Trade misinvoicing persists in BD: GFI

Continued mismatch or value gap in reported bilateral trade of Bangladesh with the rest of the world has indicated that trade misinvoicing is persisting there. The latest report of the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based research organisation, estimated the value gap of 135 developing countries including Bangladesh and 36 advanced economies over a ten-year period between 2008 and 2017. The report, released on Tuesday, showed that Bangladesh’s average trade value mismatch with all the trading partners (170 countries for the GFI report) stood at around 18.0 per cent of the country’s total trade. For Bangladesh, the amount of annual average value gap was estimated at US$7.53 billion. GFI estimation also showed that the highest value gap was recorded at $11.51 billion in 2015. The value gap or mismatch is a difference between the reported trade data of two countries. For instance, if Ecuador reported exporting bananas worth $20 million to the United States (US) in 2016 and the US reported having imported bananas valued at only $15 million from Ecuador that year. This would reflect a mismatch or value gap of $5 million. GFI report further showed that Bangladesh’s annual average value gap in trade with 36 advanced economics stood at $3.29 billion and the amount was estimated at 14.62 per cent of total trade. In the previous report, released in 2017, GFI said some 12-17 per cent of the country’s total trade value had annually flown out of Bangladesh during 2005-2014 through trade misinvoicing and other illegal transfers. The annual average amount of illicit financial flow was estimated at $7.58 billion.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/trade-misinvoicing-persists-in-bd-gfi-1583258237

AIIB approves $ 200m loan for electricity project in BD

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a 200-million-US-dollar loan for a Bangladeshi project to improve access to electricity and service efficiency in capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country. It is estimated that poor power supply has resulted in about 2-3 per cent loss to Bangladesh’s gross domestic product annually, with significant sums spent on diesel generators for backup, said the bank. By 2025, it said the Dhaka and Western Zone Transmission Grid Expansion Project is expected upon completion to reduce the number of annual power outages to 15 (from 60), reduce transmission loss to 2.50 per cent (from 2.76 percent) and add 7,440 megavolt-amperes of power transmission capacity. The project will lead to the construction of 408 kilometers of transmission lines, and will also have a positive environmental impact, reducing average annual carbon dioxide emissions by 455,785 tonnes. The country is also rapidly urbanizing with nearly half its population expected to live in urban areas by 2025.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/aiib-approves-200m-loan-for-electricity-project-in-bd-1583256925

BEZA gets $20.5b investment proposals

Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) has received investment proposals amounting to around US $ 20.50 billion from 151 local and foreign business entities thanks to various steps of government to attract new investments, officials said, reports BSS. BEZA is responsible for establishing and managing of state-run special economic zones (SEZs) across the country. Out of the investment proposals, top officials of BEZA said, around $2.80 billion has already been invested in different SEZs. Around $4.808 billion will come as foreign direct investment (FDI) from different companies in Japan, China, South Korea, India, Thailand, Australia, the UK, the Netherland and the USA.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/beza-gets-205b-investment-proposals-1583257029