US Ambassador James F Moriarty on Monday said it was important for Bangladesh to sign the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, Tifa, with the US for greater access to its markets. "One step that we can take to foster greater dialogue on entrepreneurship, market access and labour issues would be to sign a Tifa," Moriarty said at a discussion at the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, MCCI.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has prepared a five- year strategic plan for the banking sector under which a holistic approach will be endeavoured from January next year to ensure efficient banking services. The plan has been prepared at a meeting over the weekend at Jamuna Resort, a tourist attraction on the bank of the mighty Jamuna river, which also overlooks the Bangabandhu Bridge.
The export of Bangladesh's readymade garments is expected to grow in Japan as the second largest readymade garments' importer 'Shimamura Co. Ltd.' evinced interest in importing them from the country.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves on Wednesday crossed the mark of $10 billion breaking all previous records. The increase is 91 per cent higher than that of the same period in the last year. The foreign exchange reserve was $ 5.24 billion in November 2008. It stood at $10.03 billion, with the addition of an Asian Development Bank loan from the $744 million loan to deal with the global recession and implement policy reforms. The loan agreement was signed between the government and ADB on October 26.
The working committee of national taskforce on recession on Tuesday recommended the government for giving 5 percent cash incentive to the ready-made garment exporters and its backward integration only for new export destinations to revive the export growth. Under the proposed rules except EU, USA and Canada, all the garment export destinations will be considered as the new markets for Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said Bangladesh will seek duty free access of some of its specific products to Indian markets during the her upcoming visit to the neighbouring country. In this context, she directed the ministries concerned to finalise the list of those products along with preparing strategic papers to this end to further strengthen regional cooperation.
The government has again taken a hard line on providing financial incentive package to apparel sector seeking funds to bounce from a downturn induced by global meltdown, the finance minister says. "It is not right that it will not be the end of the world if a child cries. The government will have to consider about all sectors,"A M A Muhith told bdnews24.com yesterday. He was asked whether the readymade garment sector will get the assistance.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has assured Bhutan that Bangladesh would reduce tariff on 18 Bhutanese commodities from existing 15 percent to zero percent, said a joint press release on Monday.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association renewed its call for the government’s immediate support to apparel exporters to enhance their competitiveness to stay afloat in the post-recession global market and keep the country’s share intact in international clothing market. A day after conclusion of the Bangladesh Apparel and Textile Exposition, the garment exporters’ club told a press conference on Monday that they found many potential buyers, but the prices they offer were the lowest in the world.
Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus brought ideas for creating micro "social businesses" from Bangladesh to Europe yesterday with support from several of the world's leading corporations. Yunus, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for developing micro-credits that allow poor people to start companies, said the global economic crisis had given the world "an opportunity to reflect and redesign" business models.
