Where AI needs to be regulated

Should Artificial Intelligence (AI) be regulated? Heated debate has been ongoing on the issue. In many cases, the fear of AI's potential for not only equalling humans in intelligence, but even surpassing them lies behind the call for regulating the...

A new phase of development

The dream of the people of Chattogram has come true. The 'Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel' is now a reality. The first ever tunnel of the country under the river Karnaphuli has ushered in a new era for the communication...

Owners see it as intervention of outsiders, want no bar on handling of subsidiaries by CEOs

The latest amendment to the corporate governance code requiring appointment of at least two independent directors in listed enterprises is seen by company owners as unwanted intervention in businesses that they have built. The securities regulator says the amendment was...

How alarming is private sector external debt?

For the last couple of years, external debt has become one of the major concerns of the country's overall economic management, mainly due to the sharp fall in the foreign exchange reserve coupled with the fast depreciation of the local...

The changing landscape of Matarbari

The deep-sea port being constructed at Matarbari in Cox's Bazar under a project of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has started to become visible now. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Matarbari deep-sea port channel at Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar...

Dhaka-Ctg expressway: So needed, yet so overlooked

FE: Please describe the situation of the business sector in the country now? Alihussain Akberali: Due to the political unrest, the situation in Bangladesh is highly precarious these days. We have reduced our production levels due to low demand and...

The inclusive path to sustainability

When I was younger, I used to watch a film on the television called 'Water World'. The 'used to watch' part mainly stems from networks re-running popular films multiple times, and my parents would not let me finish a movie...

The path strewn with challenges

Bangladesh has made incredible strides in improving its economic standing, particularly in the measurement of per capita income. Per capita income essentially represents the average income earned per person in a country. Back in 1973, each person in Bangladesh, on...

Catalytic financing can catalyze inclusive growth in emerging economies like Bangladesh

There is no denying that Bangladesh has achieved remarkable success in the last decade or so with higher-than South Asia average of GDP per capita. The economy touches almost half a trillion dollars alongside emergence of a growing middle and...

Financing loss and damage actions

Climate has indeed changed -- from Bolivia and Botswana to Bangladesh and beyond. The big industrial countries were supposed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions fast to keep the average global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees centigrade compared with what...

Garbage to gold: Problems and promises of urban solid waste

While attending lectures on Solid Waste Management (SWM) as part of my Master’s in Urban (Environmental) Management and Development at Rotterdam back in 2007, I was first introduced to the concept of solid waste and the need for its management,...

Redefining business education through STEM integration

In an era of rapid technological advancements and global connectivity, the need for a workforce equipped with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills has become paramount. The conventional Master of Business Administration (MBA) curriculum, once the hallmark of business...

Data and AI for a company

2022-2023 have been a couple of very eventful years, with Russia's attempted invasion of Ukraine, Twitter's takeover by Elon Musk, several large crypto businesses' meteoric crashes, rounds of downsizing in tech giants, and the very recent humanitarian crisis in Gaza....

Promises of IR studies

A trailblazing start of International Relations (IR) studies in Bangladesh dates back to a period even before the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign nation-state when the country was known as East Pakistan. The University of Dhaka, the premier academic...

Empowering Sunderbans fishermen

The enchanting beauty of the Sundarbans mangrove forest hides a harsh reality. This UNESCO World Heritage site, spanning the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers, is not only a treasure trove of biodiversity but also the lifeline of...

Closing the gender divide in eye health

According to the World Health Organization's (WHO's) first World Vision Report, more than a quarter of the world's population - 2.2 billion people worldwide - suffer from vision impairment, of which one billion cases could have been prevented or are...

Is the nation ready to celebrate the Victory Day?

Today's quinquagenarians, sexagenarians and septuagenarians were children, teenagers or youths these days back in 1971. Octogenarians, if of course they are fortunate to live this long, were mostly in the prime of their youth or in their early mid-life. Compared...

One nation, two or more societies!

In his scholarly keynote dissertation presented at a programme marking the 63rd anniversary of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), renowned economist Dr Binayak Sen notes with concern the emergence of two societies in one nation. Titled...

Woodside and Santos in talks to form $52 billion Australian oil giant

SYDNEY, Dec 7 (Reuters): Australia's Woodside Energy and Santos said on Thursday they were in preliminary talks to create an A$80 billion ($52 billion) global oil and gas giant, as consolidation among international energy firms intensifies.Combining two of Australia's largest...

Ill-automated tax payment fraught with risk of fraudulence

Apparently ill-automated tax-payment system is found fraught with risk of revenue fraudulence as land-revenue offices and some bank branches deplore missing features of the mechanism, sources say. The revenue board has made mandatory provision for government tax payment through automated...

DESCO to issue shares to govt: General investors will not be affected as much as feared

After Power Grid, the state-run Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO) has decided to issue shares against funds received from the government to comply with a three-year-old directive from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).The DESCO board at a meeting on Tuesday...

MNOs seek to sit with BTRC over data prices

The mobile network operators (MNOs) have sought a meeting with the telecoms regulator BTRC over internet data package rates as, according to them, the data prices were 'forcibly reduced'.The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) has recently written...

Metro rail co planning to claim carbon credit

Dhaka metro-rail company is planning to assess the extent of reduction in carbon emission due to operation of the country's first metro rail (MRT-6) and claim carbon credit in the international forum.Officials said the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL)...

Saudi company to operate Patenga port terminal

A Saudi company will operate Bangladesh's maiden private seaport terminal at Patenga seashore under a deal government high-ups hail as harbinger of the oil-rich Arab country's bigger business footprints ahead. "It is 'beacon of hope' for the country's economy," Prime...

Remembering our freedom-fighter diplomats

The diplomat Wali-ur Rahman passed away rather quietly last week. It was the end of a career given over to the service of the state of Bangladesh. It was a career which fifty-two years ago became part of national history...

Tax on foreign loans trimmed

Tax on the interest part of foreign-loan repayment goes for now following demand from businesses, especially foreign investors, and also from the central bank.The tax waiver will be valid until February 28, 2024, as the National Board of Revenue (NBR)...

BD-China Power Company risks getting defaulter tag

Recurrent loan-repayment failure prompts the Export-Import Bank of China to contemplate flagging a joint-venture Bangladeshi power company as defaulter, officials have said, as financial crunch persists.The alert came as Bangladesh-China Power Co (Pvt) Ltd (BCPCL), a joint venture of North-West...

Mawa Ghat: The cosiest day-tour destination for Dhakaites

In an era where Dhaka's only tourist places are 'restaurants,' Mawa has become one of the most popular spots for a day tour with sudden plans for refreshment; even if it is about 40 km from the centre of Dhaka,...

LNG import hits impasse for payment imbroglio

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) import from two gulf countries hits impasse as the renewal of standby letter of credit (SBLC) stalls for payment-guarantee refusal by regulators, apparently for forex crunch. Officials have said the LC renewal for the import of...

Eye-catching performance of stocks in bearish market

Some low-performing stocks have been flying high on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in the last few months without any reason for investors to be keen on betting their money on those.Most of these small-cap companies have not paid dividends...