07-02-2021

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2021 8
Chattogram North & South Zone of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited organized Business
Development Conference at Raddison Blu, Chattogram on 5 February 2021. Mohammed Monirul
Moula, Managing Director and CEO of the bank addressed the conference as chief guest. Muhammad
Qaisar Ali & Md. Omar Faruk Khan, Additional Managing Directors, Abu Reza Md. Yeahia, JQM
Habibullah, FCS & Md. Mosharraf Hossain, Deputy Managing Directors and Miftah Uddin, Executive
Vice President of the Bank addressed the conference as special guest. Md. Nayer Azam, Head of
Chattogram North Zone presided over the conference while Mohammad Yakub Ali, Head of
Chattogram South Zone addressed welcome speech. Meah Md. Barkat Ullah, Head of Agrabad
Corporate Branch & Mohammad Ehsanul Islam, Head of Khatungonj Corporate Branch also
addressed the program. Head of Branches, Manager Operations, In-Charge of the Departments and
Sub Branches under the Zone attended the conference.
Photo : Courtesy
STC signs debt settlement
deal with Etihad Atheeb
Saudi Telecom Co. (stc) signed an
agreement with Etihad Atheeb
Telecommunications (GO) on settling the
latter's due balances and debt, according to
the company's statement.
The agreement was reached following
intensive talks between the two telecom
firms over the past period, which resulted
in the balances and debt settlement in a
manner that best serves the two sides.
The telecom operator expects the
agreement to reflect positively on Atheeb
and help it proceed with the upgrade and
support of its operations, in addition to
raising the competitive ability and
enhancing the infrastructure of both sides,
in line with customer aspirations and the
Kingdom's status globally.
Furthermore, the agreement will
positively impact the telecom sector as a
whole, through helping it achieve its
targets as being among the Kingdom's key
vital and growing sectors. This is in
addition to boosting the country's gross
domestic economy, in line with indicators
related to Vision 2030.
Oil hits highest in a year on
growth hopes, OPEC+ cuts
LONDON: Oil hit its highest in a year on
Friday, closing in on $60 a barrel, supported
by economic revival hopes and supply curbs
by producer group OPEC and its allies.
New orders for US-made goods rose more
than expected in December, pointing to
continued strength in manufacturing.
President Joe Biden's drive to enact a $1.9
trillion coronavirus aid bill also gained
momentum on Friday.
Brent crude was up 85 cents, or 1.4
percent, at $59.69 by 1438 GMT after hitting
its highest since Feb. 20 last year at $59.79.
US crude was up $1.02, or 1.8 percent, at
$57.25, after reaching $57.28, its highest
since Jan. 22 last year.
"The conditions still remain supportive for
oil markets," said Jeffrey Halley, an analyst
at brokerage OANDA. "Oil should find
plenty of willing buyers on any material dip."
Brent is on track to rise more than 6
percent this week. The last time it traded at
$60 a barrel, the pandemic had yet to take
Minority-owned businesses in U.S. concerned
more about access to credit: survey
NEW YORK : Most U.S. small
businesses hit by the COVID-19
pandemic found it hard to access credit
after the first two rounds of the
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
had ground to a halt, a Federal Reserve
survey has found, reports UNB.
The survey, conducted in September
and October, showed that most small
businesses impacted by the pandemic
worried they would not survive without
hold, economies were open and people were
free to travel, meaning demand for gasoline,
diesel and jet fuel was much higher.
The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines,
however, is fueling hopes of lockdowns being
eased, boosting fuel demand.
But even demand optimists such as OPEC
do not expect oil consumption to return to
pre-pandemic levels until 2022. Oil also
gained support from supply curbs by
producers. OPEC and its allies, collectively
known as OPEC+, stuck to their supply
tightening policy at a meeting on Wednesday.
Record OPEC+ cuts have helped to lift prices
from historic lows last year.
"OPEC+ discipline has been a real
positive," said Michael McCarthy, chief
market strategist at CMC Markets.
Further boosting the market, a weekly
supply report showed a drop in US crude
inventories to their lowest since March,
suggesting that output cuts by OPEC+
producers are having the desired effect.
government help. Of around 10,000
small businesses surveyed, some 78
percent reported a drop in revenue and
46 percent said they had to lay off their
employees. About a third of them said it
was hard for them to survive until sales
recovered without more government
help.
The U.S. government's PPP provides
loans to small businesses that can be
forgiven as long as the businesses
Global shares
near record
levels as
vaccines
inject hope
LONDON: Global shares
approached record highs
on Friday while the dollar
and oil topped recent
milestones, as progress in
vaccine distribution and
US stimulus hopes
prompted bets on further
normalization in the global
economy.
An index of the world's
major 50 markets, MSCI
ACWI, rose 0.21 percent to
668.1, coming within reach
of a record high of 670.82
touched about two weeks
ago. It was the fifth
consecutive day of gains.
The STOXX index of
Europe's 600 largest stocks
was up 0.3 percent at
410.8, though slower
vaccination rollouts in
continental Europe and
disappointing industrial
data from Germany
tempered optimism.
On the corporate front,
Chinese short-video app
company Kuaishou - a
major rival to TikTok -
nearly tripled on its market
debut following a $5.4-
billion initial public
offering that was the
biggest for an Internet firm
since Uber's May 2019
listing.
US President Joe Biden's
drive to enact a $1.9 trillion
coronavirus aid bill gained
momentum on Friday as
the US Senate narrowly
approved a budget
blueprint allowing
Democrats to push the
legislation through
Congress in coming weeks,
with or without Republican
support.
"Following from a
positive US trading session
on Thursday supported by
decent earnings numbers,
it looks as though
Democrats will go on their
own on stimulus and not
try to compromise with
Republicans, so you might
get something closer to the
$1.9 trillion rather than a
compromise," said Philip
Shaw, chief economist at
Investec in London.
retain their employees or hire them
back. The survey, released on
Wednesday, also showed outcomes
varied widely by race and ethnicity.
Around 54 percent of white-owned
firms considered their financial
condition as "fair" or "poor," compared
with 79 percent of Asian-owned
companies, 77 percent of Black-owned
and 66 percent of Hispanic-owned
firms.
STL inaugurates power
transformer plant
Country's renowned power
supply equipment
manufacturer Sylvan
Technologies Limited
(STL)hasstarted
manufacturing power
transformer in its factory.
Md. Sirazul Islam,
Executive Chairman at
Bangladesh Investment
Development Authority
(BIDA) inaugurated the
power transformer
plantrecently located at
Habiganj Industrial Park at
Olipur under Sayestaganj
Upazila in Habiganj.
Ahsan Khan Chowdhury,
Chairman and CEO at
PRAN-RFL Group and
EleashMridha, Managing
Director of PRAN Group
apprised the BIDA chairman
to various aspects of
production process. BIDA
chairman expressed
satisfaction to see the overall
activities of the factory.
Sylvan Technologies
Limitedis the sister concern
of PRAN-RFL Group. The
company is manufacturing
single phase and three phase
distribution transformer
beside power transformer
and supplying to the various
government and nongovernment
organizations
under the brand STL.
Md. Sirazul Islam,
Executive Chairman at BIDA
said, "I am very happy to see
that various kinds of
transformers are now being
manufactured in Bangladesh
following standard
technology. This is a good
example that Bangladesh
isnotnow import dependent.
This kind of activities will
play important role to ensure
100 percent electrification."
Engr. Mostafizur Rahman
Khan, Chief Operating
Officer at Sylvan
Technologies Ltd saidthat
various power distribution
panel
including
transformers for making
electric sub-station are being
manufactured in the factory.
STL is manufacturing
transformer using standard
raw materials, modern
Saudi Arabia sees surge
in credit for SMEs in
2020: SAMA
Saudi Arabia saw a surge
in financing awarded to
small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) in
2020 by the Kingdom's
banks and financial
companies despite the
constraints of the
economic impact of the
coronavirus, according to
recent official data.
Figures released by the
Saudi Central Bank
(SAMA) in late January
showed that in the third
quarter of 2020 the total
amount of credit awarded
to SMEs was SR 176.2
billion ($46.99 billion), up
from SR115 billion in Q3
2019 and SR 106.7 billion
in Q3 2018.
While the total figure
rose 8.3 percent in 2019, it
surged 52.4 percent in
2020.
Amount the four
categories of companies
monitored by SAMA, the
biggest increase was for
micro companies - classed
as those with less then five
employees - which saw an
89 percent rise in the total
credit awarded to them.
The figure for small and
medium companies rose
by 58.9 and 48.4 percent,
respectively.
Small companies are
classed as those with six to
49 employees and
medium-sized are those
machine, skilled manpower
and modern testing
technology. Around 100
employee get job
opportunity for the new
plant.
He also added that Sylvan
Technologies
is
manufacturing the products
following the standard of
International
Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC).
Thrust on using Brazilian Cotton in Bangladesh
A Virtual Meeting was
organized by Bangladesh
Cotton Association,
ABRAPA (Brazilian
Cotton Growers
Association), ANEA
(Brazilian Cotton
Shippers Association),
Apex Brazil (Brazilian
Trade and Investment
Agency) and Embassy of
Brazil held in Dhaka on
Thursday Last.
The Virtual meeting was
attended by Shahriar
Alam MP, Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs of
Bangladesh, Minister of
Agriculture of the
Republic of Brazil,
officials of Bangladesh
Embassy Brazil, Cotton
associations including the
Embassy of Brazil in
Dhaka, a press released
said.
with 50 to 249 staff
members.
The SAMA data also
showed that credit from
banks accounted for 93.6
percent of credit for SMEs,
with the remainder coming
from other financial
companies.
The SAMA report said
that SMEs also account for
8 percent of banks' lending
in Q3 2020, up from 5,8
percent in Q3 2018.
Commenting on the
results, Wassim Basrawi,
managing director for
Wa'ed,
the
entrepreneurship arm of
Saudi Aramco, told Arab
News: "These new
statistics confirm the
growing confidence we also
share at Wa'ed in the
dynamic resilience that is
being demonstrated by
Saudi start-ups during the
COVID pandemic.
Earlier this year, Wa'ed
reported that it had tripled
the amount of money
loaned to startups in the
Kingdom last year. The
Dhahran-based initiative
gave out 12 loans to small
and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs), up
from four in 2019, with the
value surging to SR31
million, up from SR10
million in 2019. In venture
capital funding, Wa'ed
deployed SR43 million to
In this online meeting,
various opportunities,
possibilities and obstacles
were discussed regarding
the use of Brazilian cotton
in the textile industries, in
SMEs, up 34 percent yearon-year.
"In 2020, we also
experienced rising demand
for our loan, venture
capital and incubation
services at Wa'ed . . . The
demand was there . . . We
are doing this because we
have full confidence and
trust in our entrepreneurs
and are deeply committed
to supporting new ideas,
solutions and products that
fill critical gaps in the
Kingdom's economy and
promote economic
diversification."
Basrawi also confirmed
that Wa'ed is planning to
double its deal volume over
the next three years to meet
this increasing demand for
financing by SMEs. Since
Wa'ed was established in
2011, it has deployed more
than SR375 million
startups in the Kingdom.
Last month, a new
industry report also
revealed that Saudi Arabia
recorded a 35 percent yearon-year
increase in the
number of investment
deals in the technology
startup sector in 2020. A
study by data research
platform Magnitt found
that the Kingdom
accounted for 18 percent of
the 496 investment deals
across the Middle East and
North Africa last year.
Bangladesh.
Also present at the
discussion was the
Ambassador of Brazil to
Bangladesh, Mamun
Abdullah of the Embassy
Two-day
SAFA Intl
Conference
ends
DHAKA : The two-day
SAFA International
Conference 2021 of Institute
of Cost and Management
Accountants of Bangladesh
(ICMAB) ended on
Saturday.
The conference was held
with the theme
"Digitalization of
Accounting and Auditing
Practices: Challenges and
Opportunities to Protect
Public Interest" at the Pan
Pacific Sonargaon Hotel and
ICMAB Ruhul Quddus
Auditorium in the capital.
Planning Minister MA
Mannan inaugurated the
Conference as the chief guest
yesterday (Friday) while
Mohammad Muslim
Chowdhury, comptroller
and auditor general of
Bangladesh and Dr. Md.
Jafar Uddin, secretary,
Ministry of Commerce,
spoke as special guests, said
a press release. Prof. Dr. Md.
Hamid Ullah Bhuiyan,
chairman, Financial
Reporting Council (FRC)
presented the keynote
paper. SAFA President AKM
Delwer Hussain and SAFA
Vice-President HM
Hennayake Bandara, Md.
Jasim Uddin Akond,
president of ICMAB,
Mahmudul Hasan Khusru,
president of ICAB, Md.
Abdul Aziz, chairman, SAFA
International Conference-
2021 and Md. Mamunur
Rashid, chairman, SAFA
and International Relations
Committee of ICMAB spoke
on the occasion.
of Bangladesh in Brazil.
Mohammad Ayub,
Former President of
Bangladesh Cotton
Association represented
Bangladesh side.