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Regulators

Challenges in achieving higher growth

Bangladesh faces formidable challenges in moving to a higher growth path of 8 percent plus GDP to become a middle income country. The foremost challenge lies with the stagnant private investment followed by weak institutional capacity to implement development projects. To achieve its goal of middle-income country status by 2021 and to accelerate inclusive growth as well as reduce poverty and income inequality, the country will require a substantial increase in yearly investments from 29.0% of GDP in FY2015 to 34.4% of GDP by FY2020, said ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman while presenting the Executive Board Report at the ICC Bangladesh Annual Council held in Dhaka on Thursday (25 May). Bangladesh economy embraces 2017 with some other challenges that include declining remittanc...

ADB, City Bank sign new trade finance deal in BD

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the City Bank Limited on April 27 signed a loan agreement for $5 million to support import and export financing for Bangladeshi businesses. Under the agreement, ADB’s Trade Finance Program (TFP) will provide trade loans to the City Bank to on-lend to local firms. “We are pleased to be growing the partnership with the City Bank and to support more trade, which is directly linked to job creation and economic growth,” said Edward Faber, TFP citybankRelationship Manager for Bangladesh. “Wit...

Thrust on replication of Danish tech in RMG

The Energy Efficiency Engagement (3e) Secretariat in collaboration with the Embassy of Denmark in Dhaka jointly organized a seminar titled ‘Renewable Energy, Energy and Water Efficiency in the Textile/Garment Industry’ on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at Hotel Radisson Blu, Dhaka. The focus of the seminar was to promote effective implementation of Energy, Renewable Energy and Water Efficiency in the Textile/Garment Industry in Bangladesh, create awareness among industries, share key findings and achievements of the 3e programme and showcase Danish Technological solutions to the industries. The program started with a welcome address by Søren Robenhagen, Commercial Counsellor at

WB forecasts 6.4pc growth in 2018 for Bangladesh

South Asia remains the fastest-growing region in the world with Bangladesh sustaining growth at 6.8 percent in 2017, gradually widening its lead relative to East Asia, according to a latest report of World Bank. Regional GDP growth of South Asia is expected to rise from 6.7 percent in 2016 to 6.8 percent in 2017, and 7.1 percent in 2018, according to the report. rmgbdThe economy of Bangladesh, the WB report said, has weathered global uncertainties well aided by strengthening investment and a recovery of exports. For Bangla...

Bangladesh calls Thailand for trade talks

Bangladesh has called on the Thai government to schedule the next meeting of the two countries’ Joint Trade Committee for June, as there remain a wide range of trade issues to discuss, notably high Thai import duties on Bangladeshi products. The JTC was created in the 1990s to enhance bilateral trade. Its last meeting was in Bangkok in 2013, and there many issues that need to be followed up, said Saida Muna Tasneem, the Bangladeshi ambassador. The JTC, which is co-chaired by the commerce ministers of the two countries, was supposed to BD-Thai

ICA joins IFC, others to invest $30m in power plant

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has brought in Japanese agency JICA to invest $30m in Sembcorp North-West Power Company, a joint venture of Sembcorp Utilities and Bangladesh‘s state-owned North-West Power Generation Company, that is building a 414MW dual-fuel combined-cycle power plant at Sirajganj, Bangladesh. The plant will significantly expand power-generation capacity in Bangladesh. JICAs $30 million is part of the total financing package of $ 165 million that includes a loan from IFCs own account as well as additional loans mobilized through partners. The total project cost is estimated at around $412 million. JICAs Senior Vice-President Kenichi Tomiyoshi said, “The project is expected to be one of the