Bangladesh seeks new investments from UK

Bangladesh has sought new and enhanced investments from the UK in different sectors, including clean energy, ICT and agriculture. Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had a meeting with Lord Karan Faridoon Bilimoria, a crossbench member of the British House of Lords and former president of the Confederation of British Industry, at his office Monday and discussed issues of mutual interest. He recalled their meeting in September in London when Lord Bilimoria called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sheikh Hasina visited the UK last month to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The foreign minister thanked Lord Bilimoria for promoting the British curry industry, dominated by the British-Bangladeshi diaspora. Momen requested the member of the House of Lords to use his good offices to address some of the persistent challenges faced by the industry, including visas in favour of skilled or semi-skilled workers.

Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/bangladesh-seeks-new-investments-uk-515358

With Tk300cr investment, Far Chemical enters spinning business

Far Chemical Industries entered the spinning industry by starting production on a trial basis Monday, according to a company disclosure, as the stock market-listed firm aims at tapping deemed export potentials. The business diversification costs Far Chemical Tk300 crore in the spinning investment, according to the company disclosure on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website. The firm has arranged the investment by bank loans and from its own sources. The company’s daily spinning capacity is 18 tonnes, but the rolling blackouts now cripple 30% of the production, according to the official data. Far Chemical initially set up 33,600 spindles in the production line in Narayanganj’s Rupganj, as the new spinning machines have been imported from Germany, Italy, Japan and Switzerland. The annual revenue of the spinning unit will be around Tk230 crore, while 15% net profit will be generated from the total revenue, said the management of the firm.

Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/tk300cr-investment-far-chemical-enters-spinning-business-515350

Sri Lanka slashes fuel prices

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka slashed fuel prices on Monday, the second cut in as many weeks, after the World Bank warned that the economy will shrink an unprecedented 9.2 per cent this year. The energy ministry said the price of petrol will be reduced by 40 rupees to 370 rupees ($1.02) a litre from Monday night after a similar 10 per cent reduction earlier this month. But the price of regular petrol is still twice the amount before the start of the crisis last year while diesel is three and a half times more than what it was in December 2021. Earlier this year motorists spent weeks to get fuel, contributing to weeks of protests that forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country in July and quit. The wait at the pumps has reduced to a few hours in recent weeks, but fuel is still strictly rationed because of an enduring shortage of dollars needed to pay for essential imports. Public transport also ground to a halt due to a lack of diesel but now services are almost back to normal, although many fares — in common with soaring prices for other services and goods — have doubled. Official annual inflation rates are running at close to 70 per cent.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/global-economy/news/sri-lanka-slashes-fuel-prices-3145396