Address by IPL President Mahbubur Rahman

As the chairman of the International Publications Limited (IPL), I deem it a great honour to have this privilege to address you at this function, being held to celebrate the 17th anniversary of publication of The Financial Express. The steady growth of this newspaper as the country's English financial daily over the past 17 years is a matter of satisfaction for us all, as the equity holders of the International Publications Limited (IPL) that owns it. We would like to share this satisfaction with you all. At the time of its launching, some people had expressed doubts about the viability and success of our venture, The Financial Express. Such doubts had reasons, too, because of various constraints in the-then context of the country's media world. The Financial Express (FE), as venture of the IPL, has, however, succeeded to survive the odds, with the cooperation, support and patronage of its valued readers, advertisers and well-wishers. It has now emerged as the second largest English daily of the country. All journalists and employees, working with the FE, have made valuable contributions to the growth of the FE. They deserve our special thanks and appreciation on this auspicious occasion. I would like to put on record here our deep appreciation of the role of the Editor of the Financial Express, Mr Moazzem Hossain, in particular, for his professional leadership and stewardship in steering the course of the FE's transition to its present shape. The growth of the FE on all counts is a commendable success. I would now like to acknowledge with a deep sense of appreciation the pro-active response of all the equity-holders of the International Publicating Limited to translate our initial ideas about publishing an English financial daily into a reality. Their valuable cooperation has been the source of the strength of our company. All my esteemed colleagues in the IPL board of directors, have made important contributions through their valuable inputs for running the affairs of the company with a positive vision about its future. The board of directors of the IPL and our equity holders have, however, never interfered in the FE's editorial policy and professional decision-making, in accordance with the standard norms and practices in the domain of journalism. That is an area, which we strongly believe and uphold, should be dealt, by the professional journalists under leadership and guidance of the Editor who is the CEO of the paper. As businessmen, we are always interested to see our ventures running efficiently and making steady progress. We also appreciate that a media venture is not all about profits. It is also a kind of social commitment on our part to ensuring the operations of a media venture on a viable footing and sustained footing. We are proud to note here that as the Financial Express has expanded in its size and widened its areas of focus over the years, its circulation and business have also grown. The FE now generates operational surpluses. I would like to recall here that the office of the FE at its inception was located in a rented premise near Dainik Bangla crossing. Now it is housed in its own premise located at a premium business centre near the Bangladesh Secretariat. All members of the board of directors and other equity-holders of the IPL are committed to making their best endeavours to taking the FE to a new height in the coming days. I, on behalf of all my colleagues in the IPL board of directors, would look forward to your continued cooperation to our endeavours. We strongly believe that further growth and expansion of the FE will serve as one of the catalysts for promoting sustained growth of the economy, in general, and the private sector, in particular, because of the unfailing commitments of the FE to upholding the principles of objective and fair financial journalism in the country. I thank you all, again, for making today's programme a success by your warm presence