Business Supplement Issue-17

DT
VOL1, ISSUE 17 | Sunday, June 11, 2017
Business Tribune
Big budget will not guarantee
ICT development
Stocks up for 3rd week amid
6 higher participation
Bring the domestic use
7 of technology up

2
Sunday, June 11, 2017
DT
Special
Big budget will not guarantee ICT
development
• Ishtiaq Husain
Information Technology sector experts
feel that implementing policy
that supports the ICT sector in
achieving its end goals are far more
important than the budget allocation.
Even then, industry insiders
say the government’s move to increase
the budget allocation for the
Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) sector is a positive
sign that reflects the amount
of importance being placed on the
industry, especially as promoting
the sector will carry forward
the government’s vision of Digital
Bangladesh.
The proposed budget for the
2017-18 fiscal year allocates Tk3,974
crore to the ICT Division, almost
double from the last fiscal year
budget amount of Tk1,819 crore.
However, the budget for Posts and
Telecommunications Division has
been reduced by Tk381 crore to
a proposed allocation of Tk2,521
crore for the next fiscal year.
All this is in line with the government’s
wish to bring about rapid
expansion of IT/ITES services
and boost investment in the ICT
sector, said Finance Minister AMA
Muhith during his budget speech
on June 1.
Bangladesh Association of Software
and Information services (BA-
SIS) President Mustafa Jabbar felt
the increased budget was an excellent
opportunity for the industry
and lauded the government’s
decision to exempt local software
developers and companies from
paying VAT.
“The additional budget will increase
our capacity and help the industry
to grow,” said Mustafa. “To
build a digitised Bangladesh, there
is no alternative but to withdraw
VAT or duties from locally developed
software.”
12000
10000
BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR ICT SECTOR
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
3,106
2011-12
3,316
2012-13
4,688
2013-14
4,669
2014-15
6,107
2015-16
8,306
2016-17
FIGURE IN TAKA, CRORE
11,641
2017-18
Rezwana Khan, director and
COO of Star Computer Systems Ltd,
said: “It is a big opportunity for us.
Now, our responsibility will also
increase and we need more policy
support for the local companies.
This sector will contribute a lot
to achieve Vision 2021 and Vision
2041. So I propose a reduction in
the duties placed on hardware and
parts required to assemble or manufacture
items like cellular phones,
laptops, tablets, etc.”
Dohatec New Media Chairman
Luna Shamsuddoha said: “While
the increased budget will definitely
be good for us, it will also increase
the capacity of the government.”
This was echoed in Finance
Minister Muhith’s budget speech
where he said information technology
not only makes life easier, but
also creates many opportunities to
facilitate economic growth.
“With the expansion of ICT in
the private sector, we are encouraging
automation and National
e-Government Procurement (e-
GP) processes in different areas of
public sector as well. Through ICT,
various innovative ideas are being
implemented in government offices,”
he said.
To that end, the government
has already planned to set up 12
IT parks at the district headquarters
in Gopalganj, Mymensingh,
Jamalpur, Rangpur, Barisal, Keraniganj
in Dhaka, Comilla Sadar
(South), Chittagong Port, Ramu in
Cox’s Bazar, Singra in Natore, Companiganj
in Sylhet, and the Khulna
University of Engineering and
Technology campus in Khulna.
It has also taken initiatives to set
up seven IT training and incubation
centres across the country and
to expand high-speed fibre-optic
connectivity up till the union level.
In addition, it has undertaken a
project entitled “Digitising Implementation
Monitoring and Public
Procurement” in collaboration with
the World Bank, wherein a total of
80% public procurement tenders
will be covered by e-GP and the
e-GP system will be expanded to 23
large government organisations.
BASIS Vice-President Farhana
A Rahman said in spite of all these
positive initiatives, the need to
ensure the implementation of the
budget and to formulate policy to
ICT sees 40% increase in budget allocation
support ICT businesses was rather
urgent.
Since 2011, the ICT Division has
undergone several makeovers until
finally, in February 2014, it was integrated
into the Ministry of Posts,
Telecommunication and Information
Technology to provide a forward
thrust for the ICT sector.
Experts said the change was a
strong indication that the government
was keen to keep pace with
the changing, modern world and
was placing a high level of importance
on ICT, especially in terms of
policy.
Former BASIS general secretary
Uttam Kumar Paul also stood in
support of creating stronger policy
for the sector, stating that Bangladesh
needed country branding in
order to promote locally produced
ICT products to the rest of the
world.
“As the government is IT friendly,
it should form a policy whereby
local software use should be promoted,
if not compulsory,” he said.
Mobile phone importers have
criticised the government’s proposal
to impose 10% duty on the
import of mobile phone sets, saying
it would increase market price
as well as illegal import.
“The 10% import duty will definitely
increase the mobile handset
prices around 30%, which will impact
negatively on the local market,”
said Rezwanul Haque, general
secretary of the Bangladesh Mobile
Phone Importers’ Association.
He said a total of 80 importers
import around 30 million handsets
annually, which have the market
price of around Tk8,000 crore.
Requesting anonymity, a mobile
handset importer said illegal mobile
import would potentially increase
if the government imposed
the import duty. •
• Shariful Islam
The government has proposed to
allocate Tk11,641 crore for ICT sector
in the next Fiscal Year 2017-18,
which is around 40% higher than
the previous fiscal year’s allocation
of Tk8,306 crore.
The proposed allocation for the
Information and Communication
Technology sector accounts for
2.91% of the total budget allocated
for implementation of different
projects, especially infrastructural
ones.
The budget allocation for ICT
sector in FY’18 has increased 3.5
times over the last six fiscal years
as the allocation for Fiscal year
2012-13 was Tk3,316 crore.
ICT sector received allocation
of Tk4,688 crore in the Fiscal Year
2013-14 while the emerging sector
got Tk6,107 crore in FY’15.
The sector received Tk11,641
crore for the next fiscal year which
is 0.60% of the outgoing fiscal
year’s ADP. Most of the allocated
money would be spent on digitisation
purposes.
Of the amount, Tk9,263 crore
is allocated for 122 development
projects to be implemented by different
ministries and government
agencies.
Most projects are under the ICT
and telecommunication sector.
Besides the development projects,
Tk1,086 crore is allocated for
ICT related sub-sectors, Tk1,272
crore for ICT related institutions
and Tk20 crore for financing revenue
budget projects.
According to the Export Promotion
Bureau (EPB) data, in July-May
period of the current fiscal
year, Bangladesh earned $167.88
million, which is 37.50% higher
compared to $122.10 million in the
same period a year ago.
In FY’16, Bangladesh earned
$151.83 million, a 14.55% rise
over its previous year’s earning of
$132.554 million.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith
in his budget speech said: “Information
technology not only makes
our life easier but also creates many
opportunities to facilitate economic
growth.”
“With the expansion of ICT in
private sector, we are encouraging
automation and e-GP processes in
different areas of public sector as
well.”
The minister said for utilising
the digital dividends, the government
has undertaken initiatives to
establish ICT related institutional
framework and implement policy
reforms.
“ICT Parks are being set up
across the country to attract domestic
and foreign investments,”
added Muhith. •

Interview
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Sunday, June 11, 2017
DT
35% corporate tax to hinder e-commerce growth
A 35% corporate tax for the next fiscal year on the country’s emerging e-commerce sector will
hurt its future prospect, said Shameem Ahsan, chairman of eGeneration, also former BASIS
president. Shameem sat with the Dhaka Tribune’s Ibrahim Hossain Ovi in an exclusive
interview recently to give his insight on how to boost the sector
Do you think the proposed budget
will lure investment from home
and abroad? What more needs to
be done to attract investments?
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
inflows into Bangladesh is showing
continuous growth, but the government
has to ensure business
friendly environment to keep up
the trend of FDI inflows.
The government has exempted
tax from IT industry, which is a
great move. Besides, it has allocated
Tk11,000 crore for all ministries
to implement ICT activities for the
next Fiscal Year 2017-18 which will
definitely lure investment from
home and abroad.
I think the government should
remove the three levels of taxes
at managerial level of the Venture
Capital fund to attract more foreign
investment towards the country’s
information and technology sector.
Do you think the proposed budget is
ICT industry friendly? If yes, please,
elaborate your view on that. What
should the government offer to
make it more investment friendly?
Though the government exempted
tax from software industry, there
are a few good news for ICT industry
in the proposed budget for the
upcoming fiscal year.
In the proposed budget, the government
allocated Tk3,974 crore for
the ICT Division, which was Tk1,835
crore in the current fiscal year.
The flat 1% tax on 94 computer
accessories and other devices will
also boost the hardware sector in
Bangladesh. The government listed
the ‘alternative fund’ through
Venture Capital (VC) in tax exemption.
There is still a long way to go
to make a supportive environment
for ICT companies.
Is the allocation enough to
materialise Digital Bangladesh?
Building a digitised Bangladesh
is a continuous process. It needs
enough allocation for every budget
with proper implementation plans.
As a lower middle-income country,
it is difficult for Bangladesh to allocate
required fund in a budget for
the ICT sector to realise its vision of
a digital country.
But the ability to effectively implement
the budget allocation matters
for the success. In this regard,
the government should focus on
increasing institutional capacity.
What are the challenges to the ICT
sector?
In availing the contracts of government
projects and procurements,
Shameem Ahsan, chairman of eGeneration
foreign IT companies are having
privileges. Mega public projects
are being solely handled by foreign
companies. This is because there is
a lack of level playing field for local
companies.
In this regard, the government
should have policy for the local
companies so they can participate
in the bid and win that.
India, China, Indonesia, Singapore,
Malaysia and many other
countries have public procurement
guidelines where it is specified that
50% or more of public procurements
must be done by local body.
We also need similar law and
guidelines to for our local players.
Unavailability of skilled manpower
is another great challenge to this
sector. Besides, corporate tax for
e-commerce companies and three
levels of taxes at managerial level
of the VC fund is creating problems
for this sector.
On the other hand, foreign
e-commerce companies are unfairly
stepping into local market and
trying to knock out smaller local
companies. To stop the aggression
of foreign firms, there should have
policy support and incentives in
boosting the sector.
Do you think the government
should keep block allocation for
developing ICT enabled skilled
workforce?
ICT skill development is a strategic
move for all developing countries
across the world since it ensures
strong, sustainable and balanced
growth.
As a result, the government
should seek special allocation and
public investments in training
young generation to enable them
for the emerging ICT sector.
The government is giving importance
to create a knowledge-based
society and it is a positive move.
For reaping benefits, it should be
implemented within a constructive
system.
Do you think a need-based
academic curricula is instrumental
for future generation? Can
Bangladesh be able to compete
with the competitors with short
course?
The education system of our country
is more of theory-based than of
practical application. Students are
mainly focusing on academic result
rather than innovation. Many
IT graduates pass every year, but
hardly know about the practical
applications of their degrees. The
authority should work towards replacing
the theory-based curricula
with a new one that will focus on
practical knowledge.
Academic and industry collaborations
must be enhanced in the
best interest of IT industry. The
move will help new graduates from
home universities become a perfect
fit for IT industry.
In meeting the target of $5 billion,
what should the government
offer for the export-oriented ICT
products and services?
The goal to achieve $5 billion export
target by 2021 is simply ambitious.
The government has made IT
a focus area, and extended some
favorable policies for its growth,
but there is still a lot more things
to do. The government should take
initiatives to promote ICT sector of
country as a brand.
Besides, the government should
strongly focus on technical skill
development and innovation, as
without innovative products and
skilled services, it will be difficult
for our country to survive the global
competition.
Courtesy
What should be the government
policy support in the budget to
boost the emerging e-commerce?
E-commerce is rapidly increasing
in Bangladesh as it already has
around 1,000 entrepreneurs. As of
proposed budget for the next fiscal
year, the e-commerce sector people
have to pay 35% corporate tax
while there is VAT on digital marketing
expenses for e-commerce
businesses and also tax at source
for e-commerce merchants. These
will hurt the future prospects of
e-commerce industry. I think the
government should reconsider
it before finalising the proposed
budget.
What measures should be taken to
ensure proper use of the increased
allocation?
Implementation as well as monitoring
of fund is a must to ensure
proper use of increased allocation
of fund. The government has to
collaborate with different industry
associations and work with them.
It should know what the global
best practices are in this regard and
adopt them to properly utilise the
fund. •

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Sunday, June 11, 2017
DT
Week in Review
Fears for Bangladesh GDP as RMG growth slows
A fall in global demand for Bangladesh’s
lucrative ready-made garments
(RMG) sector caused a slowing in the
rate of export earnings growth in the
last fiscal year, data from the Export
Promotion Bureau (EPB) has revealed.
Although Bangladesh’s overall
export earnings rose 3.67% rise in the
first eleven months of Fiscal Year 2016-
17 to hit $31.79 billion, the growth
in export earnings slowed to 1.39%,
earning $3.07 billion against the target
of $3.35 billion set for the month.
Trade analysts and leading sector
figures have said the slow rate of
growth highlighted by the EPB figures
is due weaker demand in the RMG
sector – the lifeline of Bangladesh’s
economy in terms of export earnings.
“Low demands in global markets
caused slower growth in Bangladesh’s
exports earnings, which is even seen
in other countries,” Khondaker Golam
Moazzem, research director at Centre
for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told the
Dhaka Tribune.
“It is a matter of concern as it may
adversely impact backward linkage industry,
production and even the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP).”
Of the total export earnings in
the July-May period of FY 2016-17,
the RMG sector grew by 2.16% to
contribute $25.62 billion, or 80.59%.
The sector, however, failed to reach its
target of $27.38bn.
Moazzem added that the government
offered some incentives for the
apparel sector in the proposed budget
unveiled on June 1, but said it is not up
to the expected level.
“Since the budget is proposed, the
government should take measures that
would help boost exports, especially in
the non-traditional markets,” he said.
Exporters Association of Bangladesh
(EAB) president Abdus Salam
Murshedy told the Dhaka Tribune that
he thought the situation was “critical”.
“The government should come up
with comprehensive package in the
budget for the next fiscal year, or else,
the crisis in the manufacturing industry
may linger,” he warned.
“The growth rate is much lower
than expected due to losing competitive
edge in the global market to our
competitors. Bangladesh’s production
Dhaka Tribune
capacity in the RMG sector has also
gone down due to the ongoing remediation,
which may be another reason,”
he said.
Of the total export earnings in the July-May
period of the current fiscal year,
knitwear posted 4.91% growth to $12.5
billion, but woven garments witnessed
negative growth and were 0.33% down
compared to the $13.16 billion revenue
of the previous period. •
VAT on farm
machinery import
to hit farmers
The proposed five-fold increase in
the tax on farm machinery imports
will raise agriculture production
costs and should be stalled, the
former secretary to the Ministry of
Agriculture has said.
Anwar Faruq was responding to
government plans to begin applying
Value Added Tax (VAT) to the cost
of tractors shipped in from abroad.
“The agricultural input should be
free of extra tax to keep the sector
burden-free, or else the production
might fall,” he said.
The current duty levied on the
import of tractors is 5%, comprised
of 1% customs duty and 4%
advance tax.
However, the 15% VAT on such
imports proposed by Finance Minister
AMA Muhith in his June 1 budgets
speech, coupled with a doubling in
the advance tax, will inflate the total
duty figure to 24%. •
Remittance rises
16% in May
The remittance in May increased
by 16% to $1.27 billion compared to
April that fetched $1.09 billion only,
according to the Bangladesh Bank
data released on June 4.
In May of the last fiscal year, the remittance
inflow was $1.21 billion, 4.5%
less than the same period of FY’17.
Though the remittance was on
the downtrend since the beginning
of current fiscal year, it saw the rise
last month only.
Despite the sudden rise in remittance
last month, it is still below 14%
compared to the ratio of July-May
period of the previous fiscal year.
The strong value of Taka against
Dollar, the decline in oil price in the
international market, fall in earnings
by expatriates in the middle-eastern
countries and remitting through
illegal channels were behind the
reasons of remittance fall.
Over the 11 months of the current
fiscal year, remittance stood at $11.55
billion, which was $13.46 billion in the
same period of the previous year.
According to the analysts, the
rise of remittance inflow in the
month of May is attributed to appreciation
of Dollar against Taka and
the holy month of Ramadan, which
encouraged the expatriates to send
remittance through legal channel. •
Cargo flights from Dhaka
now concern EU
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has
incurred losses of over Tk70 crore
since the UK imposed a temporary
ban on direct air cargo flights from
Dhaka to London in March 2016, and
the situation for the national carrier
could worsen after the EU threatened
to follow Australia and Germany in
introducing similar punitive measures.
Although the EU has not yet
followed suit, it put Bangladesh on the
list of high-risk countries from June 1,
reducing the cargo flights from Dhaka
to European destinations to one-third
of previous levels.
The bloc has also issued a threat
that if double screening of goods
is not performed and an explosive
detection system (EDS) is not introduced,
Bangladesh will also face a ban
to all remaining EU destinations.
“We don’t have any double-screening
machine (so) to meet the EU
requirement, we need to install the
machine as early as possible,” said
Shakil Meraj, Biman general manager
and spokesman.
Bangladesh has already installed Explosive
Trace Detector (ETD) machines
as per the UK demand, but these can
detect only explosive goods and take
around 4-5 minutes to scan each item. •
Bigstock
UN: FDI inflow into
Bangladesh rises
4.38% in 2016
Despite global declining trend, Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into
Bangladesh rose by 4.38% to $2.33
billion in 2016 riding on telecommunication
sector.
In 2016, global FDI flows decreased
by 2% to $1.75 trillion owing to weak
economic growth and significant
policy risks perceived by multinational
enterprises.
According to World Investment Report
2016 of the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), FDI inflows to Bangladesh
rose by 4.38% to $2.33 billion in 2016,
which was $2.23 billion in 2015.
The global FDI, however, is expected
to increase by 5% to almost $1.8
trillion in the current calendar year
while the inflows into developing Asia
shrank by 15% to $443 billion in the
same period.
China, for the first time, was the
world’s second-largest investor as
FDI outflows surged by 44% to $183
billion in 2016, which is a new high.
Among the South Asian countries,
India topped the chart and bagged
$44 billion FDI, which is 82% of total
FDI in South Asia.
In terms of total world FDI flows,
Bangladesh accounts for only 0.1%
while it is 4% of the total South Asia’s
FDI.
Among the FDI receive sectors in
Bangladesh, telecommunication holds
the top position, followed by Power,
Gas and Textile.
There was a large injection of
capital by Singapore Telecom (Singtel)
to enhance the capital base of Bharati
Airtel in the country.
The UNCTAD reports also said
three greenfield FDI projects in Bangladesh
have positioned themselves in
the list of Least Developed Countries’
(LDCs) 10 largest greenfield projects
announced in 2016.
“Bangladesh experienced a very
modest FDI inflow in 2016, which is
mostly from reinvestment. It shows
that the investors feel more comfortable
and confident,” said Ahsan H
Mansur, executive director of Policy
Research Institute (PRI), in his presentation
on the report. •

Corporate News
5
Sunday, June 11, 2017
DT
NRB Global Bank has recently opened its 39th branch at Hathazari in Chittagong, said a press release.
The bank’s chairperson, Nizam Chowdhury inaugurated the branch as chief guest
Chief of Bangladesh Army, General Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Huq has recently met Nepal’s President,
Bidhya Devi Bhandari at her office in Kathmandu, said a press release
Apex Footwear Limited has recently opened its 230th outlet near Adorsho School in Mirpur, said a press
release. The company’s additional managing director, Syed Gias Hussain and its COO, Rajan Pillai have
ingurated the outlet
University Grants Commission of Bangladesh (UGC) has recently held its 147th commission meeting,
said a press release. UGC chairperson, Professor Abdul Mannan was present at the meeting
City Bank has recently launched its first agent banking outlet at Dhaka Uddan in Mohammadpur, said a
press release. General manager at financial inclusion department of Bangladesh Bank, Md Abul Bashar
and managing director of City Bank, Sohail RK Hussain have jointly inaugurated the outlet
PBL Exchange (UK) Ltd has recently arranged a get-together in London with its agents in order to
boost inward remittance, said a press release. Managing director of Prime Bank, Ahmed Kamal Khan
Chowdhury was present on the occasion
System Resources Limited has recently signed an agreement with National Bank Limited on providing
its customers the facilities to pay their electricity bills through e-payment system at the bank under
Bangladesh Power Development Board and West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited. The
bank’s managing director (current charge), Choudhury Moshtaq Ahmed and Md Zahidur Rahman, chief
technical officer at System Resources Limited have signed the agreement
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh has recently organised an Iftar
party, said a press release. Vice-chancellor of the university, Rear Admiral ASM Abdul Baten was present
on the occasion as chief guest
Hazrat Ali, Deputy General Manager of PRAN Agro Limited Factory is addressing local journalist on the
occasion of its mango collection
Janata Bank Limited has recently held its 478th board meeting, said a press release. The bank’s
chairperson, Shaikh Md Wahid-uz-Zaman presided over the meeting

6
Sunday, June 11, 2017
DT
Stocks
W E E K L Y M a r k e t O v e r v i e w
SUMMARY Points Change (%) Turnover (BDTmn) Volume (mn) Advanced issues Declined issues Unchanged Issues
DSEX
5475.75 DSEX 5,475.8 0.68% 27,800 774 198 112 22
(+) 0.68%
CSE ASI 16,965.9 0.76% 3,467 54 171 89 18
Stocks up for 3rd week amid higher
participation
• Tribune Business Desk
Stocks advanced moderately last
week as investor participation increased
sharply during the week.
Weekly turnover at Dhaka Stock
Exchange rose 35% with a daily
average turnover of Tk556cr.
A low deposit rate environment
in the economy making
equity investment lucrative for
investors, said an equity analyst
at a stock brokerage firm.
Finance minister recently
hinted at a possibility of slashing
down interest rate on national
savings instruments.
The benchmark index, DSEX
closed at 5,475.8 points on last
Thursday after gaining 0.68% over
Most Traded
Global markets unfazed by UK election result
• AFP, New York
Price Weekly change
MJLBD 120.9 0.17%
LankaBangla 52.2 1.16%
BX Pharma 114.9 4.45%
SPCL 147.2 3.66%
UPGD 185.7 1.59%
BRAC Bank 77.3 -2.40%
IFAD Autos 130.9 -3.47%
PTL 35.7 11.91%
Argon Denims 36.1 6.18%
RSRM Steel 80.6 -1.35%
Dhaka Tribune has accumulated the stock market related data primarily from Dhaka Stock Exchange website. The basis of information collected was primarily from daily stock quotations and audited/unaudited
reports of publicly listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and
data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to news@dhakatribune.com.
the week while CSE ASI advanced
by 0.76% to end at 16,965.9 points.
Fuel and power equities contributed
20.1% of the week’s total turnover,
said the weekly market report
of UCB Capital Management Ltd.
5,520
5,500
5,480
5,460
5,440
5,420
5,400
London equity markets gained on
the drop in the British currency,
along with bourses in Paris and
Frankfurt. Stocks were mixed on
Wall Street, with the Dow climbing
to a new record, but the Nasdaq
diving nearly two percent following
a sell-off of tech highflyers.
Sterling slumped to a seven-week
low of $1.2636 before
recovering a bit in the aftermath
of the election, which saw May’s
Conservative party lose its majority
following a surge by leftist Jeremy
Corbyn’s Labour Party.
“In many ways a hung parliament
is the least market-friendly
result because it creates uncertainty
and could be the biggest
delay to the start of Brexit negotiations,”
said market analyst Jasper
Lawler at London Capital Group.
“Arguably the (market) reaction
has not been as extreme as the result”
of the elections, he added.
Trading elsewhere suggested investors
viewed the British uncertainty
as localized, with Paris up
0.7%, Frankfurt 0.8% and Tokyo
0.5%. The Nasdaq tumbled 1.8%,
retreating from a record, while
the Dow advanced 0.4%, setting a
new record at 21,271.97.
Dhaka Tribune
Standard Insurance Ltd secured
the highest weekly gain of
21.8% for the second week in a
row while Savar Refractories Limited
turned out the worst loser
with its price declining by 15.8%.
MOVEMENT OF DSEX INDEX LAST WEEK
Shahjibazar Power Co Ltd secured
leadership position on the
top turnover chart with a turnover
of Tk133cr over the week with
its share price appreciating by
3.7% during the week.
DS30, the blue-chip index advanced
by 14.3 points or 0.71% to
end at 2,037.0 points, while DSE
Shariah based index gained 9.4
points or 0.75% to close at 1,268.3
points. Among the traded issues
198 gained, 112 declined and 22
remained unchanged during the
week.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange currently
has a market capitalisation
of BDT 372,770cr with the benchmark
index, DSEX up by 8.7%
since beginning of this year. •
DAY 0 DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5
'In many ways a hung parliament is the least
market-friendly result because it creates
uncertainty and could be the biggest delay
to the start of Brexit negotiations'
Analysts called the midday
shift a sector rotation in which
investors were taking profits from
highly-valued sectors and putting
the funds in areas that have underperformed,
such as financials,
energy and retailers.
Apple dropped 3.9%, Amazon
fell 3.2%, Google parent Alphabet
3.4% and Netflix 4.7%.
“They’ve run up too far too
fast,” said Bill Lynch, director of
investment at Hinsdale Associates
said of the high-tech stocks.
“They became overvalued.”
Big gainers in the Dow included
oil giant Chevron, up 2.3%, and
banks JPMorgan Chase and Goldman
Sachs, which climbed 2.4%
and 1.7%, respectively.
Energy and financials have
been laggards thus far in 2017. Retailers,
another beaten-down sector,
also did well in the session,
with Macy’s gaining 4.3%, Gap
2.4% and Target 4.2%.
“It is definitely a rotation,” said
Nate Thooft, senior managing
director, Manulife Asset Management.
“When it started to crack a
little bit this morning ...people
jumped on the bandwagon and
started taking some of their wins
off the table.” •
DSE NEWS
IFADAUTOS: The Company has informed
that the Board of Directors of the Company
has decided to issue Rights share at the rate
of 2R:5 (i.e. two Rights share for every five
shares held) at an issue price of Tk. 20.00
each (including premium of Tk. 10.00 each)
on paid up capital subject to approval by
shareholders in EGM and BSEC and the
other Regulatory Authorities. The amount
raising from the Rights issue will be used
for expansion of the Business, to meet the
requirement of working capital and to pay
off Debts of the Company. Date of EGM:
25.07.2017, Time: 3:30 PM, Venue: Samarai
Convention Center, 23/G/7, Panthapath,
Dhaka-1205. Record date: 03.07.2017.
Another record date for entitlement of the
proposed rights shares to be notified later
after obtaining approval from BSEC.
LINDEBD: With reference to their
earlier news (disseminated by DSE on
27.12.2016) regarding a press release on
a potential merger, the Company has
further informed that Linde AG, Germany
(Linde) has signed a legally binding
Business Combination Agreement with
Praxair, Inc., USA (Praxair) on June 01,
2017 governing the terms and conditions
of a merger of equals between the two
Companies. The proposed business combination
of Linde and Praxair is expected
to create significant synergies. At this
stage, Linde Bangladesh emphasizes that
there is currently no planned change in its
course of business in Bangladesh in pursuance
of the proposed combination.
CNATEX: The Company has informed
that, to meet the compliance of Accord
and Alliance Bangladesh, the Company
has to ensure electrical, fire and structural
safety. To attain this safety, they need
to develop some equipments and make
some structural changes inside its factory.
For this, the commercial operation of the
Company has been temporally suspended
from May 01, 2017. After completing
compliance of Accord and Alliance Bangladesh,
commercial operation will begin.
STANDARINS: The Board of Directors
has recommended 10% stock dividend
for the year ended on December 31, 2016.
Date of AGM: 27.07.2017, Time: 10:00 AM,
Venue: Spectra Convention Centre Limited,
House # 19, Road # 7, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212.
Record Date: 05.07.2017. The Company
has also reported EPS of Tk. 0.98, NAV
per share of Tk. 17.26 and NOCFPS of Tk.
(0.40) for the year ended on December
31, 2016 as against Tk. 2.59, Tk. 17.91 and
Tk. 0.002 respectively for the same period
of the previous year. EPS was Tk. 0.44 for
January-March, 2017 as against Tk. 0.07
for January-March, 2016. NOCFPS was Tk.
0.76 for January-March, 2017 as against
Tk. 0.07 for January-March, 2016. NAV per
share was Tk. 17.70 as on March 31, 2017
and Tk. 17.98 as on March 31, 2016. •

OPINION 7
DT
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Bring the domestic use of technology up
THE lAST
WORD
• Tim Worstall
A harsh truth is that economics
still doesn’t know much about the
world. The most common answer
to any question within the subject
is “it depends.” The same circumstances
with different people, even
at times the same people divorced
in time, can lead to entirely different
outcomes.
We do think we’ve got a few of
the basics right, printing too much
money will lead to inflation (but
that just moves the “it depends” to
“how much is too much”?), trying
to plan everything doesn’t work
but some things must be planned,
that it depends again.
As an example for our lack of
knowledge, there is a new paper
relevant to Bangladesh.
We’re still arguing over what
it was that caused the Industrial
Revolution those 260 years ago
in Britain. Which has obvious
consequences for places like your
fair country today, where we’re
all eager for the nascent industrial
revolution to continue and grow.
We know that the industrial
revolution did happen in Britain,
also that it spread to other
countries over time and continues
to spread today. But exactly
what happened and how isn’t
quite known as yet which causes
obvious problems when we think
about how we’d like to replicate it.
The paper itself is “Human
capital, knowledge, and economic
development” which isn’t, if we’re
honest, the most stirring of names.
Yet within the argument presented,
we find something hugely
important. It wasn’t science, it
wasn’t universities, and it wasn’t
academic research which made it
all happen. Rather, it was learning
by doing.
One of my favourite pieces of
trivia from the time is that Adam
Smith himself, when a professor
at Glasgow University, hired James
Watt to come and fix the department’s
steam engine. Watt had not
invented his own advanced design
at this time and had no formal
training in the subject at hand.
And yet, being simply a handy
man who had practical experience
he was able both to do this repair
and also develop his advanced
steam engine later.
There is a deeper argument
about pure research too. Which is
that it tends not to be the research
which then drives technologies.
Instead, not always but often
enough, it is the finding that
Photo shows solar panel set at a roof top of a house in Dhaka - a sign of domestic use of technology in Bangladesh
Economic development comes not from the finding of new
physical laws nor of exotic research, but the ability to apply
what is already known to local needs and resources
something works which then leads
to the research trying to find out
why it does, to uncover the deeper
truth which allows this, or that
machine to be built.
Our steam engines are a good
example. Boyle’s Law of 1662
explains why they work but the
ancient Greeks had working
examples and at least one patent
for a working engine from 1606.
The later research is what enabled
truly effective engines such as
Newcomen’s and Watt’s, but the
observation that one was possible
came before the theory.
Another related point is that economic
development comes not from
the finding of new physical laws nor
of exotic research, but the ability to
apply what is already known to local
needs and resources.
Home spun cotton is still a
feature of parts of South Asia
while the mechanisation of thread
and weaving has been known for
centuries now. It is not more research
in how to mechanise which
is needed, but the application of
what is already known.
Which is where this paper has
news for Bangladesh today. That
original Industrial Revolution
came not out of the dreams of
the ivory towers of academe. But
from practical men looking at the
problems they faced and using the
resources available to try and solve
them. And so, it is when we desire
to create the revolution again in
another place at a later date.
For example, we do not need
Bangladesh, or any part of it, to
research into mobile telephones.
Sure, if someone has a good idea
then why not, a better system
would benefit everyone worldwide.
But what we need locally is the
application of that technology, not
the invention of a better method
of it. The same is true of just about
everything else. No startling new
design of refrigerator is needed,
just the competent manufacture
and distribution of them. We do
not need to invent again the solar
Syed Zakir Hossain
panel, just install them widely.
Another way of putting this is
that Bangladesh doesn’t need to
expand the technological envelope
in which development of the
economy can take place. Rather, it
needs to expand inside that global
limit that already exists, bring the
domestic use of technology up to
what is already proven possible.
Which is the true underlying
message of this research paper
and historical finding. The way
that was done the first time, and
the way it has been replicated
elsewhere, was not by the clever
people researching things and
then defining what should be
done. Rather it was done by practical
people trying to solve specific
and local problems. And so, it will
be again in Bengal.
Development will come not
from anything new, but from the
application of what is already
known to local circumstances.
Which means that our economic
and development policy isn’t to
try to push forward the boundaries
of human knowledge but rather
to just give those practical people
the room to apply what is already
known to our problems. •
Tim Worstall is a Senior Fellow at the
Adam Smith Institute in London.