Political
unrest ate up $1.4b (The Daily Star, April 10, 2014)
Bangladesh has suffered a production loss of $1.4 billion (around Tk 10,857 crore), which is more than 1 percent of its gross domestic product, in the current fiscal year due to political turmoil from July last year to January, according to a World Bank study. The WB revealed the findings yesterday at the launch of Bangladesh Development Update Report 2014 at its Dhaka office. The economic loss Bangladesh suffered in the current fiscal year was more than one percent of the country's GDP of around $130 billion, according to the WB. Of the losses, 86 percent was in the service sector, 11 percent in industry and the remaining 3 percent in agriculture, it said.
Study: Only 7 out of 126 RMG trade unions active (Dhaka Tribune, April 9, 2014)
Only seven out of 126 registered trade unions in the readymade garment industry are actively working to promote the rights of workers, a new study says. The key impediment for most trade unions not being functional is harassment and assaults by the factory management, finds the study, conducted by Solidarity Centre, titled “Organising Trade Unions in the RMG Sector 2010-14.” Alonzo Glenn Suson, executive director of Solidarity Centre, said around 20% of the workers engaged with the trade unions found it difficult to operate due to torture by the members of the factory officials.
At long last, WHO certifies Bangladesh polio-free (Khabar South Asia, April 9, 2014)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has finally declared Bangladesh as "polio-free" and praised it as "one of the world's vaccination stars". Through a robust national immunisation programme, Bangladesh mostly rid itself of the crippling disease in 2003. But the country reported a final case of polio in March 2006, and then had to wait for three years without detecting any polio cases. For Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and North Korea, that long-awaited certification came on March 27th in New Delhi, during the 7th meeting of the South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication.
Bangladesh tea prices plunge on poor grade leaf (Reuters, April 8, 2014)
Tea prices in Bangladesh plunged again at a weekly auction on Tuesday, after a brief rise in the previous session, dragged down by inferior quality leaf near the end of the season, brokers said. Nearly 1.18 million kg was offered at the country's sole auction centre in Chittagong, and 46 percent remained unsold. At the previous auction, more than 2 million kg was offered, of which nearly 60 percent went unsold. Buyers sought huge discounts to buy end-of-season tea that tends to be of inferior quality, the official said.
New building code to see a number of changes (The Financial Express, April 8, 2014)
The updated Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC), aiming to avoid disasters, is likely to receive approval by June this year. A good number of changes will take place for the first time after twenty years since the drawing up of the code in 1993. The new changes are made on the basis of US Building Code 2012 whereas the existing code is based on US Code 1989. Building codes are reviewed every two years in the US and other developed countries but in Bangladesh it is going to take place after more than two decades and the country is yet to form an authority to implement the BNBC.
European retailers yet to recruit local engineers for factory inspection (The Daily Star, April 8, 2014)
The platform of European retailers is yet to recruit 25 local engineers as promised although factory inspections are going on in full swing. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a platform of around 150 retailers mostly headquartered in Europe, earlier said the recruitment of 25 local engineers would be completed by early March. At present, 60 foreign engineers recruited by Accord are conducting the factory inspections, with assistance from 52 Bangladeshi nationals, for structural integrity and fire and electrical safety.
Bangladesh raises duty on sugar and tea imports (Reuters, April 7, 2014)
Bangladesh has increased regulatory duty on imports of raw and refined sugar and on tea to discourage overseas buying amid a drop in local prices due to ample supplies, a senior tax official said on Monday. The duties on imports of raw sugar will now be 2,000 taka ($26) a ton from 1,500 taka earlier, said the official at the customs wing of the National Board of Revenue. Duties on refined sugar imports will be raised to 4,500 taka from 3,000 taka. The duty on imports of tea has been increased to 15 percent from 5 percent earlier, the official added.
Bangladesh to order probe into gold crests scam (Gulf Times, April 7, 2014)
The government has decided to investigate the reported adulteration in the gold of crests given to ‘foreign friends’ in recognition of their contribution to Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971, one and half years after the anomaly was detected. The adulteration in the gold was detected when the liberation war affairs ministry sent a sample of the crest on October 18, 2012 to the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution for testing. The crests which were supposed to have 11.66 grams of gold each, are found to have only 2.63 grams of gold. The BSTI test also confirmed that the crests, which should have been made of 351 grams of silver, had no silver at all. They were made of an alloy of brass, copper and zinc. The ministry paid the manufacturer Taka 263,325 for each of the 324 crests.
Bangladesh has suffered a production loss of $1.4 billion (around Tk 10,857 crore), which is more than 1 percent of its gross domestic product, in the current fiscal year due to political turmoil from July last year to January, according to a World Bank study. The WB revealed the findings yesterday at the launch of Bangladesh Development Update Report 2014 at its Dhaka office. The economic loss Bangladesh suffered in the current fiscal year was more than one percent of the country's GDP of around $130 billion, according to the WB. Of the losses, 86 percent was in the service sector, 11 percent in industry and the remaining 3 percent in agriculture, it said.
Study: Only 7 out of 126 RMG trade unions active (Dhaka Tribune, April 9, 2014)
Only seven out of 126 registered trade unions in the readymade garment industry are actively working to promote the rights of workers, a new study says. The key impediment for most trade unions not being functional is harassment and assaults by the factory management, finds the study, conducted by Solidarity Centre, titled “Organising Trade Unions in the RMG Sector 2010-14.” Alonzo Glenn Suson, executive director of Solidarity Centre, said around 20% of the workers engaged with the trade unions found it difficult to operate due to torture by the members of the factory officials.
At long last, WHO certifies Bangladesh polio-free (Khabar South Asia, April 9, 2014)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has finally declared Bangladesh as "polio-free" and praised it as "one of the world's vaccination stars". Through a robust national immunisation programme, Bangladesh mostly rid itself of the crippling disease in 2003. But the country reported a final case of polio in March 2006, and then had to wait for three years without detecting any polio cases. For Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and North Korea, that long-awaited certification came on March 27th in New Delhi, during the 7th meeting of the South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication.
Bangladesh tea prices plunge on poor grade leaf (Reuters, April 8, 2014)
Tea prices in Bangladesh plunged again at a weekly auction on Tuesday, after a brief rise in the previous session, dragged down by inferior quality leaf near the end of the season, brokers said. Nearly 1.18 million kg was offered at the country's sole auction centre in Chittagong, and 46 percent remained unsold. At the previous auction, more than 2 million kg was offered, of which nearly 60 percent went unsold. Buyers sought huge discounts to buy end-of-season tea that tends to be of inferior quality, the official said.
New building code to see a number of changes (The Financial Express, April 8, 2014)
The updated Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC), aiming to avoid disasters, is likely to receive approval by June this year. A good number of changes will take place for the first time after twenty years since the drawing up of the code in 1993. The new changes are made on the basis of US Building Code 2012 whereas the existing code is based on US Code 1989. Building codes are reviewed every two years in the US and other developed countries but in Bangladesh it is going to take place after more than two decades and the country is yet to form an authority to implement the BNBC.
European retailers yet to recruit local engineers for factory inspection (The Daily Star, April 8, 2014)
The platform of European retailers is yet to recruit 25 local engineers as promised although factory inspections are going on in full swing. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a platform of around 150 retailers mostly headquartered in Europe, earlier said the recruitment of 25 local engineers would be completed by early March. At present, 60 foreign engineers recruited by Accord are conducting the factory inspections, with assistance from 52 Bangladeshi nationals, for structural integrity and fire and electrical safety.
Bangladesh raises duty on sugar and tea imports (Reuters, April 7, 2014)
Bangladesh has increased regulatory duty on imports of raw and refined sugar and on tea to discourage overseas buying amid a drop in local prices due to ample supplies, a senior tax official said on Monday. The duties on imports of raw sugar will now be 2,000 taka ($26) a ton from 1,500 taka earlier, said the official at the customs wing of the National Board of Revenue. Duties on refined sugar imports will be raised to 4,500 taka from 3,000 taka. The duty on imports of tea has been increased to 15 percent from 5 percent earlier, the official added.
Bangladesh to order probe into gold crests scam (Gulf Times, April 7, 2014)
The government has decided to investigate the reported adulteration in the gold of crests given to ‘foreign friends’ in recognition of their contribution to Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971, one and half years after the anomaly was detected. The adulteration in the gold was detected when the liberation war affairs ministry sent a sample of the crest on October 18, 2012 to the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution for testing. The crests which were supposed to have 11.66 grams of gold each, are found to have only 2.63 grams of gold. The BSTI test also confirmed that the crests, which should have been made of 351 grams of silver, had no silver at all. They were made of an alloy of brass, copper and zinc. The ministry paid the manufacturer Taka 263,325 for each of the 324 crests.
Cash incentives
may lead to 70pc growth in furniture export in next fiscal year(The
Financial Express, April 6, 2014)
Furniture
export may register 70 per cent growth in the next fiscal if the sector gets
cash incentives from the government, industry insiders said. The President of Bangladesh Furniture Exporters
Association KM Akhtaruzzaman, the furniture industry stressed on skilled
manpower along with modern- tech facility to increase the export. Furniture is
one of the most rapidly growing sectors in Bangladesh and accounts for 0.29 per
cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). At present, local
manufacturers sell furniture worth around Tk 140 billion a year in the domestic
market. About 2.5 million people are now engaged in the sector. The US is the
key market for furniture exports.
Leather
sector eyes $5b from exports (The Daily Star, April 7, 2014)
Bangladesh will be able to earn at least $5 billion in exports from leather, leather goods and footwear in the next decade if it can properly address health, environment and compliance issues in the sector, analysts said yesterday. “We have all the elements, such as cheap labour and raw materials to grab more orders,” Bazlul Haque Khondker, an economics professor at Dhaka University, said at a roundtable. But the country lacks environment friendly tanneries to process leather, posing as the main bottleneck to increasing exports, he said. Bangladesh now exports leather, leather goods and footwear worth around $1 billion a year, which accounts for only 0.005 percent of the global market worth $230 billion.
Bangladesh will be able to earn at least $5 billion in exports from leather, leather goods and footwear in the next decade if it can properly address health, environment and compliance issues in the sector, analysts said yesterday. “We have all the elements, such as cheap labour and raw materials to grab more orders,” Bazlul Haque Khondker, an economics professor at Dhaka University, said at a roundtable. But the country lacks environment friendly tanneries to process leather, posing as the main bottleneck to increasing exports, he said. Bangladesh now exports leather, leather goods and footwear worth around $1 billion a year, which accounts for only 0.005 percent of the global market worth $230 billion.
ADB to channel
$110m loan for pvt infrastructure dev(The Financial Express, April 7, 2014)
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US$110 million in loan to Bangladesh for developing the private sector infrastructure including renewable energy. The credit line will support the second phase of Public-Private Infrastructure Development Facility under the state-owned Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (IDCOL), said a statement. The World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency will co-finance the project with $99.5 million and $96 million respectively. Private sector investors will also contribute $50 million as equity financing, and debt funding. The loan will help IDCOL to bump up investments in power generation, water and sanitation, transportation, and information technology. IDCOL currently has a pipeline of eight energy projects with a total investment amount of around $235 million.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US$110 million in loan to Bangladesh for developing the private sector infrastructure including renewable energy. The credit line will support the second phase of Public-Private Infrastructure Development Facility under the state-owned Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (IDCOL), said a statement. The World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency will co-finance the project with $99.5 million and $96 million respectively. Private sector investors will also contribute $50 million as equity financing, and debt funding. The loan will help IDCOL to bump up investments in power generation, water and sanitation, transportation, and information technology. IDCOL currently has a pipeline of eight energy projects with a total investment amount of around $235 million.
Bangladesh inflation quickens again in March
on food prices(Reuters, April 6, 2014)
Bangladesh's annual inflation rose to 7.48 percent in March, fired up by food prices, the country's Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday. March's inflation rate was up from 7.44 percent a month earlier. Food prices in March were 8.96 percent higher than a year earlier, up from February's 8.84 percent increase. In contrast, non-food inflation rate eased to 5.26 percent from 5.37 percent.
Bangladesh's annual inflation rose to 7.48 percent in March, fired up by food prices, the country's Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday. March's inflation rate was up from 7.44 percent a month earlier. Food prices in March were 8.96 percent higher than a year earlier, up from February's 8.84 percent increase. In contrast, non-food inflation rate eased to 5.26 percent from 5.37 percent.
New
tech power plant to save costs, reduce emissions(Dhaka Tribune, April 5, 2014)
As part of the government’s plan to turn Cox’s Bazar into the country’s biggest energy hub, the Power Development Board (PDB) has decided to construct a 1,400MW coal-fired ultra supercritical thermal power plant at the district’s Maheshkhali upazila. It is the first power plant where PDB is going to adopt the latest ultra supercritical technology for setting up coal-based thermal power plants. Currently, the 250MW Barapukuria plant is the only coal-fired power plant running on subcritical technology in the country.
As part of the government’s plan to turn Cox’s Bazar into the country’s biggest energy hub, the Power Development Board (PDB) has decided to construct a 1,400MW coal-fired ultra supercritical thermal power plant at the district’s Maheshkhali upazila. It is the first power plant where PDB is going to adopt the latest ultra supercritical technology for setting up coal-based thermal power plants. Currently, the 250MW Barapukuria plant is the only coal-fired power plant running on subcritical technology in the country.
Bangladesh
does better than most S Asian nations(The Daily Star, April 5, 2014)
Bangladesh has done better than most South Asian countries in social progress, according to a report by Washington-based organisation Social Progress Imperative. Ranked 99 among 132 countries, Bangladesh has scored higher than India, Pakistan and Nepal, losing out only to Sri Lanka in the region. The evaluation was done based on the performance of these countries over the past one year.
The Social Progress Index, a multi-country analysis report, was released on Thursday. According to the index, Bangladesh's relative strength lay in bringing down child mortality, achieving gender parity in secondary school enrollment, improving life expectancy, showing respect to women, and its increased demand for contraception.
Bangladesh has done better than most South Asian countries in social progress, according to a report by Washington-based organisation Social Progress Imperative. Ranked 99 among 132 countries, Bangladesh has scored higher than India, Pakistan and Nepal, losing out only to Sri Lanka in the region. The evaluation was done based on the performance of these countries over the past one year.
The Social Progress Index, a multi-country analysis report, was released on Thursday. According to the index, Bangladesh's relative strength lay in bringing down child mortality, achieving gender parity in secondary school enrollment, improving life expectancy, showing respect to women, and its increased demand for contraception.
Four
More Shipbreaking Workers Die in Bangladesh(Environment News Service, April 4, 2014)
Four shipbreaking workers were killed and three others were critically injured on Thursday when a gas cylinder exploded in a shipbreaking yard in Chittagong. The four workers died after inhaling carbon dioxide. Shipbreaking involves the dismantling of old ships for scrap recycling of their steel and other equipment on board. Around one million tonnes of steel are dismantled in Bangladeshi shipyards every year. The country’s shipbreaking industry provides direct and indirect employment for about 200,000 people. “Shipbreaking workers are not well trained, their work is not supervised and they are either not provided with safety gear or no checks are made to ensure that they are actually able to properly use protective equipment,” said Muhammad Ali Shahin, Bangladesh coordinator of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a Brussels-based coalition of environmental, human rights and labor rights organizations working for safe and clean ship recycling worldwide.
Four shipbreaking workers were killed and three others were critically injured on Thursday when a gas cylinder exploded in a shipbreaking yard in Chittagong. The four workers died after inhaling carbon dioxide. Shipbreaking involves the dismantling of old ships for scrap recycling of their steel and other equipment on board. Around one million tonnes of steel are dismantled in Bangladeshi shipyards every year. The country’s shipbreaking industry provides direct and indirect employment for about 200,000 people. “Shipbreaking workers are not well trained, their work is not supervised and they are either not provided with safety gear or no checks are made to ensure that they are actually able to properly use protective equipment,” said Muhammad Ali Shahin, Bangladesh coordinator of the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, a Brussels-based coalition of environmental, human rights and labor rights organizations working for safe and clean ship recycling worldwide.
Bangladesh:
factories faced with expensive fire safety requirements (fashionunited.co.uk, April 3, 2014)
As far as fire safety is concerned Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) factory owners will have to spend at least Tk 40 billion (331.5 million pounds) to meet requirements of various international buyers. Britain is going to launch three new projects to help improve working conditions and safety standards in Bangladesh’s garment industry, its international development minister says. Alliance, a body of retailers of European buyers, and Accord, another platform of North American retailers are looking after fire and building safety activities in Bangladesh alongside the government’s initiative. The deadly incidents at Rana Plaza building, which took lives of 1134 workers and injured many, and the fire incident in Tazreen Fashions, with 113 casualties, have seriously pushed forward the issue of workplace safety in Bangladeshi factories.
As far as fire safety is concerned Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) factory owners will have to spend at least Tk 40 billion (331.5 million pounds) to meet requirements of various international buyers. Britain is going to launch three new projects to help improve working conditions and safety standards in Bangladesh’s garment industry, its international development minister says. Alliance, a body of retailers of European buyers, and Accord, another platform of North American retailers are looking after fire and building safety activities in Bangladesh alongside the government’s initiative. The deadly incidents at Rana Plaza building, which took lives of 1134 workers and injured many, and the fire incident in Tazreen Fashions, with 113 casualties, have seriously pushed forward the issue of workplace safety in Bangladeshi factories.
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