Work together with govt in executing rules : Muhith

FE Report Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith Monday urged corporate institutions to work together with the government in implementing rules and regulations introduced by the authority. He made the call at the distribution ceremony of 'ICMAB Best Corporate Award 2011' at a city hotel organised by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB). He said corporate governance means nothing but making good, transparent and responsible management in a company. The minister thanked ICAMB saying that the institution has been making cost management accountants for years by training and teaching them. He said the institution was established in 1977 and, over all these years, it has done a lot for the management and accounts of corporations. Mr Muhith said the main thing of a company is to make a business plan which can ensure good governance and management and it costs nothing. President of ICMAB Zahir Uddin Ahmed said in the corporate world today business ownership is separated from the management. "Management can be better in today's corporate world even if the owners are not good." He said the problem people face today is allocating limited wealth to all. By ensuring good corporate governance, wealth can be allocated in terms of equality and responsibility. He said to give the award is to recognise good corporate governance and let people know who the best of the best are. Muzaffar Ahmed, president of award committee, said the corporations have been selected for their good performance in terms of regulatory compliance, liquidity and capital management, profitability, corporate social responsibility, disclosure, risk management, market share and contribution to the national economy. He said they have only considered those institutions for the award which provided more information than the published information. ICMAB introduced the award in 2007 with a view to creating competition among the national institutions to march forward to achieve a place where these can be compared with similar global international organisations and encouraging the corporate world to act more responsibly. This year 23 corporate bodies were awarded for their best performance. Janata Bank stood first among the state-owned commercial banks while Agrani Bank standing second and Rupali Bank third. Under the private commercial bank category (traditional operation) Prime Bank Ltd got the first award for their performance while National Bank Ltd became second and Eastern Bank Ltd third. Standard Chartered Bank was awarded the first prize under the foreign commercial bank category while The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd became second and Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC third. Under private commercial bank (Islami Operation) category, Islami Bank Bangladesh Bank Ltd got the first award while Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Ltd became second and Shahjalal Islami Bank third. Among non-banking financial institutions IDLC Finance Ltd received the first award for their performance while LangkaBangla Finance Ltd stood second and Prime Finance and Investment Ltd third. In general insurance category, Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd received the first prize while Reliance Insurance Ltd got the second and Pioneer Insurance Company Ltd was awarded the third prize. Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd received best corporate award under the pharmaceuticals category while Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd became second and GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh Ltd third. In the telecommunication sector, Grameenphone Ltd received the first award while ORASCOM Telecom Bangladesh Ltd got the second best corporate award. ICMAB is a statutory body constituted by the Government of Bangladesh under the Cost and Management Accountants Ordinance 1977 and regulated under the Cost and Management Accountants Regulations 1980. Grameenphone CEO Tore Johnson, Prime Bank acting CEO Rezaul Karim and managing director of Islami Bank Mohammad Abdul Mannan expressed their feelings over the awards.