24-08-2020

MONDAY, AUgUST 24, 2020
10
Samsung's refrigerator emphasizes
cleaning campaign
Samsung Electronics
Bangladesh, a global leader
in consumer electronics and
the most trusted brand, has
carried out a campaign to
ensure health hygiene for its
customers. Initiated before
Eid, through this recently
ended campaign, Samsung
Bangladesh has cleaned
customer's refrigerators to
help them with the hardship
during corona virus
pandemic, a press release
said.
The campaign was aimed
to inspire the practices of
cleaning refrigerators
regularly pertinent to the
hygiene care efforts among
the customers across the
country. As part of the
campaign, Samsung's expert
service team, equipped with
advanced tools, has provided
a professional check and
cleaning services for free over
300 customers around the
country.
The assistance has been
provided to the customers
who purchased and are using
Samsung refrigerator seven
without a warranty period,
includes overall status check
and consulting, voltage check
for power stability, outside
temperature check, and
settings, water tray cleaning,
guidance on 'how to get
better performance. 'To get
the service, eager customers
registered them through
Samsung call center
appointments.
Regarding this campaign,
one of the customers, Md
Rakibul Isalm, commented,
BIDA, DCCI sign MoU
to integrate services
Bangladesh Investment
Development Authority
(BIDA) and Dhaka
Chamber of Commerce &
Industry (DCCI) signed a
Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU)
recently for integration of
services with BIDA's One
Stop Services (OSS). The
OSS is an online facilitation
mechanism that aims to
bring relevant agencies and
stakeholders together,
coordinated and
streamlined, to provide
efficient and transparent
services to the investors, a
press release said.
Director General-5 (Joint
Secretary) of BIDA Md.
Wahidul Islam and
Secretary General (Acting),
DCCI Afsarul Arifeen
signed the document on
behalf of their respective
organizations. Secretary
from the Prime Minister's
Office Md. Tofazzel
Hossain Miah was present
on the occasion as the chief
guest.
Meanwhile, besides
DCCI, BIDA signed the
MoU with the Ministry of
Land, Department of
Environment and RAJUK.
13 services will be provided
online through these four
organizations.
DCCI, according to the
MoU, will provide two
services which are issuing
certificate of origin and
membership certificate. In
total 154 services through
35 organizations will be
provided under the OSS.
Meanwhile, using the OSS
five companies got
registration approval.
with OSS
Secretary, PMO, Md.
Tofazzel Hossain Miah also
thanked DCCI for signing
MoU with BIDA as one of
the largest voices of private
sector in Bangladesh. He
said for starting a business,
license and certification are
two important things and
through the OSS these
services will be available in
a hassle free manner. He
believes that this initiative
will create confidence and
build trust among the
business community and
the investors. He also
underscored the
importance of maintaining
coordination between
public and private sector to
expedite quality and
quantitative investments in
the country.
During the function,
BIDA Executive Chairman
Md. Sirazul Islam thanked
DCCI for being on board
with BIDA's initiative as
the forefront of
Bangladesh's private
sector. He also said that
there are three
components- like process,
time and cost that are very
important in ease of doing
business index. By
implementing OSS,
process, time and cost will
automatically come down,
he said.Using digital
platform will ease process
and it will help remove
corruptions as well. The
OSS app is mobile
compatible and there is an
option of feedback to
monitor its activities.
During the signing
ceremony, DCCI President
Shams Mahmud saidthat it
is a milestone and DCCI is
honoured to be the first
private sector organization
in Bangladesh to be
associated with BIDA by
signing this MoU. The OSS
will open up a new window
of opportunity to both local
and foreign investors and
the initiative will help
improve Bangladesh's
position in the Ease of
Doing Business index, he
said.
Effective
implementation of OSS
will enhance employment
generation, boost
economic development,
growth and help attain the
dream of becoming a
developed nation by 2041.
Shams Mahmud also said
that DCCI will work hand
in hand with the
government and BIDA to
contribute in fulfilling the
Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and Dhaka
Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) recently for integration of services with BIDA's
One Stop Services (OSS).
Photo: Courtesy
dream of building 'Digital
Bangladesh' and attain the
target of becoming a
developed nation by 2041.
Land Secretary Md.
Muksodur Rahman
Patwary and Environment
Secretary Ziaul Hassan,
ndc also spoke on the
occasion. They both
congratulated DCCI as the
first private sector
representative to sign this
MoU with BIDA. Land
Secretary informed that
export oriented industries
now get the opportunity of
having their land mutation
within 7 working days.
Environment Secretary
said digital initiative like
OSS will usher trade and
investment opportunity in
future which will boost
employment generation.
"My refrigerator was out of
warranty, but Samsung's
initiative relieved me during
this pandemic. I am very
much happy with the
cleaning service. The
dedication from the
engineers has increased my
trust in the brand, and now I
am looking forward to
buying more products from
Samsung."
On this occasion,
Seungwon Youn, Country
Manager, Samsung
Bangladesh, said, "We rise to
the occasions as a part of our
responsibility as we believe
in making our customers'
lives more convenient in any
circumstances. The
importance of staying clean
and healthy is never felt
more significant than the
present time. Hence, we
launched this campaign so
that our valuable customers
can stay worry free during
this time."
This campaign was
launched, followed by
Samsung's previous initiative
of cleaning services to extend
the lifespan of refrigerators
by helping customers to
maintain proper hygiene.
Alamgir Hossain promotes as
Deputy Managing Director of
Bank Asia Ltd.
Alamgir Hossain has
recently been promoted as the
Deputy Managing Director of
Bank Asia Ltd. Prior to his
promotion, Hossain was
Senior Executive Vice
President and Head of
Principal Office Branch of the
bank, a press release said.
Alamgir Hossain started his
banking career with Eastern
Bank Ltd in 1997 as
Probationary Officer. During
his 8 years of career with
Eastern Bank Ltd, he
performed responsibilities in
different capacities in Branch
Banking including Branch
Manager. In 2005, he joined
Bank Asia Ltd. as Assistant
Vice President and initially
worked at Gulshan Branch.
During his last 15 years'
journey with Bank Asia Ltd,
he has served as Head of
Branch of major branches of
the bank like Mohakhali,
MCB Banani, MCB Dilkusha
and Principal Office. Mr.
Hossain, a veteran banker,
achieved remarkable success
in the leadership roles in
different branches of Bank
Asia Ltd. As the recognition of
his contribution in business
development of the Bank, he
received "The Service
Excellence Awards" for 6
years consecutively (2014-
2019). Hossain completed
his post-graduation in English
from the University of Dhaka.
He has taken numerous
training on banking from
various institutes of home and
abroad.
Huawei stands beside flood victims:
MoPT minister inaugurates the event
Bangladesh, like the rest of the world,
is facing tremendous adversity due to the
COVID-19 pandemic; moreover, the
recent disastrous flood worsened the
suffering of the people and left them
without food and shelter. Huawei
Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited, as a
localized international company, comes
forward to stand beside the flood victims
in Khaliajuri, Netrokona, a press release
said.
An online meeting has been organized
recently where Huawei discussed with
all the relevant stakeholders and
symbolically handed over the relief
goods to A H M Ariful Islam, UNO,
Khaliajuri, Netrokona. Mustafa Jabbar,
Minister, Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications and Information
Technology, was present at the handover
ceremony as the chief guest. Zhang
Zhengjun, CEO, Huawei Technologies
(Bangladesh) Limited, gave the welcome
speech. Shebastin Rema, Deputy
Secretary (PS to minister, Posts and
Ctg port cargo dwell time
drops 42pc in 6yrs
Cargo dwell time at the
Chattogram port has
decreased by around 42
percent, or 7.49 days, in the
past six years, enhancing the
ease of doing business in the
country, a press release said.
According to data from the
Chattogram Port Authority
(CPA), a cargo container
stayed at the Chattogram
port for around 17.48 days
(dwell time) on average in
2014-15 fiscal year, which
dropped to just 9.99 days in
FY2019-20.
The significant decrease in
dwell time is easing
container congestion at the
port's storage yard and
allowing exporters-importers
to save on storage charges
imposed by the port
authorities.
Dwell time is the time
taken to offload import
containers onto a truck,
trailer, covered van or train
from the port yard; and to
load export containers from
the port yard onto a ship.
"This is a milestone
achievement for the port as
well as for businesses in the
country. That we have been
able to reduce the dwell time
by half despite our limited
Telecommunication Div.); Jerry
Wangshiwu, CTO, Huawei Technologies
(Bangladesh) Limited were there along
with other Huawei officials at the event.
On the occasion, Mustafa Jabbar,
Minister, Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications and Information
Technology, said, "I want to thank
Huawei since it has taken the initiative to
help the most deserving people of the
country, and it proves that Huawei has a
good intention to provide not only the
technology but also supporting the
humanity of this area. I congratulate
Huawei authorities and appreciate the
whole effort Huawei has put, and I hope
it will continue in the future."
Zhang Zhengjun, CEO, Huawei
Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited,
stated, "This relief program is our
holistic approach towards the
betterment of lives in the flood-affected
areas, and this includes our efforts to
make people's lives better. As a localized
global company in Bangladesh, we take
resources has been possible
because of some smart
decisions of the authorities
concerned," said Mahbubul
Alam, president of the
Chattogram Chamber of
Commerce and Industry
(CCCI).
He, however, observed that
the dwell time should come
down below 24 hours as the
cost of doing business is
related to it.
"Spending more time on
offloading containers means
a higher cost of business.
Ultimately, the prices of
imported products go up and
the costs of exports get
higher," he explained.
Mahbubul Alam also
expressed his hope that the
cargo dwell time at the
Chattogram port will come
further down once the
Patenga Container Terminal
and Bay Terminal are
complete. "The port
authorities should speed up
the construction work on the
ongoing projects," he
stressed.
The Chattogram port that
handles 92 percent of
the pride of being locally global and
always responding according to that to
fulfill our responsibilities to the
communities where we operate and look
forward to contributing more. Moreover,
we are continually strengthening our
ability to put our efforts to work so that it
directly impacts the lives of the people in
Bangladesh."
A H M Ariful Islam said, "Last year
Khaliajuri upazilla was affected by flood
and Huawei Technologies delivered
around 2,000 units of dried foods, also
current year Huawei has sent 2,000
units of dried food and 2,000 facemasks,
these are very necessary at this moment.
So, on behalf of Khaliajuri upazilla I am
giving my heart full thanks and gratitude
to Zhang Jun, CEO of Huawei
Technologies Bangladesh."
Huawei has come forward to support
the flood-affected people and will
distribute a variety of dry foods among
families in Khaliajuri on August 26,
2020.
Bangladesh's export-import
trade has a storage capacity
of only 49,018 TEUs (twentyfoot
equivalent units) of
containers. The port can only
offload containers from
vessels if there is availability
of storage spaces.
Over the last five years,
export-import container
handling at Chattogram port
has increased by 60 percent
or 1,137,080 TEUs. In
FY2014-15, the port handled
only 1,867,062 TEUs, while
in FY2019-20 it handled
3,004,142 TEUs.
UAE deal puts Israel's economic reach on Iran's doorstep
Israel's landmark deal with the
UAE to normalise ties could see
businesses from the Jewish state
operating on arch-rival Iran's
doorstep, but are unlikely to disturb
Emirati economic ties to Iran, reports
BSS.
It could also pave the way for direct
economic engagement between Israeli
and UAE-based Iranian business
people that would reap benefits from
politics, experts say.
Cinzia Bianco, a research fellow at
the European Council on Foreign
Relations, said it would be "a while"
before Iranians in the UAE come face
to face with Israelis.
"It is important to stress here that
Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited, as a localized international company, comes forward to
stand beside the flood victims in Khaliajuri, Netrokona.
Photo: Courtesy
most Iranians with real ties in the
Islamic republic were either expelled
or moved away in the past years," she
said. "Those who remained in Dubai or
the UAE in general are the ultrapragmatic
business people, who refuse
to get enmeshed in any kind of politics.
So some of them view this deal as an
opportunity, not a challenge," she
added.
The oil-rich United Arab Emirates
was the first Gulf state to establish ties
with Israel, in a deal that came amid
rising tensions with Iran, accused by
its neighbours of fuelling regional
instability.
Abu Dhabi accuses Tehran of
occupying three Emirati islands since
1971, and downgraded ties with Iran in
2016 amid rivalry between UAE ally
Saudi Arabia and the Islamic republic,
which is also targeted by painful US
economic sanctions.
Despite tensions, the UAE and Iran,
which lie 70 kilometres (44 miles)
apart across the strategic Strait of
Hormuz, have maintained diplomatic
exchanges and crucially protected
their economic ties, generating billions
for both sides.
"Tehran is not in a position to forego
its economic ties with any country -
especially not the UAE which is
practically next door," said Ellen R.
Wald, a senior fellow at the Atlantic
Council's Global Energy Centre.
"Iran also has close ties to countries
like China that work alongside Israel,"
she told AFP. Two days after US
President Donald Trump's shock
announcement of the deal, Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani warned the
UAE "against opening the path of
Israel to the region".
The UAE summoned Iran's envoy to
protest the "threats", although it
insisted the next day the agreement
"was not directed against Iran".
But feelings are still running high in
the Strait of Hormuz - a vital corridor
connecting the petroleum-rich states
of the Middle East with markets in
Asia, Europe, North America and
elsewhere.