After a 2.5% first-quarter decline on the MSCI frontier index as the only losing Asian component, Bangladesh shares continued to be shunned by foreign investors on the headline Rohingya refugee influx now at 800,000, and banking sector balance sheet and management woes with bad loans at 10% of the total. Elections are also due this year with the opposition party leader unable to compete under corruption charges, and sporadic street violence erupting among rival political camps amid Islamist terror threats and military takeover rumors. The fifth anniversary of the Rana Plaza garment center collapse, which injured and killed thousands, also focused attention on unresolved worker safety issues in the mainstay export industry, as remittances from abroad remain uncertain with renewed local e...
Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh
As global momentum to tackle snakebite envenoming grows, immediate action across the WHO South-East Asia Region is both possible and necessary
Snakebite is a serious cause of disability and death in mostly poor, rural and hard-to-reach communities worldwide.Though just 250 of 3000-odd species of snakes are medically important, their impact can be devastating:Across the globe, snakebite envenoming is reported to cause the death of up to 138 000 people annually, while up to three times that number are estimated to suffer amputation, physical or psychological disability. The need to take action is clear, and core to the principle of leaving no one behind.
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The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Board of Directors has approved a $500 million loan to develop a state-of-the-art 800 megawatt (MW) power plant in Khulna, Bangladesh, along with associated connections to natural gas and power transmission facilities.
"In the face of rising demand for energy in a growing economy, the Rupsha power plant will be the first of its kind in Bangladesh, vastly increasing the availability of efficient and cleaner
energy," ADB Energy Specialist Aziz Yusupov was quoted as saying in a statement received on...
The government today signed two financing agreements totaling $ 515 million with the World Bank (WB) to help expand electricity transmission network and improve insurance coverage.
The agreements were signed by Economic Relations Division (ERD) Additional Secretary Mahmuda Begum and World Bank Country Director Qimiao Fan on behalf of the government of Bangladesh and the World Bank, respectively, at the ERD.
The $450 million Enhancement and Strengthening of Power Transmission Network in Eastern
Region Project will improve reliable ele...
Bangladesh and India signed an agreement here on Monday on their proposed 129.5 km oil pipeline aimed at pumping Indian oil to Bangladesh with a capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum.
The deal was part of the six memorandum of understandings (MoUs) which Dhaka and New Delhi signed during a meeting between their Foreign Secretaries at State Guesthouse Padma in the capital, Xinhua news agency reported.
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The World Bank approved $560 million for two projects in Bangladesh to improve reliable power supply and help micro enterprises become environmentally sustainable.
“The World Bank is helping Bangladesh overcome barriers to higher growth. Unreliable power supply and environmentally-unstainable enterprises hinder a county’s competitiveness and poverty reduction efforts,” said Zahid Hussain, World Bank Acting Country Director for Bangladesh.
“By improving electricity transmission and helping in micro-enterprises adopt environment-friendly technologies, these projects will help Bangladesh achieve sustainable growth and advance towards upper middle-income country vision.”
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