More than 85pc fail to earn certification

A total of 1,458 digital businesses have been registered under Digital Business Identification (DBID) in the last three years since its inception in 2021, according to DBID statistics. On the other hand, more than 85 per cent of e-commerce companies...

Preliminary health budget set at Tk 434b for next fiscal

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has set a preliminary budget allocation of Tk 434.83 billion for the next fiscal year (2025-26), marking a Tk 20.75 billion increase from the current fiscal year's allocation of Tk 414.08 billion. This...

Stable policies to lure foreign investors to present market

The current market valuation of local listed companies is attractive and policies must be stable to attract foreign investors, said a fund manager of Hong Kong-based Asia Frontier Capital (AFC).In a recent interview with The FE, Ruchir Desai said foreign...

Dried fish processing begins with great gusto

COX'S BAZAR, Feb 08: A festive-like environment is prevailing almost everywhere as the traditional dried fish processing season has begun along the Cox's Bazar coastline marking enthusiasm and busyness of the workers involved in the burgeoning industry. Industry insiders said...

Freeing Chatttogran of water-logging

The port city of Chattogram has been becoming increasingly uninhabitable because of frequent water-logging. Every time there is a moderate to heavy downpour, the city goes under knee-to-waist-deep water, disrupting the city life, and causing immense suffering to the commuters....

Devising strategy for IP in post-LDC era

As Bangladesh is set to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category by the end of 2026, many have already raised concerns about the post-graduation shocks. The issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) is one of the key concerns...

Donald Trump: his agenda this time around

No one expected Donald Trump to be better now than he was during his first term in White House. But few guessed that he would be far worse during his second term than he was before. After all, people learn...

Disarray in private investment

Private investment is experiencing major disarray during the tenure of interim government which was started in the previous regime. Bangladesh did not manage to raise its investment levels to match those of its peer developing countries during previous regime. Over...

Ordinance soon for mandatory electronic government purchases

An ordinance remaking the porous public-procurement law comes soon for mandatory electronic government purchases in all relevant cases as the changed regime finds loopholes for abuse, sources say. They say the current interim government has finalised the draft of the...

Regulator seeks power to discipline errant insurance companies

Insurance regulator now wants requisite power to adequately punish errant insurers for bringing them under control in the wake of widespread allegations of noncompliance, especially non-settlement of huge claims of policyholders. To this end, the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority...

CAAB struggles to recover Tk 11.93b dues from three defunct airlines

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) faces uncertainties over realising Tk 11.93 billion that three defunct airlines owe it. The airlines are Regent Airways, United Airways and GMG Airlines. CAAB has taken several initiatives, including filing money suits, to...

Ekushey Padak for footballers of nat’l women's team: What next?

The announcement could not come at a better time for the national women's team, the reigning champions of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), which defended last year its title it won in 2022. Both the national women's squad and...

Extrajudicial killings must not return

With the overthrow of the Awami League regime, courtesy of the July-August uprising, people started believing that their life or death would no longer be decided by some petty security personnel as was very frequently done during the past one...

Higher interest, sluggish business dampen fund demand

Credit flow to private sector ebbs further as higher lending rates and ongoing business uncertainty dampens demand for funds, according to bankers.The growth in credit flow to private sector came down to 7.28 per cent in December 2024 on a...

Franklin Book Program: a cultural tool of cold war era

The Cold War waged by the formidable adversaries – the United States of America (USA) and the erstwhile Soviet Union – commenced in1947 following the conclusion of the Second World War. It was also a cultural war, where the combatants...

Fish die en masse in Meghna: An ecological disaster in making

The news that different species of dead fish are floating in the river Meghna is unsettling. Strangely, this ecological disaster has not been widely covered by the media and the newspapers which did placed it on inside pages. The Meghna...

Metro route extension in limbo over cost hurdles

The metro rail company faces uncertainties over finishing the existing Uttara-Motijheel route's extension to the Kamalapur Railway Station in time as the contractor has proposed an exorbitant rate for electrical and mechanical work. Against the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited's...

Eight years on, customs ports' green channel virtually remain ineffective

The green channel facilities offered to 15 large taxpayers have remained almost ineffective for the last eight years since its introduction due to inaction of the authorities concerned in this regard.The privilege supposed to be enjoyed as the Authorised Economic...

Fourth, fifth loan tranches may come together in June

Releasing the fourth instalment from IMF loan package may be delayed until June and come jointly with the fifth tranche then, unless two mandatory prior actions are executed. The two must-dos are additional revenue mobilisation and exchange-rate flexibility.Officials said the...

Retail investors of BEXIMCO likely to return empty-handed

General shareholders of BEXIMCO are likely to lose their investment in the company after the closure of its business units, which used to generate 80 per cent of its revenue. The company experienced a loss of Tk 358.79 million in...

Strengthening existing universities

Bangladesh's unchecked expansion of universities without ensuring quality could be a textbook example of how to undermine academic standards, devalue degrees, and ultimately burden the nation with subpar graduates. First, the authorities ignored the quality of teachers. Then they ignored...

Trump's America, tariffs, canals & USAID

These are days of rapid fire politics in Donald Trump's America. Geopolitics has been pushed into chaotic unpredictability. With Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Elon Musk looking on, the world must now find the means of maintaining a sort of...

Shocking truth of DeepSeek

The Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot (a computer programme that can converse with its human user) resembling US tech company Open AI's ChatGPT that a Chinese tech firm, DeepSeek, launched last month has proved to be quite a disruptive innovation for...

Justification to be sought for very high consultancy costs

The Local Government Division (LGD) has proposed spending over Tk 1.07 billion on consultancy services for a project that involves repairing flood-damaged infrastructures and building shelters in six districts to mitigate future disaster impacts.The districts are Noakhali, Feni, Cumilla, Lakshmipur,...

BD-Pak jt working group soon to promote trade

Closing ranks long after their separation through Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, the two countries are set to form a high-powered Joint Working Group (JWG) for expanding bilateral trade and cooperation.Sources say the Pakistan government has already sent a draft memorandum...

Spotify logs first annual profit

STOCKHOLM, Feb 4 (AFP): Music streaming giant Spotify reported its first annual profit on Tuesday, with the number of active users growing more than expected in the fourth quarter to reach 675 million.The company reported a net profit of 1.1...

Khulna and Bagerhat through Food and Culture

Khulna, a city flourishing along the Rupsha River, symbolizes Bangladesh's rich medieval history and culture. Just a short journey away lies Bagerhat, a town renowned for its red-domed mosques, large dighis (reservoirs), and medieval heritage. From the visionary endeavors of...

Promoting growth of agent banking

Introduction of agent banking system across the country has taken the banking service to the doorsteps of the common people who so long did not have access to formal financial service. In the traditional banking system, clients have to go...

Country in urgent need of updated caregiving

At the entrance of the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital (NICH&R) in Dhaka, a 55-year-old woman hailed from Khulna burst into tears having been denied radiotherapy--the last antidote for her to live some more days. Having undergone four...

Market intermediaries feel forced to shut down business amid low turnovers

Prolonged bearish trend of the country's capital market threatens the survival of intermediaries. A majority of them are unable to meet expenses with income derived from operations.The situation is so dire that stockbrokers, merchant banks and asset management companies may...