From left, Md Mahbub-ur-Rahman, head of corporate banking of HSBC Bangladesh; Andrew Tilke, chief executive officer; and Talukdar Noman Anwar, country head of communications, attend a media briefing to launch the fifth HSBC Export Excellence Awards, at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka yesterday.

HSBC Bangladesh yesterday announced the launch of its Export Excellence Awards for the fifth year to honour five exporters for their outstanding performance.
The bank has designed the awards to promote Bangladeshi exporters and recognise their contribution to sustainable economic growth of the country through exports.
The awards will be given in five categories -- readymade garments and textiles exporters (Group A and Group B), EPZ enterprises, traditional and emerging sectors, and SMEs.
The deadline for submissions is May 21 and HSBC is expected to announce the winners in June.
“We are the only international bank with a presence in all of the eight export processing zones in Bangladesh, and we couple this together with our global network and our award winning cash management business to ensure that we are providing first-class support to Bangladeshi exporters,” said Andrew Tilke, chief executive officer of HSBC Bangladesh.
“This programme has continued since 2010 and this is my third year sitting at this podium at this programme,” he said at a press conference at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka.
With the last four installments, HSBC Export Excellence Awards has recognised seventeen Bangladeshi exporters.
In the last 40 years, the country has registered positive export growth except for one or two years, said Md Mahbub-ur-Rahman, head of corporate banking of HSBC Bangladesh.
Exports were worth around $300 million in fiscal 1972-73 and the amount reached more than $27 billion in fiscal 2012-13, contributing 20-22 percent to Bangladesh's gross domestic product, Rahman said.
“The Export Excellence Awards is our humble way of recognising their contribution in making a strong presence across the globe.”
HSBC divided garment and textiles exporters into two categories as these sectors account for a majority of the country's exports.
RMG exporters with annual export turnover worth $50 million or more are in Group A, and those with less than $50 million are in Group B.
Companies in the export processing zones will be awarded under the EPZ enterprises category.
The non-RMG or textiles companies with annual export turnover worth $5 million or more will be awarded under the traditional and emerging sectors category.
The SME category is for the non-RMG or textiles companies with annual export turnover below $5 million.
Exporters can participate in the programme by filling in a nomination form on the bank's website. Exporters can also nominate other exporters in any category.
The winning exporters will be selected through a sophisticated process of adjudication by an independent panel of jury members, said Talukdar Noman Anwar, country head of communications of HSBC Bangladesh.
The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, and Bangladesh Brand Forum are the strategic partners for the programme.