Business

RMG workers demand minimum wage at Tk 5,000

Sat November 7, 2009 - 11:34am BdST

Various garment factory workers’ rights bodies on Friday, from separate rallies in the Muktangan, called on the Awami League-led government to introduce trade unionism in garment factories within three months and ensure a minimum wage of Tk 5,000/-. The leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Unity Council and Garment Workers Unity Forum said that the government had pledged that it would introduce trade unions in garment factories but has taken no steps to do so till date.

Japanese QTEC plans Dhaka wing

Sat November 7, 2009 - 11:24am BdST

The Japan Textile Products Quality and Technology Centre, which is called QTEC, will open a laboratory in Dhaka in February next year for inspection of Bangladeshi goods to be exported to Japan. After China and Korea, Bangladesh will be the third country to have a QTEC laboratory, which serves importers testing products following the strict Japanese standard requirements, said a top QTEC official. ‘We will open our Dhaka laboratory on the first day of February 2010,’ Hiroshi Okada, president of Tokyo-based QTEC, told New Age on Thursday.

Dutch traders urged to invest in Bangladesh

Fri November 6, 2009 - 12:32pm BdST

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni yesterday urged the Dutch businessmen to invest in Bangladesh in a big way and import its word-class non-traditional products. "There are huge potentials of investment in different sectors in Bangladesh like renewable energy, power generation, oil, gas and mineral exploration, information technology, tourism, telecommunication, agro-industry, pharmaceuticals, leather and leather goods, textiles and electronics," she said.

FM hopeful of greater US access without TIFA

Fri November 6, 2009 - 12:25pm BdST

Foreign affairs minister Dipu Moni is optimistic that Bangladeshi products would get more facilities to enter the US with or without a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement between the two countries. She also stressed that Bangladesh wanted "trade, not aid." "TIFA or not TIFA, I am very hopeful that we will have to better access to the US market," she said at a seminar organised by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association at Sonargaon Hotel on Thursday.

Implement minimum wage in garment factories: PM :Industrial police, intelligence force on cards

Fri November 6, 2009 - 11:43am BdST

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to implement the minimum wage scale in all its member-factories, as she announced major measures for the export industry's security, growth, and financial and marketing facilities.

50 Japanese investors in city to explore business

Wed November 4, 2009 - 10:32pm BdST

Some 50 Japanese investors are now in the city, some of them on invitation of BKMEA or BGMEA which are holding annual international trade fair currently in the city, to explore new business and investment opportunities here. This is the largest presence of the Japanese investors here at a time over at least two decades, a BOI official told BSS pointing to a growing prospect of Japanese investment in some major manufacturing sectors in Bangladesh.

Beximco gets all-clear

Tue November 3, 2009 - 12:41pm BdST

The central bank has told a parliamentary committee that all companies of the Beximco Group, one of Bangladesh's biggest business conglomerates, have been off the list of loan defaulters since the quarter ending in June. On Nov 1, the Bangladesh Bank wrote back to the finance ministry committee to say none of the many companies of the Group, according to the June quarterly and Sept monthly database for this year, had had any loans classified.

Ctg, Mongla ports earn Tk 8.66b during Jan-Sept, JS told

Tue November 3, 2009 - 12:05pm BdST

Chittagong and Mongla ports have earned Tk 8.66 billion from January to September period of the current year, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan told the parliament (Jatiyo Sangsad) Monday. In reply to a question of Mohammad Fazlul Azim, the minister said Chittagong port fetched Tk 8.45 billion and Mongla port fetched Tk 208.0 million.

Hasina asks RMG owners to pay wages properly

Mon November 2, 2009 - 4:33pm BdST

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday asked the garments factory owners to pay wages of workers properly in a bid to upgrade their living standards. The premier made the call after inaugurating the 5th Bangladesh Knitwear Exhibition 2009 at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel in the capital. She also hinted of conspiracies behind the recent unrest in the garment sector.

8 RMG units closed unlawfully in 3 months

Mon November 2, 2009 - 12:14pm BdST

Owners closed at least eight garment factories in Dhaka city and its adjacent areas in last three moths allegedly without maintaining the factory laws. Labour leaders claimed that several thousand garment workers were thrown out of jobs and deprived of wage and allowance arrears due to abrupt closures. The National Alliance for Protection of Garments Workers and Industries leader Abul Hossain said the owners had no right to close their factories before clearing workers’ dues.