12-11-2018

ECONOMY & BUSINESS
BANGLADESHTODAY 10
THE
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2018
Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) has inaugurated 880th Fast Track (FT) at the Supreme Court
premises, Ramna, Dhaka. Honourable Chief Justice Sayed Mahmud Hossain inaugurated the Fast
Track on November 11, 2018 while Advocate Jainul Abedin, President & Barrister A.M. Mahbub Uddin
Khokon, Secretary of Supreme Court BAR Association and Abul Kashem Md. Shirin, Managing
Director & CEO of Dutch-Bangla Bank were present at the inauguration ceremony. Using this Fast
Track, the honorable Judges, Lawyers, employees of the Supreme Court and all other customers of
the bank can withdraw cash, deposit money and get services like assistance for opening of bank
account & Rocket account, assistance for obtaining Cheque Book, ATM card, card replacement,
reporting of lost card etc.
Photo : Courtesy
Nigeria's new
minimum
wage: too
much to ask?
On the campaign trail for
re-election in February,
Nigeria's President
Muhammadu Buhari may
have spoken too soon when
he backed an initiative to
hike his country's minimum
wage by a whopping two
thirds.
Buhari, who had been
advised on the wage by a
negotiating committee made
up of union representatives,
the government and the
private sector, praised the
"patriotic and professional"
members.
The recommendation to
hike the minimum wage to
30,000 naira ($82, 72
euros) from 18,000 was
"realistic, fair and
implementable" and would
be studied by the executive
"within the shortest possible
time", before being returned
to parliament for final
approval, he said.
Hard-hitting Philippine
news portal faces tax
evasion charge
Philippine prosecutors said Sunday they
will file charges of tax evasion against a
news website that has been critical of
President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Justice Department said in a
statement it found probable cause to indict
Rappler Holdings Corp. and its president,
journalist Maria Ressa. The case could be
filed later this week, Justice Secretary
Menardo Guevarra said.
Rappler called it "a clear form of
continuing intimidation and harassment"
and an attempt to "silence reporting that
does not please the administration."
Duterte had already banned a Rappler
reporter from his news briefings after the
government's corporate watchdog found
that the organization violated a
constitutional prohibition on foreign
ownership when it received money from an
international investment firm. Rappler
rejected the ruling.
Duterte has accused several independent
media groups in the Philippines of biased
reporting, including on his crackdown on
illegal drugs that has left thousands mostly
urban poor dwellers dead and drew
condemnation by Western governments
and U.N. bodies.
"We are not at all surprised about the
decision, considering the track record of
how the government has treated Rappler
as a result of its independent and fearless
reporting on what has been transpiring in
the country," Rappler's legal counsel
Francis Lim said.
He denied the charges of tax evasion in
connection with Rappler's bond sales in
2015 to two foreign entities. Rappler,
founded in 2012, says it remains wholly
Filipino-owned and that the foreigners
have no voting rights or a say in its
management and news operations.
The brash-talking Duterte accused
Rappler last year of being owned by
Americans in violation of the Philippine
Constitution and that the news outfit was
funded by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Rappler denied the allegations.
Noakhali Zone of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited organized a Business Development Conference on
10 November 2018 Saturday at Nice Guest House, Noakhali. Md. Mahbub ul Alam, Managing Director
& CEO of the Bank addressed the program as chief guest. Mohammed Monirul Moula, Additional
Managing Director of the Bank addressed as special guest. Abu Reza Md. Yeahia and Muhammad
Qaisar Ali, Deputy Managing Directors addressed the function among others. Mohammad Rokan
Uddin, Executive Vice President & Head of Noakhali Zone presided over the function. Head of 20
branches of Noakhali Zone along with other officials attended the function. Photo : Courtesy
Southeast Bank Limited has been given Silver Award in the "5th ICSB National Award for Corporate
Governance Excellence, 2017" in Banking Companies Category by The Institute of Chartered
Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB). ICSB bestowed the prestigious Award on the Bank for its corporate
governance practices that came out in the disclosures in the Bank's Annual Report-2017. The Institute
of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh exhaustively analyzed the Bank's Annual Report-2017 and
sieved out the Bank from many aspirants for its outstanding performance, sufficient disclosures for
all stockholders and its commitment to achieving further excellence in corporate governance, and
compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. M. Kamal Hossain, Managing Director of
Southeast Bank Limited received the award from Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, MP, Minister, Ministry of
Finance, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh in a ceremony held on 10 November
2018 at a local hotel in Dhaka. Photo : Courtesy
Walton initiates its online
sales promotion 'e-Plaza'
It offers maximum 20 percent discounts and free home delivery
The local multinational
electronics giant 'Walton'
has initiated its online sales
promotion titled 'E-plaza' so
that customers could make
online purchase of wide
ranges of appliances of the
local brand, says a press
release.
Walton Group's Director
SM Mahbubul Alam
inaugurated the 'e-Plaza' as
the chief guest at the
"Online Sales Promotion
Launching Programme" at
its corporate office at the
capital today (November 11,
2018).
The function was also
attended, among others, by
Walton Group's Executive
Directors Eva Rezwana,
Amdadul Haque Sarker, SM
Zahid Hasan, Nazrul Islam
Sarker, Sirajul Islam, Tanvir
Rahman and Md Rayhan,
Deputy Executive Director
Uday Hakim, Senior
Additional Director Mofijur
Rahman and other senior
officials of the company.
From e-Plaza, customers
can now buy more than 60
sorts of electronics,
electrical, home and ICT
products of Walton like
fridges, televisions, air
conditioners, mobile
phones, laptops, computer
accessories, washing
machines, electric switchsockets,
electric fans etc.
Customers have to pay off
the prices of the purchased
products worth of more
than Tk 5,000 from e-Plaza
through their debit card,
credit card, visa card,
master card, nexus card,
internet banking, bkash, m-
cash, Rocket or other
Walton Group's Director SM Mahbubul Alam is inaugurating online sales
promotion 'e-Plaza' through cutting cake at the company's corporate office
in the capital today (November 11, 2018). Among others, the group's
Executive Directors Eva Rezwana, Amdadul Haque Sarker, SM Zahid
Hasan, Nazrul Islam Sarker, Sirajul Islam, Tanvir Rahman and Md Rayhan,
Deputy Executive Director Uday Hakim, Senior Additional Director Mofijur
Rahman and other senior officials are seen in the picture. Photo : Courtesy
mobile banking. In
addition, there is also cash
on delivery facility for the
purchase of appliances
worth of below Tk 5,000.
On the online purchased
of Walton products,
customers will also enjoy
maximum 20 percent
discounts and free home
delivery facility within the
15 kilometer of the Plaza,
selected by the customer.
Very soon, customer of e-
Plaza will get the facility of
purchasing Walton
products at EMI (Equal
Monthly Installment)
facility through using their
credit cards.
Speaking at the function
SM Mahbubul Alam said
that the prime objective of
initiating the online sales
promotion 'e-Plaza' is to
make the availability of
Walton appliances more
ease.
This service will not only
ease the customers' access
to Walton sales network but
also increase the company's
sales to large scales, he
noted.
During the function, the
Walton Group's Director set
a target of fetching Tk 100
crore from 'e-Plaza' sales.
The company's Executive
Director to Supply Chain
Management Md Tanvir
Rahman said, customer will
get this new service under
the Walton Plaza sales
network.
The company's strong
delivery channel will play a
remarkable role in reaching
the online purchased
products to the desired
customers within a
reasonable time.
Now, the respective
personnel are getting lots of
trainings on providing
improved and highest
standard customer service,
saying it he hoped that the
online sales service would
be more popular among the
customers like Walton
Plazas and distributors'
sales networks.
Mutual Trust Bank Ltd. (MTB) has recently signed a partnership agreement with UnionPay
International, the largest card payment organization in the world in terms of number of cards under
issuance. Under the agreement, MTB will issue UnionPay debit and credit cards (both contact and
contactless) as the first private commercial bank in Bangladesh. The bank will also acquire UnionPay
cards across its wide network of Point of Sales (POS) devices and ATMs and launch UnionPay QR
Code, P2P and Money Express. Both Mutual Trust Bank Ltd and UnionPay International aim at taking
the payment ecosystem of Bangladesh to a new height through this partnership. Cai Jianbo, CEO,
UnionPay International and Anis A. Khan, Managing Director & CEO of MTB signed the agreement on
behalf of the respective organizations at the Head office of UnionPay International, Shanghai, China.
Mohammad Anwar Hossain, EVP & Head of Cards, MTB and senior officials of UnionPay
International were also present at the signing ceremony.
Photo : Courtesy
British economy defies Brexit
gloom with expanding growth
The British economy defied the
headwinds of Brexit uncertainty to
record improved GDP growth over the
third quarter of this year, according to
figures released on Friday.
The British economy grew at 0.6
percent over the third quarter (August-
October), a 50-percent jump in the rate
of growth over the second quarter,
which recorded 0.4 percent growth,
according to data from the Office of
National Statistics (ONS), the official
data body. This is the fastest rate of
growth since the Brexit referendum
vote in June 2016 set Britain on a path
to exit the 29-member European Union
(EU), and is above the postreferendum
trend British rate of about
0.4 percent a quarter. The 0.6 percent
growth also outstrips growth in the EU
as a whole which has hit an abrupt
slowdown, growing at just 0.3 percent
in the EU28 area and 0.2 percent
across the euro currency nations.
Weather-related economic weakness at
the start of the year, with prolonged
snow and low temperatures freezing
economic growth at close to zero over
the first quarter, has now had a
beneficial effect on growth. The
acceleration seen in these third quarter
figures is a regaining of growth lost in
the first quarter.
The annual pace of GDP growth now
steps up to 1.5 percent up from 1.2
percent at the end of the second
quarter, maintaining the pace of
growth set at the end of 2017.
Household consumption growth rose
from 0.3 percent in the second quarter
to 0.5 percent in the third, and
accounted for half GDP growth.
Fixed investment recovered, rising by
0.8 percent over the quarter, having
fallen in the previous two.
The uncertainties over the Brexit
process, with divorce talks currently
stalled between Britain and the EU and
a deadline for exit of the end of March
next year were clearly seen in the
business investment figures.