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IBCCI India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry

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From the President’s DeskWe are happy to see several recent pragmatic initiatives of both the governments of Bangladesh and India which will go a long way in cementing bilateral socio-economic relations and people to people contacts between the two friendly neigbours.

India and Bangladesh on 25 October signed three agreements for allowing India to use Mongla and Chattogram (Chittagong) ports of Bangladesh as transit points to access India’s northeastern states for trade.

The two countries decided to explore the possibilities of river links between Rajshahi and Dhuliajan in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.

The cruise vessels are to run between Kolkata and Guwahati via Dhaka and will ply the Inland Protocol route and coastal shipping route.

The two sides also decided to introduce passenger cruise service between Chennai and Cox’s Bazar, a distance of about 1,600 nautical miles.

An addendum to the bilateral Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) between India and Bangladesh was also inked for inclusion of Dhubri (Assam) and Pangaon (Bangladesh) as new ports of call.

Discussions were also held to make Nakugaon land port in Bangladesh and Dalu Integrated Check Post in India operational and to connect with Gelephu (Bhutan) as a tripartite cross-border route.

Bangladeshi tourists can now apply at Indian Visa Application Centres (IVACs) to secure unrestricted access to Indian states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, the northern-most state of the country, and Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Bangladesh will now be able to import power from the neighbouring countries via India as the Indian government has approved the ‘Guidelines for Import/Export (Cross Border) of Electricity.

We are confident that these developments will certainly have positive impacts towards furtherance of bilateral relations between the two friendly South Asian countries.

Volume: 40 / Issue: 40 / December 2018

Abdul Matlub Ahmad

Bangladesh is likely to be the biggest mover in the global gross domestic product rankings in 2030, becoming the 26th largest economy in the world from 42nd now, according to the latest report of HSBC Global Research.

The report -- The World in 2030: Our long-term projections for 75 countries -- showed Bangladesh’s economy would jump 16 notches, the highest by any country, between 2018 and 2030.

Bangladesh would be followed by the Philippines, Pakistan and Vietnam and Malaysia on the list of the biggest risers.

“The starting point for a country is a key part of its potential growth. It is very clear that a country such as Bangladesh has far more potential for growth than one like Norway, which is far richer,” said the report, which was published recently.

HSBC’s long-term growth model projections showed that the real GDP growth of Bangladesh

PresidentAbdul Matlub Ahmad

Vice-PresidentsM. Shoeb ChowdhurySanjeeb Kumar Roy

Hony. Secretary GeneralVenugopal N.C. Pillai

Hony. Jt. Secretary GeneralMd. Abdul Wahed

Hony. TreasurerDewan Sultan Ahmed

DirectorsMohammad AliFarkhunda Jabeen KhanJitendra BahadurTanvir AhmedMeherun Nessa IslamArup DasguptaAbhisek DasBrajesh KumarAshish GoupalPrakash Chan Saboo

Secretary & CEOJahangir Bin Alam

Board of Directors

Bangladesh to be 26th largest economyHSBC report says the country will be the biggest mover in global GDP ranking in 2030

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would be 7.1 percent per year up to 2030, the highest among the 75 countries included in the report.

The country is projected to grow 7.3 percent from 2018 to 2023, 7.0 percent from 2023 to 2028, and 7.2 percent from 2028 to 2033.

Bangladesh will be a $700 billion economy in 2030 from $300 billion now, according to the report.

The research refreshed HSBC’s long-term forecasting framework to make model projections for 75 developed, emerging and frontier economies to assess growth potential and changes in global rankings by 2030.

The report said China is set to continue to be the single biggest contributor to global growth over the next decade and by 2030, will have become the world’s largest economy. One of the most striking rises amongst the rankings will be by India, which is set to become the world’s third-largest economy in just over a decade, up from seventh today – leapfrogging the second- and third-largest developed economies of Germany and Japan.

The report focuses on six main categories of economic indicators: catch-up potential, population (size and shape), human capital (education and healthcare), politics, openness and technology.

Better educated workers are more likely to be productive, it said.

Poorer countries will have room to catch up by simply adopting best practice elsewhere, and those with strong governance are more likely to facilitate

investment and growth. Environmental challenges will be one of the policy challenges, said the report.

“It is no coincidence that four of the top six countries for projected growth – India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh – also top the list of countries that have estimated to be the most vulnerable to climate change.”

The report said the biggest immediate danger to the projections is if the open borders that have delivered so much prosperity are closed.

“Recent actions by the US administration are not encouraging on this front as it is hard to see how such a wave of protectionism could benefit any individual economy, or the system as a whole.” Global growth would inevitably be weaker but as always, there would be distributional effects, it said.

The impact on confidence and investment would likely be negative while the disruption to integrated global supply chains established over the past few decades would ultimately weigh on living standards.

Natural disasters can send economies seriously off course as their development seeks to replace what was lost (although they have a temporary upward impact on GDP growth) rather than make any further leap forward.

The report said the quality of institutions will play a big role in delivering on the potential growth in a country. Without a regulatory environment that makes investment attractive and facilitates investment, potential growth will be lower. (Courtesy: The Daily Star; Dated: 04 October 2018)

The economy is on track to logging in its fourth consecutive year of at least 7 percent growth, thanks to increased public spending on infrastructure along with robust private investments, exports and remittance inflows, said the World Bank yesterday.

The Washington-based multilateral lender forecasts

the GDP growth in fiscal 2018-19 would be 7 percent, down from 7.86 percent registered for fiscal 2017-18.

“The country is among the 10 fastest growing economies in the world,” said Qimiao Fan, WB’s country director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, at

Economy resilient

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Hossain Zillur Rahman, left, former adviser to the caretaker government, speaks at a programme at WB office in Dhaka. Qimiao Fan, WB country director (Center) was present

the unveiling of the report ‘Bangladesh Development Update: Powering the Economy Efficiently’.

Apart from a favourable exchange rate, the rising shipment of higher valued-items, brighter image of Bangladesh’s garment sector after remediation, automation of production and relative political calm combined with rebound in the economies of major export destinations from the shocks of Brexit and general elections should help prop up growth, it said.

A good number of new factories are expected to come into operation in the next couple of years, with entrepreneurs investing to capture the shifted work orders from China.

Remittances turnaround is expected to persist as Gulf Cooperation Council economies benefit from higher oil prices and incentives for remitting through informal channels remain weak.

Private investment is likely to maintain recent 8-9 percent growth induced by progress on infrastructure development prospects, strong domestic demand and stronger global markets.

“These, in addition to the country’s reforming business environment, inform our forecast for Bangladesh to creep towards achieving a 7 percent growth rate in fiscal 2019-20.”

The economy has once again shown resilience to the lingering effects of repeated flooding in 2017 and the ongoing accommodation of over 7 lakh additional Rohingya refugees.

However, there are some immediate risks for the economy.

Inflation is likely to accelerate with rising aggregate demand resulting in part from election-related increase in private spending, an expansionary fiscal policy and depreciating exchange rate.

Fiscal slippages aggravated by drying up of assistance for supporting the Rohingyas, delays in banking reforms, loss of monetary policy predictability due to diminished central bank independence and weakening reform momentum in the run-up to the elections.

The performance of the banking sector and solvency

of some financial intermediaries remain a concern because of limited action to address defaults, improve risk management and strengthen corporate governance.

“Persistent weaknesses owe largely to the legacy of loans of larger borrowers, who lack incentives to repay, given legal limitations on recoveries.”

Zahid Hussain, lead economist of the World Bank’s Dhaka office, said the central bank should allowed limited scale rescheduling of the non-performing loans.

“Otherwise, the banking sector will fall further crisis.”

The NPLs are concentrated disproportionately in the six state-owned commercial banks: 48 percent. In contrast, the 40 private banks accounted for 44 percent of the total NPLs.

The report recommends expanding reliable electricity supply to meet the needs of a growing economy.

Much progress has been made in recent years, with access to electricity increasing from 47 percent of the population in 2009 to 80 percent in 2017. But by 2030, electricity demand is expected to grow to 34 giga watts (GW), more than double the country’s current installed capacity.

Hussain also stressed on comprehensive reforms in the power sector, including addressing inefficiencies at different stages of power supply and distribution, and reducing dependency on imported fossil fuels.

The multilateral lender also expressed concerns on capital flight because of the spike in imports.

“Recent rise in imports have raised new questions on the transparency of trade-related payments and whether illegal capital flights are taking place through mis-invoicing.”

A rise in capital goods and machinery import is expected due to the large mega projects that are being implemented.

“However, a 25.2 percent import increase in a financial year is rare,” the report said, while pointing out other discrepancies in the merchandise import data.

The report said there is the possibility that capital flight has already affected the liquidity situation, exchange rate and reserves in a significant way.

Meanwhile, Qimiao said sustaining the current growth trajectory will not be easy without promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and structural transformation.

“Bangladesh should also focus on improving education, skills, nutrition and adaptability to enable its workforce to thrive in an environment of rapidly changing technology and global demands,” he added. (Courtesy: The Daily Star; Dated: 03 October 2018)

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Bangladesh’s economy is expected to advance by 7.5 per cent during the current fiscal year, powered by private consumption.

The forecast is slightly lower than the government target of 7.8 per cent.

“Private consumption is likely to remain buoyant as remittances continue to recover,” the Asian lender said after launching its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2018 Update on Wednesday in Dhaka.

“Growth in public investment is expected to ease but remain another key growth driver, and private investment may step up slightly as the central bank reaches out to small enterprises and agriculture,” it said.

Asked about the possible impact of the upcoming national election on the economy, ADB country director in Bangladesh Manmahon Parkash said, “If a participatory poll takes place amid the current sound economic base, the election may not impact the economy.”

Although Bangladesh’s macro-economy is on the solid base, it needs to enhance its private investments particularly in the infrastructure development for the higher GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth momentum, he said.

ADB senior economist Soon Chan Hong and principal country specialist Jyotsana Verma made a PowerPoint presentation on the report and the overall operations of the ADB in Bangladesh.

The report said exports are expected to expand at a steady pace despite somewhat slower growth in Bangladesh’s main trade partners.

Agriculture growth in fiscal year (FY) 2018-19 is expected to be at 2.9 per cent, taking into account the high base set in FY2018, the report said

The report said industrial growth is projected to be at 11.5 per cent as private consumption remains strong and exports expand.

Expansion in services, at 6.2 per cent, will “mirror trends in agriculture and industry,” the report noted.

About the inflation, the ADB report said at 6.3 per cent in FY2019, unchanged from the ADO 2018 projection, with higher global fuel prices, currency depreciation, and upward adjustments to natural gas and electricity prices.

Asked whether Bangladesh could attain 8.0 per cent GDP growth, Mr Parkash said: “Yes, it is indeed possible. Bangladesh has already a very strong macroeconomic foundation and it is getting closer to it (growth).”

But he added, “It means you also need to continue prudent macroeconomic policies, good debt management and investing in human capital and new technologies.”

Bangladesh economy is in a good shape and its growth momentum is likely to continue, he said, adding it has recorded over 7.0 per cent GDP growth for the last three consecutive years, reaching close to 8.0 per cent now.

ADB Country Director in Bangladesh Manmahon Parkash addressing the launching ceremony of Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2018 Update in Dhaka

Economy to expand 7.5pc this fiscal, projects ADBRecovering remittances cited as upside

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The country’s export earnings from processed agro-products crossed US$635 million in fiscal year (FY) 2017-18, thanks to the growing global demand.

The amount was around 27 per cent higher than that of $500 million in FY ‘17, according to the Bangladesh Agro-Processors Association (BAPA).

It has registered a 502 per cent rise in the last six years, the available data showed.

Experts said the sector is poised to grow at a much higher rate with local firms’ penetration of new export destinations.

Quality products, cheap labour, competitiveness, government’s policy support and cash incentives have helped promote this emerging sector, they added.

Sector insiders said a modern testing lab, better utility services and building farmers’ awareness are central to the $1.0 billion export target by 2021.

Major exportable items are fruit juice, drinks, puffed rice, snacks, spices, chanachur, biscuit, pickle, frozen vegetables, vermicelli, potato flakes/starch, jam-jelly, candy, mustard oil and flattened rice.

Pran Group, IBCO Food Industries, Eurasia Food Processing (BD), Square Consumer Products, Raj-Kamal Corporation, Bonoful & Co, Azmi Foods and Aline Food Products are the leading exporters.

Bengal Meat Processing Industries, Bikrampur

Consumer Products and Prome Agro Food Products are also among the 150 companies exporting foods abroad.

Pran contributes more than 60-70 per cent of the total processed food exports.

It earned $330 million in last fiscal, Kamruzzaman Kamal director (marketing) of PRAN-RFL Group, said.

Mostafa Kamal, proprietor of Raj-Kamal Food, said processed food is a potential sector as the exporters are getting orders from abroad regularly.

“Recently, we’ve made a contract with a London-based company to export food items, he told the FE.

However, Mr Kamal urged the government to provide uninterrupted utility services for smooth business.

It should also provide technical and technological support to farmers so exporters can buy raw materials at cheap rates, he cited.

The volume of processed food export is increasing drastically, Mr Kamal said, adding that it crossed 40 per cent in the previous fiscal.

Raj-Kamal Food is seeking new destinations to increase its export earnings, he added.

At a function on October 25, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said the export earnings from processed food items are expected to hit $1 billion by 2021. (Courtesy: The Financial Express; Dated: November 5, 2018)

Mr Parkash said the ADB would continue to provide both financial and technical support to Bangladesh in these areas.

“In terms of getting to 8.0 per cent growth, it is possible. But, definitely you need to continue with the same kind of policies and same kind of environment. Again, the ease of doing business needs to be really supported much more, so you can attract higher FDI (foreign direct investment) and higher private investment,” Mr Parkash said.

Besides, the export performance is expected to remain steady although expansion in import is likely to be slower, he said.

On the supply side, strong industrial growth is likely to continue and contribute to the stable growth, he added.

About the Bangladesh’s current account balance, the ADB projected that sharply slowing import growth will moderate the widening of the trade deficit to 23.8 per cent in FY2019 from 92.8 per cent a year earlier.

Remittances are forecast to strengthen by 16.0 per

cent to $17.4 billion on top of the large improvement in FY2018.

Against continued sizeable deficits in services and primary income, larger remittances are expected to shrink the current account deficit slightly to $10.8 billion, or 3.5 per cent of GDP.

While the current account deficit relative to GDP is expected to decline slightly in FY2019, its absolute size of over $10 billion is new to Bangladesh, the ADB report said.

When asked about the US-China cold war on trade and its impact on Bangladesh, ADB Bangladesh chief said, “I don’t think that Bangladesh will be affected. Rather Bangladesh can tap the benefit.”

“Bangladesh has a strong base in its garment, leather and IT industries. It can use these sectors for attracting more investments from across the world,” he said.

ADB has a current portfolio of US$ 9.5 billion to support physical and social infrastructures and human resources development in Bangladesh. (Courtesy: The Financial Express; Dated: 27th September, 2018)

Export of agro-products raises 27percent

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India and Bangladesh on 25th October signed three agreements for allowing New Delhi to use Mongla and Chattogram ports as transit points to access India’s northeastern states for trade.

The two countries decided to explore the possibilities of river links between Rajshahi and Dhuliajan in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.

After talks held at the Le Meridien Hotel here, Bangladesh Shipping Secretary Abdus Samad and his Indian counterpart Gopal Krishna signed the agreement on the use of Chattogram and Mongla ports for movement of goods to and from India.

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for passenger and cruise services was also signed.

The two sides also decided to introduce a passenger cruise service between Chennai city of India and Cox’s Bazar, a distance of about 1,600 nautical miles, Gopal Krishna said.

An addendum to the bilateral Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) between India and Bangladesh was also inked for inclusion of Dhubri (Assam) and Pangaon (Bangladesh) as new ports of call.

Discussions were also held to make Nakugaon land port in Bangladesh and Dalu Integrated Check Post in India operational and to connect with Gelephu (Bhutan) as a tripartite cross-border route, Samad and Gopal Krishna told the media.

Samad acknowledged that Bangladesh’s exports to third countries using Haldia and Kolkata ports would travel faster, but suggested that Dhaka has to keep in mind the interests of Chattogram and Mongla ports also.

He pointed out that Chattogram’s capacity of handling goods expanded and was growing further.

Samad said the three agreements inked on 25th October would further boost connectivity between Bangladesh and India because it had been “a least connected region”.

Referring to the two countries’ efforts to the pre-partition river route between Dhuliajan and Rajshahi, he said it would promote people-to-people and business-to-business contacts at a time when Bangladesh and India’s economies had been growing at impressive rates and the two countries had been moving away from agriculture to industries.

Gopal Krishna termed the agreements “very significant” and particularly pointed to the importance of the Rajshahi-Dhuliajan river link which would allow the mineral-rich eastern Indian state of Jharkhand to access Bangladesh market and benefit those in and around Murshidabad.

He said Jharkhand is rich in stone which is a key material used in civil

construction.

The Indian shipping secretary said the

Dhul ia jan-R a j s h a h i river route w o u l d

considerably cut down the

journey time between the

two countries. At present, Haldia port is being used to carry cargo

along the river through the Sundarbans right up to Rajshahi or the land route using the Benapole-Petrapole border which is “cumbersome”, he added.

Gopal Krishna said a technical team from India would visit Bangladesh soon to examine the revival of the Rajshahi-Dhuliajan route.

He said an Indian technical team would also visit Bangladesh to explore if a 20km stretch of Gomati and Titas rivers in India and a 70km stretch in Bangladesh can be made navigable by dredging for being included in the bilateral inland river waterway protocol route. Both the rivers are shared by the two countries across Tripura state.

“If the two rivers can be made navigable, it will augment trade between landlocked Tripura and other eastern Indian states,” he said.

The directors general of shipping of India and Bangladesh would meet on December 4 to see if more ports like Cox’s Bazar could be added to the bilateral

Dhaka, Delhi sign deal on port useIndia to transport goods thru’ Ctg, Mongla

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Bangladeshi tourists can now apply at Indian Visa Application Centres (IVACs) to secure unrestricted access to Indian states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, the northern-most state of the country, and Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian High Commission in a press statement said beginning November 22, IVACs across Bangladesh are accepting applications for additional route endorsements on valid visas.

Sikkim is a place in northeast India while Ladakh

is a region of Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, those were among the places where foreign tourists were restricted.

Previously, Bangladeshis had to seek permission from New Delhi to visit those places, but most were denied.

India is the number one destination for Bangladeshi tourists. Last year, about 1.4 million visas were granted from Bangladesh, according to the high Commission. This year, the figure will be even higher, it said.

IVAC has introduced an application form to give permit to those who want to visit those restricted places.

In order to visit those places, a Bangladeshi citizen with a valid Indian visa will need to download the special endorsement application from Indian High Commission website and submit it at IVACs.

The new Indian visa centre located at the Jamuna Future Park is known as the world’s largest visa centre. An official of the State Bank of India which is operating the centre said they are working to get it listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

A diplomat at Indian High Commission in Dhaka said, “Yes, we have lifted the restrictions and Bangladeshis

Bangladesh will be able to import power from the neighbouring countries via India as the Indian government has approved the ‘Guidelines for Import/Export (Cross Border) of Electricity- 2018’ which was published on December 18.

According to section 3.1 of the guideline of ‘Cross-border Trade of Electricity’, the cross-border transaction between India and the neighbouring countries will be approved by the Indian entity through an agreement.

The Indian government has recently amended the ‘Guidelines for Import/Export (Cross Border) of

Electricity- 2018’ where it said that two separate countries can trade electricity where India will take part through a tripartite agreement or giving approval.

At the joint steering committee meetings, the issue of electricity import from Nepal and Bhutan via India was discussed on December 3 and December 4 in Kathmandu, Nepal, reports UNB.

Already, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Bangladesh and Nepal for the electricity import. (Courtesy: The Financial Express; Dated: 26 December, 2018)

coastal shipping agreement, he added.

Permission for the transportation of third country cargo on protocol routes and coastal shipping routes were also discussed. Inclusion of Dhamra port, Chidambaranar port (formerly Tuticorin port) and Kamarajar port under the coastal shipping agreement was also deliberated upon. These will be further discussed in Joint Shipping Committee meeting scheduled in December this year.

The shipping secretary-level talks followed the 19th edition of the Standing Committee meeting under Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) between high-level delegations of India and

Bangladesh on 25th October.

Currently, 3.5 million tonnes of cargo is transported on protocol routes through inland waterways and it was expected to increase substantially after the declaration of additional ports of call and extension of protocol routes.

The North Eastern Indian states would get connected directly to the ports of Kolkata and Haldia in India and Mongla through waterways which would facilitate movement of export-import cargo and would also reduce the logistic costs. (Courtesy: The Daily Star; Dated: 26th October, 2018)

Bangladeshis can now visit Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh

Bangladesh allowed import of power from neighbours via India

Tourists enjoying a scenic view in Ladakh

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Bangladesh and India will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to ease the import of sugar from India. “The Trading Corpo-ration of Bangladesh (TCB) and the State Trading Corporation (STC) of India will sign the MoU tomorrow (Friday) to ease sugar import from India,” Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told journalists after a meeting with an Indian business delegation at his secretariat office in the city.

Indian Food and Public Distribution Secretary Ravikant led the Indian business delegation while Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla was also present at the meeting. At present, Bangladesh has to pay 40 percent duty for the import of sugar from India as this product is on the negative list of Bangladesh for giving protection to local industry, said Tofail.

In an another meeting, Indian delegation led by Indian

Food Secretary Ravikant, met Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu at the Industries Ministry in the city.

India expressed its willing to provide technological support to Bangladesh for modernizing countries

In a historic agreement between India and Bangladesh, both the neighbouring nations are to witness cruise vessels commuting between the nations.

As agreed on the proposal on October 25, the cruise vessels are to run between Kolkata and Guwahati via Dhaka and will ply the Inland Protocol route and coastal shipping route, according to a report by www.sentinelassam.com.

As known from the official sources, the water route is expected to be operational by March 29, 2019, and Heritage cruise line will operate the route.

On starting, the cruise liner will start from Kolkata and will reach Dhaka via Sundarbans and finally, it will enter Assam from Dhubri and conclude at Guwahati.

Gopal Krishna, the secretary of Indian Ministry of Shipping, while speaking to the media, stated, “The two countries have reached an understanding, through a standard operating procedure (SOP), for movement of passenger and cruise vessels on Inland Protocol route and coastal shipping route.”

As per the agreement and official sources, the cruise

vessels will commence their trip from Kolkata (West Bengal) and reach Guwahati (Assam) via Haldia in Bengal to Barisal and Dhaka in Bangladesh.

The charge to run the passenger cruise line on National Waterways-2 is taken by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) under the aegis of shipping ministry.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India says to the media, Ganga will be connected to the Brahmaputra via Indo-Bangladesh protocol route.”

As per further future plans, the cruise line will be connecting three rivers in the two neighbouring countries. The IWAI said, “Ganga in India (called Padma in Bangladesh), Jamuna at Sundarbans in Bangladesh and Brahmaputra in Assam will become the route.”

It was only in the last year when union minister of shipping, Nitin Gadkari had first mentioned about the potentiality of the water transport sector which keeps a capability of generating a revenue up to Rs 350 billion and create employment for close to 0.2 million people. (Courtesy: The Financial Express; Dated: 28 October 2018)

now can access those places through a special endorsement on their valid Indian visa.”

A maximum of three days might be needed to process and approve the application, the diplomat added.

The High Commission in Dhaka or the Assistant High Commissions in Chattogram, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Khulna will no longer accept those applications.

The IVACs will have separate counters for the purpose and will charge Tk 300 processing fee for each

application.

An applicant can request additional two routes, in addition to existing 24 international airports and Gede or Haridaspur rail and road routes.

The forms are available on the website of the High Commission of India (https://www. hcidhaka. gov.in/pdf/endorsementofportapplicationform.pdf) and the Indian Visa Application Centres (http:// www. ivacbd.com/ Other-Forms) [Courtesy: The Bangladesh Monitor; Dated: December, 2018]

Bangladesh-India to sign for reducing duty in sugar import

Kolkata-Dhaka- Guwahati cruise service likely from March next

Ravi Kant, Food & Public Distribution Secretary, Govt. of India exchanging views with Industry Minister, Amir Hossain Amu. High Commission of India Hrsh Vardhan Shringla was present on the occasion

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IFAD Auto opens largest commercial vehicles service center in BDIFAD Auto inaugurated the largest commercial vehicles service center in the country on Monday at

its own industrial area at Madanpur in Bandar thana of Narayanganj.

IFAD launched the commercial service center for

vehicles having the technical support from Ashok Leyland, one of the largest commercial vehicles, trucks and bus manufacturers in India.

Ashok Leyland Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Vinod K Dasari and IFAD group chairman Iftekhar Ahmed Tipu jointly inaugurated the service, first of its kind in Bangladesh.

The newly station at Madanpur can provide services to 22 commercial vehicles simultaneously with its modern technologies there. Besides, sales, services and spares facilities will also be available at the station.

Vinod K Dasari of Ashok Leyland said Bangladesh is fast growing market, and the number of commercial vehicles is on increasing mode to keep the economy moving.

And, in order to meet the growing demand, IFAD in cooperation with Ashok Leyland has opened 22

November 08: A half day workshop on “Facilitating Implementation and Stakeholder Buy-In in the BBIN Region” was held on the day at Unnayan Shamannay conference room with former Bangladesh Bank Governor, Dr. Atiur Rahman in Chair. It was

organized by local think tank, Unnayan Shamannay in association with Jaypur based Indian think tank, CUTS International.

Arnab Ganguly , Assistant Policy Analyst & Deputy Head of CUTS and his colleague, Robert made key-note presentation on the occasion. Senior and retired bureaucrats and private sector stakeholders from Bangladesh were present in the workshop.

IBCCI Secretary & CEO, Jahangir Bin Alam represented the Chamber.

Representatives from Bangladesh Truck Owners’ Association, Coastal Ship Owners Association of Bangladesh, different research organizations and mass-media professionals were also present. Discussants pointed out different infrastructural, procedural and political challenges of operationalizing the BBIN-MVA and discussed possible ways forward.

Preliminary findings of a study on challenges of operationalizing BBIN-MVA conducted by the two organizations were presented by Arnob Ganguly from CUTS International and Robert Shuvro Guda from Unnayan Shama-nnay.

state-owned sugar mills to produce refined sugar from raw materials.

Amu welcomed India for their interest to support Bangladesh in modernizing its sugar mills and assured India that the government would consider their proposal seriously. Ravikant said India produces a huge amount of sugar by using high technology in sugarcane cultivation and now it wants to export the unrefined sugar to neighboring countries.

“So, we want to provide technological support to

Bangladesh to refine the unrefined sugar. Moreover, we also want to provide financial support in this regard under an agreement of line of credit,” he added.

Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Additional Secretary of the Industries Ministry Begum Parag and Chairman of Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation AKM Delwar Hossain were, among others, present. (Courtesy: The Daily Asian Age; Dated: 02th November, 2018)

Unnayan Shamannay & CUTS Workshop

Dr Atiur Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) and Chairperson of Unnayan Shamannay Dr Atiur Rahman moderatinga stakeholder consultation session

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Envoy Textiles receives National Productivity & Quality Excellence and ICMAB Award

IBCCI meeting with Ravi Kant

Envoy Textiles gets National Export Trophy

IBCCI member company, Envoy Textiles Limited received the National Productivity & Quality Excellence Award (2nd position under large industry) 2017 in recognition of its contribution to increase productivity and quality in large industry from National Productivity Organisation (NPO) under Ministry of Industries.

Envoy Textiles was the only organistion from the entire RMG & Textile Industry in the Large Industry Category. Honarable Industries Minister, Mr. Amir Hossian Amu, MP, Minintry of Industries of The People’s Republic Of Bangladesh graced the occasion as Chief Guest.

Envoy Textiles Ltd, has been awarded with ICMAB

November 01: Visiting Food & Public Distribution Secretary, Govt. of India, Ravi Kant along with members of his entourage had a luncheon meeting with IBCCI on the day at Hotel Platinum Grand, Banai on the day and exchanged views on matters of mutual interest.

President of the Chamber Abdul Matlub Ahmad, Vice-Presidents - M. Shoeb Chowdhury, & Sanjeeb K. Roy, Directors – Tanvir Ahmed, Abhisek Das, Brajesh Kumar, Dewan Sultan Ahmed, Arup Dasgupta, Venugopal N.C. Pillai, Mehrun Nesa Islam and Chamber Secretary & CEO Jahangir Bin Alam.

IBCCI Derector, Tanvir Ahmed was the sponsor of the event.

service centers for commercial vehicles across the country including Madanpur of Narayanganj, he added.

“We are taking initiative to take the number of the services centre to 36, soon”, he further said adding that they were happy with the journey along IFAD.

Furthermore, “we are looking forward to investing more in Bangladesh in coming days,” he mentioned.

Chairman of the IFAD group Iftekhar Ahmed Tipu said that the service has been opened with modern technologies to offer world class service and facilities.

We are also working to open emergency service, and once we prepared, it will take only four hours to provide all necessary service to commercial vehicles at the station as repair measure. (Courtesy: The Financial Express; Dated: 27th November, 2018)

Government of Bangladesh has awarded IBCCI Member Company, Envoy Textiles Limited with National Export Trophy (Gold) for its extra ordinary contribution to country’s export earnings.

Director, Envoy Textiles Limited, Tanvir Ahmed receives the award from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Director, Envoy Textiles Limited, Tanvir Ahmed receives the award from Honarable Industry Minister Amir Hossain Amu

Director, Envoy Textiles Limited, Tanvir Ahmed receives the award Honarable Minister, Mr Abul Maal A. Muhith, MP

IBCCI Newsletter12

ICC Buyer-Seller Meet, Kohima, Nagaland

NMDC – CII Conference Mineral & Metal Outlook 2030

A 2-day Buyer-Seller Meet organized by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) with support of Department of Industry & Commerce, Government of

Nagaland was held in the state’s capital, Kohima on December 1 – 2, 2018. Mr. Imnatiba Jamir, Advisor Department of Industries & Commerce. Nagaland Government was the guest of honor on the occasion

The Buyer–Seller Meet (BSM) coincided with The Hornbill Festival celebrated in Nagaland in December every year.

A 3-member IBCCI delegation attended Nagaland Buyer-Seller Meet from 1-2 December 2018. The 3-member IBCCI Delegation included Mr. Imamuz-Zaman of Simtex Industries Limited and Mr. A.M.M Farhad & Mr. Afzal Husain of The Metal (Pvt.) Limited. The BSM was jointly hosted by ICC and IBCCI was represented by Maj. Gen (Rtd.) Imam Uzzaman of IBCCI member company Simtex Industries Ltd, A. M. M. Farhad & Afzal Husain of Thr Metal Ltd.

A 2-day International Conference titled “Mineral & Metal Outlook 2030 organized by National Mineral

Development Corporation (NMDC) of India in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) was held on October 9 – 10, 2018 at Taj Palace Hotel, Delhi.

Around 500 delegates from across the Globe participated in the event. Matters relating to Mining and Metals industries of India vis-à-vis global scenario were discussed in the conference. Secretary & CEO, India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jahangir Bin Alam represented the Chamber and was the lone participant from Bangladesh.

It was inaugurated by Minister of Steel, Govt. of India Chaudhary Birender Singh.

IBCCI delegates with Mr. Imam Uzzaman (centre)

IBCCI Secretary & CEO Jahangir Bin Alam (Left) is seen attending the conference

CII Conference on Automotive Design & EngineeringA 2-member Chamber delegation headed by the IBCCI President, Abdul Matlub Ahmad took part in day long conference on “Automotive Design & Engineering” organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 26th October 2018 at Hotel ITC Grand Chola, Chennai. Other member of the delegation was CEO (Customer Services) of Nitol Motors Ltd., Khan Md. Nazrul Islam.

Theme of the conference was “Current, Future trends & innovations in automotive design & engineering”.

IBCCI President Abdul Matlub Ahmad & Nazrul Islam Khan at the conference venue

Best Corporate Award (first postition) 2017 under Textiles Category today at a formal ceremony held at Hotel Intercontinental, Dhaka. Honarable Minister, Mr

Abul Maal A. Muhith, MP, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.

IBCCI Newsletter

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IBCCI President Abdul Matlub Ahmad addressing the Forum

MCCI Logistic Forum 2018December 01: A day long Logistic Forum on “Regional Integration through Transport & Trade” organized by Marchants’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), Kolkata was held on the day at The Park, Kolkata.

Prominent Policy Makers, Business Leaders from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal got together on the occasion and exchanged views on trade facilitation among these countries through improvement of inter-modal transportation system taking into

CII National HR Conclave 2018

APEDA India delegation visits IBCCI

India Investment Grid Portal launched

The 8th National HR Conclave 2018 of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was held on November 21 – 22 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Theme of the Conclave was “Rise to the New World of Work.”

A 3 member Chamber delegation led by the HR Director of IBCCI member, Nitol-Niloy Group Brig. (Rtd) Kazi Anwarul Islam represented IBCCI. Other members of the delegation were – Asstt. General Manager & Head of HR Nitol-Niloy Ms.Shamima Akhtar Khanom, &Asstt. Manager & Employee Relations Nitol-Niloy Faizul Kabir Khandaker.…..

November 28: An eight member delegation from Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) of India headed by its Asstt. General Manager Dr. C. B. Singh visited IBCCI on the day and had fruitful exchange of views with the Chamber.

Vice-President of the Chamber, M. Shoeb Chowdhury was in the Chair. Others present from IBCCI’s side were – Secretary & CEO Jahangir Bin Alam, Executive Director of PRAN Beverage Limited Md. Anisur Rahman, Director Rolex Import & Export Corpn. Shamsul Haque and Managing Director of Star

Infrastructure Development Consortium Ashraful Haq Chowdhury,

Invest India under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion; Government of India has developed an online portal to showcase investment opportunities across the public and private sectors in India by the name of “India Investment Grid (IIG)” (www.indiainvestmentgrid.com). The IIG portal currently has over 4000 projects on its website

with over 100,000 website hits and more than 3,000 investors registered on the portal. 2. It would be greatly appreciated, if you could circulate the information regarding “India Investment Grid (IIG)” web portal amongst the members of your esteemed organization and encourage them to use it to look for opportunities.

IBCCI Vice-President M. Shoeb Chowdhury Chairing the meeting

IBCCI Newsletter14

November 28: B. Srinivasa Rao, Marketing Manager, Kallam Textiles Limited of Guntur, Andhra Pradesh met the IBCCI Secretary & CEO, Jahangir Bin Alam at the Chamber office and discussed matters relating to re-export of cargo back to India unacceptable to Bangladesh importer.

November 29: Sourav Ghosal, General Manager, The Gateway Hotel, Kolkata accompanied by Executive Director of Travel House Limited, GSA in of Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces in Bangladesh, met the IBCCI Secretary & CEO Jahangir Bin Alam and exchanged views on matters of mutual interest.

Visitors to the Chamber

IBCCI Vice-President Shoeb Chowdhury gets CIP statusM. Shoeb Chowdhury, Vice-President of the Chamber & CEO of IBCCI member company, HSTC Limited has recently been recognized by the Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of Bangladesh as a Commercially Important Person (CIP) for his contribution to the national economy.

The CIP card was ceremonially handed over to him by Commerce Minister, Tofail Ahmed.

Shoeb Chowdhury receiving CIP Card from Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed

consideration the current status and constraints for development of Logistics & transportation sectors of the region vis-à-vis India’s trade and economic engagement with its neighbours.

A 6 member IBCCI delegation led by its President, Abdul Matlub Ahmad participated in the forum.

Other members of the Chamber delegation were – Vice-President M. Shoeb Chowdhury, Secretary & CEO Jahangir Bin Alam, Chairman IBCCI import-export Sub-Committee Motiar Rahman, Md. Abdul Aziz of IBCCI member company Rose Agro (Pvt) Ltd. and Md. Khairul Islam of Khairul Rice Agency.

IBCCI Secretary & CEO Jahangir Bin Alam addressing the Forum Chairman, IBCCI import-export Sub Committee Motiar Rahman speaking on the occasion

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Editor: Jahangir Bin Alam

India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rupayan Centre (16th floor), 72 Mohakhali C.A., Dhaka-1212, Phone: 9858527, 9887074-6 E-mail: indiabanglachamber@gmail.com Web: www.ibcci.net

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