Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh- ICSB President Mr. Mohammad Asad Ullah, FCS, proposed to set up a separate ministry of corporate affairs to provide precise service to about 1.5 lakh listed and many other non-listed companies.
The sector which has been contributing about 73% to the country’s economy is being neglected in many ways. A separate ministry for corporate sector will help to boost up the country’s economy and increase revenue in a remarkable way.
ICSB President Mr. Mohammad Asad Ullah, FCS was speaking at the 2nd ICSB National Award Program yesterday, (Tuesday, November 10, 2015).
Twenty eight listed companies were awarded for ‘Promoting Governance Excellence’ in 2014. This is the 2nd accolade for the country’s listed companies, presented by Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh- ICSB.
Mohammad Asad Ullah, FCS also urged to update Companies Act- 1994 that was promulgated in line with Indian Companies Act 1956. India has already made hundreds of amendments on that act. They repealed their old companies Act and enacted new Companies Act 2013 catering to the present needs of business and commerce of the world. We have to do the so.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith MP graced the occasion as the chief guest and handed over the awards to the winners.
The main motto of this year’s ICSB National Award was to encourage and promote governing excellence in the corporate sectors of Bangladesh, to motivate the business entities and their leaders to make further improvement in governance excellence and to facilitate corporate houses to be competitive in the global arena.
Addressing the event as chief guest, the Finance Minister said, ‘Good governance is important for every company. And Bangladesh Government are focusing on good governance, accountability and ensuring fairness at corporate sector. ICSB’s award will encourage the Chartered Secretaries for developing their professional activities, says Finance Minister. He urged the companies to share their profit for social welfare.’
The awards were given on ten different categories having three awards in each category. The categories were banking, non- banking financial institutions, insurance, pharmaceutical and chemicals, textile and RMG, food and allied, IT telecom and services, engineering, manufacturing, fuel and power. The award was given in three categories- gold, silver and bronze. .The
Under banking category, Easter Bank LTD secured top position, followed by United Commercial Bank LTD and Social Islami Bank Ltd.
Among NBFI’s, Prime Finance and Investment Ltd got gold prize, while IDLC Finance Ltd secured second and Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation third prize.
In insurance category, Green Delta Insurance Co. Ltd achieved first place, while Prime Insurance Co. Ltd was second and Popular Life Insurance secured third place.
In the pharmaceutical and chemicals category, Beximco Pharmaceutical Ltd secured first position. The second position secured by Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd, while Advance Chemical Industries Ltd secured third one.
Under textile and RMG category two companies achieved award. Square Textile Ltd secured first place, while Envoy Textile Ltd secured second place.
In food and allied category, Golden Harvest Agro Industries Ltd. secured achieved first award, while Agricultural Marketing Co Ltd achieved second award under this category.
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Co Ltd secured top position in IT, telecom and services category, while Unique Hotel & Resort Ltd secured second and BD Com Online Ltd secured third position.
In engineering category, Singer Bangladesh Ltd bagged the first prize, while BSRM Steel Ltd secured second and Ratanpur Steel Re-rolling Mills Ltd secured the third place.
In manufacturing category, British American Tobacco Bangladesh Ltd secured top position, while Premier Cement was second and Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh Ltd bagged the third prize.
Under fuel and energy category, Summit Power Ltd achieved the first prize, while MJL Bangladesh Ltd secured second and Linde Bangladesh Ltd secured third place.
One of the awardees Mr. Md. Zakiullah Shahid, Chairman of Prime Insurance said, ‘ICSB Award is prestigious. We achieved it in insurance category which proves our company is practicing good governance and it’s a milestone achievement for us.’
The jury board led by caretaker government’s former finance advisor Dr. A B Mirza Md. Azizul Islam selected the awardees from among 155 companies that participated out of all listed cos with the stock exchanges and published annual reports for the year ended on December 31, 2014.
Prof. Dr. M Khairul Hossain, Chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, Senior Secretary of Commerce Ministry were present at the award program as special guest. M Nurul Alam FCS, Chairman of ICSB’s Corporate Governance Award Committee gave a presentation about the awarding charter and evaluation criteria at the occasion.
About ICSB
ICSB is the only recognized statutory professional body established under Chartered Secretaries Act 2010 to expand the corporate management and governance in the registered companies of Bangladesh and for developing, promoting and regulating Chartered/Company Secretary profession. They are conducting two and half year’s course that are producing qualified company secretaries for promoting governing excellence developed in accordance with global academic standard for generating employment both in home and abroad. The company secretaries are skilled professionals on governance and compliance issues worldwide.
