A vision of sustainable business: A road map to future value creation

Sustainability of products has a value for some clients who like to buy sustainable products or enter "functional business" contracts. Companies selling products must convince the buyers that products are made in sustainable ways -- from use of raw materials...

Amazon fires heat up political crisis in Brazil

August is the month of major political crises in Brazil, but no one suspected that an environmental issue would be the trigger for the storms threatening the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, just eight months into his term.Protests against the...

Belt and Road Initiative -- a critical analysis

The Asia Pacific region appears to be enthralled by China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is basically aimed at developing infrastructure in the participating countries. According to Eric Brown, Research analyst of the Geopolitical Economic Risk, Belt and Road...

UK wants equal treatment for all RMG operators

The United Kingdom (UK) is worried over the growing incentive packages for domestic apparel manufacturers as such facilities have caused widening disadvantages to foreign-owned clothing units inside the export processing zones (EPZs).For ensuring equal treatment for both EPZ factories and...

Shipbuilding policy soon to tap export potential

The government has drafted the shipbuilding industry development policy-2019 with an eye to developing the sector in view of its export potential, officials said.Under the move, industries ministry has prepared the draft policy so that the shipbuilding sector could boost...

Police favour e-sealing for goods containers

Law enforcement agencies favour application of the digital lock rules, but businesses oppose the system fearing cost escalation.The digital system allows exporters to self-guard their containers using electronic seals.In June last year, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued the...

Farm credit disbursement falls 15 per cent in July

Farm credit disbursement dropped by over 15 per cent in July, the first month of the current fiscal year (FY), 2019-20, mainly due to flood at different parts of the country. Disbursement of agriculture loan came down to Tk 9.77...

Stocks ride four-week winning streak

Stocks maintained their gaining streak for the fourth straight week that ended on Thursday, with investors showing their appetite for June year-end companies' shares.It was also the first week after Eid-ul-Azha holiday, which saw the DSEX, the prime index of...

Success in Sudan

Mediating a deadlocked political dispute is difficult work in the best of times. Mediating the conflict in Sudan between military rulers and opposition demonstrators - following the dramatic ouster of an autocratic leader, and against a background of widespread (violently...

The high-growth promise of an integrated Africa

At a time when the United States, once a standard bearer of multilateralism, is embracing protectionism, Africa has taken a bold step in the opposite direction, creating the world's largest free-trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Organization...

On way to Salem at ungodly hour

Ooty left us spellbound. It was really hard to extricate us from the hypnotic spell the resort cast on us. We lamented that we could not spare another day. This time our driver also did not show much enthusiasm about...

English language education practices suffer from absence of Language Policy

The prevalent English Language Education (ELE) practices have escalated opportunity costs due to flaws in the Education Policy. Though an ELE provision requires a backup of Language Policy (LP), Bangladesh does not have any LP. In the absence of such...

A 'cure' for Ebola but will it stop the outbreak?

While people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are slowly being made aware that scientists have discovered two drugs that are effective in treating Ebola, letting go of the fear and anxiety that has prevailed across the country this...

Why jaywalking?

Crossing the road wherever pedestrians prefer and whenever they like has now become a deplorable habit in the city of Dhaka. A large number of pedestrians are used to crossing the roads by merely raising their hands as if they...

Maintaining socio-economic progress

According to available statistics prepared by the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2016 (HIES) of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 80 per cent households in Bangladesh have access to drinking water of tube wells. In rural areas the share...

Could Bangladesh Bank successfully sterilise its reserve purchase?

Reserve accumulation has direct implications for the balance sheet of a central bank. A central bank may finance reserves build up either by increasing the high powered money i.e., monetary base known as reserve money or by wearing down its...

Planetary thinking: Survival of humanity

The Swedish climate truthsayer Greta Thunberg has set sail for the United States in a zero-emissions racing yacht to generate waves in a different part of the world - including at next month's United Nations Climate Action Summit in New...

Promoting girls' education through adequate investment

The girls' education has long been considered one of the single most effective development investments that can be made. Providing girls with quality education not only empowers them throughout their lives, but also has positive outcomes across generations. Numerous studies...

Dedicated HC bench to handle bank cases

It is good that the incumbent finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has felt the necessity of creating a separate High Court (HC) bench to deal with cases pertaining to banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs). A number of his predecessors...

Why was World Mosquito Day not observed?

There was hardly a better time than this year to observe the World Mosquito Day. Dr. Ronald Ross's ground-breaking discovery that female anopheles acts as the vector of malaria to both humans and cattle is commemorated as the World Mosquito...

Monetary policy and Bangladesh Bank: Credit crunch and liquidity crisis

The importance of the monetary policy announced by Bangladesh Bank on July 31, 2019 cannot be missed by anyone watching this policy instrument over time. Nor can its significance be exaggerated in the overall policy environment surrounding the economy. Next...

BD sticks to its decision on fumigation checks

Bangladesh sticks to its decision to continue carrying out fumigation checks on import of cotton from the USA. Md Mahbubul Islam, joint secretary of the agriculture ministry said, "We will not go beyond our existing rules regarding fumigation on import...

Plugging the leather loopholes

The leather industry of Bangladesh has not been able to keep pace with the preferences of world market during the past few years. The entrepreneurs are not optimistic about the immediate future as well. The recent slide in the prices...

The de facto coalition: The real obstacle to climate action

Climate change is probably the biggest threat facing humanity today. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world must cut its carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 in order to prevent global warming...

Growth strategy needs to focus on human development

Ranking in global economy is something many countries, especially the developing ones, consider critical to portray their economic strength. Different bodies and organisations prepare such rankings using the data of the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The latest...

Rohingya reluctant to return

COX'S BAZAR, Aug 21: The Rohingya refugees are reluctant to return to their homeland Myanmar until their demands are met. The refugees expressed their reluctance to government officials and UN representatives during their interviews recently.According to sources, the government and...

BR fails to maintain train schedule in western zone

Bangladesh Railway (BR) often faces delay in maintaining train schedule in the country's northern and southern regions for putting more focus on setting up of new railroads than improving the capacity of existing track in the western zone.It runs all...

Govt borrows Tk 230b from banks in 35 days

The government borrowed nearly Tk 230 billion from the country's banking system in the first 35 days of the current fiscal year (FY), 2019-20, to finance its budget deficit partly, officials said."The government's bank borrowing has already increased significantly to...

Top 10 corporate taxpayers pay Tk 58b in FY '19

Led by network operator GrameenPhone, taxes paid by top 10 corporate bodies grew by 18 per cent to Tk 58.43 billion during the fiscal year, 2018-19.The country's largest telecom company alone paid Tk 24.06 billion accounting for more than two-fifths...

Central VAT reg rules issued for businesses

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has issued the central VAT registration rules to help businesses obtain single registration for production of 'identical and similar' goods and services.The 'Value Added Tax (VAT) and Supplementary Duty (obtaining Central Registration and tax...