Shipbuilding: better days ahead as buyers return (The Daily Star, October 31, 2013)
The shipbuilding industry is anticipating a pick-up in fortunes as interests from international buyers have resumed after several years with the recovery of global economy. Although European buyers placed orders worth Tk 680 crore with Korean and Chinese shipbuilders last week a good chunk of orders is likely to come Bangladesh’s way too in the near future.
Students can open accounts at Tk100 (Dhaka Tribune, October 30, 2013)
Bangladesh Bank has issued guidelines for school banking directing that the banks will allow students aged between 6 and 18 to open saving accounts with an initial deposit as small as Tk100. Parents or legal guardians will conduct the accounts and the legal validity of the source of money will be ensured. ATM cards (debit) can be issued while the limit to draw money from a booth will be Tk2,000 max. However, the limit can be extended to Tk5,000 on guardians’ request. The accounts will be converted to general saving accounts upon their wish after they turn 18.
Adidas joins European-led effort on Bangladesh factories (Chicago Tribune, October 30, 2013)
Sporting goods maker Adidas AG has signed a pact to promote the safety of garment workers in Bangladesh. Adidas said although it had only limited production in Bangladesh, it thought that signing the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh would complement its own monitoring efforts in the country. Adidas' move could put pressure on other clothing companies to press for improved factory conditions after more than 1,100 workers were killed in the collapse of a Bangladesh garment plant in April, the largest in a string of deadly incidents in the country.
BD goes two steps up on WB Doing Business index(The Financial Express, October 30, 2013)
Bangladesh climbs up two notches in the overall ease of doing business while it is ranked 74 in starting a new business in the new Doing Business report, a leap of 21 places from last year’s rank. The report, Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises, says Bangladesh has made notable progress in reforms that make it easier to start and run a business in the country. According to data collected by Doing Business, starting a business in Bangladesh requires seven procedures, takes 10.5 days and costs 19.9 percent of the income per capita. The number of days needed to start a business came down to 10.5 from 18.5 days in the last year’s ranking. Overall, Bangladesh is ranked 130 out of 189 economies. Last year, it was ranked 132.
(The original report can be found here)
The Bangladesh poor selling organs to pay debts (BBC News Asia, October 28, 2013)
The idea of selling organs is not new and those in poverty throughout South Asia have resorted to it for years. But what is less known, is that more people are turning to the trade because of feeling under pressure to pay back microcredit lenders. These lenders were originally set up to help lift people out of poverty by offering small loans to people who do not qualify for traditional banking credit, to encourage entrepreneurship and empower women. In an attempt to alleviate poverty, countless numbers take on debt with microcredit lenders, only to find themselves in a difficult situation when they are unable to repay the loan.
Microcredit in Bangladesh:
• As of December 2011, more than 34 million Bangladeshis had accessed microcredit since 1997, when it began collecting data
• Of those 34 million, more than 26 million live under the poverty line - on less than $1.25 a day
• There are currently 20.65 million borrowers in Bangladesh
• It is estimated the sector constitutes around 3% of GDP
BGMEA to propose Tk4,500 min wage (Dhaka Tribune, October 27, 2013)
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) may propose Tk4,500 as minimum wage for the apparel workers. “We have made a revised proposal of Tk4,500 as minimum wage with 30% increase to the basic amount along with inclusion of food and transport subsidies,” said Arshad Jamal Dipu, who represents owners to the minimum wage board. He added that Tk300 as food allowance and Tk250 as transport allowance have been included in the revised proposal. Earlier, BGMEA proposed an increase of Tk600 or 20% from the existing minimum wage of Tk3,000 per month. The workers rejected the offer, and many took to the streets demanding a higher minimum wage of Tk8,114 as minimum wage.
Bangladesh's clothing industry: Bursting at the seams (The Economist, October 26, 2013)
It has become clearer since Rana Plaza that the clothing firms have little option but to continue sending work to Bangladesh. It will remain Asia’s primary production base outside China, with exports on track to rise by a fifth, to $24 billion, in the current fiscal year. The country’s clothing industry has the advantage of scale: it has 5,000 factories, compared with 2,500 in Indonesia and 2,000 in Vietnam. Its labour costs less than any of its Asian rivals’. And unlike clothes put together in China, India and Sri Lanka, those stitched in Bangladesh enjoy duty-free access to the European Union. Although output is booming, profitability has slumped. In the past five years the price of the average garment has fallen by 12% in local-currency terms along with the factory owners’ return on investment. The most promising way to make the country’s clothing industry both safer and more profitable is to boost productivity and output at the larger and generally better-run factories, and drive the smaller, dodgier ones out of business.
Aid for Trade: a letdown (The Daily Star, October 25, 2013)
Aid for Trade, an initiative of the World Trade Organisation to enhance developing countries’ capacity to trade, could not make any notable impact on Bangladesh due to erratic and low flow of funds. The private think-tank, Centre for Policy Dialogue, after examining the dataset from 2002 to 2011, came to the conclusion that Aid for Trade (AfT) had no impact at the macro level in Bangladesh. Launched in December 2005 the initiative seeks to mobilise resources to address the range of supply-side and trade-related infrastructure obstacles that developing and least-developed countries face, which constrain their ability to engage in international trade. Rather, a combination of donor- and state-driven policy changes starting in the late 1980s was instrumental in creating a favourable business environment to boost exports, said a research director of CPD.
Bangladesh: No longer the 'hungry' man of South Asia (Dawn.com, October 23, 2013)
The recently released Global Hunger Index (GHI) by the International Food Policy Research Institute reveals that hunger has improved globally since 1990. However, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are home to worst forms of hunger. Estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organisation in the US suggest that no fewer than 870 million people go hungry across the globe. The GHI tells the story of how countries have performed over the past two decades in fighting hunger and disease. The researchers found that most food insecure are the perpetual poor. A combination of safety nets setup by the government and the use of micro-credit helps the poor to manage food supply during lean periods.
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