Digitalised Bangladesh is now a days is common dream of Bangladeshi. No political question!

If we simplify what is digital Bangladesh ? I answer : A well managed Bangladesh.
To manage well ,we always need to clear about our resources .From my best knowledge i demand a High Powerful Bangladesh Resources Research Centre (BRRC)
To explore the opportunity of the ultimate resources of Bangladesh which grow the potential Bangladesh as a Sucessful contry Bangladesh must should develop a high oppotunity powered Research centre for exploring the resources of Bangladesh , natural resources or human resources or opportunity resources . The Research centre can be co up with the Ministry of planning .

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Bangladesh is one of the few countries in South Asia, offering plentiful green land with a rich and glorious history. Bangladesh possesses a prosperous culture and heritage. It is a land of delightful natural beauty with a chain of great rivers and clear lakes surrounded by green hills, exotic tropical rain forests and beautiful green tea gardens. Come and explore the world’s largest mangrove forest in Bangladesh, preserved as World Heritage and is also a home of the Royal Bengal tiger and wild life. Also visit world’s longest natural sea beach and the remains of ancient Buddhist civilization along with vibrant tribal life. So experience a perfect combination of adventure and beauty on your tour to Bangladesh.

The SAARC Leaders have always recognized the importance of tourism and emphasized the need to take measures for promoting tourism in the region. During the Second Summit, the Leaders underscored that concrete stepsshould be taken to facilitate tourism in the region. Tourism has been an important dimension of most of the subsequent Summits. At the Twelfth Summit held in Islamabad in January 2004, the Leaders were of the view that development of tourism within South Asia could bring economic,

social and cultural dividends. There is a need for increasing cooperation to jointly promote tourism with South Asia as well as to promote South Asiaas a tourism destination, inter alia, by improved air links, they stated in the Declaration. To achieve this and to commemorate the twentieth year of the establishment of SAARC, the year 2005 was designated by the Leaders as ?South Asia Tourism Year.? Member States were required to individually and jointly organize special events to celebrate it.

On the formal action front
The Working Group on Tourism was established by the Council of Ministers during its Twenty-fourth Session held in Islamabad in January 2004. This was done after a comprehensive review of the SAARC Integrated Programme of Action by the Standing Committee at its Fourth Special Session held in Kathmandu in August 2003. This intergovernmental process will compliment the endeavors by SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Tourism Council, thus ensuring public?private partnership for the promotion of tourism.

The First Meeting of the Working Group on Tourism was held in Colombo on 16?17 August 2004. In addition to the SAARC Member States and representatives of the SAARC Secretariat, representatives of the SCCI Tourism Council and the ASEAN Secretariat also attended the Meeting. Besides reviewing the implementation of programme of activities relevant to its mandate, the Working Group made a number of recommendations for promotion of tourism in the SAARC region, for example, printing of a SAARC Travel Guide, production of a documentary movie on tourism in SAARC, promotion of sustainable development of Eco-Tourism, Cultural Tourism and Nature Tourism, collaboration in HRD in tourism sector by having programmes for exchange of teachers, students, teaching modules and materials, Promoting Cooperation in the fi eld of tourism with other relevant regional and international tourism organizations. It also proposed a number of activities to celebrate the South Asia Tourism Year?2005 in a befitting manner. When comparing the progress made on the ground and by otherregional tourism initiatives that began much later than SAARC?such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Pacifi c Tourism Commission, European Union (EU) Tourism, and the Mekong Tourism Initiative?progress must be classified, at best, as wanting.

With the backdrop of the frustration of SAARC?s underperformance, in 1997, a separate initiative was undertaken by several governments of the South Asian region, titled the South Asian Growth Quadrangle, consisting of Bangladesh; Bhutan; the north, east, and north-east states of India; and Nepal. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) supported the initiative under the South Asian Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) programme, which includes a tourism component. This is an ongoing program me within the South Asian development framework of the ADB.

In addition, also in 1997, another initiative was created to link some of SAARC?s countries with Myanmar and Thailand, as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), to take advantage of the historical link and turning them into economic opportunities. Named BIMSTEC to represent Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation, it set up a Tourism Working Group and has conducted several rounds of meetings, but to date, it has not achieved much progress. Since 2005, the ADB has supported this initiative as well.

South Asia can indeed be described as a dichotomy. Although it has not lived up to expectations as a regional grouping, at the individual country level, tourism development in SAARC presents several unique models, containing some successful best practices.

Bhutan has presented a model of tourism development, in which its operations are based on the model of a kinked demand curve (Sen 2004)to create a premium value for the destination. Bhutan limits access to a few tens of thousands of tourists each year at a premium charge, placing the per capita yield from one tourist at a high level. Bhutan has a business model aimed at conserving its heritage, culture, and natural resources. This model is in keeping with its unique development indicator of ?Gross National Happiness,? in contrast to the conventional development measurement of gross national product.

Maldives, known today as one of the most successful island destinations in the world, works on a business model of establishing strong partnerships with foreign investors and tour operators. Beginning with investments from Sri Lankan conglomerates in the early 1980s (still accounting for about 20 percent of all hotel rooms), Maldives Tourism, offering the ?sunny side of life? as its positioning platform is driven by some of the best international and regional brand names in the island tourism business.

Nepal is an example of a pioneering brand of unique community based tourism initiative. With its early model of the Annapurna Tourism Development Project8 and the Bhakthipur Conservation Project9 of the 1980s, Nepal introduced a good tourism operational model, offering its unique nature and heritage conservation, community benefit, and sustainable funding features.

Sri Lanka is addressing the challenge of global warming and climate change faced by all nations of the world. It has extended its conventional position as a tourist destination of a treasured island with a warm people offering nature, culture, and adventure to include an extensive green cover. Through its Tourism Earth Lung initiative it is working toward being a carbon-neutral destination by 2018.

Extract from the World Bank Report on Promoting Economic Cooperation in South Asia.

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The $1.27 billion deal awarded in 2008 for eight aircraft was later enhanced to $1.3 billion with the addition of two more aircraft.

To fund the purchase of these two aircraft next year 10 local banks have agreed to give a syndicated loan of $114.49 million to Biman, central Bangladesh Bank officials said.
Eastern Bank Ltd has arranged a syndicated USD Term Loan facility of USD 114.49 million for Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd. to finance Pre Deliver Payment (PDP) for purchase two brand new Boeing 777-300 ER aircrafts. The entire amount will be lent to Biman in the form of foreign currency.

For the first time in the history of Bangladesh such kind of foreign currency loan has been arranged by the local commercial banks. Ten private commercial banks through their off-shore Banking Units, participated in the Syndicated Loan of which EBL is the Lead Bank.

The other participating banks are: AB Bank Ltd., BRAC Bank Ltd., Dhaka Bank Ltd., IFIC Bank Ltd., Mutual Trust Bank Ltd., National Bank Ltd., Prime Bank Ltd. The City Bank Ltd., and The Premier Bank Ltd.

The loan agreement was handed over to Biman in a ceremony held on Thursday at a city hotel.

Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, GM Quader, MP attended the ceremony as the Chief Guest while Dr. Atiur Rahman, Governor of Bangladesh Bank, was present as the Guest of Honour, H.E. James F. Moriarty, US Ambassador in Bangladesh, Air Marshal Jamal Uddin Ahmed, ndc, bems, psc (retd), Chairman, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd. and Mohd. Noor Ali, Chairman, Eastern Bank Limited were also present in the event as the Special Guests.

Biman Managing Director and CEO Air Commodore Muhammad Zakiul Islam, ndu, acsc (retd), EBL Managing Director and CEO Ali Reza Iftekhar, The Boeing Company Senior Director Anil K. Patel, Director International Sales J Miguel Santos, Managing Directors, Chief Executive Officers and other high officials from all the participating banks of the Syndicated Loan also attended the ceremony.

The loan at 5.0 percent interest rate is to be returned in by 2013.

Biman officials hope that the entire $1.3 billion deal will be funded by local and foreign assistance as scheduled.

Biman now has a fleet of 14 aircraft with a Boeing 777-200ER and two Boeing 737-800 on lease from EuroAtlantic Airways and GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) respectively in February.

With the leased aircraft Biman has resumed flights to some routes earlier cancelled. In 2006, the loss-making company was forced to halt flights to New York, Paris, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Brussels, Yangon and Mumbai due to a shortage of funds and aircraft.

Biman became a public limited company in July 2008 and new management was brought in last year. ($1 = 69.30 taka

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A spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines told that he expected the company to lose up to $25m because of flight cancellations to Europe.

The volcano will disrupt flight schedules for days to come
“Already 65 flights have been cancelled,” he said, “which has cost us something in the region of $10m. This cost will continue to escalate – even if normal services are resumed soon – because of the interruption to our schedules.”

The airline estimates that 16,000 passengers are stranded in Pakistan and Europe.

Tourism in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives has also been badly damaged. For Nepal and Bhutan the crisis is even more serious because this time of the year is peak season.

We are worried that buyers may reject these shipments because they are so late

Abdus Salam Murshedy,
Bangladesh garment exporters
Officials say that at this time of the year Nepal can expect in excess of 40,000 tourists for the climbing season, about half of those from the US and Europe.

Many will not have arrived at pre-booked hotel rooms, meaning that hotels and guest houses in Kathmandu and Pokhara – which make their core income at this time of the year – will be without guests at a time of good weather and relative political stability.

At this time of the year tourism in the cooler north of India is also hugely popular.

According to figures from the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), 41,435 passengers have been affected by the flights crisis and it will take several days to clear the backlog.

All flights from India to London and Paris were cancelled on Monday, but Air India and Jet Airways resumed services to the US and Canada through Cairo and Athens respectively.

Many passengers whose visas have expired have been unable to leave the airport premises while several airlines are reported to have stopped paying for food and accommodation – arguing that they are not obliged to do so in the event of a natural calamity.

Meanwhile, exporters in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have borne the brunt of exporting losses.

Huge consignments of garments in Dhaka and Colombo are waiting to be loaded onto aircraft. In Bangladesh an estimated 350,000kg of garments is stockpiled at the airport.

“We are worried that buyers may reject these shipments because they are so late,” Bangladesh Garments and Manufacturers and Exporters Association President Abdus Salam Murshedy said.

Perishable exports from those countries in the region exporting products such as tea, spices and fish have also been badly hit.

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?We have done a pre-feasibility study of the airport. It will be equal to the size of (Bangkok?s) Suvarnabhumi airport, with two runways,? said Majlish, who put the cost at 500 billion taka (seven billion US dollars).

Opened in September 2006, Suvarnabhumi airport has a capacity of 45 million passengers a year, 76 flights an hour and three million tons of cargo annually. The Bangladesh cabinet gave the go-ahead to the new airport as the existing Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport formerly known as Zia International Airport cannot be expanded due to lack of land, Majlish said.

The civil aviation chief said the new airport would be essential in five to six years? time, with the country?s air traffic growing rapidly. The government plans to hire foreign consultants for the project later this year and construction will begin in 2011, he added.

Detail states :
The government has drawn up a plan to construct the first phase of the proposed Tk 50,000 crore Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib International Airport in next five years under build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis.

As part of the plan Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) conducted a feasibility study over the last three months where they identified three possible sites for the airport.

Of the three, two are in Mymensingh and one is in Tangail.

An inter-ministerial meeting the day before yesterday at the civil aviation and tourism ministry preferred the site at Trishal in Mymensingh.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Shafique Alam Mehdi said the site at Trishal, 97 kilometres off the capital, would be given the top priority as it has about 1200 acres of government land in place.

CAAB handed over its feasibility study report to the ministry. The ministry will soon send a summary of it to the prime minister for her consent.

?Soon after the prime minister’s consent we will appoint consultants and conduct the technical feasibility study within this year,? Shafique added.

According to the primary plan the airport will be established on about 6000 acres of land with three 9000 feet runways and all other modern facilities like Dubai or Singapore Airports.

An elevated expressway has also been planned under the project to link the airport with Dhaka.

Renowned airport builders will provide the fund for the project.

In the first phase a dual terminal and a runway will be constructed. It will also include a parking bay to accommodate 75 aircraft, support facilities and structures including a large maintenance hangar, a fire station and workshop.

Two more passenger terminals and runways are expected to be completed by 2020, Shafique said.

Ministry sources said reputable airport building agencies like Italian-Thai Development Corporation, Murray and Roberts of South Africa, Penta Ocean Construction and Obayashi Corporation have informally communicated with the ministry.

The civil aviation secretary said the airport would be the connecting link between the emerging and developed economies in the East and West.

?Bangladesh needs a gateway to East Asian and Middle Eastern and Western countries as air cargo transportation is growing day by day,? he said.

Shahjalal International Airport doesn’t have adequate space and facilities to fulfil the demand,? Shafique said.

The airport has been planned in a way so that it can meet the demand of next hundred years, the official added.

A high official of the ministry said Shahajalal Airport was built when country’s external trade was not more than $1 billion, which has now crossed $35 billion a year.

According to the CAAB statistics 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of freight have been transported through Shahjalal Airport in 2009 with a 20 percent growth annually

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She told Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) personnel Wednesday that the government had drawn up plans and set the process, including budget allocation, in motion.

‘Budget allocation for the Bangladesh Air Force under the present fiscal year is the biggest amount in the history of the force,’ she said.

She witnessed the BAF’s annual exercise WINTEX-2010 at the main fighter base at Kurmitola in Dhaka Cantonment, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) reported.

‘The present government will take all possible measures to build up the country’s air force as an up-to-date force by arming it with modern technology-based war weapons,’ New Age newspaper quoted her as saying.

Sheikh Hasina said her government was firmly committed to building a modern, knowledge-based air force that excelled in training and technology in order to ensure security of the country and its people.

A development plan had been approved for constructing infrastructure at Cox’s Bazar, located in the southeastern region bordering Myanmar, for smooth operation of fighter jets and transport aircraft to ensure security of economic activities in the maritime territories and relief operation in remote areas, Hasina said.

Defence purchases in Bangladesh have been mired in political controversy.

A court Monday acquitted Hasina of corruption charges in the purchase of eight MiG-29s that were bought during her earlier tenure as the prime minister.

She told the airforce personnel that the government of her political rival, Begum Khaleda Zia (2001-06) had kept the aircraft unused for long ‘just to get her in trouble’, the newspaper said.

A frigate purchased from South Korea for the Bangladesh Navy was also kept in mothballs for five years. It was re-commissioned in 2007.

The security analyst

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?You have to curb all sorts of corruption and irregularities with an iron hand,? she said in her clear direction for the authorities concerned, as the national flag carrier is now poised for a fresh takeoff with a new look.

The prime minister issued the directive while inaugurating a new logo and livery of the recently-converted aviation company, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited, at the VVIP Terminal of Zia International Airport.
She also asked the Biman officials to re-start the Dhaka-New York flight as soon as possible after consulting the US counterpart.
The PM put emphasis on the resumption of all suspended Biman routes to the destinations wherein a good number of Bangladeshi expatriates live.
She lauded the move of Biman authorities for switching over to e-ticketing as this would help stop the cumulative irregularities involving ticket booking.
A new journey of the Biman started on Wednesday with new logo and livery and inclusion of new-generation Boeing 777-200ER and Boeing 737-800NG airplanes in its fleet.

The PM also cut the logo embedded cake and got on board the new-generation aircraft.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister GM Quader also spoke on the occasion.

Hasina received models of 777 and 737 aircraft from Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited board of directors chairman Jamal Uddin Ahmed and managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Zakiul Islam.

The renaissance event also showcased seven new uniforms (saris) designed to be worn by the Biman employees engaged on-board service and customer touch point on the ground.

The prime minister in her inaugural speech recalled that Biman was born shortly after the independence of the country. On January 4, 1972, Biman embarked upon its journey as the national airline of Bangladesh, a country fresh from gruesome experiences of independence war, with the maiden flight on the Dhaka-Chittagong route.

Biman spread its wings outside on international route flying from Dhaka to London on March 5, 1972.

?This organisation has the rare chance of carrying the flag of the country around the world,? she said
New generation Boeing 777-200ER and Boeing 737-800NG in the fleet of Biman Bangladesh Biman Airlines Ltd will fly soon, Muhammad Zakiul Islam, Managing Director & CEO of Biman, told bdnews24.com.

Earlier in the week, he had told bdnews24.com that the airline was hoping to resume flights to Delhi, Bangkok and Mumbai by the start of March.

“Besides, we have plans to initiate flights to Tripoli, Colombo and Guangzhou,” he said on Wednesday

“The Dhaka-New York flights will also hopefully resume within March,’ said Islam. Biman had suspended these flights in July 2006.

Islam also said the long-haul routes like Dhaka-London would be operated by two Boeing 777-200 ERs, of which another is expected by March.

The regional routes will be operated by the Boeing 737-800s.

An Airbus A310 was also expected to be added to Biman’s fleet by March, he said.

Islam said all four aircraft were being leased on a temporary basis till Biman procures new planes.

Currently Biman connects to 16 international and 3 domestic destinations with its fleet of four DC-10s, two Airbus-320s, two F-28s and two rented Boeing 747s.

In 2008, Biman signed a deal with Boeing for four 777s, four 787s and two 737s at a cost of $2.5 billion.

UK-BANGLADESH FLIGHTS SET TO SOAR

Meanwhile, travellers flying between the UK and Bangladesh are set to enjoy more frequent flights and a greater choice of destinations following an agreement signed between the two countries recently.

According to the agreement, the number of flights between the two countries will more than treble from 10 to 31 a week on each side.

The new arrangements also allow airlines from either country to operate services between anywhere in Bangladesh and the United Kingdom, replacing the existing regime which only allowed flights between Heathrow, Manchester and Dhaka.

The move paves the way for direct flights to the UK from Sylhet, the north-eastern Bangladesh district where the majority of the UK’s large Bangladeshi community originate.

The new arrangements also mean Biman Bangladesh Airline will be free to start its new service from Dhaka to New York via Manchester, which is expected to be launched next month.

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