January 2012

Transcription

January 2012

Contents
DCCI Review January 31st 2012
Chamber Views
01
National Economy
07
Chamber News
SAARC News
Asia-Pacific News
Middle East News
Monthly Bulletin of the
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry
(In-house Circulation Only)
Vol. XXXII No. 31 (January 01 to January 31, 2012)
Published on 29 February, 2012
International News
02
15
19
22
25
xÄmJh KmKY©J
30
Currency/Share
35
Study Tour of Re-Tie Project
Trade Information
Pictorial
34
36
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MEMBERS OF THE BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
Mr. Asif Ibrahim
REVIEW ADVISORY BOARD
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
Founder Chairman
Late Nuruddin Ahmed
DIRECTORS
Dr. Mizanur Rahman Shelley
Mr. Haider Ahmed Khan, FCA
Mr. M. Bashir Ullah Bhuiyan
Mr. Mahabub Anam
Mr. T. I. M. Nurul Kabir
Mr. Waqar Ahmad Choudhury
Mr. ASM Mohiuddin Monem
Mr. Osman Gani
Mr. Khairul Majid Mahmud
Mr. K.M.N. Manjurul Hoque
Mr. Abul Hossain
Mr. Osama Taseer
Mr. Md. Iftekharuddin (Naushad)
Mr. K. G. Karim
Mr. Absar Karim Chowdhury
Mr. M. Abu Horaira
Mr. Kh. Shahidul Islam
Mr. Hossain A. Sikder
Chairman
Members
Mr. Sayed Kamaluddin
Mr. Moazzem Hossain
Mr. A S M Quasem
Mr. Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury
Mr. M. A. Momen
Mr. Hossain Khaled
Published by :
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI)
65-66 Motijheel Commercial Area
Dhaka-1000, Phone : 9552562 (Hunting)
Fax : 880-2-9560830
E-mail : info@dhakachamber.com
secretary@dhakachamber.com
Web Site : http://www.dhakachamber.com
Chamber Views
Managing external account
Bangladesh has to follow a cautious
path, in close consultations with
economists and chamber bodies, as
growing external and domestic risks
looming over Bangladesh’s economy
have made its GDP growth outlook for
2012 fiscal year uncertain. Prolonged
slowdown in the global economy
could affect the country’s economy
through several channels.
The deceleration can affect the
country’s balance of payments
through its impact on exports and
remittances and can put pressure on
the exchange rate. As a result, the
economic uncertainty can increase,
which might weaken investment and
growth.
Moreover, a slow pace of reforms in
Bangladesh can affect the rate of
investment, as can inadequate energy
supply and poor infrastructure quality.
The changes in trade reforms and
weakening of the financial sector can
also affect export growth and
investment
in
Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has limited room for
cushioning the impact of a second
global slowdown if it happens, said
Sanjay Kathuria, World Bank’s lead
country economist for Bangladesh,
quite rightly. He said, rapid growth in
subsidies and monetary financing of
the fiscal deficit have led to the
decline in maneuverability.
There is no denying that the economy
faces some short-term challengespersistent double-digit inflation is
eroding poor and middle class
families' purchasing power, high
government borrowing threatens to
crowd out private investment and the
liquidity problem is hurting the
business and costing Bangladesh's
most important price-exchange rate.
However, the economy have some
pluses as compensation-robust export
performance and marginal growth in
remittances amidst global crisis and
sustained agriculture growth were
some of them. Nevertheless, there is
one major development in the global
economy that is hurting the
Bangladesh
economy
badlyeconomic crises generally cause the
decline
of
commodity
prices.
However, this time is apparently
different. The reason is that emerging
markets are now new engines of
global growth replacing the developed
world. There is little sign that
commodity prices, particularly of
energy, will abate anytime soon
thanks to strong demand from
developing and emerging economies.
Even in the case of the United States,
energy prices have driven 2011
inflation with fuel oil surging 25%.
Moreover, commodities are priced in
US dollars. When the value of the
dollar weakens against other major
currencies including taka, the prices
of commodities generally move up.
While the dollar index is on decline the
Bangladesh taka rather depreciates
vis-à-vis the US dollar. As a result,
importers are ending up paying more,
eventually passing the extra cost
through to the consumers. Further,
demand for imported petroleum in the
country has increased tremendously
to fuel the quick rental electricity
plants. All these developments have
put severe pressure on the balance of
payments (BoP).
The extraordinary export growth (41
percent) of last year is slowing down
this year due to the deteriorating
economic conditions in the US and
the EU, two markets that consume
Bangladesh's 75 percent exports.
Exports to the US decreased in the
first quarter of 2011-12. Knitwear
export to the EU has also dropped.
Though
import
growth
would
slowdown, fuel import will keep on
rising. A decline in remittance inflow
and pressure on exchange rate are
also threatening the economy.
Now the government has little option
but to seek an International Monetary
Fund bailout to address the BoP
problem. Since there is no free lunch,
the government has to adjust energy
prices and rein in borrowing from the
banking sector, among others, to
access the IMF fund. This means
some pro-poor programmes, including
subsidies, have to be curtailed.
The advantage Bangladesh has is
that its external debt is less than 25%
of its GDP -- which is one of the
lowest in the world. Moreover, it has
better growth prospects. The
government should not completely
surrender its policy autonomy to the
IMF, curtailing its development
expenditures and jeopardising the
economy's medium to long-term
prospects. This brings the next critical
issue concerning the economy. While
the existing short-term challenges
need to be addressed sooner rather
than later, they should not be at the
cost of the country's medium-term
potential.
The economy still shows much
promise to grow at 7% to 8% in the
near future because of the age of
economic convergence, favourable
demographic
changes,
steady
urbanisation,
strong
domestic
demand and better social indicators,
among others. In materialising
Bangladesh's medium to long-term
prospects, the challenges are not
merely its unstable politics, poor
governance and weak institutions.
Interestingly, with all these adverse
factors,
Bangladesh
has
demonstrated steady growth in the
past-what many call the "Bangladesh
Paradox."
Some argue that higher than the
current growth is only possible if those
binding growth constraints are
addressed. There is also a worrying
trend-the rise of "illiberal state."
Instead of promoting the development
of private sector and the social sector,
the state uses its different organs to
discriminate business outfits, giving a
wrong signal to FDI and further
weakening the institutions. DCCI
feels, the short-term challenges could
markedly destabilise the economy's
macroeconomic stability, jeopardising
the country's medium-term prospects,
if not addressed prudently. However,
crises also offer some opportunities.
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Chamber News
DCCI calls for better railway services
DCCI organized a seminar on 'Revival
of Railway's Potential Role for
Business Expansion' at DCCI on
January 26. Minister for Railways
Suranjit Sen Gupta, M.P. was present
as chief guest while Secretary of
Ministry of Railways Fazle Kabir and
Chairman of Standard Bank Ltd. Kazi
Akramuddin Ahamed were present as
special guests.
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim in his
address of welcome said, shortage of
wagon and locomotive, lack of
operational skills and infrastructure
are some of the main hindrances to
the development of railway sector. He
stressed on increasing railway
container traffic, direct linkages
between railway to both the ports and
utilization
of
effective
telecommunication facilities for better
services in railway.
The DCCI President also called for
framing a master plan and its
implementation based on Integrated
Multimode Transport Policy (IMTP).
He recommended punctuality of
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trains, modernization of ticket selling
and
other
services
including
enhancing speed of goods train.
Besides, he underscored the
importance of converting single line
into double line, increasing skilled
manpower and better maintenance of
rail-crossings.
Railways has adopted short, medium
and long term planning for the
development of railway. A guideline
will be framed for the maximum
utilization of Railway's land, he
informed. He also stressed on
modernization of ticketing system of
Bangladesh Railway.
The
Minister
emphasized
on
enhancing services of railway,
developing
skilled
workforce,
establishing industry for spare parts of
rail. He called upon the private sector
to come forward in infrastructure
development and import of coach and
locomotive. He welcomed PPP in
developing railway sector.
Dr. M Rahmatullah, Transport Policy
and Planning Specialist and former
Director (Transport), UN-ESCAP,
Bangkok presented the keynote
paper. He emphasized on reformation
of railway, increasing fund allocation,
revising fares and freight structures
and more private sector involvment in
the railway sector.
Minister for Railways Suranjit Sen
Gupta, M.P. stressed on recovering
the occupied land of railway and
having proper land use plan for
development of railway. He said,
railway sector is important for socioeconomic development of our country.
Secretary of Ministry of Railways
Fazle Kabir said that the Ministry of
Chairman of Standard Bank Ltd. Kazi
Akramuddin Ahamed said, railway
was neglected in the past. He said
that Bangladesh could be the railway
hub in the South Asian region,
because we have every potential for
this.
Additional Director General of
Bangladesh Railway M Shahjahan,
Minister for Railways Suranjit Sen Gupta, M.P. (third from right) speaking at a seminar on 'Revival of Railway's Potential Role for Business
Expansion' at DCCI on January 26. DCCI President Asif Ibrahim (fourth from right), Secretary of Ministry of Railways Fazle Kabir (second from
right), DCCI Senior Vice President Haider Ahmed Khan, FCA (fourth from left), Chairman of Standard Bank Ltd. Kazi Akramuddin Ahamed (fifth
from left), Transport Policy and Planning Specialist and former Director (Transport), UN-ESCAP, Bangkok Dr. M Rahmatullah (left), DCCI
Directors M. Abu Horaira (third from left), Kh. Shahidul Islam (second from left) and Mahabub Anam (left) are also seen in the picture
Chamber News
Professor of Bangladesh University of
Engineering and Technology (BUET)
Dr. M Shamim Z Basunia and Director
of DCCI M. Abu Horaira also spoke as
designated discussants. They said,
Cord Line will reduce travel time from
Dhaka to Chittagong. They also
emphasized on having skilled
manpower and a master plan for
future development of our railway.
DCCI Senior Vice President Haider
Ahmed Khan, FCA gave vote of
thanks.
DCCI former Presidents Aftab-ul
Islam and Abul Kasem Khan, former
DG of Bangladesh Railway Atique
Hossain Khan, DCCI Directors Waqar
Ahmad Choudhury, ASM Mohiuddin
Monem and Khairul Majid Mahmud,
former Senior Vice Presidents Alhaj
Abdus Salam, Ashraf Ibne Noor and
Hossain Akter, DCCI Convenor Khair
Resolve liquidity crisis, bring down inflation rate : DCCI
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (DCCI) expressed its deep
concern over the current political
situation saying that it might affect the
country's businesses and hamper
economic growth.
"There is a possibility of political
instability during 2012. It is a matter of
great concern for the country's total
business and economy. The business
community
expects
political
compromise for the interest of
national economy," said President of
DCCI Asif Ibrahim at Meet the Press
at the auditorium of the chamber on
January 8.
He called upon the political leaders to
allow the country's businesses to move
forward without any hindrance. The
head of the chamber body also urged
the political parties to resolve the
caretaker issue which is at the centre
point of the present political crisis.
brings nothing; rather it affects the
country's economy," he said.
Regarding observation of the Prime
Minister on the country's economic
situation as 'good', he said, "Our
(businessmen's) view is different as
our perception is also different. We
face difficulties as we do business.
He also called upon the government
to maintain smooth supply of power
and gas to the industries as many of
those could not start their operations
due to the crisis. He also suggested
that the state machinery should
resolve the liquidity crisis that is
hampering the country's overall
M Khan and Dr. Ferdousi Begum of
Ferdousi Biotech took part in the open
discussion session.
DCCI Directors M. Bashir Ullah
Bhuiyan, Mahabub Anam, Osman
Gani, K.M.N. Manjurul Hoque, Abul
Hossain, Absar Karim Chowdhury, Kh.
Shahidul Islam, Hossain A. Sikder and
Secretary Mustafa Mohiuddin were
also present.
businesses, rein in the sharp declining
rate of Taka against US dollar and
rationalise the lending rate by the
banks. He said the double digit
inflation has been affecting the
country's economy.
"Bringing down the inflation below
double digit could help raise the value
of Taka against the US dollar that
could ensure balance of trade," he
said. He said the declining trend of
foreign exchange reserve is also a big
challenge for the country's economy.
"The double digit inflation may bring
disaster to the country's economy and
is likely to hamper achievement of 7.0
"We, the business people, don't know
politics; rather we care about the
interest of country's economy. We fear
the country's political landscape could
turn worse over the caretaker issue.
The political parties should resolve
under which system the next general
elections would be held," he said. He,
however, lauded the opposition for
choosing the peaceful road march
programme instead of hartal. "Hartal
DCCI Presidnet Asif Ibrahim (third from right) speaking at Meet The Press on 8 January at DCCI.
DCCI Senior Vice President Haider Ahmed Khan, FCA (second from right), Directors Khairul Majid
Mahmud (right), Kh. Shahidul Islam (third from left), Osman Gani (second from left), M. Abu Horaira
(left) are also seen in the picture
3
Chamber News
per cent GDP growth," Asif Ibrahim
mentioned. On the issue of giving
transit to India, he said Bangladesh
would be benefited if it provides
transshipment to India rather than
transit.
Asif said if the country could increase
internal resources through widening
of tax nets, then it would be possible
for the country to reduce dependency
on foreign aid being provided by the
World Bank and International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
He expressed disappointment that
even after the passage of three years
of the present government, the road
communication between Dhaka and
Chittagong is yet to be upgraded. He
called upon the government to
develop the road and railways
communication between Dhaka and
Chitttagong, infrastructure and ports.
The DCCI president favoured coalbased plants to generate power for
mitigating the increasing industrial
demand. "We should have an
alternative
source
for
power
generation since the reserve of our
gas is limited," he said.
With reference to the capital market
he
suggested
giving
an
institutionalized shape to Dhaka Stock
Exchange.
Citing the role of the chamber body,
Asif Ibrahim said apart from holding
seminars and roundtables periodically
on different issues, the DCCI has also
taken different projects for the
development of the IT sector,
strengthening
of
public-private
partnership, automation of Dhaka
Customs House and human resource
development
through
imparting
courses on BBA to the students with
competitive cost.
Asif Ibrahim seeks more initiatives to raise Dhaka-Colombo trade volume
A 10-member delegation from the
National Chamber of Commerce of Sri
Lanka, led by its President Asoka
Hetiogoda, called on DCCI President
Asif Ibrahim at DCCI on January 24,
2012.
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim, while
welcoming the delegation, said, even
though Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are
tied with different regional and
international agreements, the present
level of bilateral trade between the
two countries is far from satisfactory
and it still remains at a very low level.
He said that both the countries should
take initiatives as per SAFTA to
promote welfare of the people of
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to improve
the quality of their lives and to
strengthen
cooperation
among
themselves in international forums on
matters of common interest and to
cooperate with international and
regional organizations with similar
aims and purposes.
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Asif Ibrahim said, recently direct air
connectivity between Dhaka and
Colombo has been started. This will
increase people-to-people and B2B
connection
between
the
two
countries. He informed that the
government of Bangladesh has
provided various opportunities and a
unique package of incentives for
foreign investors.
He welcomed the Sri Lankan
investors to invest in the agro-based
sectors like food and food processing,
paper and pulp from jute, agricultural
products like potato seeds, coconut
coir products, flowers and ornamental
plants, gas-based industries, power,
fertilizer, renewable energy, backward
linkage of RMG including composite
textile mills, IT sector, leather and
leather
goods,
ceramics,
pharmaceuticals, electronics, light
engineering, steel, infrastructure
development, hospitals, education,
tourism and hotels etc.
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim (eighth from left) presenting a bouquet to President of National
Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka Asoka Hetiogoda (sixth from left) on January 24 at DCCI.
DCCI Directors and Members of the Delegation are also seen in the picture
Chamber News
President of National Chamber of
Commerce of Sri Lanka Asoka
Hetiogoda said, the economy of Sri
Lanka has improved a lot after the
just- ended war. He informed, the
GDP growth of Sri Lanka is now 8 per
cent and the per capita income is
$2800. He said, Bangladesh and Sri
Lanka maintain many commonalities
and there are ample opportunities for
DCCI distributes warm cloths
to the distressed people
entrepreneurs of both the countries to
make joint ventures in tourism, food
and food processing, Ayurbedi hotels,
spices and jewelry sector. He
stressed on FTA between these two
countries which will accelerate more
trade and investment.
Asoka Hetiogoda invited DCCI to
participate in the Expo 2012 to be held
in March in Sri Lanka.
DCCI Senior Vice President Haider
Ahmed Khan, FCA, Directors M.
Bashir Ullah Bhuiyan, Mahabub
Anam, Waqar Ahmad Choudhury,
ASM Mohiuddin Monem, Khairul
Majid Mahmud, Abul Hossain,
Convenor Mukter Hossain Chowdhury
and Secretary Mustafa Mohiuddin
were present and they made
interactions
with
the
visiting
delegation members.
DCCI, under its CSR activities,
distributed warm cloths to the coldstricken distressed people in different
parts of the country.
As an initiative of reducing sufferings
of cold-stricken people, specially in
the northern region of Bangladesh,
DCCI handed over warm cloths to
Rangpur Chamber of Commerce &
Industry, Nilphamari Chamber of
Commerce & Industry, Lalmonirhat
Chamber of Commerce & Industry
and Kurigram Chamber of Commerce
& Industry for distribution those to the
people of the respective areas.
Besides, DCCI also handed over the
same to Secretary General of Azad
Muslim Welfare Complex Alhaj Altaf
Hossain for distribution among the
distressed people living in Dhaka.
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim called
upon all well- off people of the society
to stand by the distressed across the
country in the winter season.
Kh. Shahidul Islam, Coordinating
Director, DBI Standing Committee
and former Vice President, DCCI,
urged upon the entrepreneurs and
executives of business organizations
to have proper knowledge of human
resource development issues to
achieve long-term business success
in the present-day competitive global
market. He made the plea at the
certificate awarding ceremony of a
training course on “Human Resource
On behalf of the participants, one
representative Md. Muzahidul Islam,
Deputy Manager, HR & Admin,
Diganta TV,
expressed
great
happiness in getting a lot of useful
information and knowledge from the
course which has expanded their
mental horizon. They also thanked
The contents of the course were:
Introduction and Brief History of
Human Resource Development
(HRD), Modern HR Management
DBI training course on human
resource development
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim (third from left) presenting warm cloths to President of Rangpur
Chamber of Commerce & Industry Mosaddeq Hossain Bablu (third from right) for distributing among
the cold-striken distressed people on 5 January. DCCI Senior Vice President Haider Ahmed Khan,
FCA (second from right), Directors M Abu Horaira (left), Hossain A Sikder (second from left) former
Director Alhaj Nasiruddin Khan (right) are also seen in the picture.
Development (HRD)”, held January
14 -18. He said, HRD is the most
important factor for organizational
growth in any sort of organizations as
HR has become a function of
conscience keeper.
DCCI Business Institute for giving
such unique opportunity to get a lot of
updated knowledge on an important
subject for doing business. Executive
Director, DBI Md. Hossain Ali thanked
the participants for their positive
comments and stressed that their
learning will be effective only if they
apply their acquired knowledge in
their day-to-day activities.
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Chamber News
Functions,
Management
and
Leadership, Human Resource Plan
and Succession Planning, Job
Analysis – Redundancy, Recruitment
and
Selection
Policies,
HR
Management System, Strategic HRM,
Motivation of HR, Performance
Appraisal, Compensation & Benefits
Packages, Staff Development, Case
Studies/Examples,
Industrial
Relations and CBA, Managing
Grievances and Conflicts and more.
Tamanna Sultana, Assistant Secretary
(Training) coordinated the session.
Thirty one participants from different
prominent organizations as well as
individuals participated in the course.
At the close, certificates were
distributed among the participants by
the chief guest.
DCCI Director Kh. Shahidul Islam (second from left), DBI Executive Director Md. Hossain Ali
(second from right), Additional Executive Director Ashish Kumar Paul (right), Assistant
Secretary (Training) Tamanna Sultana (left) are seen with the participants of a training course
on Human Resource Development (HRD)”on January 14 -18
DCCI condoles death of Samson H. Chowdhury
Asif Ibrahim, President and the
members of the Board of Directors of
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (DCCI) have expressed
deep shock at the sudden demise of
Samson H Chowdhury, Chairman,
Square
Pharmaceuticals
Ltd.
Bangladesh in Singapore (Inna
Lillahe wa Inna Ilaihe Rajiun).
Samson H Chowdhury led an
exemplary life of hard work,
dedication and honesty and built up
one of the largest business
conglomerates of Bangladesh. He
was the President of Metropolitan
Chamber of Commerce & Industry
(MCCI) in 1996-1997. He was also
the Director of FBCCI. He was
awarded “Business Executive of the
Year” by American Chamber in
Bangladesh in 1998 and “Best
Entrepreneur of the Country for the
year 2000 -2001” by the Daily Star
and DHL Worldwide Express.
The DCCI in the message said: “May
the Almighty Allah grant the
members of his family enough
strength and courage to bear this
irreparable loss.”
The President and the Board
members prayed for the eternal
peace and salvation of the departed
soul.
DCCI President condoles death of Asif Tarek
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim, members of the Board of Directors of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(DCCI) and all staff of DCCI expressed deep shock and grief at the sad and sudden demise of Asif Tarek, son-in-law
of Muhammad Faruk Khan, M.P., former Commerce Minister and presently Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism at
the age of 35 in Dhaka (Inna lillahe wa inna ilaihe rajiun).
6
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim prayed for the eternal peace and salvation of the departed soul and also prayed to the
Almighty Allah to grant his family all strength and courage to bear this irreparable loss.
National Economy
National economy given a strong base
despite global recession : PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has
said her government has succeeded
in reducing the price of rice and
increasing the income and purchasing
power of the people. She said people
in the rural areas are getting jobs, per
capita income has increased to
US$828 from $660.
The Prime Minister said this while she
was addressing the nation on stateowned radio and television marking
the completion of her Awami Leagueled alliance government's three years
in office.
Besides, she said, her government
has increased the salary of
government officials and employees,
extended the retirement age of
government services to 59 years from
57 years.
Painting a rosy picture of national
economy the Prime Minister claimed
that the present government has been
able to give the national economy a
strong base despite global economic
meltdown.
She said investment has increased,
production shot up while export earning
rose to about US$ 7.5 billion. The
overseas remittance has exceeded US$
12 billion from US$ 9.2 billion.
She added that about 0.45 million
people, both male and female, were
absorbed in the public sector only. In
the last fiscal, the growth of gross
domestic product (GDP) was 6.7 per
cent while the target for the current
fiscal has been set at 7.0 per cent.
She said that because of sincere
efforts and labour, the present
government has added additional
2900 megawatt electricity to the
national grind in the past three years.
She said a massive plan was being
implemented for the production and
distribution of gas. As a result,
production of gas increased by 350
mmcfd.
On food situation, Hasina said it was
one of her election pledges to ensure
food security of the people by
increasing agricultural production. At
present, a record 14,76,115 tonnes of
food
grains
are
stocked
in
government godowns.
People in the northern region known
for Monga are now having two meals
a day, she said, adding that InshaAllah, Bangladesh will be transformed
into a food surplus country by 2013.
Hasina said Bangladesh is now the
top troops-sending country to the UN
peacekeeping missions. On foreign
policy, she said Bangladesh's position
and role in establishing peace and
harmony in the world including South
Asia has been acclaimed by the
United Nations.
The government, she said, has signed
economic and technical cooperation
deals with China, exchanged letters to
construct a bridge at Kazirtek and
signed MoU relating to oil and gas.
Fuel oil import pushes up
overall payments by 23pc
Bangladesh's overall import payments
grew by nearly 23 per cent in the first
five months of the current fiscal year
(FY), mainly because of a high rise of
import bills on account of fuel oil,
officials have said.
"The overall import payments
increased significantly because of
higher imports of petroleum products
during the period under review," a
senior official of the Bangladesh Bank
(BB) said.
Letters of credit (LCs) against imports
worth US$ 14.95 billion were settled
during July-November of FY '12
compared to those valued at $12.16
billion in the corresponding period last
fiscal, according to the central bank
statistics.
The BB official expects the pressure
on import payments to ease in the
coming months as import orders have
already recorded a negative growth.
The opening of fresh LCs against
imports, generally known as import
orders, registered a negative growth
of 2.09 per cent in July-November
period of this fiscal compared to a
positive one at 3.72 per cent in JulyOctober period in the same fiscal.
"The declining trend in import orders
has continued in the month of January
largely because of lower imports of
food grains," the central bank official
said.
A senior official of a leading private
commercial bank (PCB) said short
supply of the greenback has also
contributed to lower import orders
during the period under review.
"We're now opening LCs against
imports on a selective basis because
of lower inflow of the US dollar to the
market," the private banker said,
adding that the declining trend of
import orders may continue in the
near future.
The exchange rate of the US dollar
against BDT rose to Tk 75.14 during
the first five months of the current
fiscal from Tk 74.15 on June 30 at the
close of the last fiscal, the BB data
showed.
However, Bangladesh Taka (BDT)
came under a strong pressure since
December this year. The exchange
rate stood at Taka 82.32 for one US
dollar. This showed a heavy rate of
depreciation of BDT during last few
months.
7
National Economy
The import of fuel oils increased by
92.44 per cent to $2.20 billion in the
first five months of FY '12 from $1.15
billion in the same period of the FY
'11, the central bank said.
"The import of petroleum products
may increase further in the coming
months to meet the increasing
demand for it for irrigation and oilbased power plants," the central bank
official noted.
Imports of intermediate goods like
coal, scrap vessels, hard coke and
clinker increased by 68.99 per cent to
$1.29 billion during the period from
$765.55 million in the corresponding
period in the previous fiscal.
The BB official also said higher import
of scrap vessels also contributed to
raising the import of intermediate
goods sharply. The import of scrap
vessels rose to $511.09 million during
the period from $118.19 million in the
corresponding period of the previous
fiscal.
"Furthermore, the imports of other
essential items including industrial
raw materials and capital machinery
increased significantly during the
period to meet the domestic demand,"
the central banker added.
He also said fresh opening of import
LCs for capital machinery decreased
to a marked extent during the period
under review as placement of import
orders for different types of capital
machinery, including rental power
plants, declined recently.
The import orders for capital
machinery declined by nearly 38 per
cent to $870.44 million during the
period from $1.40 billion in the
corresponding period of the pervious
fiscal.
8
However, actual import of capital
machinery-industrial equipment used
for production-rose by 32.79 per cent
to $ 1.03 billion during the period
against $778.20 million in the
corresponding period of FY '11. This
reflected the arrival of imported capital
machinery against orders placed
earlier.
Food grain imports fell during the
period under review. The country has
built enough stocks for the main
staple rice after a bumper Boro crop
yield in May this year, another central
banker said, adding that such a
declining trend about import of food
grain may continue in the coming
months. Import of food grain such as
rice witnessed a negative growth of
28.05 per cent to $476.87 million in
the first five months in the FY '12 over
the same period last fiscal.
Industrial raw material imports
increased by 19.56 per cent to $ 5.58
billion during the period under review
from
$4.672
billion
of
the
corresponding period in the pervious
fiscal. During the period, the import of
machinery
for
miscellaneous
industries witnessed an 18.85 per
cent growth to $1.25 billion compared
to that of $1.05 billion in the same
period the previous fiscal.
Economists see challenging
year ahead
Economists see a very challenging
year ahead as the government will
have to confront some internal and
external economic risks such as rising
inflation, slow export and plummeting
remittance growth.
The government should concentrate
on controlling spiraling commodity
price and strengthening the social
safety net programme, they said,
adding that side by side it has to
match the monetary policy with
revenue and import policies, expedite
ADP implementation, closely observe
international economic trend and cut
down its unnecessary expenditures.
Talking to BSS, economist Dr. Qazi
Kholiquzzaman
Ahmad
has
suggested the government to attach
priority to controlling commodity price
as it is an important election pledge of
the present government.
"For managing the commodity prices,
the government must strengthen the
Trading Corporation of Bangladesh
(TCB). Monetary policy must be
adjusted with other policies such as
import and revenue to keep the
market stable," he added. He said the
government should carefully handle
the abrupt price hike of some
commodities such as edible oil.
Defending the Bangladesh Bank's
(BB) contractionary monetary policy,
he said steps should be taken to
match other policies such as revenue
and import with it to keep the
commodity market stable. He said the
government should observe global
economic trend for taking preparation
to face any possible economic risks.
Debt crisis in Europe will have a
negative impact on Bangladesh
exports, he added. To reduce
borrowing from the banking system,
he said the government should
expedite implementation of foreignaided projects and side by side the
government should cut down its
expenditure on less-priority projects.
"The government should carefully
handle imports, discourage imports of
luxurious goods," added.
Economist Abul Barakat said restoring
stability in the capital market is a
challenge for the government. "The
government must take steps to
stabilize the capital market in the
interest of the economy," he added.
He said the government must cut
down borrowing from the banking
system to ensure credit flow to
industries, service sector and trade
that will contribute to the GDP growth.
He said depreciation of taka against
dollar will push the import costs up
that will have a negative impact on the
economy. "The government should
carefully handle this issue," he added.
National Economy
Barakat said war crimes trial
apparently has no direct link with the
economy but indirectly, it has an
impact, he said, adding that with the
progress of the trial, 'economy of
fundamentalism' would become more
active that would have to be carefully
monitored.
"All macro-economic indicators are
now under pressure," export has
remained stalled while depreciation of
taka against dollar has pushed the
import cost up leaving the balance of
payment (BoP) in the negative
territory," said Dr. Zaid Bakht,
research director of the Bangladesh
Institute of Development Research
(BIDS).
BB announces new monetary
policy, projects lower growth
Bangladesh Bank has unveiled a new
monetary policy with a special focus
on restraining credit flow to public
sector and discouraging unproductive
loans to rein in the soaring inflation.
The central bank will peruse a
relatively tightened monetary growth
path in order to curb inflationary and
external sector pressures ensuring
adequate private sector credit to
stimulate inclusive growth.
However, the central bank now
projects lower growth (gross domestic
product) from the projected 7 percent
and expects it will be in between 6.5
to 7 percent. Earlier, the government
had forecast a 7 percent GDP growth
for the current fiscal year, assuming
stable domestic and global economic
conditions.
BB governor Dr. Atiur Rahman
announced the new monetary policy
at a press conference at the central
bank's conference room.
Senior consultant and adviser to BB
governor M Allah Malik Kazemi,
senior economic adviser to governor
Dr. Hasan Zaman, deputy governors
M Abul Kashem, Abu Hena M Razee
Hasan, SK Sur Chowdhury and
Nazneen Sultana were present.
"This monetary policy is appropriate
under the present circumstances-if
the government cuts borrowing from
the banking sector, we'll be able to
increase credit flow to private sector,"
Dr. Atiur Rahman said announcing its
half-yearly monetary policy (JanuaryJune) of the current 2011-12 financial
year.
Bangladesh Bank will ensure liquidity
support for banks, so that productive
credit growth is not crowded out. "It'll
remain a key area of focus for the
central bank," the policy statement
said.
The central bank has set a target of
16 percent private sector credit
growth for the January-June period,
which, the bank thinks, is consistent
with the projected GDP growth target
and with the credit growth of other
countries in the region.
It was 18 percent in the first half of the
current fiscal year but the central bank
thinks the new private sector credit
growth is good. "Credit supply to
private sector will get easier if
government's bank borrowing can be
kept under tolerable limit," Atiur said
while reading out the new monetary
policy statement.
The private sector credit growth was
19.33 percent in November 2011,
which was 28 percent in the last fiscal
year. The monetary policy statement
said the interest rate regime will
remain liberal.
The BB will focus more on monitoring
interest rate spreads so that they
remain below 5 percent except for
SME lending (as the cost of SME
operations are higher) and the
consumer lending, the statement said.
The governor observed that the
recent global economic condition has
significantly slowed down Bangla-
desh's export. The remittance inflow
may also slow down. "Weak aid
inflows,
slowing
imports
and
moderating credit growth will limit the
aggregate demand."
Dr. Atiur said containing inflation is the
biggest challenge for the economy
right now and the bank wants to see it
within single digit, which has been
tenaciously staying at double digit for
the last nine months. "The favourable
steps will help contain the rising
inflation and maintain the desired
inclusive growth," he said.
The inflation, averaging 10.7 percent
in December 2011, is higher than the
7.5 percent average projected in the
2011-2012 budge.
New monetary policy 'not that
much realistic': Experts
Economists and business leaders
have termed the recently-announced
monetary policy was not that much
realistic and said it would be difficult to
bring down inflation below single digit
and curb government bank borrowing
with it.
They also said the central bank's
stance to slash credit flow to private
sector would hurt investment which
will subsequently shrink employment
opportunities and scale down growth.
The central bank has set a target to
bring private sector credit growth to 16
percent for the January-June period
from previous 18 percent. The credit
growth in private sector was 18
percent in December, 2011 while 25.8
percent in the last fiscal year.
The experts also said the government
expenditure in the remaining months
of the current fiscal would scale up
further
due
to
poor
ADP
implementation rate in the first six
months of the current fiscal.
The annual development programme
(ADP) implementation was Tk 12,703
9
National Economy
crore or 28 percent of the total outlay
during
the
six-month
period,
according
to
Implementation
Monitoring and Evaluation Division
(IMED) statistics. Former Finance
Adviser to the caretaker government
Dr. Md. AB Mirza Azizul Islam said,
"Considering the ground realities, I
don't find this monetary policy that
much realistic."
Replying to a question, he expressed
doubt on how the central bank will
play its role in curbing credit flow to
public sector. "Because, the central
bank doesn't have the authority to say
no if the government wants to borrow.
Even it can't give such an order to
commercial banks."
Considering the realities, the
renowned economist also expressed
doubt over the success of the central
bank's plan to bring down the soaring
inflation below single digit with the
monetary policy. Mirza Aziz, however,
does not see any major wrong with
slashing credit growth to private
sector. "It's nominally downsized."
Research Director of Bangladesh
Institute of Development Studies
(BIDS) Dr. Zaid Bakht said, "I'm not
hopeful about bringing down the rising
inflation to 9 with this monetary
policy." On curbing credit flow to
public sector, Zaid Bakht said he does
not see any possibility of cutting
government borrowing from the
banking sector.
Project-aid component in
ADP to be downsized
The project-aid component in the
annual development programme
(ADP) of the current fiscal is likely to
be slashed by Tk 3685 crore due to
poor implementation of different
foreign-aided development projects.
10
The economic relations division
(ERD) is learnt to have decided to
downsize the project aid to Tk 15,000
crore from original allocation of Tk
18,685 crore for the fiscal 2011-12,
sources said in Dhaka.
"We've decided to cut the external
resources due mainly to the poor
implementation of foreign-aided
projects by different ministries," an
ERD official said, adding, "The
proposal has already been sent to the
planning ministry".
ERD sources said most of the
ministries are reluctant to implement
the foreign-aided projects. "One of the
prime reasons is their inefficiency and
poor implementation capacity," the
ERD official added.
The government has allocated Tk
46,000 crore for the ADP in the
current fiscal and included a total of
1,039 projects. Of Tk 46, 000 crore,
the government has decided to
contribute Tk 27,315 crore or 59
percent while the remaining 18, 685
crore or 41 percent have been
expected to come from external
sources.
During the last five months (JulyNovember) of the current fiscal year,
progress
of
the
overall
implementation of ADP reached 20
percent only, sources said.
The 54 government ministries and
divisions spent Tk 93.14 billion, 20 per
cent of Tk 460 billion ADP outlay,
during July- November period of the
fiscal year, according to the Planning
Commission (PC).
Of the total outlay during the period,
the ministries and divisions used 25
percent of the government component
of the ADB allocation and 13 percent
of the foreign component, it said.
Among the ministries and divisions,
the
Power
Division,
Local
Government and Primary and Mass
Education Ministry preformed better
as the Power Division spent the
highest 35 percent (both the
government and foreign) of the
allocation followed by 30 percent by
Local Government and 26 percent by
Primary and Mass Education Ministry.
Bangladesh goes down 1 step
in JBIC ranking in investment
Bangladesh ranked 16th in the JBIC
report 2011 slipping one step in terms
of investment potential, but still
remains a promising destination for
investment.
Data show that Bangladesh's rank
was 15th in 2010 showing a big jump
from 2007 (34th). Bangladesh's
position was 24th in 2008 and 28th in
2009.
Industries Minister Dilip Barua
received a copy of the JBIC (Japan
Bank for International Cooperation
(JBIC).
The title of the report is Overseas
Business Operations by Japanese
Manufacturing
Companies
and
Outlook for Japanese Foreign Direct
Investment (23rd annual survey).
Inexpensive source of labour, future
growth potential of local market,
inexpensive raw materials, profitability
of local market, tax insensitive for
investment, stable policies to attract
foreign investment, scope of risk
diversification to other countries, base
of export to Japan and concentration
of industries have been identified as
reasons for choosing Bangladesh as
a promising destination, the report
said.
China was on top of the list followed
by India (2nd), Thailand, Vietnam,
Brazil, Indonesia, Russia, the USA,
Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico,
Singapore, the Philippines, Turkey
and Australia. Cambodia, Myanmar
and Great Britain are behind
Bangladesh in the ranking, the report
said.
The report also identified some
disadvantages for investment in
Bangladesh. These are difficulties in
procuring management-level staff,
underdeveloped legal system, unclear
execution of legal system, underdeveloped infrastructure, complicated
National Economy
or unclear procedures for investment
permission, intense competition with
other companies and lack of
information on the country.
Hasina seeks Chinese
investment
sought massive Chinese investment,
especially in textiles, agro-processing,
energy and power, pharmaceuticals,
communications and infrastructure
development to reduce the existing
trade gap.
She made the request when Chinese
Ambassador to Bangladesh Zhang
Xianyi paid a farewell call on her at
her office. After the meeting, PM's
Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad
briefed reporters.
He said Sheikh Hasina thanked China
for its continued assistance and
support for various key development
projects in power, agriculture,
infrastructure and telecommunications sectors in Bangladesh. She
also mentioned that both the countries
may work together sincerely to make
Bangladesh-China-Mynmar road link
or Kunming initiative a success.
The Prime Minister expressed
satisfaction over the steady growth of
trade volume as it is heavily tilted
towards China and hoped that China
will remain responsive to some of the
concerns to reduce the huge trade
imbalance to some extent.
In response, the Chinese envoy
praised the pragmatic leadership of
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in
running a democratic government as
well as presenting a peace model in
the UN, and negotiating the interests
of the countries being affected by
global climate change.
Xianyi presented a book written by
him on Bangladesh -China relations to
the Prime Minister. He also paid
respect to Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu
Sheikh
Mujibur
Rahman and recalled his visit to
China in 1973. Ambassador at-large
M Ziauddin, Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister Sheikh M Wahid Uz
Zaman, PMO Secretary Molla
Waheeduzzaman were present.
Investment proposals witness
56.62pc growth in 2011
Bangladesh's investment proposals
registered with the Board of
Investment (BoI) in 2011 (calendar
year) witnessed a buoyant growth of
56.62 percent compared to 2010, with
the proposed investment of Tk
1,03,107.50 crore.
Out of this, the country's local
investment proposal increased by
24.75 percent in 2011 compared to
2010 with a proposed investment of
Tk 54,606.76 crore, according to
figures revealed by the Board of
Investment (BoI).
The local investment proposals were
listed against 1,755 industrial units.
A total of 1,974 industrial units had
been registered during the period,
which would generate more than five
lakh jobs, the data showed. The 100
percent foreign and joint venture
investment proposals listed with the
BoI experienced an eye-catching
growth of 119.83 percent with
proposed investment of Tk 48,500.74
crore against 219 industrial units.
The BoI data revealed that during the
October-December period, proposals
of some 525 industrial units were
registered with the BoI with a
proposed investment of Tk 28,393.51
crore, which is, however, Tk 289.72
crore higher than the July-September
period.
During the three-month period till
some
461
local
December,
investment proposals were registered
with the BoI with a proposed
investment of Tk 16,529.126 crore
while 64 hundred percent foreign and
joint venture investment proposals
were enlisted with the Board with a
proposed amount of Tk 11,864.38
crore. Engineering, services and
textile sectors were leading the track
with a good rise while other sectors
like
chemical
and
agriculture
witnessed a moderate growth.
Experts find imported coal-based
power plants imprudent
Experts and a few serving and former
energy sector officials have described
the government decision to generate
electricity with imported coal and keep
the substantial local coal reserves
unutilised a 'political' one.
They felt that the decision would exact
a heavy toll on the economy. Without
having the country's balance of
payments (BoP) situation improved,
the operation of power plants
dependent on imported coal might
prove difficult, financially, they said.
Besides, importing a significant
quantity of coal to generate electricity
while keeping the local coal
underground is a ridiculous decision,
they added.
Officials said the government has
already initiated steps to generate
several thousand megawatts of
electricity within the next four years
based on imported coal, without
building necessary infrastructure in
railways, waterways, roads and ports
to carry the huge quantity of coal to be
required for those plants.
The state-owned Bangladesh Power
Development Board (BPDB) on
December 20, 2011 inked deals to
build three coal-fired power plants to
generate a total of 1,087.34 mw of
electricity with imported coal. A
consortium of local Orion Group and
11
National Economy
Chinese Long King was awarded all
the three coal-fired power plant
projects
to
initiate
electricity
generation by 2014. The BPDB has
also floated international tenders
recently to build six more coal-fired
power plants to generate up to 2,775
mw of electricity, on the basis of
imported coal in different areas across
the country, especially in Chittagong,
Dhaka and Barisal areas.
If all the coal-fired power plants are
awarded, the country would be
required to import around 12 million
tonnes of coal worth US$ 1.92 billion
annually to generate electricity from
these new plants, said a senior
Petrobangla official.
He said the country will have to import
coal at a cost around $160 per tonne,
as per the current coal price in the
international market. Besides, the
government has a plan to build more
coal-fired power plants, as it has a
target to generate a total of 15,000
mw of electricity from the coal-fired
power plants by 2030.
"Generating electricity with imported
coal, keeping the local coal reserves
unutilised is not a right decision," said
former special assistant to chief
adviser of the caretaker government
on energy issues Professor M Tamim.
Bangladesh has potential to
be second China in 10-15
years: US envoy
US Ambassador in Bangladesh Dan
W Mozena has said Bangladesh has
huge potential in different sectors and
it will be emerged as second China in
the world within 10 to 15 years.
12
Expressing his satisfaction over
remarkable progress and prosperity of
Bangladesh to become middleincome country, the US ambassador
said that Bangladesh is now exporting
garments, medicine, finish goods,
ships, and it has huge potential to
keep contribution in the agriculture
and ICT sector particularly in
animation.
The US envoy said it is not an
unrealistic dream to see Bangladesh
as the second China in the world
when it would emerge within 10 to 15
years turning into a golden country.
Terming main challenges like
corruption, political instability, power
shortage
and
poor
road
infrastructures for achieving the
progress Mozena said it would also
face the challenge of investment in
the country.
Ambassador W Mozena pointed out
this at a press conference before
inaugurating a 3-day 'US Week-2012'
held at Chittagong district sports
auditorium of MA Aziz Stadium in
Chittagong.
Mozena said US would invest at least
100 crore US dollars in the next five
years to help Bangladesh improve the
living standard of its citizens, most
especially the children.
"America's
partnership
with
Bangladesh has so many fields
including health of pregnant women
and mothers of children; health of
newborns and older children; fighting
TB and HIV/AIDS," he added.
The US ambassador termed the
theme of this year's America Week,
"Moving Forward Together," the
guiding principle of America's
partnership with Bangladesh. "This
partnership is strong and getting
stronger," he added.
He said America's partnership with
Bangladesh is multifaceted in the
areas of improving food security
through
increased
agricultural
production, adapting to the effects of
climate change; strengthening the
emerging democratic institutions,
fostering
improved
civil-military
relations; and building capacity to
defend the nation's maritime and land
borders.
The US ambassador called upon all
Bangladeshis including all political
opinion not to stress their personal
interest and advised them to give
focus on Bangladesh interest.
Chittagong City Mayor M Manzur
Alam, high officials of US embassy in
Dhaka and USAID among others
attended the press conference.
NRBs seek separate
investment board
Non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs)
have suggested the government for
setting up a separate investment
board, which will be offering them
exclusive and necessary supports to
propel
their
investment
in
Bangladesh.
The suggestion came at a roundtable
in Dhaka on the contribution of NRBs
to the development of the country,
organised by the Centre for Nonresident Bangladeshis.
Bangladeshis living abroad including
in USA, UK, Canada, UAE and Saudi
Arabia participated in the discussion.
Some senior politicians, economists,
bankers,
government
officials,
businessmen, donor representative
and media people also participated in
the discussions to recommend the
government the effective ways of
ensuring the best use of remittance
from expatriate Bangladeshis.
The participants, while recommending
the formation of a separate
investment board, advised the
government to strengthen the
Bangladeshi missions abroad with
skilled manpower so that the missions
can offer proper support to the
potential foreign investors including
NRBs to invest more in Bangladesh.
National Economy
Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas
Employment Secretary Zafar Ahmed
Khan, Election Commissioner Sohul
Hossain, former advisor of the caretaker
government and executive director of
Campaign for Popular Education
(CAMPE) Rasheda K Chowdhury,
economist Ibrahim Khaled, former
minister Sheikh Shahidul Islam, editor of
the Daily Manabzamin Matiur Rahman
Chowdhury, World Bank representative
Jayeed Hossain, Standard Bank
Chairman Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed,
Saudi Arabia Correspondent of NRB
Kaptan Hossain, Dhaka Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (DCCI)
President Asif Ibrahim and Tower
Hamlets speaker Mizan Chaudhury
participated in discussion. Centre for
NRB Chairperson M S Sekil Chowdhury
moderated the roundtable.
BB suggests govt to look for
alternatives to bank borrowing
Bangladesh Bank has suggested the
government to look for alternatives to
bank borrowing on priority basis to
avert its adverse impacts on the
economy and cited the example of
banking
system
of
European
countries in this regard.
The central bank in its latest working
paper titled 'Monetary Policy of
Bangladesh Bank and Prevailing
Inflation' also laid emphasis on
revitalisation of government's foreign
loan and grant.
"The credit availability in the private
sector has not been hampered yet
following the sudden high growth of
government's borrowing from the
banking sector," the report said.
It, however, warned that if the
government borrowing from the
banking system continues, it will raise
the risk.
The report said a strong coordination
in monetary policy with the strategy of
government expenditure financing is
important to mange inflation and
protect the capability of the balance of
payment (BoP) in the foreign sector.
Central Bank governor Dr. Atiur
Rahman presented the report at a
meeting of the parliamentary standing
committee on finance ministry where
Finance Minister AMA Muhith,
committee chairman AHM Mostafa
Kamal and the country's renowned
economists were present.
The report also said the primary
dealer banks (banks that are obliged
to purchase government bonds and
bills) have been weighed down with
excessive bonds and facing liquidity
risk due to the absence of an active
secondary market for government
bills and bonds.
Though the inflation is high, the
central bank said, the growth-related
some macroeconomic indicators export, foreign remittance inflow and
import of production machineries are
consistent with the projected 7
percent GDP growth.
The remittance inflow set a record in
December last with the country
receiving over $1.1 billion despite the
global economic crisis, according to
Bangladesh Bank data.
It is predicted that the goal of
achieving 7 percent GDP growth
would not remain far away from the
projected target at the end of the fiscal
year, the report said.
Steel makers concerned
over taka depreciation
Steel makers at a meeting with
Industries Minister Dilip Barua have
voiced grave concern over the
continuous depreciation of the local
currency against the US dollar. They
told the minister that they incur a loss
of Tk 14,000 alone in manufacturing
each metric tonne of MS (mild steel)
rod while another Tk 2,000 for
enhanced electricity tariff.
"The production cost of steel rod is
going beyond our affordability," said
Sheikh Masudul Alam Masud,
President of Bangladesh Auto Rerolling and Steel Mills Association.
At present, each tonne of 60-grade
MS rod is selling at Tk 67,000-68,000
and 40-grade at Tk 60,000-62,000.
The steel millers said this price may
go up any time.
The steel makers also said the
withdrawal of upper cap on bank
interest has put them into a big
dilemma as most of banks do not find
interest in issuing project financing
loan.
The meeting between the steel
manufacturers and Industries Minister
took place at a time when the rate of
US dollar was being traded at Tk 84
against Tk 70 last year.
The country has about 300 re-rolling
and steel mills with an annual
production capacity of about 3 million
tonnes. Most of these mills depend on
imported scrap and imported
abandoned ships for their raw
materials. After the increase in the US
dollar price, the steel manufacturers
have to count additional expense on
importing raw materials.
Urging for immediate steps to address
the problems, the steel millers said if
the government fails to contain the
depreciation of the local currency and
control power tariff, the increased
production cost will finally push up the
expense of the contractors who
mainly execute the government's
annual development programme
(ADP).
"If the contractors refrain from
executing the ADP on an account of
increased cost, the total development
works will get stuck up," said Abul
13
National Economy
Qassem Majumder, secretary general
of the Auto Re-rolling and Steel Mills
Association. The association leaders
also referred to some anomalies
prevailing in the duty structures of
some of their raw materials.
Responding to the demands, Dilip
Barua urged the steel manufacturers
not to increase the prices of the steel
products as these are the basic
materials for construction works. He
also said the government's policy is to
reduce duties on raw materials that
are used in the import-substitute
industries.
Central bank passing through
transitional period: governor
Bangladesh Bank governor Dr. Atiur
Rahman has said the central bank is
now passing through a transitional
period and he sought coordinated
efforts from all, especially from the top
executives, to have success in its
every step.
"I've to face multifaceted challenges
every moment due to current
economic situation of the country as
well as continuous changing global
economic order. Achieving success is
difficult without coordinated efforts,"
he said.
The governor was speaking at the
opening session of a two-day
strategic planning workshop of the
central bank, with the theme
'Strengthening Leadership', at the
BRAC Centre for Development
Management in Savar.
14
Deputy governor Abul Qasem,
executive director M Ahsan Ullah,
senior advisor M Allah Malik Kazemi,
senior economic advisor Hasan
Zaman, Bangladesh Krishi Bank
chairman and former deputy governor
of Bangladesh Bank Khondkar
Ibrahim Khaled, officials of the rank of
general
manager,
and
bank
supervision expert from IMF, Glenn
Tasky, were present in the workshop.
Atiur mentioned that three deputy
governors of the central bank went
into retirement on the same day
(December 29 last) and hoped to get
three new deputy governors soon to
speed up the central bank activities.
Emphasising the role of leaders in
directing the organisation towards its
ultimate goal, he iterated the need for
adequate communication skills in
order to disseminate the complex
economic
information
to
the
stakeholders.
The governor expressed his optimism
that the high officials of the central
bank will take the leadership to lead
the economy for the betterment of the
nation. The workshop has been
reviewing the status of achievements
of the strategies and action plans
adopted in the last workshop in 2010.
The functions of Bangladesh Bank
were divided into 10 different groups
for making presentations on the
achievements and challenges of their
related departments.
The workshop was coordinated by
Managing Director of Insights and
Ideas Jahangir Kabir.
Treasury Chalan to
go online in June
Bangladesh Bank (BB) is working on
introducing online Treasury Chalan
Submission and Verification System
in June this year. A senior BB official
told that they are implementing a
central bank strengthening project
with assistance from the World Bank
(WB), under which an e-payment
gateway will also be introduced in six
months time.
Finance Division of the Ministry of
Finance and Access to Information
(A2I) Programme of Prime Minister's
Office (PMO) are also working to
implement the programme to solve
the problem related to the existing
manual procedure of submitting the
Chalan.
"The e-payment gateway will facilitate
all types of online payment including
the payments through the Treasury
Chalan," BB Executive Director M.
Abdul Hamid said.
People require paying taxes or fees to
the Treasury through Chalan (a
prescribed form) for getting various
services from the government. The
current process of submitting the
Chalan is seen cumbersome, time
consuming and prone to malpractices.
There are also allegations that in
many cases people find the fees they
paid were not actually paid to the
Treasury accordingly.
The central bank official said the BB
and some select branches of Sonali
Bank receive Chalan from people. On
average, around 15,000 Chalans are
received every day for payments to
the national exchequer.
Among those, the BB's headquarters
in the capital alone receives 5,000
Chalans daily for which a large
number of staff remains busy all day.
People also spend hours in the queue
only to submit the Chalans manually.
Hamid said the automation of Chalan
will bring an end to the workload on
bankers and hassles to people when
the e-payment gateway will offer
online payments for utility bills, salary,
allowances and the bill for public
procurement.
Another BB official said people can
submit Chalan and verified their
payment online 24 hours and seven
days a week. The service may also be
SMS-based so people can avail it
using their mobile phone.
SAARC News
PM stresses action by SAARC nations
to cope with problems
underscored the need for concerted
action by SAARC countries to cope
with the problems caused due to
world economic crisis as well as the
own problems of climate change and
environmental degradation.
She expressed the view while
addressing the inaugural session of
the fifth meeting of SAARC finance
ministers in Dhaka.
Sheikh Hasina said that regional
economies were facing strain due to
current crisis in Northern America and
Europe, strong global inflationary
pressure and volatility in foreign
exchange rates.
"To overcome these crises, bilateral
coordination to facilitate regional
action may have to be undertaken
wherever necessary," she added.
Chaired by Finance Minister AMA
Muhith, the inaugural function was
also addressed by Bhutanese
Finance Minister Lyonpo Wangdi
Norbu. Finance Division Secretary Dr.
Mohammad Tareque gave the
welcome address.
The PM said that more than a quarter
century ago, the SAARC was
launched
"on
our
belief
in
togetherness" and on the premises of
mutual benefit and shared prosperity.
"Today in the SAARC, we see the
potential of South Asia graduating
from just neighbours to a family of
nations based on a set of values,
common aspirations and initiatives."
She also said that increasing interests
of outside actors in the SAARC also
demonstrate the potential that the
region possesses.
"However, it is also a fact that the
realisation of a South Asian Economic
Union and the eventual instilling of a
sense of South Asian-ness in our
thinking, approaches and actions,
remains still a lofty goal."
Hasina said that the South Asian
countries no doubt have handled the
global
financial
crisis
quite
successfully. "But, it has been done at
a cost.
The fiscal space has now become
very limited. Expansionary economic
policy is difficult to sustain for long,
and levels of public debt have also
risen significantly."
She said that the current crisis in
Northern America and Europe was
putting serious strains on the region's
economies.
Hasina
said
that
the
intergovernmental expert group that the
finance ministers established had
already looked at the costs and
benefits of integration. They have
considered facilitation of trade as well
as capital market development.
The SAARC finance ministers also
deliberated to make the South Asian
Development Fund operational, she
said.
The PM expressed her satisfaction
that the South Asian Regional
Standard Organisation (SARSO) had
already been established with its
office located in Dhaka.
Hasina said the last SAARC summit in
the Maldives had decided on greater
flow of financial capital and intraregional long-term investment. "We
are
currently
dealing
with
liberalisation in trade and services."
India urges traders not to do
business in Chinese city
The Indian embassy in Beijing has
urged its nationals not to do business
in the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu
after reports that two Indians there
were "mistreated" over allegedly
unpaid bills.
The incident triggered an official
complaint from India after a diplomat
called
S.
Balachandran
was
manhandled during a court case in
Yiwu over the weekend in which he
was trying to secure the release of the
two traders.
"Indian traders and businessmen are
hereby cautioned not to do business
with Yiwu in Zhejiang province," the
embassy said in a statement on its
website.
"They should be aware that when
there are trade disputes with Yiwu, the
Indian businessmen/traders can be
illegally held under detention and
mistreated by Chinese businessmen
there.
"Based on experience, there is no
guarantee that legal remedies will be
readily available. Furthermore, in
case of disputes arising, experience
suggests that there is inadequate
protection for safety of persons."
Yiwu is home to the world's largest
wholesale market for consumer
goods.
An Indian government official, who
declined to be named, told AFP
Monday the foreign ministry had
summoned Zhang Yue, Beijing's
deputy chief of mission in New Delhi,
to complain about the courtroom
assault.
15
SAARC News
Manmohan worried about
budget deficit
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh said in his New Year’s message
to the nation that controlling the
government’s budget deficit was a
priority for 2012 to avert another
crisis.
In a lengthy address from the
beleaguered premier, whose cabinet
has suffered from corruption scandals
and policy setbacks, Singh laid out his
vision for the next 12 months.
“I am concerned about fiscal stability
in the future because our fiscal deficit
has worsened in the past three years,”
Singh said in a statement.
After heavy borrowings over the last
three years to fund a stimulus
package to counter the effects of the
2008 global financial crisis, he
accepted the budget now needed to
be rebalanced with new taxes and
cuts to subsidies. “We have run out of
fiscal space and must once again
begin the process of fiscal
consolidation,” he said.
Recalling the country’s financial crisis
in the 1990s, he added: “This is
important to ensure that our growth
process is not jeopardized and,
equally important, our national
sovereignty and self respect are not
endangered.” He said the government
“must ensure that the country does
not go down that road once again”,
referring to the 1991 bailout of the
country by the International Monetary
Fund.
16
The Indian economy has hit
headwinds in the last six months, with
high inflation coupled with sharply
lower growth forecast to be 7.0
percent by economists for this
financial
year-low
by
recent
standards. The rupee has also fallen
sharply this year and is at record lows
against the dollar.
Singh also stressed the importance of
the expensive task of modernizing
India’s defense forces, something he
described as “my most important task
as prime minister. “India’s economic
and energy security require this,” he
said.
India says it is continuing
to buy oil from Iran
Energy-hungry India has said it is
continuing to buy oil from Iran, despite
an intensifying US campaign to
smother Tehran's vital oil exports until
it abandons its nuclear programme.
"We have accepted sanctions which
were made by the United Nations.
Other sanctions do not apply to
individual countries," Indian Foreign
Secretary Ranjan Mathai told a news
conference. "We continue to buy oil
from Iran."
Iran is India's second-largest oil
supplier after Saudi Arabia, providing
around 12 percent of the fast-growing
country's oil needs at an annual cost
of around $12 billion. Washington is
spearheading a campaign to squeeze
Iranian oil exports, and President
Barack Obama recently signed a bill
allowing penalties on foreign banks
who settle oil import costs with Iran's
central bank.
The law provides waivers to firms in
countries that significantly reduce
crude supplies from Iran. Under
Washington's measures, foreign firms
must choose between doing business
with the Islamic republic or the United
States.
Mathai said India would not seek a
waiver from the United States.
Japan said it would cut imports but
China has refused to bow to US
pressure.
The Indian foreign secretary's
statements came after a high-level
government delegation departed for
Tehran to work out an alternative
mode of payment for oil, a senior
finance ministry told AFP, asking not
to be named.
Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar
told reporters the delegation would
"work out what (could be done) in
terms of the new sanctions under
section 1245 of the US Act".
New Delhi at present pays Iran $1
billion every month through Turkey.
India fears Turkey may come under
pressure to halt the conduit with the
fresh US round of sanctions against
Iran.
The European Union is slated to
announce tough measures of its own
soon. Iran, which insists its nuclear
programme is for exclusively peaceful
purposes, has repeatedly said it will
not abandon uranium enrichment
despite four rounds of UN Security
Council sanctions demanding it
desist.
S Lanka won't draw balance
of $2.6b IMF loan
Sri Lanka, which is locked in a row
with the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) over its exchange rate policy,
will not draw the remaining $800
million of a $2.6 billion loan from the
global lender due to the high interest
rate, the governor of the central bank
said.
The island-nation has already
received $1.8 billion of the loan in
seven tranches since July 2009, but
the IMF has withheld the eighth
payment since September after the
central bank failed to allow flexibility in
the rupee exchange rate.
"If we do not draw any further money
we will have to pay only a 1.1 per cent
interest rate for the entire loan. But
otherwise for the entire loan of $2.6
billion, we will have to pay 3.1 per
cent," Central bank Governor Ajith
Nivard Cabraal told Reuters in an
interview.
SAARC News
"With the US Federal Reserve saying
that they are going to hold rates until
2014, which are almost zero, that puts
a lot of pressure on someone
borrowing at 3 per cent. That is why
we thought it is better for us to not to
take any money."
Given the central bank's failure to
allow flexible exchange rate, markets
had been expecting a 'make or break'
decision either from the IMF or central
bank on the loan, which was extended
by another year with a waiver in 2011.
Sources close to the IMF have told
Reuters that a flexible exchange rate
would be the key to move forward with
the loan.
The loan programme and the end of a
25-year civil war in May 2009 have
helped revive foreign investor
confidence in the $59 billion economy.
The central bank has spent more than
$1.07 billion keeping the exchange
rate steady since a 3.0 per cent
devaluation on Nov. 21, after
spending a net $1.61 billion from JulyOctober to keep depreciation at bay.
That has cost it a third of its record
reserve total of $8.1 billion held at
end-July.
The IMF loan was meant purely to
boost the country's reserves, and
central bank officials say there will not
be any fiscal adjustments required
due to the decision.
Sri Lanka's reserves were at $6.0
billion by end-2011. An IMF mission is
in talks with Sri Lankan authorities to
assess the country's economic
performance under the loan.
"I can tell you, in all the meetings,
there was not even one discussion
took place on that," Cabraal told,
referring to the exchange rate policy.
The central bank has refused to stop
defending the currency, arguing it has
the reserves to pay for it in
anticipation of inflows in the first
quarter that will stem depreciation
pressure.
Sri Lanka's ability to meet fiscal and
reform targets spelled out under the
loan programme and its post-war
economic performance have been
key gauges for global credit rating
agencies, and economists expect any
negative comments from the IMF
could have an adverse impact on the
country's borrowing costs.
Sri
Lanka's
IMF
country
representative Koshy Mathai said it
was up to Colombo to decide if it
wanted to draw the remaining money
under the programme.
"We are happy to be involved in
whatever way the Sri Lankan
government and central bank find
most useful," Mathai told Reuters.
Pak exports up by 3.9 % to
$ 11.24b in six months
Pakistan’s exports during JulyDecember 2011-12 improved by 3.94
percent to $ 11.241 billion, compared
to $ 10.815 billion in the same period
last year.
According to Trade Development
Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), imports
during July-December 2011-12 stood
at $ 22.713 billion as compare to $
19.102 billion during the same period
of the year 2010-11, registering a 18.9
percent growth.
During December 2011 exports were
valued at $ 1.854 billion which was
11.5% per cent lower than $ 2.094
billion during December 2010.
Imports during December 2011 were
valued at $ 4.261 billion, registering a
growth of 13.6 per cent over the level
of imports valued at $ 3.751 billion in
December 2010.
Leather garments
contribute $ 404m
Export of Pakistani leather garments
has witnessed increase and reached
US $ 404 million in 2010-11 as
compared to US$ 344 million in 200910. Trade Development Authority of
Pakistan
(TDAP)
and
Export
Development Fund took numerous
initiatives which are now bearing fruit
as the sector has been showing
growth and contributing foreign
exchange to national kitty, official
sources said in Islamabad.
Exports of leather (tanned) increased
by 44.29 percent, exports of leather
garments went up by 18.53 percent
and leather gloves by 18.62 percent
last year, the sources said and added
among the footwear products, exports
of leather footwear increased by 5.96
percent during the period.
The sources said TDAP has arranged
numerous exhibitions to promote the
sector and ensure meaningful
participation
of
national
and
international buyers and sellers. The
Authority also participated in 12
exhibitions of textiles products
including ready-made garments in
2011. Furthermore, TDAP intends to
participate in 12 exhibitions to be held
in Africa and China in the coming
months.
The sources said TDAP also
organized six trade delegations during
last year to visit different countries
including Tajikistan, China, Malaysia
and Indonesia to promote leather
garments.
Moreover, an amount of Rs. 846.031
million has been released during last
nine years to the leather sector from
the Export Development Fund.
17
SAARC News
Afghanistan to face major
financial challenges
Nepal’s trade volume drops
by 20-30 per cent
Presenting next year's budget to the
House of Representatives, Afghan
Minister of Finance Hazrat Omer
Zakhilwal said that as the Afghans are
taking over responsibilities, it will
cause a major challenge for Afghan
government beyond 2014.
“The quantity of consignments from
different customs points has reduced
significantly,” said director general of
the Department of Customs Rana
Bahadur Shrestha at a programme
organised in Katmandu by Nepal
China Chamber of Commerce and
Industry.
Afghanistan will face major financial
challenges after 2014, the Afghan
Minister of Finance said while
speaking before the Afghan House of
Representatives.
He emphasized that the Afghan
government will not have enough
financial resources to carry on without
international support.
"With all these achievements, we will
face some major challenges," Mr
Zakhiwal said. "The transition process
can give Afghans more responsibility
but it will cause major financial
challenges."
The total budget for next year is
estimated Afs 224.5 billions. The
normal annual budget for Afghanistan
will be Afs134.3 billion.
Nearly 77.3 billion Afs will be earned
through Afghan government incomes
and more than 56.9 billion Afs will be
provided by international community.
The development budget of the
country is estimated 9.2 billion Afs.
The total revenues from the national
resources are estimated 87.9 billion
Afs for the next solar year.
The total cut for the main budget will
be 12.5 billion Afs, Zakhilwal added.
Lack of professional personnel is
another challenge cited by the finance
ministry.
18
His comment comes as The US
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta
urged the international community to
help pay for strong Afghan security
troops despite worldwide economic
pressure.
Overall export and import of Nepal
declined by 20 per cent to 30 per cent
of late but revenue from customs
remained stable due to the gain in
exchange rate.
“The
encouraging
revenue
mobilisation is not due to an
expansion of trade but due to a
stronger dollar,” claimed president of
Nepal China Chamber of Commerce
and Industry Rajesh Kaji Shrestha.
According to the department, there
has been a decline in opening Letter
of Credit (LC) due to a volatile US
dollar. It has also asked Nepal Rastra
Bank to provide the trend of LCs for
the last one month to get a clear
picture of the export-import trend and
forecast customs collections.
Import volume from different customs
points also declined because most
importers are in a ‘wait and watch’
mode due to the fluctuation in the
value of the US dollar, the department
claimed, adding that it is expected that
imports will rise once the value of the
dollar remains stable.
Customs data revealed that the import
of petroleum products has gone down
in the last two months and the import
of vehicles has also plunged. The
government is mulling on reducing
import tariffs on vehicles, Shrestha,
said, adding that this could materialise
if there is no change in government till
the next budget.
Domestic transportation
cost Maldives up
Maldivian Department of National
Planning (DNP) statistics has shown
that the price of domestic air
transportation had increased by 18%.
DNP inflation records showed that the
increase in the price of domestic
flights within the last 12 months
(December 2010- December 2011),
which also revealed that prices of
international flights increased by 20%
within the same period.
The transportation sector contributed
a clear 8% of the total inflation for the
year, whilst the rate of inflation in the
Capital Male’ within that period had
gone up to 11.27%.
DNP also stated that in addition to
transportation that other major price
increases were observed from food,
fish, education, and health sectors.
Asia Pacific
BIMSTEC states reaffirm commitment
to alleviate poverty
Planning and Finance Ministers of
Bimstec member states have
reaffirmed their commitment to
alleviate poverty from the region and
achieve MDGs within the stipulated
time.
They also adopted a plan of action on
poverty alleviation and issued the
Kathmandu Statement on poverty
alleviation at the end of their second
ministerial meeting on poverty
alleviation held in Katmandu,
according to a message received in
Dhaka.
They agreed to undertake specific
measures and programmes under
some broad strategies such as
accelerated, pro-poor and inclusive
growth; social development; targeted
programmes for the poor; increased
coverage for social protection; climate
change; disaster risk management
and good governance in the plan of
action.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister of Nepal Narayan Kaji
Shrestha formally inaugurated the
meeting. Planning Minister Air Vice
Marshal (retd) AK Khandakar led the
four-member Bangladesh delegation
to the meeting.
The other members of the delegation
were GED, Planning Commission Dr
Shamsul Alam, Director General for
Saarc and Bimstec of the Foreign
Ministry Syed Masud Mahmood
Khundoker, and Minister, Bangladesh
Embassy in Nepal Forhadul Islam.
In the Kathmandu Statement, the
ministers agreed to incorporate the
aspects of the plan of action to reflect
on their national plans and
programmes; promote trade and
tourism; improve transportation,
communication linkages and greater
connectivity.
They also emphasised mutual
cooperation among member states for
environmental
protection,
and
conservation
and
sustainable
utilisation of natural resources for the
reduction of poverty. The ministers
also agreed to cooperate in
technology transfer, capacity building
and sharing best practices in poverty
alleviation in the region.
In the formal morning session of the
ministerial meeting, AK Khandakar
presented a paper on Bangladesh's
economic performance, present
status on poverty alleviation and
MDGs.
Bangladesh,
despite
many
constraints, has been maintaining a
steady growth, he said. He also said
the pro-poor policy of the present
Awami League government led by
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina helped
Bangladesh maintain track on
achieving MDGs and improve all the
social and economic indices in the
country.
Referring to the Vision 2021, the
Planning Minister said the objective of
his government is to elevate
Bangladesh to a middle-income
economy by 2021.
BIMSTEC member states lauded
Bangladesh for its success and
progress made in the way of
achieving MDGs. The sub-regional
group BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India,
Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic
Cooperation) was formed on June 6,
1997 with four countries of the region.
Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal joined
the group later and the name of the
grouping was changed to Bay of
Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral
Technical and Economic Cooperation
(Bimstec) in 2004 at its first summit.
China's Hu vows to tackle
trade imbalances
Chinese President Hu Jintao has
pledged to resolve trade imbalances
with nations that have huge deficits
with the Asian powerhouse, as China
marked the tenth anniversary of its
accession to the WTO.
In a speech in Beijing, Hu said China
was not intentionally seeking a trade
surplus -- a bugbear for major trade
partners such as the United States
who say Beijing's exports are cheap
because its currency is undervalued.
"We will strengthen economic
cooperation with countries that have
substantial trade deficits with China,
and work together with them to
gradually resolve trade imbalances,"
Hu said in the Great Hall of the
People.
"We will actively expand imports to
drive the transformation of the foreign
trade pattern in a bid to promote the
basic balance of international
payments. We do not deliberately
pursue a trade surplus."
The United States has recently
stepped up criticism of what it says
are unfair Chinese trade practices, in
the face of deep US voter anger over
high unemployment and the state of
the economy.
Some US lawmakers have criticised
China's yuan currency, which they say
is grossly undervalued, and therefore
fuels the US trade deficit and costs
US jobs.
19
Asia Pacific
China, Japan scramble for
oil as Sudan shuts fields
The shutdown in Sudanese oil supply
could drive up already record
premiums on spot crude markets as
top Sudan customers China and
Japan scramble for alternatives even
as they weigh the impact on oil flows
of international sanctions on Iran.
South Sudan has shut down its oil
output, estimated at around 350,000
barrels per day (bpd), as it and
neighbour Sudan row over how to
disentangle their oil industries,
borders and debt.
Before the shutdown, China imported
most of that volume, bringing in
around 260,000 bpd in 2011,
according to Chinese customs data.
That loss, in addition to cuts China
has made in imports from Iran as
Beijing and Tehran bicker over
contract terms, has left China looking
for alternatives equivalent to around
10 percent of its imports, or around
545,000 bpd.
"It will be a challenge to try to meet the
shortfall in supply due to this sudden
disruption as the overall quantity is not
really that small," said Victor Shum,
senior partner at oil consultancy
Purvin & Gertz said. "Overall this is a
tighter supply situation for Asian
refiners."
The regional spot market is unlikely to
provide much relief because of limited
availability due to a spurt in demand
from Japan for power generation after
a devastating earthquake crippled
nuclear facilities last year.
The supply disruption has added to
the rally, boosting spot premiums for
March to a record. It could drive prices
even higher-although any rise may be
tempered by refinery maintenance in
the second quarter.
20
Sudan released vessels loaded with
South Sudanese oil, but has yet to
agree to more exports from the
terminal.
The shutdown by South Sudan in
protest has cut off supplies to equity
holders China National Petroleum
Corp (CNPC), Malaysia's Petronas
and India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp.
"We expect some disruption in loading
schedules with the production
shutdown," an official with one of the
equity holders said. "We hope for a
resolution soon."
The heavy sweet grades-Nile and Dar
Blend-produced in South Sudan are
preferred in Japan for power
production and by Chinese refineries.
They are often blended to reduce
sulphur content in fuel oil, a residue
output from refining crude and mostly
used for running ships, for sale to
power utilities in markets such as
Japan and Taiwan.
Overall, the Asia-Pacific region is net
short of crude as output from aging
fields in Indonesia and Vietnam
declines and as producers divert
output to meet rising domestic
demand. To make up for the loss from
Iran, China has already been buying
extra spot crude from Russia, West
Africa, Middle East and also Vietnam
in January and February.
Japan PM shuffles cabinet
to rescue tax hike plan
Japan's premier reshuffled his cabinet
just four months into the job as he
looks to rescue plans to raise the
sales tax and dig the country out from
under its mountain of debt.
Yoshihiko Noda used a round of
ministerial musical chairs to rid
himself of two under-fire colleagues
whose presence had threatened to
scupper his legislative programme
and sink plans to hike consumption
tax.
He also brought in a political
heavyweight to help drive through the
unpopular tax rise that analysts of all
stripes agree is needed if Japan is to
get to grips with its huge debt, which
stands at around 200 percent of GDP.
"I've done the reshuffle to create the
best and strongest cabinet lineup so
as to steadfastly carry out the... social
security and tax reforms, which we
must face, which we cannot avoid or
put off," Noda said at a press
conference. All cabinet ministers
present at a morning meeting handed
in a letter of resignation but the bulk of
them were told they would be staying
in their posts.
Five were replaced, chief among them
were Defence Minister Yasuo
Ichikawa and Consumer Affairs
Minister Kenji Yamaoka, both of whom
have been censured by the
opposition-controlled upper house of
parliament.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu
Fujimura told a press conference that
Katsuya Okada, a former party chief,
had been brought in as deputy prime
minister, a position that previously did
not exist, with responsibility for -among other things -- reform of the
social security and tax systems.
Okada, 58, is a former foreign
minister, an ex-DPJ leader and onetime trade ministry technocrat known
for his exhaustive policy knowledge
and strait-laced "Mr Clean" image.
His political experience is widely
believed to be vital if the
administration is to garner the crossparty support it needs for tax reform
legislation. Ichikawa's successor as
defence chief is Naoki Tanaka, 71,
husband of former foreign minister
Makiko Tanaka and son-in-law of late
premier Kakuei Tanaka.
The new education minister will be
Hirofumi Hirano while the new justice
head will be upper house politician
Toshio Ogawa.
Jin Matsubara is the new consumer
affairs minister. Heavyweight posts
including foreign minister and finance
minister were unchanged.
The reshuffle was greeted with a
political shrug by the opposition, with
Asia Pacific
Nobuteru Ishihara, secretary general
of the Liberal Democratic Party, telling
reporters Noda had "only changed
some faces to cover up his
responsibility for having failed to pick
the right person" in the first place.
With his approval ratings having slid
since he took office in September,
Noda is under pressure to do
something to stop the rot if he is to
avoid becoming the latest casualty of
Japan's revolving door premiership,
which saw his last five predecessors
survive only a year each.
He needs the help of the opposition to
pass a package of tax and social
reform bills and see through his
unpopular plan to raise consumer tax
from five percent to eight percent in
early 2014 and 10 percent in late
2015.
Japan considering alternative
oil supplies
Imminent international sanctions on
Iranian oil exports aimed at pushing
Tehran into giving up its nuclear
programme have left resource-poor
Japan searching for alternative
supplies, officials said.
With virtually no fossil fuels of its own,
energy-hungry Japan is heavily
dependent on the Middle East, with
Iranian oil accounting for nearly nine
percent of its power needs in the first
11 months of last year.
Unlike its major allies, Tokyo has
maintained a working relationship with
Tehran, but the EU and the US are
now stepping up efforts to squeeze
Iran over what they believe is a
nuclear weapons programme under
the guise of a civilian power project.
That has led to pressure on Japan to
look elsewhere for its oil -- with
Tokyo's largest supplier, Saudi Arabia
an obvious choice.
An official at JX Nippon Oil & Energy,
Japan's biggest petroleum refiner,
said it would cope with a ban on
Iranian crude oil by "switching to
imports from other Middle East
countries and other regions including
West Africa."
"We are talking with Saudi Arabia and
other oil producing countries about
measures in the event of a problem
arising in Iranian supplies," the official
told AFP. "But we cannot give you
details on what we are discussing."
Japan's industry minister Yukio Edano
said the world's third biggest economy
was prepared to "make efforts to
minimise the impact (of such an oil
embargo) on our country and the
world economy."
"We are not at a stage where we
should answer a hypothetical
question," the minister of economy,
trade and industry told a regular news
conference.
"But, as a matter of course, we are
making preparations by taking every
possibility into consideration." Foreign
Minister Koichiro Gemba made an
eight-day trip to Turkey, Saudi Arabia,
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates
for talks expected to focus on the
Iranian oil problem.
S Korea’s growth slows
due to eurozone crisis
South Korea’s economy grew at its
slowest pace for two years in the final
quarter of 2011 as Europe’s debt
crisis took its toll on exports and
consumer spending, the central bank
said. Gross domestic product in
October-December rose 0.4 percent
from the previous three months,
compared with a 0.8 percent rise in
the third quarter.
It was the lowest quarter-on-quarter
increase since 0.2 percent in OctoberDecember 2009. Year-on-year, Asia’s
fourth largest economy grew 3.4
percent in the fourth quarter of 2011
compared to 3.5 percent in JulySeptember. “Amid sluggish domestic
demand, exports turned negative,”
senior central bank official Kim YoungBae told reporters.
“The sovereign debt crisis in Europe
had a larger than expected impact on
facility investment and private
consumption.” Exports, accounting
for about half of GDP, declined 1.5
percent
quarter-on-quarter
in
October-December after expanding
2.2 percent in the three months
earlier.
Private spending fell 0.4 percent
compared to a 0.4 percent rise in the
previous quarter. Facility investment
dropped 5.2 percent after falling 0.8
percent in July-September, while
construction investment fell 0.3
percent following a 1.8 percent rise in
the third quarter.
The economy grew 3.6 percent last
year compared with a 6.2 percent rise
in 2010. Barclays Capital forecast that
growth would pick up in the first
quarter of this year amid firm US
economic data and resilient demand
from China. It said an upward revision
in figures was possible next month
because
of
firm
employment
conditions and a surge in start-up
companies.
Barclays tipped a 1.0 percent quarteron-quarter GDP expansion in
January-March and maintained its 3.5
percent forecast for the full year. The
central bank forecasts 3.7 percent
growth this year. The central bank this
month froze its key interest rate at
3.25 percent for a seventh straight
month despite inflationary pressures,
citing a significant global slowdown
and Europe’s persistent sovereign
debt crisis.
HSBC Global Research said the
figures confirm that “weakness is now
embedded inside Korea’s economy”.
It tipped a 25 basis point rate cut to
support domestic demand by the end
of the current quarter. It said the
export outlook remains firm, thanks to
a weaker won, the effect of free trade
deals and easier manufacturing
import costs.
21
Middle East
Iran warns Saudi Arabia to reconsider
vow to open oil taps
Iran has warned Saudi Arabia to
reconsider its vow to make up for any
shortfall in Iranian oil exports under
new sanctions, saying Riyadh's
pledge to step into the market was
unfriendly.
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi
issued the warning in remarks carried
by state media. "We invite Saudi
officials to further reflect and consider"
their offer to compensate for curbed
Iranian oil exports, Salehi said.
He attacked comments by Saudi Oil
Minister Ali al-Naimi that Saudi oil
output could be boosted by around
2.6 million barrels per day -- the same
amount that Iran exports -- and that
the world will not permit Iran to close
the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
"These signals are not friendly
signals," Salehi said. "Iran expects all
Persian Gulf countries, in particular
Saudi Arabia ... to avoid making rash
remarks." He also said that "the
security of the Persian Gulf is a
collective security and Iran is a major
player in this regard."
Iran has already told Saudi Arabia and
other oil-producing Arab neighbours
that if they step in to compensate for
Iranian oil exports cut under looming
EU and US sanctions, it "would not
consider these actions to be friendly."
Tehran's representative to OPEC,
Mohammad Ali Khatibi, was quoted as
saying that those countries "will be
held responsible for what happens" if
they did so, adding ominously: "One
cannot predict the consequences."
22
Iran's political and military leaders
have repeatedly said that if their
country is unable to export its oil, they
will stop other producers in the Middle
East from sending their oil through the
Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of
the Gulf.
The narrow channel is a chokepoint
for more than a third of the world's
tanker-borne oil, or 20 percent of the
world's total traded oil, according to
the US Energy Department. Saudi
Arabia is by far the biggest exporter in
OPEC, followed by Iran.
Relations between the two countries
have long been poor, and have
become worse in recent months
following US allegations that a
thwarted plot to assassinate the Saudi
ambassador in Washington was
hatched in Tehran.
The Gulf Cooperation Council, which
comprises oil-producers Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates,
Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, has
accused Iran of interfering in their
members' internal affairs.
Naimi's interview with CNN was
recorded on the weekend, before
Khatibi made his warning to Iran's
neighbours, but after Iran's threats to
close the Strait of Hormuz.
He said Saudi Arabia was currently
producing up to 9.8 million barrels per
day, but had "substantial spare
capacity" to produce 12.5 million bpd.
"I believe we can easily get up to 11.4,
11.8 (million bpd) almost immediately,
in a few days. Because all we need is
to turn valves. Now to get (the rest)
we probably need about 90 days," he
said. On the threats over the Strait of
Hormuz, Naimi said: "The world
cannot stand for that."
The United States and the European
Union are ramping up sanctions on
Iran in an effort to get it to halt its
nuclear activities, which they fear
include research on developing
atomic weapons.
Iran’s rial hits record low
Iran’s currency, the rial, hit a record
low against the dollar, the ISNA news
agency reported, based on rates in
black market trading that the
government has tried to ban.
The rial’s plunge, to 18,000 to the
dollar, comes ahead of an EU foreign
ministers’ meeting. The Tehran
government has tried to shore up the
value of the rial in recent weeks by
imposing a lower rate in banks and
currency exchange bureaux, and
banning transactions outside of those
outlets.
But many exchange bureaux have
refused to buy or sell dollars at the
imposed rate, and blackmarket
dealers have managed to continue to
do business despite the presence of
police deployed to enforce the ban,
according to witnesses in the centre of
Tehran.
A website, mesghal.ir, that gives realtime values for the rial against other
currencies, quoted a price of 18,200
to the dollar. Access to the site has
been blocked on the Internet inside
Iran, although people with a VPN
(virtual private network) have been
able to get around the filter.
The black market figure quoted by
ISNA represented a 29 percent
difference with the imposed rate of
14,000. The rial has lost 40 percent of
its value against the dollar in the past
three months, as the United States
and European countries have ramped
up their sanctions.
A sudden acceleration in the slide was
seen in the first few days of January,
after US President Barack Obama
signed into law more sanctions hitting
Iran’s central bank and targeting
foreign companies that do business
with
Iran.
Economy
Minister
Shamseddin Hosseini and Central
Bank chief Mahmoud Bahmani were
summoned before the Iranian
parliament over the issue, and
promised to bring the exchange rate
under control.
Middle East
The pair “promised the market
situation will be managed in a few
days” with no difference between the
official and blackmarket rates, Deputy
Economy Minister Mohsen Salehi-Nia
told the Mehr news agency.
Although the government has insisted
there is no connection between the
rial’s slide and the new sanctions,
some officials have admitted a
“psychological”
effect
spooking
ordinary Iranians.
A rush to gold and other non-currency
assets has been seen. The price of
gold coins in Iran has risen 16 percent
in the past week, according to ISNA.
The European Union is poised to add
to the sanctions by announcing a ban
on exports of Iran’s most vital
resource, oil, although the embargo is
expected to be phased in over a
number of months. US envoys,
meanwhile, have been dispatched to
several
countries
that
trade
significantly with Iran to try to
persuade them to financially isolate
the Islamic republic.
Inflation in Kuwait
at 3-year high
Kuwait’s average inflation climbed to
a three-year high of 4.8 percent in
2011, in line with analysts’ forecasts,
data showed, but price pressures are
expected to subside this year.
Consumer price growth in the OPEC
member, which was spared the unrest
sweeping the Middle East and North
Africa last year apart from some
small-scale demonstrations, reached
4.0 percent in 2010. Kuwait’s 2011
inflation rate is the second-highest in
the Gulf Arab oil-exporting region, just
below 4.9 percent for Saudi Arabia.
However, inflation in Kuwait, home to
around
2.7
million
people,
decelerated last year, slowing to a 19month low of 3.1 percent in December
from a 6.0 percent peak seen in
December 2010, with
expecting it to fall further.
analysts
“Right now there are no significant
inflationary pressures in Kuwait,” said
Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at
National Bank of Abu Dhabi. “Global
inflationary factors are not there. We
have seen a significant decline in
global food prices between February
and December. In addition, the dollar
has been quite strong. If we look at
money and credit growth, they are
also both very subdued so we don’t
see inflation on the horizon,” he said.
Bank lending to the private sector
grew by a mere 2.6 percent year-onyear in December, while money
supply growth slowed to a four-month
low of 8.5 percent. On the month,
consumer prices in Kuwait, which
pegs its dinar to a dollar-dominated
currency basket, edged higher by 0.5
percent, the fastest rise in three
months, the data from the country’s
Central Statistics Office showed. Food
prices, which account for 18 percent
of consumer expenses, soared by 1.1
percent month-on-month, rebounding
sharply from a 0.1 percent rise in
November. Housing costs, which
make up for over a quarter of the
basket, increased by 0.8 percent
month-on-month in December after
remaining flat in the previous two
months.
Analysts have expected prices in the
world’s No. 6 crude exporter to go up
last year helped by a rise in global
commodity costs as well as the
government’s social handouts.
Last January, the government
announced plans to spend nearly $5
billion, or almost 4 percent of its gross
domestic product, on cash grants and
free food rations for its citizens. A
Reuters poll in December forecast
average inflation of 4.8 percent in
2011 and 4.5 percent in 2012. “One
thing that could stimulate price
pressures
in
Kuwait
is
the
development plan which they have,
but it depends on how aggressively
they pursue that,” Gokkent said. “But I
don’t see any significant inflationary
pressures at this juncture.”
Parliament cleared a $110 billion
development plan in Feb 2010, aiming
to diversify away from oil and boost
the private sector, but little remains
spent so far due to political clashes,
which led to two government
resignations last year. Kuwait, one of
the richest countries in the world with
2011 per capita income of over
$40,700 estimated by the IMF, will
hold parliamentary elections in
February
following
the
latest
government resignation in November.
Syrians grapple with
economic crisis
As President Bashar Assad fights off a
10-month-old uprising, Syrians have
been struggling to cope with
shortages of heating oil and other fuel,
electricity cuts of up to 16 hours a day
and dwindling bank balances. With no
end in sight to the violent conflict,
Assad’s embattled regime has sought
to rally support by blaming the
uprising – and the “terrorists” he says
are behind it – for the profound
economic crisis gripping the country
of 22 million. The rhetoric reflects an
awareness in the regime that
economic pain could erode the
support it has succeeded in retaining
so far amid the turmoil.
For now, though, many Syrians say
their immediate needs transcend
politics. “I haven’t seen such a crisis in
my entire life,” said Majd Amer, a
resident and activist in Homs, a city
that has been among the hardest-hit
by the military crackdown on
protesters. “Most of the residents
depend on assistance from their
neighbours.”
Syria’s economy is groaning under
the weight of sanctions from the US,
European Union, the Arab League,
and the emerging regional power
Turkey. The government’s violent
crackdown on the uprising has
23
Middle East
caused vital sources of revenue – like
tourism – to dry up, and much of the
economic squeeze has affected lowlevel merchants and businesses. The
value of the Syrian pound has
dropped 50 percent from 47 to the
dollar to 71 to the dollar on the black
market, sparking a rise in prices that is
straining Syrian budgets.
Central Bank Governor Adib Mayaleh
said Syria will start next week to
intervene to “improve the price of the
pound,” meaning it would spend
reserves to maintain the value. He
declined to say how much money
Syria has in foreign reserves, despite
speculation that Damascus is already
burning through its funds to withstand
the blistering sanctions.
In a telephone interview with The
Associated Press, Mayaleh blamed
the
economic
woes
on
an
“international conspiracy,” echoing the
regime’s line that foreign terrorists are
driving the revolt against Assad, not
protesters seeking change. Earlier
this week, Syria’s oil minister said
Western sanctions on Syrian oil
exports have cost the country $2
billion since September – an
unusually blunt assessment of the
economic problems the country is
facing.
In a speech earlier, Assad blamed his
opponents for Syrians’ suffering, and
mockingly asked if being a
revolutionary meant “depriving people
of cooking oil they need so they don’t
starve.” Analysts say the change in
tone is a subtle shift by the regime. In
the early days of the uprising, the
government
stressed
it
was
invulnerable to the sanctions. But
now, Assad and others increasingly
cite Syrians’ suffering – and say the
uprising is the cause of it all. The
move signals a keen understanding
that if the economy crumbles, it could
spell doom for the regime.
24
“The regime is trying to mobilize
against the sanctions, now that the
sanctions
are
affecting
their
economy,” said Said Hirsh, a Mideast
economist with Capital Economics in
London. Assad has spent years
shifting the country away from the
socialism espoused by his father and
predecessor. The result was a new
and vibrant merchant class that
transformed
Syria’s
economic
landscape – even as the regime’s
tight
political
grip
remained
unchanged.
So far, the salaried classes have stuck
beside Assad amid the greatest
challenge yet to the 40-year rule of his
family. But if the economic squeeze
reaches them, it could be a gamechanger for Assad since they may
begin to pressure for some sort of
resolution to the crisis or even turn
outright against him. The violent
conflict in Syria has marked the most
serious challenge to the Assad
dynasty. The UN estimates some
5,400 have been killed since March,
when the uprising began against
Assad.
Although the revolt began with mostly
peaceful protests, an increasingly
strong armed element has developed
and many people are now fighting
back against the regime. Army
defectors, as well, have turned their
weapons on government targets.
Syrians say they are suffering a frigid
winter with power cuts and scarce
cooking and heating oil. In Homs,
queues for gas cylinders, which cost
about $5, can stretch more than 100
people; wealthier residents turn to the
black market and pay double the
price.
Attacks on fuel pipelines have
contributed to the shortages, and
because of the chaos the state is
slower – or unable – to fix electricity
problems, causing cutoffs. Key
revenue sources like tourism – which
accounted for 12 percent of the
economy, or $8 billion dollars in 2010
– have dried up. Visa and MasterCard
credit cards are no longer valid in
Syria,
hurting
prospects
for
international travel and business.
Dubai launches $3.27b
solar energy project
The emirate of Dubai has unveiled
plans to build a 12 billion dirham
($3.27 billion) solar energy park, with
potential capacity of 1,000 megawatts
(MW) as part of its efforts to reduce its
energy reliance. Under Dubai’s
Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, it
plans to reduce energy imports and
climate warming carbon dioxide
emissions by 30 percent by 2030,
using its own solar power and nuclear
power imported from neighbouring
emirate Abu Dhabi to reduce reliance
on gas.
Named after Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Solar Park will cover an area of 48
square km. The first solar plant of the
park will have a capacity of 10 MW
and is planned to commence
operations by end-2013. It will cost
around 120 million dirhams. “The
members of the Supreme Council of
Energy are financing the project,” said
Saeed Mohammed Al-Tayer, vice
chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Council
of Energy, referring to the 10 MW
plant.
Among the members of the Council
are various government entities such
as the Dubai Supply Authority and
Dubai Petroleum Establishment as
well as Dubai Aluminum Company
(DUBAL) and Emirates National Oil
Company (ENOC). For the financing
of the rest of the project, the Supreme
Council of Energy was studying
several options like developing a
clean energy fund. It was also going to
encourage private partnership, Nejib
Zaafrani, secretary general and chief
executive officer of Supreme Energy
Council said.
The United Arab Emirates is one of
the world’s largest oil exporters,
producing some 2.6 million barrels a
day (bpd). But most of the UAE’s
production is clustered in the emirate
of Abu Dhabi, with Dubai producing
only around 100,000 bpd from four
existing fields, according to the US
Energy Administration.
International
US debt is now as big
as its economy
The soaring national debt has
reached a symbolic tipping point: It’s
now as big as the entire US economy.
The amount of money the federal
government owes to its creditors,
combined with IOUs to government
retirement and other programmes,
now tops $15.23 trillion.
That’s roughly equal to the value of all
goods and services the US economy
produces in one year: $15.17 trillion
as of September, the latest estimate.
Private projections show the economy
likely grew to about $15.3 trillion by
December — a level the debt is likely
to surpass this month. “The 100
percent mark means that your entire
debt is as big as everything you’re
producing in your country,” says Steve
Bell of the Bipartisan Policy Center,
which has proposed cutting nearly $6
trillion in red ink over 10 years.
“Clearly, that can’t continue.”
Long-term projections suggest the
debt will continue to grow faster than
the economy, which would have to
expand by at least 6 percent a year to
keep pace. President Barack
Obama’s 2012 budget shows the debt
soaring past $26 trillion a decade from
now. Last summer’s deficit reduction
deal could reduce that to $24 trillion.
Many economists, such as the
Brookings Institution’s William Gale,
say a better measure of the nation’s
debt is how much the government
owes creditors, not counting $4.7
trillion owed to future Social Security
recipients and other government
beneficiaries. By that measure, the
debt is roughly a third less: $10.5
trillion, or nearly 70 percent the size of
the economy.
That is still high by historical
standards. The total national debt
topped the size of the economy for
three years during and after World
War II.
British debt passes one
trillion pounds
The UK hovernment’s debt has
smashed through the one trillion
pounds barrier for the first time
despite a bigger-than-expected fall in
borrowing last month, figures
revealed.
Public sector borrowing, excluding
financial interventions such as bank
bailouts, fell 2.2 billion pounds to 13.7
billion pounds in the month. The
experts had expected it to fall to 14.9
billion pounds. But this was still
enough to drive net debt to 1,003.9
billion pounds, or 64.2% of GDP, up
from 883 billion pounds a year ago,
and its highest since records began in
1993.
The bigger-than-expected fall in
Government borrowing in the month
was partly offset by a 1.3 billion
pounds increase in estimates for
borrowing
between April
and
November after local Government
spending was revised upwards. But
UK Chancellor, Finance secretary,
George Osborne is still on track to hit
a target set by the Office for Budget
Responsibility to reduce borrowing to
127 billion pounds in the financial year
despite fears that the UK is on the
brink of recession, the experts pointed
out.
Central government spending fell 0.9
percent as the Chancellor’s austerity
measures increasingly kick in, while
the tax haul rose with the help of last
year’s rise in VAT to 20 percent and
the levy on banks’ balance sheets. It
is the fourth month in a row that
borrowing has fallen on the previous
year.
But there are fears that the deficit
reduction plans may be derailed, with
many economists expecting another
recession, which would hit tax
revenues and increase spending on
benefit payments. The government
borrowed a total of 103.3 billion
pounds between April and December,
which is 11.3 billion pounds lower than
the previous year. A Treasury
spokesman said “That our national
debt has reached more than one
trillion pounds simply shows the
unsustainable level of spending this
country built up over the past few
years, and shows why it is critical for
our nation’s future that we deal
decisively with the deficit. The figures
show that we are making good
progress, with borrowing over 11
billion pounds lower than in the same
period last year.
It is understood that the Government’s
debt will fall back below the one trillion
pounds barrier in January as its
coffers are swelled by increased tax
returns. But debt is expected to push
back past one trillion pounds in
February as the Government
continues to borrow more, the experts
said. The Government’s one trillion
pounds debt figure excludes financial
interventions but when these are
added net debt hit 2.3 trillion pounds
in December, which is 149 percent of
GDP, and reflects the impact of bailing
out some of the UK’s largest banks
following the credit crunch.
IMF warns of euro-zone spiral
as banks take cover
European banks stowed record sums
in the ECB for safe keeping as a top
IMF official warned the euro-zone
faced a “downward spiral” in the wake
of a batch of stinging credit
downgrades.
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy
received a boost when Moody’s
declined to follow rival ratings agency
Standard and Poor’s in stripping Paris
of its triple-A status but headed for
crisis talks in Spain with clouds
gathering. Euro-zone banks put 493.3
billion euros ($623.7 billion) on 24-
25
International
hours deposit with the European
Central Bank overnight, topping a
record of 489 billion euros and
highlighting fears of a credit crunch.
Meanwhile, IMF First Deputy
Managing Director David Lipton
warned Asian finance and banking
chiefs meeting in Hong Kong of
trouble ahead. “Europe could be
swept into a downward spiral of
collapsing confidence, stagnant
growth, and fewer jobs,” he said. “In
today’s
interconnected
global
economy, no country and no region
would be immune from that
catastrophe.”
European leaders are due to meet on
January 30 to agree a new fiscal pact
to coordinate deficit reduction
programs and attempt to reassure the
bond markets that they are on top of
the sovereign debt crisis. But S&P
downgrade of nine European
economies and the impasse in talks
between private lenders and debtwracked Greece have raised fears
that the markets will not be content to
wait until governments provide
answers.
Sarkozy, who saw France stripped of
its top AAA credit rating, was to
receive an award from King Juan
Carlos in Madrid before holding a
working meeting with Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy. S&P’s rival Moody’s
gave Sarkozy some welcome relief
when it said it would not follow suit but
it also warned that it was still
reviewing whether to maintain its
“stable” outlook on France.
26
Spain and Italy were both hit by
double downgrades in the S&P report
card, piling pressure on governments
and the euro in the run-up to the EU
summit. The euro remained under
pressure but edged up to $1.2680 in
early London trading from $1.2677 in
New York, when it plunged to a 17month low at $1.2624 — a level last
seen in August 2010.
Already, by slapping nine euro-zone
members with downgrades and
putting all the others bar Germany on
notice that they are under scrutiny,
S&P has undermined the European
Financial Stability Facility. The EFSF
is supposed to act as a bail-out fund
to back-stop weak economies but it
owes its own credit-worthiness to its
triple-A backers and now faces a
downgrade of its own.
Many European leaders are furious
over S&P’s decision and are
scrambling to restore their credibility
ahead of the January 30 summit-the
latest in what is now a long line of
emergency “save the euro” meetings.
“Let there be no mistake: this is not a
crisis of the euro as a currency,” the
European Union’s internal market
commissioner Michel Barnier told the
Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong.
“The euro is here to stay. In the last 10
years the euro has proven itself as a
true world currency and despite the
difficulties, it remains strong. “The real
crisis the euro-zone faces right now is
a crisis of confidence. Our political
unity and our determination and our
ability to rectify what is wrong are
being tested,” he said.
Italy meets France as eurozone
wobbles once more
The
eurozone's
debt-wracked
economies came under renewed
pressure as bad economic data
undermined leaders' attempts to
reassure markets that an end to the
crisis is in sight.
Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti met
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy in
Paris, as the heads of the single
currency bloc's second and third
biggest economies sought to head off
new doubts about their deficit
reduction plans. But first, European
governments and markets were
confronted with a raft of gloomy
economic figures from Brussels:
unemployment stuck at a record high,
retail sales down and consumer and
business confidence sinking.
Analysts said the data showed that
eurozone's economy had contracted
in the last quarter of 2011 and will
likely shrink again in the first quarter of
the year. Positive new US figures
showed unemployment there falling to
8.5 percent, but in Europe the picture
was more bleak.
Official figures showed that eurozone
unemployment remained at a record
10.3 percent for the second month
running in November. The batch of
eurozone data has recession written
all over it, said ING analyst Martin van
Vliet.
Nervous European banks parked 455
billion euros ($582 billion) in the safe
haven of the European Central Bank
overnight -- a new record -- preferring
to earn low interest rather than take
the risk of lending to each other. After
a brief respite from bad headlines
over the New Year holiday period, the
eurozone debt crisis resurfaced with a
vengeance, driving down the single
currency and threatening Italy and
Spain.
France has yet to face the same
soaring interest rates as its southern
neighbours, but its Triple-A debt rating
is under the imminent threat of a
downgrade and bond markets losing
faith in EU financial reform plans.
"It's not France being targeted, it's 15
of the 17 members of the eurozone,"
ratings agency Standard and Poor's
chief European economist JeanMichel Six told the daily Le Parisien
when asked about France's Triple-A.
"The problem more than anything is
the way the eurozone functions, which
leaves a lot to be desired," he said.
Monti rattled markets with an
unannounced visit to Brussels before
moving on to Paris and he is due to
see Germany's Chancellor Angela
Merkel in Berlin next week to prepare
International
for a January 30 EU summit. Sarkozy
will also see Merkel, amid a
disagreement between Paris and
Berlin over a planned tax on financial
transactions. France has threatened
to go it alone, if Europe does not
follow suit by the end of the year. The
Paris talks came as IMF director
Christine Lagarde warned that the
body is likely to reduce its 4.0 percent
global growth forecast, as recession
threatens the developed world
economies battered by the debt crisis.
Crisis prompts Germany to
cut 2012 growth forecast
Germany’s government cut the
country’s 2012 growth forecast in the
wake of a faltering global economy
and Europe’s debt crisis, but said
Europe’s largest economy should
avoid sinking back into recession.
Following what is believed to have
been a contraction in economic
activity in the fourth quarter of 2011,
Economy Minister Philipp Roesler
said the government had reduced
Germany’s growth forecast for this
year to 0.7 percent from 1 percent –
its second reduction in three months.
As recently as October, the prediction
had been 1.8 percent.
Germany’s economy, the world’s
fourth largest, is thought to have
contracted by up to 0.3 percent in last
year’s fourth quarter compared with
the previous three-month period,
though final numbers are not yet in.
Roesler said he expects growth of 0.1
percent in the current quarter, which
would mean that Germany avoids
slipping into a technical recession,
defined as two consecutive quarters
of negative growth. Other forecasters
have painted a bleaker picture,
however, with many – such as
Commerzbank last week – predicting
that Germany will fall into a modest
recession in the first quarter before
returning to growth. Roesler said “a
temporary dent in growth can be
expected for the coming months” but
predicted that “the economy will
gradually liven up over the course of
2012.” Growth next year is expected
to be 1.6 percent, he said.
Roesler conceded there were risks
around the forecasts, not least from
financial market turbulence and the
debt crisis in the 17-country eurozone.
“Germany remains on the course of
growth – assuming that there is no
new sudden crisis on the financial
markets, and the uncertainty in the
euro-zone above all gradually
abates,” said Roesler, who is also
Germany’s vice chancellor. Over 2011
as a whole, Germany grew by 3
percent – following a growth spurt of
3.7 percent in 2010 after its
emergence from recession the
previous year.
That contrasted with the performance
of many of its partners in the eurozone, which have seen their
economies barely grow or shrink amid
debt troubles and tough austerity
measures. The German government
figures come after the World Bank
forecast that the euro-zone economy
as a whole will contract by 0.3 percent
this year.
It sees the United States growing by
2.2 percent, Japan by 1.9 percent and
China by 8.4 percent. Exports have
been the bedrock of Germany’s
growth over recent years, but Roesler
said this year’s expansion will stem
from stronger domestic demand. His
ministry forecast that export growth
will slow to 2 percent from 8.2 percent
last year.
It also expects a further improvement
in Germany’s already-bright labour
market picture, with the average
unemployment
rate
this
year
projected to fall from last year’s 7.1
percent – already a two-decade low –
to 6.8 percent.
German industrial orders
post sharp fall
Industrial orders in Germany fell by a
much bigger-than-expected 4.8
percent in November compared to a
month earlier, hit by falling orders from
abroad, new data showed.
An increase in orders for October was
also revised slightly downwards to 5.0
percent from 5.2 percent, according to
the figures released by the Economy
Ministry.
Due to the October increase, orders
for November had been expected to
fall but the figure exceeded the
expectations of analysts surveyed by
Dow Jones Newswires, who had
predicted a fall of 1.7 percent.
Orders from abroad slumped by 7.8
percent in November while those from
Germany fell by 1.1 percent, the
ministry said in a written statement.
"Even without taking into account big
orders, the dynamic of demand is
currently weak. In line with forecasts,
that signifies limited development for
industrial production during the winter
months," it said.
For the period of October to
November compared to the twomonth period of August-September,
manufacturing orders rose by 0.2
percent, the figures showed. However
Christian
Schulz,
analyst
at
Berenberg Bank, said that leading
indicators suggested that German
industrial output remained "fairly
resilient".
"However this export-dependent
sector will eventually suffer from the
weakness of important debt-crisis-hit
trading partners and is likely to drag
the German economy into contraction
in Q1 2012," he said.
And Andreas Rees, an economist at
UniCredit, said the figure for
manufacturing orders did not
necessarily spell looming doom and
gloom.
27
International
"The latest strong decline is not a
harbinger of a nasty recession but
above all a technical payback after the
tremendous rise in the previous
month."
Better-than-expected German jobless
data earlier this week showed
Europe's biggest economy appeared
to be holding up to the debt crisis.
Other figures revealed German
consumption was at its strongest level
for more than a decade in 2011 and
new car registrations, a key gauge of
demand in one of the country's most
important industrial sectors, rose in
December and over the whole of
2011.
Brazil inflation 6.5pc in 2011,
highest since 2004
Consumer prices in Brazil rose 6.5
percent in 2011, reaching the upper
limit of the government target but the
highest hike since 2004, the state
statistics agency said.
The 2011 increase compared with the
7.6 percent surge recorded in 2004
and 5.9 percent in 2010. The
government had set an annual
inflation target of 4.5 percent, with a
ceiling of 6.5 percent. Prices were up
0.5 percent in December, following a
half percent hike in November, the
Brazilian Geography and Statistics
Institute (IBGE) said.
The announcement coincided with a
downward revision of GDP growth in
Latin America's leading economy as a
result of the eurozone debt crisis.
The government said the economy
would expand around 3.0 percent this
year, sharply lower than the 7.5
percent recorded in 2010 amid
expectations of a gradual drop in
inflation due to the global economic
slowdown.
The Central Bank said inflation this
year should dip to 4.5 percent in line
with the official target. It welcomed the
fact that the inflation target "was met
in 2011 for the eighth consecutive
year." "Inflation is heading downward
and closed 2011 at 6.5 percent, after
reaching 7.3 percent in the third
quarter," it said, adding that "other
indicators bolster the perception of a
significant cooling-off of inflationary
pressure."
"We hope that this downward
movement toward the centre of the
(government) target will continue, so
that (inflation) ends 2012 below 5.0
percent," said acting finance minister
Nelson Barbosa. "Food prices have
already begun decelerating, with a fall
in relation to 2010, and this
deceleration should continue. And
services prices, with the stable jobless
rate, should remain stable," he told
reporters.
Prices which rose the most last year
were those of transport, up 3.6
percent due to higher prices for
various household budget items such
as air fares and ethanol.
East Europe central bankers
still keen on euro
Countries in central and eastern
Europe, including Hungary, still want
to join the euro despite the current
debt crisis, central bankers in the
region told a conference.
"People say that what doesn't kill you
makes you stronger," Boris Vujcic,
deputy head of Croatia's central bank,
told the Euromoney Central and
Eastern European Forum in Vienna.
"That is my hope -- that the eurozone
will be stronger, that it will be built on
more solid ground, that the missing
links will be there by that time. If that
is so, in 2013, I think that for Croatia
the choice is very easy. "We are so
deeply involved and integrated in the
financial sector and the real sector
that there is very little doubt that
(adopting the euro) is the right
choice."
Croatia signed an EU accession
treaty last month, paving the way for it
to join the 27-nation bloc -- but not the
troubled 17-country eurozone -- on
July 1, 2013.
28
Members of the EU, except Britain
and Denmark which have opt-outs,
are all meant to adopt the euro
eventually. In 2007, Slovenia became
the first ex-communist state to do so,
followed by Slovakia in 2009. EU
member Hungary's central bank chief
Andras Simor said that his country's
economy was more closely integrated
International
with the core countries in the
eurozone than are certain members
on its periphery.
"In practical terms we are fully
convinced that the eurozone forms an
optimum currency zone with Hungary.
There are lots of economic reasons to
join," Simor told the Vienna
conference. "The question is not if, the
question is what is the best time. We
probably need to wait and see how
the present problems in the eurozone
are sorted out.
"Secondly we have the luxury of being
able to learn from the mistakes of
other countries that have joined
before us." Hungary has been hit hard
in recent months however by a drop in
its currency, the forint, forcing it to
seek a 15-20-billion-euro ($20-25
billion) credit line from the European
Union and the International Monetary
Fund.
Talks however have snagged over
IMF and EU objections to reforms of
the central bank that they worry
increases government influence on
monetary policy, with Brussels even
launching legal action.
Latvia's central bank chief Ilmars
Rimsevics said meanwhile that his
country was already in the so-called
ERM II mechanism, the waiting room
for eurozone entry which pegs their
currencies to the euro.
"Latvia's goal is to join the euro in
2014 and therefore 2012 is a very
important year for us because next
spring will be the measurement time,"
Rimsevics said.
Among other countries in the region,
38-million-strong Poland says it
expects by 2015 to meet all the
economic criteria for eurozone entry,
but -- like the Czech Republic -- has
not set an adoption date.
"Adoption of the euro is only a
question of time," said Polish central
bank board member Andrzej Raczko.
"In my opinion the Maastricht criteria
are not the most important criteria ...
but the reform of the eurozone."
Party backed the constitutional reform
and then won November 20 general
elections with a promise to fix Spain's
budget and economic woes.
Spain bans deficits in
regions from 2020
"The government aims to achieve
fiscal consolidation and a reduction of
the deficit and public debt," Deputy
Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de
Santamaria told reporters.
Romania's deputy central bank chief
Cristian Popa said: "The Romanian
authorities are committed to joining
the euro, we even have a target date
for the decision which is 2015.
Spain's government said it had
approved a new budget law that bans
the country's 17 powerful regions from
sliding into deficit from 2020.
"All autonomous regions must present
balanced or surplus budgets," Budget
Minister Cristobal Montoro told a
news conference after a weekly
cabinet
meeting
adopted
the
measure. The aim was to "regain an
image of solidity with our investors" by
laying the foundations for a return to
economic growth and job creation, the
minister said.
The 17 Spanish regions, which run
their own big health and education
budgets, have been heavily in debt
since the 2008 collapse of a property
bubble. The regions are expected to
post an overall public deficit equal to
2.3-2.4 percent of gross domestic
product for 2011, missing a 1.3percent target set by Madrid by a
large margin.
Spain
has
vowed
to
curb
overspending by 2020 by law, aiming
to keep its accumulated public debt
below a ceiling of 60 percent of GDP
and the structural public deficit at a
maximum 0.4 percent of GDP. The
planned budget law accompanies a
constitutional reform enforcing budget
discipline, which was passed in
September last year under the then
Socialist government. Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy's conservative Popular
The latest budget law should sail
through parliament. Although the
Popular Party enjoys an absolute
majority since its crushing election
win, it is expected to seek a
consensus with the opposition.
Italy’s industrial production
shrinks 0.9 per cent
Italian industrial production shrank
more than expected in October,
appearing to confirm economists’
fears that Europe’s third-biggest
economy is entering a recession,
official figures showed yesterday.
Industrial production dropped 0.9
percent in October from the
September level according to
seasonally adjusted figures, the
National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT)
said.
Production shrank 4.3 percent over 12
months, the biggest yearly drop since
December 2009. The results were
much worse than economists had
expected. According to a survey by
Dow Jones Newswires, experts had
forecast a 0.4-percent drop for the
month and a 1.5-percent drop for the
year.
The negative figures-which follow a
4.6 percent drop on a month in
September-fuel fears that the Italian
economy has already begun to
contract. Italy’s junior economy
minister Vittorio Grilli warned that the
economy will slip back into recession
next year with a forecast contraction
of between 0.4 and 0.5 percent of
output.
29
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33
Intensified collaboration between Re-Tie and BTA
The EU funded project “Re-Tie
Bangladesh:
Reduction
of
environmental threats and increase
of exportability of Bangladeshi
leather products” under the EU
SWITCH-Asia
programme
is
currently working very
closely with the Bangladesh Tanners
Association (BTA).
In January 2012 there have been
several activities together with BTA.
On 2nd of January, Re-Tie local
coordinator was present at an
executive member meeting and the
following topics were discussed:
• Identification of the BTA tanneries
to be shifted in the first batch to
Savar Tannery Estate.
• New allotment of plots for BTA
tanneries at the Savar Tannery
Estate since some tanneries want to
create clusters in order to use
common facilities to reduce cost e.g.
5 BTA tanneries may want to make a
cluster so that they can share the
use of some expensive equipment or
share the investment for shifting and
construction etc.
• Identify those tanneries that need
support in the preparation of tannery
design or tannery layout. Each
tannery has a different size of plots
and specific requirements. After this
meeting, the local coordinator will
discuss the matter with BSCIC,
which is managing the Savar
Tannery Estate, and based on the
information collected, Re-Tie will
assist BTA in formulating position
papers and provide technical
assistance related to the topics
34
ThisprojectisfundedbytheEuropeanUnion
named. Another activity was the
implementation of 2 training
programme, on “Sorting, Grading &
Curing of Raw Hides and Skins”
initiated as a result of discussions in
BTA focus groups.
interest to work with Re-Tie and
consequently a meeting was being
held in Re-Tie local office on 8th of
January 2012 where Mr. Abdus
Samad, Manager Commercial SAF
Industries Ltd was present.
SAF tannery a ‘good practice
example’ in and for Bangladesh
UNIDO International expert Mr. Alf
Tore Rongved visited SAF Tannery
in Jessor district, 350 km away from
Dhaka, one of the few modern
tanneries in Bangladesh, during his
last mission and was impressed by
the much higher quality standards
than in Hazaribagh. The SAF
management
expressed
their
Energy saving in tanneries Re-Tie
national experts for energy saving
made a trial about Power Factor
Indicator (PFI) in MB Tannery
recently. Mr. Ahsanur Rashid
showed that 6,000 BDT can be
saved monthly. This result will be
delivered to director of the board of
MB Tannery in February.
The trainings were cofunded by
Leather Sector Business Promotion
Council (LSBPC) and organised by
BTA with some technical support
provided by Re-Tie local experts and
group consultants. The training was
conducted at the Institute of Leather
Engineering & Technology (formerly
BCLET/Leather College) on 16th
and 17th of January 2012.
In that meeting National Expert Dr.
Himangshu Ronjon Ghosh made a
power point presentation on Solar
Water Heating System (SWHS) for
tanneries. Mr. Abdus Samad showed
his interest for SWHS and requested
further consultancy support from ReTie for their effluent treatment plant,
solid waste management, Aquamix
and
high-volume
lowpressure
(HVLP) spray gun.
Thisprojectisimplementedbysequa,UNIDO,bfz,DCCI,BFLLFEAandBTA-www.switchretiebd.org
Share Market
Share Market Intelligence (as on 31 January, 2012)
Company
Dhaka Stock Exchange
R.N. Spinning Mills
Grameen Phone
United Airways
BEXIMCO Ltd.
National Bank
Fu-wang Ceramic
UCBL
Beacon Pharma
Square Pharma
Social Islami Bank
Company
Volume
(Shares)
2,728,665
664,000
3,840,101
895,752
1,150,345
1,684,150
1,557,312
1,815,275
235,700
2,098,973
Dhaka Stock Exchange
Grameen Phone
Square Pharma
National Bank
Titas Gas Trans.
ICB
Islami Bank Ltd.
BATBC
BSRM Steel Ltd.
Lafarge Surma Cement
Prime Bank Ltd.
Currency
EUR
US$
GBP
AUD
YEN
CAD
S’PORE$
Source : The Independent
Mkt. Cap
(M. Tk.)
207,366
52,241
51,914
50,290
49,950
47,957
33,975
32,006
30,196
29,547
Top 10 Turnover Leaders
Tunover
(‘000 Tk.)
Company
114,904.08
101,970.48
74,766.77
69,832.83
69,411.82
58,928.41
52,668.29
47,414.98
46,494.18
45,694.64
Chittagong Stock Exchange
Volume
(Shares)
United Airways
Grameen Phone
UCBL
BEXIMCO Ltd.
National Bank
Aftab Automobiles
Beacon Pharma
BSRM Steel Ltd.
People’s Leasing
Top 10 Market Capitals
% of Total
(Mkt. Cap)
Company
12.21
3.08
3.06
2.96
2.94
2.82
2.00
1.88
1.78
1.74
Mkt. Cap
(M. Tk.)
(as on 31 January, 2012)
Buying
111.70
84.45
132.86
89.96
1.10
84.35
67.47
31,152.82
24,571.80
23,100.20
16,418.66
11,537.68
11,229.42
10,529.33
9,284.08
8,894.70
8,131.87
Chittagong Stock Exchange
Grameen Phone
Delta Life Insurance
ICB
National Bank
Square Pharma
Titas Gas Trans.
Islami Bank Ltd.
BATBC
BSRM Steel Ltd.
Exchange Rates
1,603,336
160,600
692,037
212,100
190,611
103,316
410,500
354,625
90,000
163,225
Turnover
(‘000 Tk.)
206,596
94,506
53,663
52,078
52,008
50,601
47,356
34,448
32,169
29,789
% of Total
(Mkt. Cap.)
11.56
5.29
3.00
2.91
2.91
2.83
2.65
1.93
1.80
1.67
Selling
111.76
84.48
132.95
90.04
1.10
84.41
67.54
35
Trade Information
TRADE INFORMATION
Prepared by DCCI Research Cell
January - 2012
1
The following Trade Inquiries have been received in the Chamber from different sources abroad. Interested member-firms may
like to contact them directly without any obligation on the part of DCCI.
SRILANKA EXPO 2012
FAIRS & EXHIBITIONS
Date : 28-31 March, 2012
Organizer :
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB)
Tel: 94 11 2300715-11, 94 11 2303974
Fax: 94 11 2300715, 94 11 2305212
Email: edb@tradenetsl.lk,
exposec@srilankaexpo.com
Website:www.srilankabusiness.com,
www.srilankaexpo.com
11th Saarc Trade Fair and Tourism Mart-2012
Beijing Textile Machinery International Exhibition Co. Ltd. (BJITME)
No.12 East Chang An Street ,100742, Beijing
China.
Tel:0086-10-85229372; Fax: 0086-10-85229480,+ 85229026
Email: itmaasiacitme2@bjitme.com
Website: www.citme.com.cn
Shelley Shan, Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT(CCPIT TEX)
Room 422, No. 12 East, Chang An Street, Beijing
China.
Tel; 86 10 65212081 Fax: 86 10 85229374
Email: shelleyshan@ccpittex.com
Website: www.ccoittex
Date : 30-31 March –1 April 2012
14 China International Exhibition on
Gases Technology, Equipment and Application
Contact:
1 Kawran Bazar
Dhaka-1215
Tel: 9144821, 8151496, 9128377
Fax: 88-02-9119531
Email: info@epb.gov.bd
Website : www.epb.gov.bd
Venue : Nanijng International Expo Center (Hall A)
Jiangsu Province China
Organizer : Export Promotion Bureau (EPB)
NEC Birmingham, UK
Asia Pacific Chambers Congress (APCC) and
the China International Import Expo (CIE)
Date : 29-31 March, 2012
Contact person:
Ms. Zhang Zhou
Email: zhangahou@ccoic.cn
Tel: 8610-82217867
Mr. Liu Shaobo
Email : liushaobo@ccoic.cn
Tel: 8610-82218813
Nepal International Trade Fair – 2012
Date : 5-9 April 2012
Contact person :
Mr. Bishnu Raj Dhakal
Federation of Nepalese Chambers of
Commerce & Industry
P.O. Box : 269, Pachali Shaid Shukra
FNCCI Milan MargTeku, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Tel: 4262061, 4262218, 4266889, Fax : 977-1-4261022, 4262007
Email: bishnu.dkakal@fncci.org , Website: www.fncci.org
Pan Asia Commodity, Culture and Tourism Fair
June 2012
Venue : Chengdu International Exhibition and Conference Centre
Contact :
Catherine Yang, Exhibition Department
China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT)
Sichuan Council Chengdu City., Sichuan. P.R.China
Tel: 0086-28-61963056 , Mobile ; 0086-15928927529
Fax: : 0086-28-6196 3056, E-mail : vanaduaniie529(®vahoo.cpm.cn
ITMAASIS+CITME, (Textile and Garments Fair), Shanghai, China.
Date : 27-31 July 2012
36
Organizer :
Venue : Shanghai New International Expo Center
12-14 September, 2012
Organizer : China Industrial Gases Industry Association
Contact person :
Ms. Jessinca Liu
Overseas Relations
AIT Events Company Limited
CIGIA-China Industrial Gases Industry Association
Airport Property Group Building (3rd floor)
No.6 Yumin Street Zone B
Tianzhu Airport Industrial Park, Beijing
China.
Tel: 86-10-85868930-217, Fax: 86-01-85868931
Website : www.china-gases.com, igchina-expo.com
China Import & Export Fair (Canton Fair)
Date : October 2012
(Dead line 15 July 2012.)
Venue : China Export &lmport Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou
Contact person :
Ms. Sandy Li
Mobile : -+86-13905009808, Email: sandy@cantonfair-int.com
Mr. Mark Lin
Mobile : 86-13799362686
Email: mark@canton-fair.com
Ms Charlotte Lin,
Mobile: : 86-13959192881,
Email: chariotte(@cantonfair-int.com
Fax :+ 86-591-88013532,
Web. www.cantonfarr.ora.cn
South Asian Countries Commodities Fair (SACCF), Kunming Fair
Date : 6-10 June 2012;
(Last date : Before 31 March 2012.)
Venue: Kunming International Exhibition and Convention Center
Organizer :
Office of the China Import & Export Fair, Kunming,
Add : 4/F,Foreign Trade Building.175 Beijing
Road.Kuhming. Yunnan.
Contact Officer- Mr. Chen Menglei
Tel: 8713141017 Fax-8713164304, Email: kanecml@qmail.com
DCCI Picnic in pictures
A scene from Pillow-passing
competition
Biscuit race for the Children
Raffle draw prizes distribution
37
DCCI warm cloth distribution in picture
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim
(third from right) presenting warm
cloths to Secretary General of
Azad Muslim Welfare Complex
Alhaj Altaf Hossain (second from
right) for distributing to the coldstriken distressed people of old
Dhaka on 15 January. DCCI
Senior Vice President Haider
Ahmed Khan, FCA (third from
left), Director Hossain A Sikder
(second from left) and Additional
Secretary (Admin) Syed Delwar
Hossain are also seen in the
picture
DCCI Senior Vice President
Haider Ahmed Khan, FCA (third
from left) presenting warm cloths
to
the
representative
of
Nilphamari
Chamber
of
Commerce & Industry (third from
right) for distributing to the coldstriken distressed people on 5
January. DCCI Directors M Abu
Horaira (second from left),
Hossain A Sikder (second from
right) former Director Alhaj Md.
Nasiruddin Khan (right) and
Additional Secretary (Admin)
Syed Delwar Hossain (left) are
also seen in the picture
DCCI
Secretary
Mustafa
Mohiuddin (third from right)
presenting warm cloths to the
Secretary
of
Lalmonirhat
Chamber of Commerce &
Industry (second from right) for
distributing to the cold-striken
distressed people on 7 January.
DCCI Additional Secretary
(Admin) Syed Delwar Hossain
(second from left) is also seen in
the picture.
38
Pictorial
DCCI President Asif Ibrahim (left)
addressing at a Memorial
Meeting on Late Samson H.
Chowdhury at Bangabandhu
International Conference Centre
on 14 January. President of
International
Chamber
of
Commerce,
Bangladesh
Mahbubur Rahman (third from
right), President of FBCCI A. K.
Azad (second from right) and
President
of
Metropolitan
Chamber of Commerce &
Industry Maj. Gen. Amjad Khan
Chowdhury (retd.) (second from
left) are seen in the picture
(right) addressing as special
guest at the '10 years
Celebration of Supermarket in
Bangladesh'
organized
by
Bangladesh
Supermarket
Owners' Association (BSOA) at
Bangabandhu
International
Conference Centre on 24
January. Industries Minister Dilip
Barua (second from left) and
President of BSOA Niaz Rahim
(third from left ) are also seen in
the picture
(right) seen discussing with the
Vice Secretary-general of China
Council for the Promotion of
International Trade (CCPT),
Yunnan Sub-Council Ms. Tan
Yun (third from left) at DCCI on 7
January
39
40

January 2012

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