Tanjil Chowdhury, vice-chairman of Prime Bank; were also present.

Bangladesh should go for an integrated branding policy, instead of taking piecemeal steps, as the country is at the crossroads towards higher growth trajectory.

The call came at the conclusion of a two-day international conference on Positioning Bangladesh: Branding for Business at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka yesterday.

“Brand is not just a logo. There must be concerted efforts from public and private sectors to articulate a proper branding strategy,” according to the recommendations of the conference.

Bangladesh should mitigate the consequences and try to adapt to the new scenario arising out of climate change, to brand itself to the world.

More than 30 such recommendations came up from seven working sessions of the conference, organised by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce of Industry, in association with BUILD, Katalyst and BASIS.

Business Initiatives Leading Development (BUILD) works as the government's key strategic partner in private sector development, while Katalyst is a market development project. Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) is the national trade body for software and IT-enabled services.

Asif Ibrahim, the outgoing president of the Dhaka Chamber, said Bangladesh is now at a crossroads and the outcomes of the event will help the country change its perception and reposition itself in the world.

Ferdous Ara Begum, chief executive officer of BUILD, Tanjil Chowdhury, vice-chairman of Prime Bank, Sabur A Khan, the newly elected president of the DCCI, and Farida Husain, communications director of Katalyst, also spoke.

“The country should fully exploit the young, dynamic, hard-working and entrepreneurial labour force, which is seen as the biggest resource to take the economy to the desired destination,” according to a recommendation of the event.

Investment in branding the nation must be long-term and the effect must be lasting throughout numerous channels.

"The brand must be built on this premise engaging the government, businesses and individuals to gain further credibility,” according to the conference outcomes.

The development of a fully integrated branding strategy can also help position Bangladesh as a destination for ICT investment and outsourcing, and attract foreign direct investment.

Bangladesh should review the wages annually, take proper safety measures, generate efficient mid-level management, become more dependent on domestic management experts and improve infrastructure to attract more investment.

“There is a dire need to implement the multimodal transport policy to improve the transport facilities and reduce the cost of business.”

As per the suggestions, cost of energy should be kept lower to sustain competitiveness.

The ICT sector can be considered a thrust sector due to its rapid expansion and growing contribution to the economy.

“Bangladesh should focus on IT and IT-enabled services. Policies should be auspicious to encourage this competitive sector,” according to the recommendations. Tariff policies should gradually be liberalised to bring the private sector-led economic growth into a reality.

“There should be exclusive interaction and coordination between Bangladesh Tariff Commission and the National Board of Revenue prior to finalising the annual national budget.”

Policymakers should give special attention to counter-productive policies. The mismatch between macro and micro policies exists all over the world. However, the mismatch should be within an acceptable limit, the recommendations said.

“In order to get the desired benefits of macro and micro policies, coherent and consistent policies should be devised and enacted in an orderly fashion.”

Crop insurance should be introduced to save farmers in grey days, according to the recommendations of the conference.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/7th-Dec-12

International Monetary Fund yesterday said it may release the second instalment -- $141 million -- of its $1 billion loans by January.

But before that, the board and management of the lender will have to agree with the understandings between the government and an IMF team on the conditions tagged with the loan promise.

The IMF mission wrapped up its 10-day visit to Dhaka yesterday.

The chief of the team, David Cowen, in a statement said: “Performance so far has been generally sound. Quantitative targets are broadly on track, with all performance criteria met at end-June 2012.”

After a meeting at the Finance Division, Cowen at a press conference said, “Progress has also been made on structural measures, notwithstanding additional time needed to build policy consensus and several key reforms.”

He also said the government will pursue legal and prudential reforms to strengthening financial sector governance and oversight, and reinforce Bangladesh Bank's supervisory mandate and capacity.

Cowen said amendments to the Banking Companies Act aim to put oversight of all banks on a level-playing field.

The amendments will also strengthen internal governance and risk controls, in support of a stable, well-regulated banking system.

The IMF mission chief said enhanced oversight of the state-owned commercial banks will also be pursued to improve their financial performance and increase their operational independence.

On pursuing sound fiscal and debt management, the government has agreed to contain its budget deficit to 4.5 percent of gross domestic product in fiscal 2013, including the settlement of fertiliser subsidy overrun from fiscal 2012.

The IMF official said, further efforts will be made to contain subsidy costs, anchored by a fuel price adjustment formula.

To mitigate the impact of adjustments on the most vulnerable, agreed fiscal target will protect social spending by the government, Cowen added.

About the growth prospects, he said, “We expect the real GDP to grow by about 6 percent in FY13, reflecting external uncertainties and the broader global slowdown."

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/7th-Dec-12

A conference of the Executives of Head Office & Managers of Dhaka-based branches of NCC Bank was held recently at its Head Office. Mohammed Nurul Amin, Managing Director of the Bank attended the conference as chief guest.

Among others, Additional Managing Director Golam Hafiz Ahmed, Consultant A K Md Siddique, Deputy Managing Directors Mohabbat Khan, T M Faruque Chowdhury & Akhtar Hamid Khan, senior executives & managers of different branches attended the function.

News: The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/6th-Dec-12

The talks between the World Bank's external panel and the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) ended inconclusively Wednesday over a disagreement about dropping of the name of former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain from the list of graft suspects to be sued.

Sources in the commission said the meetings were inconclusive as the WB panel wanted to include the name of former communications minister in the list of persons to be sued on the charge of graft conspiracy in the process of appointing a consultant for the Padma bridge project.

But the stance of the anti graft body remained the same, prompting the WB panel to quit the meeting in the evening for some internal consultations among themselves, the sources said.

While leaving the meeting, Ellen Goldstein, WB country director for Bangladesh, said, "We continue to have some unresolved issues and as a result we're going for some internal consultations now."

She added, "It's possible that we'll be coming back today for further discussion."

She told this to reporters before getting into her car along with the panel members.

The panel without the WB country director later came to the ACC headquarters at about 6:35pm and again came out of the commission within 20 minutes and informed that they would leave Dhaka at night.

Talking to reporters, the WB panel leader Luis Moreno Ocampo said, "I, on behalf of the panel appreciate the openness and frank discussion with the ACC and now we're leaving for the airport."

"I got nothing," he replied when asked about the development in the much-awaited discussion.

The three-member WB team led by the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) held discussions for three days - Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday --- during its second visit here to finalise the names of graft suspects in the enquiry report on the corruption conspiracy in the project.

News: The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/6th-Dec-12

SME credit portfolio of BRAC Bank has crossed Tk 5,000 crore mark for the first time. BRAC Bank is witnessing remarkable growth in SME portfolio from beginning of the year with increase by Tk 712 crore as till Tuesday, says a press release.   The growth is attributed to consistent credit demand for new small business start-ups and expansion at grassroots level as more and more entrepreneurs are being able to have access to SME loan thanks to SME-focused initiatives of Bangladesh Bank, SME Foundation and trade bodies.

Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and chief executive officer of BRAC Bank, said, “As a SME-focused bank, we have witnessed phenomenal growth in SME credit that boosts national economy.”

Bangladesh Bank in assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has recently started a Tk 415 crore refinancing scheme to provide easy loan to SME entrepreneurs.

“In its 11 years of operations, BRAC Bank has disbursed Tk. 22,000 crore loan to 4 lakh SME entrepreneurs across the country and 92per cent of these loans are collateral free. The finance has created direct employment to 13 lakh people. BRAC Bank also extended support to 8,000 women entrepreneurs with Tk. 360 crore loan till date. With these efforts, BRAC Bank has now become synonymous with SME Financing,” said Rahman.

News: The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/6th-Dec-12