Chittagong Port dock workers-employees' federation demonstrated in the port demanding reinstatement of the workers terminated during the immediate past caretaker government, boycotting the scheduled meeting with Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan Thursday.
Foreign minister Dr Dipu Moni has said, Bangladesh is examining the proposed Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and will continue further dialogues on this matter. Dipu Moni expressed Dhaka's position when the visiting US assistant trade representative for South Asia and Central Asia, Michael J Delaney called on her at the ministry yesterday. She also told the US official that Bangladesh was eager to intensify Bangladesh-US cooperation in all areas, including trade and commerce, energy, socio-economic development.
Bangladesh is unlikely to get duty free access to the US market, and a high official of the country has already informed the country's position regarding the issue to the Bangladesh government.
The Prime Minister’s Office has approved the commerce ministry’s proposal of a list of 48 eminent businessmen as commercially important persons for the next one year. Sources in the commerce ministry on Tuesday said the government will issue a gazette notification in this regard within a week. Of the total, 30 businessmen have been selected on virtue of their posts in different trade bodies while the remaining 18 have been selected for their respective performances in exports during 2007-2008.
Economists and businessmen believe that a strong diplomacy is a must to obtain support from African Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to get duty free access of Bangladeshi goods to the US market. A ministerial level meeting of World Trade Organisation (WTO) will be held at Geneva from November 29 to December 2 this year where Bangladesh will try to accelerate its efforts in this regard.
Kabul has enough scope to learn from Dhaka how to acquire business expertise and bring forward reforms process to improve investment climate in war-ravaged Afghanistan, according to office bearers of an Afghan business promotion organisation. They believe, some of the lessons Bangladesh learnt and business models it offered could be replicated in the context of Afghanistan, a South Asian country that bridges the Middle East and the central Asia, which is also sitting on mineral resources.
The industries minister, Dilip Barua, on Thursday said that the government would bring dynamism to the country’s economy and businesses to bring in foreign and local investments. ‘The present government is working hard to bring back business confidence. We hope to see an increase in foreign direct investment from next year,’ he told reporters after inaugurating the three-day 4th Japan Trade Fair 2009 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
The Indian high commissioner, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, met the shipping minister, Shahjahan Khan, and discussed use of Ashuganj port and development of Chittagong and Mongla ports. During a meeting at the shipping ministry Thursday, they also discussed matters of mutual interests.
The government has formed a nine-member committee to suggest strategy for overall development of the country's export sector, especially the apparel industry, in the post-recession perspective as the world economy started to bottom out.
Rogue brokers and traders are taking new investors for a ride, overpricing small companies' stocks to a point not justified at all. According to estimations from brokerage firms, some 1,50,000 new BO accounts—a tenth of the total number in the country –had been opened in the past three months, induced mainly by the news of floating Grameenphone shares.
