Communications Minister Obaidul Quader and S Samy Vellu, special envoy of Prime Minister's Department of Malaysia, shaking hands after signing a MoU in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday. Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak is also seen behind them.

Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur to build a 6.15 km multi-purpose bridge across the river Padma, officials said in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The MoU will also help put in place other related infrastructure projects, they said.

"The MoU was signed by Bangladesh Communications Minister Obaidul Quader and Malaysia's special envoy to South Asia on infrastructure at the Malaysian Prime Minister's Department -- Dato Seri Samy Vellu," a senior official of the Communications Ministry said.

Obaidul Quader left Dhaka for Kuala Lumpur late on Sunday and the MoU was signed on Tuesday as scheduled earlier.

Before boarding a Kuala Lumpur-bound flight on Sunday night Mr Quader said the construction of the bridge was expected to begin in the next 10 months.

He expressed the hope that the next government would complete the construction that could take some four to five years.

During the talks with his designated counterpart, ahead of the signing of the MoU Obiadul Quader was assisted by accompanying officials Iqbal Mahmud, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division, Khandaker Anwarul Islam, Secretary of the Bridges Division and Shafikul Islam, Project Director of Padma Bridge.

"According to the MoU, Malaysia will mobilise the estimated cost of some $2.9 billion for building the bridge either from government fund or from private investors, to build the bridge on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer basis (BOOT)," a statement issued by the Bangladesh high commission in Kuala Lumpur said.

Bernama, Malaysian state news agency, said under the MoU, the Malaysian government will form a consortium of Malaysian companies to implement the project on BOOT basis.

The event at Kuala Lumpur was attended by Bangladesh Prime Minister's Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

After the ceremony both the Prime Ministers exchanged greetings over telephone and termed the occasion a historic one.

According to the MoU, the funding for building the bridge will be decided in the next nine months until when the MoU will remain valid.

"Initially both the governments will take necessary steps to encourage and promote financial and technical cooperation for the purpose of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project," the Bangladesh embassy statement said.

The MoU mainly aims to cooperation on the planning, development, finance, construction, management, administration and maintenance of infrastructure works on the basis of equity and mutual benefit on agreed terms and condition, the statement said.

It will encourage cooperation, knowledge and technology transfer and partnership between the two countries, it continued.

Both sides will now decide on the terms of reference of building the bridge, which was earlier estimated to cost some $2.9 billion, it has been stated.

"However the building cost is likely to be re-estimated as the cost of building materials and other relevant expenditures have increased in the meantime," an official at the Communications Ministry said.

Facts and data concerning such as how many years would be needed to build the bridge, what would be the rate of tolls and how and at what proportions the tolls would be shared by the relevant authorities of the two countries would be determined after the MoU, the official said.

Bangladesh accepted Malaysian offer of funding the bridge last October after the World Bank (WB) suspended delivery of its committed fund of $1.2 billion over alleged irregularities in the bidding process for the bridge.

The WB, probing the alleged irregularities in the bidding process for the bridge, has temporarily barred a unit of SNC-Lavalin, a big Canadian engineering company, from bidding in the Bank's new projects.

Besides the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had confirmed $615 million, Japan $420 million and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) $140 million for the bridge across the river Padma.

Financial Express/Bangladesh/ 11th April 2012

Eastern Bank Ltd (EBL) jointly with Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) Bangladesh launched a co-branded prepaid and virtual card for the ACCA students, says a press release.

Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director and chief executive officer of EBL, Muklesur Rahman, deputy managing director of ACCA Bangladesh, Mohua Rashid, country manager, jointly unveiled the new card at a press meet at Pan Pacific Sonargaon, in the city on Monday.

Through this card, the students will be able to pay their academic fees through online hassle-free. This is the first time in Bangladesh while a Bank and an academic body partnered together to simplify payment procedure.

Nazeem A Choudhury, EBL head of cards, Saidul Amin, head of liability, Anwar Hossain, head of asset, Md Saadullah, head of priority banking, Towfiqul A Chowdhury, head of NRB and student banking, Zahidul Haque, head of

ADC, Ziaul Karim, head of brand and marketing, Irfan Islam, senior manager, and other senior officials from both the organisations were also present.

The Independent/Bangladesh/ 11th April 2012

Abu Hanif Khan joined Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) as its new deputy managing director (DMD) on his promotion to the post. Prior to his new assignment, he was general manager of Karmasangsthan Bank. Earlier, he also served as general manager of RAKUB and deputy general manager of Bangladesh Krishi Bank.

After obtaining his graduation with honours in Economics and post-graduation in the same subject from Jahangirnagar University he started his banking carrier as a senior officer at Bangladesh Krishi Bank in 1980.

Abu Hanif Khan hails from Kasba under Brahmanbaria district.

The Independent/Bangladesh/ 11th April 2012

Shortage of manpower at the central bank is affecting routine works, including timely supervision of the 47 banks’ operation in the country at present, said sources in the Bangladesh Bank (BB).

They said that the recent approval of nine new banks - six new private commercial banks and three other NRB (non-resident Bangladeshis) Banks - has put another onus on the central bank;   it will have to supervise the works of these banks with its existing manpower.

As a regulator, the central bank is expected to maintain discipline in the financial sector. On receiving complaints regarding financial anomaly and client service, non-observance of central bank rules, circulars and guidelines, it has to take remedial measures.

Recently, the banking sector has become fiercely competitive. To attract customers, most banks are introducing new financial products for their clients. This has also added to the central bank’s responsibilities.

Besides, the BB has to monitor the banks’ responses in financing productive sectors to comply with the government’s target of economic growth. “In many cases, finishing a task is taking more time, as one official is having to do the work of two or more persons.

Officials working in some departments, including those of off-site supervision and banking inspection, are under tremendous pressure,” said a BB official.

Another official said a slow and inefficient recruitment process is only adding to the pressure.

At present, about 5,000 employees are working in the head office and eight other branches of the central bank. The branches are in Chittagong, Khulna, Bogra, Rangpur, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barisal and Motijheel , according to BB executive director M. Mahfuzur Rahman. Rahman, however, could not specify the number of posts lying vacant.

He said that months ago, the BB had decided to recruit 100 entry-level officers, but the procedure has not yet been completed. “Yes, there is a vacuum at the bottom. However, the authorities are in the process of recruiting more employees. It will take about nine months to complete the procedure,” he added.

He said the appointment process has become slow owing to some technical limitations. “One of the limitations is the ‘FF (Freedom Fighter) quota’. In most cases, applicants under the FF quota can’t be found.

We keep 30 per cent of the total recruitment target vacant as candidates under this quota are not available,” he pointed out.

Talking to The Independent on Monday, Dr Mustafa Kamal Mujeri, member of the BB board of directors and executive director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said capacity development is a continuous process, and that the Bangladesh Bank’s human resource department would reorganise the employment plan.

“I don’t think it is a big challenge to cope with the emerging duties. Capacity development for effective supervision is a continuous process, and hopefully the BB will be gradually able to do it,” he added.

He said the new banks will take some more time to begin work. “So, the BB has ample time to prepare itself,” he pointed out.

The Independent/Bangladesh/ 11th April 2012

Stocks traded on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) posted substantial gain on Tuesday as investors shook off the worries on a high court show cause notice regarding directors’ compulsory share purchase.

“Market moved up as investors did not pay heed to the possibility of directors’ getting relief from buying at least two percent shares of their respective firms,” said a stock broker.

At the end of the day, the benchmark DGEN General Index of the DSE ended at 5,214 points, gaining 115 points or 2.25per cent.

On the issue of the writ, SEC-supportive stance of Attorney General boosted up investors’ confidence, said IDLC in its regular market commentary. As sentiment went up, market observed a surge in fresh fund injection, pushing turnover up by 35 percent above previous day's value, it added.

In this vibrant scenario, stocks with potential director purchases remained buoyant. Meanwhile, fuel and power sector continues its rally, largely driven by high trade volume of state owned companies, it added.

Grameenphone got a boost as a proposal of SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) tax reduction by the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh, made investors optimistic.

Day’s uptrend was visible throughout the session, starting with a 70 points surge in first 5 minutes, and followed by rally across all sector, pushing the key market index above 5,200 points level.

The broader DSE All Shares Price Index, DSI, also climbed 99 points or 2.17 per cent to 4,373 points while the DSE-20 index of blue-chip shares gained 56 points or 1.49 per cent to 3,816.

Single day turnover value posted significant rise to stand at Tk 9.29 billion, up by 35 per cent compared to Tk 6.89 billion in the previous session.

Gainers beat losers as out of 259 issues traded, 220 advanced, 31 and eight remained unchanged.

Grameenphone topped the turnover chart with shares worth Tk 766.99 million changing hands followed by Titas Gas, Beximco Limited, Aftab Automobiles, Jamuna Oil, MI Cement, Summit Power, Lafarge Surma Cement, Olympic and Meghna Petroleum.

Tallu Spinning was the day’s highest gainer posting a rise of 9.97 per cent while Trust Bank was the session’s worst loser.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 11th April 2012