Govt to set up solar equipment testing lab (The Daily Star, November 14, 2013)
The government is set to establish the country’s first dedicated solar equipment testing laboratory by June in a bid to ensure superior quality renewable energy related products. Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL), a state-owned non-bank financial institution that promotes green technology, has already awarded the lab installation job to Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Buet has allocated 4,000 square feet of space to set up the lab on the electrical and electronic engineering department premises. Initially, the company will use $0.5 million, provided by World Bank under the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project-2, to set up the lab. On average, around 70,000 families are now installing solar home systems each month to meet their daily electricity requirements.
US trade benefit cut could hurt FDI inflow: MCCI (Financial Express, November 13, 2013)
Although the recent suspension of GSP benefits by the US may not have any "immediate" adverse effect on Bangladesh's exports it might hamper foreign investments flows. In its quarterly economic review, the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), said the major impediments to foreign direct investment include factors such as getting access to land, lack of continuity in policies, bureaucratic red tape, weak governance, political instability, and inadequate utilities, such as gas, electricity and water.
National Productivity Award for ten industries (Financial Express, November 12, 2013)
Ten state-owned and private industries have been awarded National Productivity and Quality Excellence Award 2012 for their achievements in business. The 'National Productivity and Quality Excellence Award' is given in six categories - large, medium, small, cottage, micro and state-owned enterprises (SoEs). Jury board for the award comprises of officials from the industries ministry, commerce ministry, NPO and the country's apex trade body FBCCI. The award recipients include BRB Cable Industries Limited, Bengal Windsor Thermoplastics Ltd. Prince Chemical Co. Ltd., Hifs Agro Food Industries, M/s Roni Agro Engineering, Rong Handicrafts among others.
Machinery imports rise despite sluggish business climate (The Daily Star, November 12, 2013)
Capital machinery imports rose in the first quarter of the fiscal year, despite the sluggish investment climate induced by political uncertainty. According to data from Bangladesh Bank, some $566.54 million worth of letters of credit settlement for capital machinery took place between July and September. Letter of credit settlement is the payment made by banks to foreign parties for goods purchased by local businesses.
Political chaos scares off RMG retailers (The Daily Star, November 12, 2013)
International clothing retailers are cancelling their travel plans to Bangladesh due to the ongoing political turbulence. According to industry insiders, not only are the buyers nervous to travel to Bangladesh amid the volatile political situation, but they are worried about the uncertainty surrounding the shipments owing to shutdowns. Officials of many export-oriented garment companies now have to make last-minute travel plans to Hong Kong, Bangkok or Singapore, or even to the buyers’ home countries, for price negotiations which usually take place at the factory premises. “These foreign trips for meetings which earlier never cost us anything, are only pushing up our production cost” said owner of a Bangladeshi garment factory.
Bangladesh comes second in Chinese arms purchase last year (Dhaka Tribune, November 12, 2013)
Bangladesh was the second biggest Chinese arms importer globally amounting to over
Tk 28 billion ($350 million) last year. The New York Times recently published an article, which revealed that China has established itself as a credible competitor in the global weapons market and exported weapons worth more than $2billion to different countries. Pakistan was the biggest importer with over Tk 48 billion ($600 million) followed by Bangladesh. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, for the last 20 years Bangladesh had been maintaining 1% to 1.3% of gross domestic product as military expenditure, and a part of it was used for weapons purchase.
Bangladesh labour protests on wages shut 100 garment factories (Live Mint, November 11, 2013)
Thousands of workers demanding higher pay hurled rocks and sticks at clothing factories and clashed with police shutting down 100 factories, bringing fresh scrutiny to working conditions in Bangladesh’s garment industry. At least 30 people were reported wounded. The South Asian nation has seen three weeks of bloody political protests, and the demonstrations by garment workers only added to the chaos. A government-appointed panel voted last week to raise the minimum wage for millions of garment workers to Tk 5,300 ($66.25) a month — a raise by 77 percent but still the lowest minimum wage in the world. The workers have rejected the proposal, demanding Tk 8,114 ($100) instead. Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest garment manufacturing country after China, earns more than $20 billion a year from garment exports, mainly to the United States and Europe. The sector employs about 4 million workers, mostly women.
Bangladesh launches country action plan for clean cookstoves (Dhaka Tribune, November 9, 2013)
The government will distribute clean cookstoves among five million households by 2017 and 30 million by 2030 to protect the environment and the people from hazardous fumes. The Power Division and Washington-based Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (GACC) organised the programme at Bidyut Bhaban in the capital. More than 90 percent of the population use solid fuels for cooking, and the rapidly expanding population and heavy reliance on biomass have put immense pressure on Bangladesh’s limited forest resources. It is estimated that more than 24 million rural people and nearly six million urban people, who use solid fuel, are exposed to household air pollution. Household air pollution is the fourth most significant risk factor for deaths (46,000 casualties in Bangladesh) and is the second most significant risk factor for disability-adjusted life years.
Woman in Mozilla (The Daily Star, November 8, 2013)
Tanha Islam, a 19-year-old student of North South University, is the only female representative and the marketing ambassador of the web browser, Mozilla Firefox in Bangladesh. “There are so many people who use Facebook or Twitter every day but don’t know how these sites work. Most of them don’t know how to create a website. Part of our role as representatives is to create that awareness,” she explained. The Mozilla representatives of Bangladesh are also trying to create student clubs at various universities, an initiative that has been met with great enthusiasm from different student bodies.
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