New Zealand business group carps buying ferry from Bangladesh

There is mounting criticism of the New Zealand Government for getting the 60-seat boat built cheaply in Bangladesh instead of the country. A business group says the process for buying a new ferry from Bangladesh with aid money was flawed from the beginning. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) of New Zealand commissioned the aid-funded ferry for $8 million to replace a vessel linking the New Zealandterritory of Tokelau to Samoa with fortnightly sailings. FerryKim Campbell, chief executive of the Northern Employers and Manufacturers As...

Children thought abandoned bombs were toys

Last month three-year-old Lima Akhter found a ball in the street in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Like any young child might, she picked it up to play. But within moments the ball exploded in her tiny hand, blowing away all her fingers. Tragically, Lima had mistaken an abandoned homemade bomb for a toy. bangladeshi-kidsRushed to hospital with further injuries to her stomach and ...

Bangladesh — on the march to authoritarianism?

Politically, Bangladesh has come full circle to the tipping point it faced almost 40 years ago. The election of January 5 brought one-party government back. History tells us that the next likely step is a consolidation of a one-party government into a one-party state. But history does not always determine politics. “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” and Bangladesh has a way of confounding pundits who predict its future. Remember, for example, that famous 1972 prediction that it would be (forever) ‘a basket case’. WilliamBMilamThe Awami ...

PRAN-RFL starts bike export to EU

PRAN-RFL Group, one of the largest food and nutrition producers of the country is investing 10 million US dollar in a bicycle assembly plant near Dhaka which is primarily focused on export to the European Union markets. Production is to start next April. PRAN-RFL Group is the Bangladeshi food-products corporation that is making an entry in the bicycle sector. Of course the new Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) which went into force per January 1, 2014 and runs up to December 31, 2016, is the driving force behind the company’s decision to start the bike factory. Trade incentives Pran_RFL Bike

Dollar rallies in Asia after US jobs data sell-off

The dollar turned higher in Asia today after suffering a sell-off in the previous two sessions following an unexpectedly weak set of US jobs data. The greenback changed hands at 103.37 yen in Tokyo morning trade, up from 102.98 yen in New York Monday afternoon, but still well down from levels near 105 yen in Asia last week, reports AFP. The euro bought 141.24 yen and $1.3657, against 140.77 yen and $1.3670 in US trade. dollarThe dollar plunged the US Labor Department said Friday that the world’...

Decline marked in bank deposit growth in 2013

Growth rate of bank deposits marked nearly 4.0 per cent decline until November in the last calendar year over the corresponding period in the previous year taking its toll on the banks' operating profits, sources said. Bankers and experts, however, have attributed such a fall to a slowdown in trade and business activities amid the prevailing political turmoil. Most of the banks' operating profits dropped in 2013 compared to that of the previous year. Bangladesh BankFresh investment i...