Source : www.reuters.com  A Bangladeshi entrepreneur wants to add bite to the country’s meager exports with skin and meat from crocodiles, products he says are largely recession-proof as they’re targeted at the rich.

Mushtaq Ahmed’s Reptiles Farm Ltd is the first to commercially farm saltwater crocodiles in largely impoverished Bangladesh, with the aim of supplying the luxury goods market.

It took Ahmed several years to get the necessary financing and bureaucratic approvals to set up the farm, which started operating in late 2005 with imported crocodiles and fulfils all international wildlife protection treaties.

“People first thought it was a crazy idea. But I always knew it was going be a successful project,” Ahmed told Reuters.

“Four years on, it is now home to over 400 crocodiles, which is more than the combined total of wild saltwater crocodiles in Bangladesh,” he said at the farm in the village of Bhaluka, 110 km (65 miles) north of the capital Dhaka.

Later this year, the farm will start exporting baby crocodiles and skin from the larger ones, with several European buyers already showing interest, Ahmed said.

The skin is used to make luxury leather products such as belts and handbags, and Ahmed aims to export over 5,000 crocodile parts annually, eyeing an income of about $5 million by 2015.

Crocodile teeth are used to make necklaces or decorative pieces, while bones are used in perfume production. Crocodile meat is also widely consumed in several parts of the world.

With all these commercial prospects Ahmed is confident his business will succeed, even in difficult times.

“This industry is not going to a affected by the global recession because those who use crocodile skin are targeting the really rich,” he said.

Commercial crocodile farming exists in several countries, notably Australia, Thailand and Malaysia, but Ahmed says Bangladesh has a competitive advantage because of special import tariff agreements with the European Union.

Power is the key factor for any development because its the key element of activating production.
The port city and its suburbs continue to suffer from acute power shortage despite the move to increase power generation in two units of Raozan power plant by diverting gas there from the Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL).

The government indefinitely suspended the operation of the CUFL on April 26 to save 54 million cubic feet (MCF) gas to be diverted to the two units for smooth power generation. Each unit has the capacity of generating 210 megawatt (MW) power.

The Power Development Board (PDB) officials hoped that the move would help bring down the daily power shortfall to 150MW from 250MW in Chittagong city.

But power shortage in the port city and its adjoining areas now stands at 220 to 230 MW. Despite getting additional gas to generate more power since April, PDB has failed to reduce power outage in the city substantially.

Chief Engineer of PDB Chittagong (Southern Zone), Sujit Chakma admitted that despite getting additional gas at the two Raozan units, they were not able to generate power to capacity.

The PDB now gets around 405MW in off-peak time (day) and 410MW in peak time (night) against the daily demand of 500MW (day) and 630 to 640MW (night).

The PDB requires around 100MCF gas to run its five gas-fired units except the Kaptai plant but it now gets 80 MCF.

Meanwhile, CUFL officials expressed concern over the suspension of production at the factory with a capacity of producing 1,400 tonnes of fertiliser a day.

“Initially we were told that the factory would remain closed for two months. But now we hear that it will be out of operation till September. The factory incurs a loss of Tk 1.4 crore daily,” said a top CUFL official seeking anonymity

Related :
Nuclear fusion power plant.

DEMO (DEMOnstration Power Plant) is a generic name for proposed nuclear fusion power plants that intend to build upon the expected success of ITER. Whereas ITER’s main goal is to produce 500 million watts of fusion power for at least 500 seconds, the goal of DEMO will be to produce at least four times that much fusion power on a continual basis. This level of power production (2 gigawatts) is on the scale of a modern electric power plant.

While the final design of DEMO will depend to a large extent on the results obtained from the exploitation of ITER and other fusion experiments including IFMIF, it is envisaged that a programme of research and development activities in preparation for DEMO will be coordinated by ‘Fusion for Energy’ to perform studies, validate technologies, develop prototypes, etc.

Source
POLITICAL instability, natural disasters, and corrupt politicians: Bangladesh’s economy has withstood a lot in recent years. But the global economic crisis will test its resilience as much as any of its traditional afflictions. Both its main sources of foreign exchange, workers’ remittances and garment exports, are at risk.

By January 2007, when the army stepped in to install a two-year interim government of unelected technocrats, Bangladesh had topped international corruption rankings for five consecutive years. Yet the economy had grown at more than 6% a year since 2004, and poverty had fallen faster than ever. Donors called it the “Bangladesh paradox”. Of course, no one ever believed in such a paradox. It was a polite way of telling politicians that the country could do even better if they kept their hands out of the till. Think of the progress it could make if they tackled power shortages, invested in education and infrastructure, and improved farm yields!

One of the world’s poorest countries, only twice the size of Ireland, Bangladesh already finds it hard to feed its people. According to the World Bank, nearly 56m out of a population of 147m are still poor. There will be 100m more mouths to feed by the middle of the century. Bangladesh is trading its only abundant resource, labour. Clothing exports, which account for 75% of total exports, more than doubled in the past five years to nearly $11 billion a year.

Over the same period, annual remittances by 5.5m Bangladeshis nearly tripled to $7.9 billion, or 10% of GDP, among the highest share in the world. So the economy is heavily dependent on spending in the high streets of Europe and America and on the demand for labour in the Gulf. Both are dropping off alarmingly (see chart). A closed capital account has protected the financial system. But Bangladesh’s banks are far from robust. In February Fitch, a rating agency, called them among the weakest in emerging Asia.

Domestic policymakers, who long denied the crisis would have a big impact in Bangladesh, now acknowledge that its pricing advantage over rival garment producers counts for little as demand in the West plummets. Yet no one knows how bad things will get. The IMF has said it is ready to assist, but the government has responded that it does not need help. The central bank insists that GDP will grow by around 6% this financial year (ending in June), compared with a 4.8% forecast from the World Bank last November.

Social unrest in Dhaka and Chittagong, the two big cities that account for about 60% of GDP, is already a real concern. This week, the government announced that it would sell rice at highly subsidised prices to millions of garment workers. But a fall in exports alone is unlikely to trigger a balance-of-payments crisis, since it will be accompanied by a big fall in imported inputs. Foreign-exchange reserves, hovering between $5 billion-$6 billion, are enough to cover two to three months of imports. And a sharp fall in food and oil prices has already considerably reduced the import bill. But remittances remain a worry. Last year 875,000 Bangladeshis took on jobs abroad. Saudi Arabia, the biggest employer, has hired only a few thousand workers since the start of the year. Airlines have already cut the number of flights ferrying workers to and from the Gulf.

Until the global financial crisis hit, Bangladesh was on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015. Progress on overall poverty reduction will depend on a number factors, including the birth rate. But “cash injections”, either through microcredit loans or workers’ remittances, have hitherto played a huge role. Alas, it might not be long before this changes.

Bangladesh is now trying to establish itself as the next rising star in South Asia for foreign investment. The government has implemented a number of policy reforms designed to create a more open and competitive climate for private investment, both foreign and local.

The country has a genuinely democratic system of government and enjoys political stability seen as a sine qua non for ensuring a favorable climate for investment and sustained development.

Bangladesh has been quick to undertake major restructuring for establishing a market economy, with the major thrust coming from the private sector. The country enjoys modest but steady economic growth. Its current development strategy is based on the premise that the creation and distribution of wealth occurs through the acceleration of growth driven by competitive market forces, with the government facilitating growth and making a clean break from the practices of a controlled economy where private investment is constrained. The government has been gradually withdrawing its involvement in this industrial and infrastructure sectors and promoting private sector participation.

The government has moved speedily to translate its policy pronouncements into specific reforms. It has been consistently pursuing an open-door investment policy and playing a catalytic rather than a regulatory role.

Regulatory controls and constrains have been reduced to a minimum. The government has steadily liberalized its trade regime. Significant progress has been achieved in reducing non-tariff restrictions on trade, rationalizing tariff rates and improving export incentives. The introduction of VAT has helped rationalization of the import tariff and domestic tax structures. The tariff structure and the import policy are kept under constant review to identify areas where further improvements are called for.

Motivated by the simple realization that state-owned enterprises are a drain on its scarce resources and that these are generally inefficient, very costly and slow in responding to changing markets and consumer desires, the country has embarked on a privatization program, offering substantial opportunities for international investors.

Foreign investment is particularly welcome in the export-oriented industries such as textiles, leather goods, electronic products and components, chemicals and petrochemicals, agro-based industries, green jute pulp, paper, rayon products, frozen foods (dominated by shrimp farming), tourism, agriculture, light industries, software and data processing.

Foreign investment is also desired in high technology products that will help import substitution or industries that will be labor as well as technology intensive.

Some of the foreign private investment opportunities are:

The country’s drive for foreign investment is being spearheaded by the Board of Investment, which was created to facilitate the setting up of manufacturing and other industries in the private sector, both local and foreign. It is a promotional organization dedicated towards providing investment assistance to all investors.

The Board is headed by the country’s Prime Minister and it includes Ministers and Secretaries from the concerned ministries as well as representatives from the private sector.
The Board has launched an investment promotion drive at home and abroad to attract investors. The BOI has been assisting in the implementation of new projects as well as providing services.

In order to stimulate rapid economic growth of the country, particularly through industrialization, the government has adopted an ‘Open Door Policy’ to attract foreign investment to Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) is the official organ of the government to promote, attract and facilitate foreign investment in the Export Processing Zones.

Bangladesh is on the verge of a significant breakthrough in terms both of international investor confidence and significant inflow of new investment funds.

Board of Investment (BOI)

Focal Points of BOI

Foreign Investment Statistics

Investor Registration with BOI

Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA)

Incentives and Facilities of EPZ

Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms

Privatization Commission

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI)

Karnaphuli EPZ

Investment Consultantncy :  explore@explorexdark.com

Determining the economy growth govt innitiating to develop SME .

The government considers a further cut in bank interest rates, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to help the sector grow faster, said the commerce minister yesterday.

“We have already brought down the interest rate to support the country’s entrepreneurs. We are considering reducing the rate further to help different sectors, especially the SMEs, grow faster,” said Faruk Khan.

“The government is also considering a special package for the SME sector in the next budget for fiscal 2009-10,” he added.

He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the fourth SME fair organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka.

The government fixed the ceiling of the bank interest rate at up to 13 percent in April.

“We are hopeful of reducing the rate soon. We are discussing the rate cut at several levels in the government to help new entrepreneurs source capital at a lower interest rate and start a new venture,” the minister added.

He said the government is working to ensure capital sourcing at lower interest rate for SME sector and help improve its infrastructure further.

“We have to develop our local industries and boost domestic economy to fight the affects of the global financial meltdown. So, developing sectors including SME are very important to us,” he added.

“The government is prioritising the SME sector in the industrial policy that we are framing now. Simultaneously, we will take necessary measures to ensure market for locally produced goods,” said Khan.

He said the SME sector plays an important role in export and employment generation, as the country’s 98 percent enterprises fall in SME category, and so the government is giving an extra attention to the sector.

FBCCI President Annisul Huq urged the government to implement the federation proposals through the upcoming budget.

“We want to see the implementation of our proposals in the budget. Increasing number of loan defaulters indicates that the impact of global financial meltdown has already started hitting Bangladesh. So, the budget should have a specific solution to this,” he said.

Huq said the government should pay special attention to the SME sector, as it is the key component of vibrant economy of the country.

The FBCCI chief said the government should give necessary support for the growth of internal economy and the budget should have a reflection of “our proposals.”

“We’re going through a tough time because of global recession,” he said, urging the government to cut duty on import of raw materials for the SME sector.

“The sector has a great potential and the government needs to nourish it further,” he said.

“Although the local entrepreneurs have the ability to produce international standard products, they fail to introduce their products to domestic and global markets due to absence of proper campaign,” said the FBCCI chief.

“A lack of funding, high interest rate, erratic power supply and unavailability of raw materials hold back the growth of the sector,” he added.

He also identified reluctance of the private banks to give loans to SMEs as a major barrier to flourishing the sector.

A total of 86 local companies are displaying their products at 108 stalls at the four-day show that will remain open to visitors from 10am to 8pm with a Tk 10 entry fee.

The products on display include textile, frozen foods, leather and leather goods, plastic products, surgical equipment, medical machinery, sanitary products, agro-based machinery, bicycle, ceramic and melamine products, software, cosmetics, furniture and jewellery.

Khalil Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al-Khonji, chairman of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Abul Kashem Ahmed, first vice president of FBCCI, were also present at the ceremony.

 It’s about  microfinance.

The world of finance may seem an unlikely place to find good news these days, but there’s one area of banking that’s a certified bright spot: microfinance.

“But banks are now seeing how saturated the historically profitable segments are, and how many banks are competing for the same pool of these customers,” Semenchuk said. That’s why his section of Citigroup is focusing on reaching out to a new—and very large—group of potential customers. One outreach initiative was the bank’s sponsorship of the Changemakers Banking on Social Change competition.

“Not only is this a business issue for us, it’s really a broader social and economic opportunity that the financial services industry must address,” said Semenchuck.

The world’s poorest people, it turns out, can be a safer investment in these troubled financial times. Microfinance lending has avoided the temptation to loosen credit regulations that helped create the current financial crisis, and microcredit repayment rates remain very high.

Yunus’s Grameen Bank in Bangladesh has seen the fruits of opening banking to the bottom of the pyramid. Grameen’s borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women and mostly illiterate, have helped make the bank profitable by maintaining an incredible 98 percent loan repayment rate—a feat most traditional banks would envy. The bank currently boasts more than 2,500 branches in nearly 84,000 Bangladeshi villages.

That is definitely some good news for a change.

The Changemakers community is deeply committed to serving the bottom of the pyramid. Check out these winning ideas from the Banking on Social Change competition:

•  
  Fundación Pro Vivienda Social, Argentina: Using a community-modeled financing system, this group helps low income rural residents get access to utilities and basic services by lowering costs and extending power lines and other infrastructure.

Sampoorna Suraksha, India:
This program, run by Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP), makes health care affordable for the poor by providing them with medical coverage without destroying their savings or forcing them to borrow at steep rates.
Pragathi Bandhu, India:
Also a project of SKDRDP, this initiative unites coalitions of small farmers to share their ideas and create a collective for their land and talents to reach better economies of scale.

“Most bankers have never believed that banks could serve the poor and the emerging middle-class in a profitable way,” said Jeff Semenchuk, Citigroup’s Executive Vice President & head of Growth Ventures and Innovations.

The possibility of Bangladesh rapid development is a hot discussable point of all over the World.From diffrent Findings it found that there is a vital issue of slow development is less investment.

About this analysis The Daily star presented  a very informative feature  please see the detail >>>>>>>

Bangladesh and india are friend from the historical time, Though are some unsolved issue between  India – Bangladesh but overall the both contry act is very friendly , The relation is logical with the global pruspective.

Today Bangladesh – India tied with new trade and investment deal,This deal is  to promote trade and investment and discussed ways to reduce their massive trade imbalance.

An agreement to promote and protect mutual investment and another renewing a decades-old trade treaty for another three years were signed Monday during a daylong visit by Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.

Mukherjee said India-Bangladesh relations have witnessed an upward swing in the recent past.The Indian Minister and Bangladesh Commerce Minister Mohammad Farukh Khan signed The Trade Agreement to further boost bilateral commerce which amounted to USD 3.631 billion for 2007-08.