27 lakh jobs to be added this year, says planning minister

Planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Sunday said that 27 lakh new jobs would be created in the economy this year riding on better industrial growth, booming capital market and potential growth in foreign employment. He also advocated giving cash incentive to expatriate workers to encourage them to remit their hard-earned money through legal channels and discourage them from using informal channels like hundi. At a press briefing on the overall economic development in the country in the first half of the current fiscal year, he said that every year 20 lakh new people joined the country’s job market but the government would be able to create employment for additional seven lakh unemployed people along with new comers this year.

Source: http://www.newagebd.net/article/7053/27-lakh-jobs-to-be-added-this-year-says-planning-minister

Mirsarai Economic Zone in fast lane

The regulator will start handing over industrial plots at Mirsarai Economic Zone to prospective entrepreneurs from both home and abroad in the next one year.Tariff on the land has already been approved at a governing body meeting of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority on January 5, and the prime minister will sign the meeting minutes in the next few days, Paban Chowdhury, executive chairman of Beza, said yesterday. Mirsarai Economic Zone is going to be the biggest in this region and should be kept free of interference from any quarter, he said. Many large Chinese and Japanese firms in power, petro-chemical and steel sectors are keen on investing in the economic zones in Bangladesh, he said. On the ongoing infrastructure development in the 30,000-acre Mirsarai zone, Chowdhury said: “Last year we developed 550 acres of land in the first phase. We are now developing another 1,300 acres in the second phase.”

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/mirsarai-economic-zone-fast-lane-1345858

Bangladesh to get more trade benefits: Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA)

Bangladesh will get two types of tariff facilities for its products under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, which is aimed at boosting trade between the member countries. The two types of tariff facilities are the general import tax waiver and special facilities for the Least Developed Countries under the APTA deal. APTA ministerial council made the decision on Thursday at a meeting in the Thai capital Bangkok on Thursday with Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed in the chair. Tofail Ahmed said: “After the APTA meeting, the number of Bangladeshi products getting import tax waiver has been increased to 10,677 from 4,648.” Commerce ministries of seven member countries of APTA took part in the council. Bangladesh, India, China, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Laos and Mongolia are the member countries of the APTA. The APTA, previously known as the Bangkok Agreement, was signed in 1975. It was renamed in November, 2005. It is the oldest preferential trade agreement between the countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2017/01/16/apta-bangladesh-get-trade-benefits/

Garment exports to Germany to rise: buyers

Garment exports to Germany, the second largest export destination for Bangladeshi apparel after the US, will continue to grow in future due to the high quality of products and competitive prices, German traders said. As a member of the EU, Germany will continue its duty privilege for Bangladesh, said Manfred Junkert, deputy general manager of the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry, at a press conference on the sidelines of the Heimtextil fair in Frankfurt, Germany on Thursday. Garment exports to Germany have been increasing over the years. Bangladesh exported garments worth $4.65 billion to Germany in fiscal 2015-16, $4.33 billion in 2014-15 and $4.37 billion in 2013-14, according to Export Promotion Bureau.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/garment-exports-germany-rise-buyers-1345846

Operators can sell blocked SIMs

Mobile operators can now resell previously blocked connections — a development that will bring a sigh of relief to market leader Grameenphone as it is close to exhausting its existing number series. The decision came in a recent meeting of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, said a top official of the telecom watchdog. To resell the blocked numbers, the operators will have to transfer the balance amounts on those SIMs to the telecom regulator and also keep a register of the previous owners’ names. In August last year, BTRC had decided to allocate a new number series to Grameenphone with some conditions, as its existing ‘017’ prefix is almost full. But it went back on the decision earlier this month and formed a committee to explore the option of reselling blocked SIMs. A BTRC official said they learnt that more than three crore SIMs of Grameenphone were blocked at different times. And in light of the new information, the telecom regulator decided to allow resell of previously barred SIMs. A numbering series has 100.0 million slots and if they get new number series they can issue 100.0 million more SIMs. As of October last year, Grameenphone has 55.7 million active subscribers out of the country’s total of 127.4 million.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/operators-can-sell-blocked-sims-1345852

Bangladesh secures negotiated cut rate to import electricity

Bangladesh has secured a negotiated cut-down rate of tariff to import around 250 megawatts (MWs) of electricity from India, officials said. The reduction is estimated to save around BDT 128.70 million for the country in power purchase from the Power Trading Corporation (PTC) of India over the next six months. The Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) secured the electricity-tariff cut to BDT 6.14 per unit (1.0 kilowatt-hour) from the previously quoted BDT 6.26 per unit, a senior power official told the FE Sunday. The proposal would be sent to the cabinet committee on government purchases this week for final nod, said the Power Division official. Meanwhile, the existing deal on electricity import through the PTC would expire on January 31, 2017. The Indian PTC had sought to sell electricity at BDT 6.26 per unit to the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Bangladesh currently imports around 650MW electricity from the neighbouring country under different mechanisms, devised amid electricity crunch in the recent past. Of the imported electricity, 250 MW comes from Indian government-allocated quota at an average tariff rate of BDT 2.78 per unit. Another 250MW power comes through PTC.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2017/01/16/162230

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