On the first Friday of every month, Sabina Begum makes the short trip from her single-room shack in a crowded Dhaka slum to a nearby grocery. The grocer, in addition to selling her much-needed supplies, doubles as her financial-services provider.
Ms. Begum hands the grocer cash, and with a few clicks on a basic key-press mobile phone, he sends the money on its way.
At roughly the same time, in a village 300 kilometers away, Ms. Begum’s father, Bosir Uddin, partially blind and slowed by arthritis, walks to a tea shop in the village square, where he waits for the money transfer from Dhaka. It duly arrives in the form a text message to the tea shop
For Rehana Akhter, rebuilding her life after losing her leg in Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster is an uphill battle, but her struggle is eased slightly by digital technology.
The 25-year-old has an electronic bank account on her mobile, giving her access to financial services that have traditionally been out of reach for millions of poor in Bangladesh and other developing nations.
[caption id="attachment_17238" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Girl With Mobile Smart Phone[/caption]
From the capital Dhak...
National flag-carrier Biman has failed to make any headway in its plan to lease three Boeing aircraft, as all respondents to the recent tender in relation to the plan were found ‘non-responsive’.
“All the respondents of the tender were found non-responsive,” a Biman official told UNB on condition of anonymity.
‘Non-responsive’ denotes companies that submit their proposals without fulfilling the requirements set out in the tender document.
He also said Biman is in a good position now and it has to maintain its quality to guard its reputation.
“We...
Vietnamese industry and trade minister Vu Huy Hoang and Bangladeshi textile and jute minister Mirza Azam met recently to exchange views on promoting bilateral cooperation in general and cooperation on textile and jute in particular, the Vietnamese trade ministry said in a statement.
[caption id="attachment_17076" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Courtesy: moit.gov.vn[/caption]
Vu Huy Hoang appreciated the traditional friendly relationship with many similarities and long-term cooperation potential between the two countries. He hoped...
Bangladesh and India will fix the transit fees as per WTO rules in exchange for facilitating connectivity for India’s land-locked northeastern states, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said.
“During the visit of the Indian Prime Minister, the issue (transit fee) was discussed...the two countries will now finalise the arrangement over the fees in line with the WTO rules,” Muhith said yesterday.
Speaking at a business conference here, he said the transit fees would include the infrastructure development costs as well for the sub-regional con...
the World Investment Report 2015 of the Unctad.
The Board of Investment (BoI) launched the report on the UN agency’s behalf at the BoI office in the city. The study was also published globally.
“The ...
