New electric car plants to get land free-of-cost

Bangladesh will offer land for free to electric car producers as this has huge economic opportunities.He was speaking as chief guest at the event styled ‘Car market in Bangladesh: Challenges and prospects’ hosted by the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI).Currently, the NBR collects Tk 50 billion as revenue from car imports but it can reach Tk 100-150 billion if tax is lowered, especially on import of 4000cc cars. Currently, the duty structure in car imports is very high ranging between 128 per cent and 827 per cent, making car purchase very expensive. Roads and traffic management must be included in the proposed Automobile Industry Development Policy-2020. Of the total car sales in a year in Bangladesh, the keynoter said, 70 per cent are reconditioned and 80 per cent of them come from Japan. Bangladesh’s per-capita ownership of cars is very low in the world, even lower than Myanmar and almost 10 times lower than Pakistan. He said the proposed policy should focus on the export market as the domestic market is small. Delivering an introductory speech, DrZahid Hossain said if $1.0 is spent in car industry, it delivers $3.0 worth value addition to the economy.DrMasrur M Reaz, chairman of Policy Exchange of Bangladesh, said the demand for electrical cars in the world will increase to $1.2 trillion soon.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/new-electric-car-plants-to-get-land-free-of-cost-1606931514

BB relaxes rules on remittance incentives

The central bank yesterday relaxed the rules of providing cash incentives to the beneficiaries of remittances. From now on, banks are allowed to provide cash incentive to beneficiaries of remittances, who will receive more than $ 5,000 in a single transaction, without verifying the documents of remitters with the overseas exchange houses as well as banks. The banks, which disburse remittance to the beneficiaries, will have to check the documents on their own responsibility by way of communicating with the local lenders that collect remittance initially. The local banks had to verify the passport number, appointment letter, work permit order of migrant workers. The documents are now provided by the beneficiaries of remittance to the local banks. Between July and November, remittance hit $10.90 billion, up 41.32 per cent year-on-year. This has had a great impact on the country’s foreign exchange reserve. The reserve stood at $41.18 billion as of November 25 in contrast to $31.72 billion one year earlier.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/bb-relaxes-rules-remittance-incentives-2004933

MahfuzulHoque joins FBCCI as CEO, Brig Gen SM Ferdous (Retd) as Deputy CEO

Mohammad MahfuzulHoque, a retired additional secretary, has joined as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI). Besides, Brigadier General SM Ferdous has also joined FBCCI as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Deputy CEO). He served as a high ranking official of Bangladesh Army before joining FBCCI.MahfuzulHoque was born in a prominent family of Babunagar under FatikchhariUpazila in Chattogram. He completed Master of Arts in Economics in 1983 and BA (Hons) in 1982 from University of Chittagong. He joined Bangladesh Civil Service on 21 January 1986.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/mahfuzul-hoque-joins-fbcci-as-ceo-brig-gen-sm-ferdous-retd-as-deputy-ceo-1606928164

Imports for manufacturing slump

Imports for the manufacturing sector in Bangladesh plunged in the first four months of the current fiscal year, signalling to a weak economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. In July-October, imports of capital machinery and industrial raw materials for major industries such as textiles plummeted along with some other intermediate goods. As a result, overall import payments decreased 13 per cent year-on-year to $17.06 billion, the CIF import data from the central bank showed. The cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) is an expense paid by a seller to cover the costs, insurance, and freight of a buyer’s order while it is in transit. Import of raw cotton, one of the major raw materials for the readymade garment industry, which accounts for about 85 per cent of the national exports, stood at $814 million in the first four months, down 24.24 per cent year-on-year.Staple fibre import fell to $267 million in contrast to $393 million a year ago, while the import of capital machinery slumped 31 per cent to $1.08 billion. The dwindling import payment against relatively stable export earnings helped the country narrow down the trade gap. Exports rose to $ 12.55 billion during the four-month period in contrast to $12.41 billion a year ago.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/imports-manufacturing-slump-2004949

TanzimAlamgir, new founding CEO of UCB Investment

Mr. TanzimAlamgir was appointed as the new founding Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UCB Investment Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UCB Bank. He looked after the overall operations as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of City Bank Capital.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/tanzim-alamgir-new-founding-ceo-of-ucb-investment-1606926635