Weekly News Clippings (September 26, 2013)

Bangladesh may get 95% duty-free access to China (Dhaka Tribune, September 26, 2013)
China will increase the duty-free access of Bangladeshi products to its market up to 95% to boost the trade relations between the two countries and to support Bangladesh in bringing down its trade deficit with the trading partner. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this when he met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Conference Building of the UN Headquarters in New York. The Prime Minister is there on an eight-day official visit to attend the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

CPD for Tk 6,560 minimum wage (The Daily Star, September 25, 2013)
Civil society think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has recommended Tk 6,560 as the minimum wage for an entry-level worker in the country’s apparel sector. The CPD came up with the recommendation after conducting a survey, because a Minimum Wage Board comprised of representatives from the government, workers and factory owners is working to set the entry-level wage. The proposed minimum wage has been estimated based on the upper poverty line of Tk 6,444.

Bangladesh secures 161st spot in internet usage (The Daily Star, September 23, 2013)
Bangladesh stands 161 out of 194 countries in internet usage with 6.1 percent of its population having access to the web in 2012. According to a report “State of Broadband 2013; Universalising Broadband”  published by the Broadband Commission, a conjunction with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Unesco, internet usage in Bangladesh is ahead of Afghanistan that ranked 165 with 5.5 percent internet users and Myanmar at 189 with 1.1 percent users.. Bangladesh also ranked 138 with 0.3 percent fixed broadband penetration compared to Cambodia’s 0.2 percent penetration and 143rd position worldwide. In mobile broadband, Bangladesh has secured the 137th position with 0.2 percent penetration outranking Thailand with 0.1 percent penetration and a rank of 140.

Pay Dispute Hits Bangladesh's Clothing Industry(The Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2013)
Tensions rose in Bangladesh's garment industry over the weekend as factory owners and workers squared off over a new minimum wage for the South Asian country's largest export industry. Tens of thousands of garment workers took to the streets in the capital of Dhaka on Saturday, demanding the government set minimum monthly pay at 8,000 taka, or about $100. The factory-owners' association said a higher minimum wage could cripple the industry as costs of other inputs to clothing production are also rising. The minimum wage was fixed at 3,000 taka a month in 2010. Labour groups are now demanding a big increase to offset the impact of a high inflation rate that has often climbed above 10% in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh top achiever along with Cambodia (The Daily Star, September 22, 2013)
Bangladesh and Cambodia have topped the chart of the least developed countries in achieving Millennium Developed Goals. According to a new study, the first of its kind, by the Centre for Policy Dialogue, both the countries were likely to meet eight out of 14 targets under review, while they made progress in four other areas. It was conducted by CPD Distinguished Fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya and his three researcher colleagues Towfiqul Islam Khan, Umme Salma and Gazi Joki Uddin. Bhutan came in third while Rwanda stood fourth.

Yet another high-rise car park in Dhaka (The Daily Star, September 22, 2013)
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) has opened another multi-storey car park with a capacity of parking 228 vehicles in efforts to ease the traffic congestion in at Gulshan. Rajuk has developed the facility comprised of two basements and first seven floors of a 14-storey commercial building. It has constructed the building at a cost of Tk 39 crore on a 19.5-katha land in front of the city corporation market at Gushan-1 over a period of six years since December 2007. The top seven floors will be rented out for office and other commercial occupancy. There will be seven shops on the ground floor and a Rajuk office on the second floor. Out of a total of 1,39,260 square-foot floor area, 98,935 square feet will be allocated for car parking, and 40,325 square feet for office. There are three car lifts to travel between 3rd and 7th floors.

Airlines plan big (The Daily Star, September 21, 2013)
The aviation industry is likely to see an unprecedented boom as both the public and private airlines are expected to invest around $1 billion in the sector by next year. National carrier Biman plans to acquire eight aircraft, Regent Airways five, NOVOAIR four, United Airways three and US-Bangla Airlines at least two. This investment is aimed to tap around 10 percent annual growth of passengers and eight percent that of cargo over the next seven years, as the Bangladesh economy is marking a steady growth of over six percent, said executives of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) and different airlines.

Complaints pile against three state banks (The Daily Star, September 21, 2013)
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has received the highest number of complaints against state-owned Sonali, Janata and Bangladesh Krishi banks in fiscal 2012-13. Most of the complaints are tied to inability to pay the bills of Hall-Mark Group by Sonali Bank. According to Bangladesh Bank, over 30 banks have around Tk 1,300 crore stuck in Sonali Bank. In fiscal 2012-13, the financial integrity and customer services department of BB received a total of 4,296 complaints from customers, of which only 68.45 percent, have been settled so far.

BPC suspends fuel import, bill payment (The Financial Express, September 20, 2013)
The state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has suspended import of fuel from international market and payment of bills against imports in protest of a legal action by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against some BPC officials. A senior BPC official said that the BPC officials have stopped opening letters of credit (L/Cs), providing payment advices to commercial banks concerned and clearing payments against fuel imports.