Making footwear industry sustainable
Bangladesh's notable surge in footwear export to the United States during the January-July period of 2025 has drawn attention for good reasons. While this growth can largely be linked to the Trump administration's tariffs on major footwear-exporting nations -- resulting in trade diversion -- the development nevertheless highlights Bangladesh's huge...
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Facilitating financing MSMEs under SME Finance Policy
The Small and Medium Enterprises (MSEs) account for the majority of businesses all across the world. According to the World Bank (WB), this sector represents 90 per cent businesses with 50 per cent of employment worldwide. Bangladesh is no exception to this. Nearly 10 million SMEs in this country contributes...
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Fruit cake or fraud cake!
A fruit cake costs quite a bit more than a plain cake in Bangladesh, whether it is purchased from an ordinary bakery in the neighbourhood or from a posh hotel. It seems logical that adding fruits to cakes would raise their price. Because quality dried fruits, cherries and nuts are...
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Israel's stubborn attitude towards Palestine
The dream of an independent Palestinian state, comprising the West Bank and Gaza, has remained unfulfilled since 1947. That vision has been consistently frustrated by Israel's occupation and its refusal to allow Palestinians meaningful self-determination.The Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have lived under Israeli control since 1967,...
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Branding future of banking
When most people in Bangladesh think about banking, they picture the basics - opening an account, depositing or withdrawing cash, applying for loans and completing other branch-level services. Since independence in 1971, however, the banking sector has undergone significant reforms and is now seeing the rise of fourth-generation banks. Yet,...
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