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Through a wholly owned subsidiary, EHII signed the deal with the Bangladesh Power Development Board for a single cycle electrical power generation plant with room to expand to a 450 MW combined cycle facility.

Houston-based EHII (NYSE: EGYH) is currently talking with a handful of engineering, procurement and construction contractors to build the plant while EHII will serve as the independent power producer.

About the company

Energy Holdings International, Inc. is a U.S. based, American-Saudi Arabian company; focused on acquiring, developing and managing energy assets in the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. Its website is http://www.energyhii.com. Four of its Board of Directors are from Riyahd, Saudi Arabia.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This press release contains certain forward-looking information and statements that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures in EHII’s SEC periodic and interim reports.

SOURCE Energy Holdings International, Inc.

RELATED LINKS
http://www.energyhii.com

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“Improvement in trade relations with the North-East India could even take Bangladesh up to China,” said Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Indian minister for development of the North-East Region, while speaking at a meeting in the city.

He made the comments at a meeting between visiting Indian business delegation and India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) at a city hotel.

IBCCI Chairman Abul Matlub Ahmad presided over the meeting while Rajeet Mitter, Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, Kiren Rijiju, principal secretary to the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Dr K C Nihoshe, parliamentary secretary of Nagaland, spoke on the occasion.

The 38-member business team led by Mr Aiyar is now in Bangladesh on a five-day tour, which will also take them to port city Chittagong.

During the trip, the delegation will hold talks with Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Board of Investment and Ministry of Commerce.

Top businessmen from the sectors of information technology, shipbuilding, construction materials, apparels, power, pulp, tourism, airlines, telecoms, fast-moving consumer goods, agricultural products and health care consist of the delegation.

Aiyar said Bangladesh prime minister’s successful visit to India in January this year opened up unprecedented opportunities for intensified cooperation and economic integration between Bangladesh and the North-East and Eastern India.

He said until the partition of 1947 the North-East regions were prosperous, but now the region progresses at half the pace of the rest of India.

Aiyar, also a former petroleum minister, said the Indian government has earmarked 10 per cent of the national development budget for the underdeveloped region. “We have already spent 2.0 trillion Indian rupees out of 14 trillion rupees planned for infrastructure development in the region.”

“This however has opened up new opportunity for investment for Bangladesh in the region. The North-East India offers Dhaka an important opportunity for expanding market and investment,” he said admitting that balance of trade between the two countries is grievously out of equilibrium from the Bangladesh’s point of view.

He said during the 1965 India-Pakistan War trade between the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and India was undisrupted. “Now there is an ebb. The historical economic relations can be restored if Bangladesh can exploit market in North-East India.”

“Opportunity is now knocking at the door and Bangladesh has to grab it,” Aiyar said.

K C Nihoshe said although small-scale insurgency exists in Nagaland, the separatists’ activities are limited to rural areas. “There is nothing to fear. Bangladeshi industrialists and businessmen can come up and invest in the province as we welcome both internal and external investments.”

Kiren Rijiju said without Bangladesh the North-East India is cut off from the rest of the world.

He said the central Indian government should integrate Bangladesh into their thoughts when they think about development of the North-East India. “This will help the region prosper. Bangladesh needs India and vice versa to achieve sustainable economic growth.”

Abul Matlub Ahmad said Bangladeshi industrialists are now mature to invest in large economies such as India and Turkey in the world. “Time has come for us to invest outside the country and bring back billions of dollars in profit remittance. We would like to request the government to allow us to invest overseas.”

He said the five-day tour of the Indian delegation will provide a unique opportunity to build and foster better economic ties between the two countries.

During the trip, at least eight joint ventures will be signed, the IBCCI chief said.

Rajeet Mitter said this tour would open up a window of cooperation between the two neighbouring countries. “Since the summit between the two leaders various steps have been taken to take the initiative forward.”

Former ambassador Farooq Sobhan, IBCCI vice-president Dewan Sultan Ahmed and directors of IBCCI were present during the meeting

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The two sides are slated to sign a slew of formal agreements and a joint venture between NTPC and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in the coming months. ??This is to improve the relationship between the two countries,?? Ministry of Power joint secretary M Ravi Kanth told The Indian Express during today??s joint working group meeting between India and Bangladesh. ??So far, transmission is moving very smoothly, now the power generation MoU between NTPC and BPDB will soon be signed.??

The MoU between the state-run Maharatna and BPDB will ultimately produce a joint venture company this year, which will be charged with collecting bids for a 1,240 mega watt (MW) supercritical power plant subject to international competitive bidding. Bangladesh will be responsible for fueling the coal-fired plant which will require less coal than subcritical plants to run at optimal efficiency. ??NVVN will authorize cross-border trade with Bangladesh and we are prepared if Bangladesh wants to sell power to India once 2×600 MW plant is complete,?? said a source in the Ministry of Power source on condition of anonymity. NTPC is in early stages of tendering 11 similar units in India subject to domestic norms which have nixed bids from foreign players who do not meet the tender requirements.

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Regent Airways is set to buy two aircraft for nearly $15 million in a bid to open flights by August. The upcoming carrier said it signed a letter of intent with German operator Augsburg Airways to obtain two 50-seater Dash-8-Q300 aircraft, manufactured in 1999 and 2000 respectively in Canada by Bombardier Aerospace, according to the airline. ??We are likely to begin commercial flights in the first week of August, said Mashruf Habib, managing director of Regent Airways of HG Aviation Ltd.

?The company is a concern of Chittagong-based conglomerate Habib Group that is into apparels, power, steel, paper and fertiliser. The Group records turnover worth over Tk 2,000 crore a year. Regent, which already received permission to set up infrastructure for the airline, also said it aims to induct two Boeing 757-200 aircraft on dry lease for four years. ??The aircraft will be gradually deployed to operate on Regent’s domestic and mid-haul routes,?? said Imran Asif, chief executive of Regent Airways. Regent is the fourth entrant to the aviation market. But two of them — Best Air and Aviana Airways — are now grounded, mainly because of the financial crunch. Habib said his carrier would be able to stay on in the air travel business because of its parent organisation’s. financial strength

ABOUT HABIB GROUP:

Founder : Late Habib Ullah Meah
.?
Business Sectors : ? Apparel
? Cement
? Fertilizer
? Paper
? Power
? Shares and Securities
? Ship Breaking
? Spinning
? Steels
? Textile
?
.?
Man Power : 15,000+
.?
Yearly Turnover : $305 Million (USD)
.?
Asset Value: $180 Million (USD)?
.?
Affiliates : ? ANZ properties
? Continental Insurance
? East Delta University
? International Finance Investment and Commerce Bank Limited (IFIC Bank)
? National Credit and Commerce Bank (NCC Bank)
? Southern Medical College and Hospital?

Habib Group epitomizes prospect and prosperity. HG was founded in the year 1947 as a trading company by late Habib Ullah Meah. He was the son of late Naju Meah, a prominent businessperson of undivided India. Naju Meah was the first President of Assam Bengal Chamber of Commerce. After the demise of Habib Ullah Meah in 1981, his three sons Yakub Ali, Mahabub Ali and Yasin Ali took over the HG. Over the years, the Group has invested in various business sectors of Bangladesh. Employing more than 15000 people and having investments in various businesses the HG has established itself as one of the largest and prominent business houses of Bangladesh. HG is still expanding its wings and diversifying its business interests in Bangladesh. Our commitment and financial strength has given us the reputation of being one of the finest torch bearers of the business houses of Bangladesh.

Our goal is to exceed the expectations of every client by offering outstanding product, increased flexibility, and greater value, thus optimizing system functionality and improving operation efficiency. Our employees are distinguished by their functional and technical expertise combined with their hands-on experience. In HG, at any stage, quality has never been compromised and customer satisfaction has always been our top priority.

In Short Habib Group Means:
Optimum quality, Responsibility to society, Consistency, Speed with flexibility and Competitive price.

These really are the mantras of HG and shall be pursued tirelessly.

?

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The government is expected to provide Tk 1,500 crore in initial capital for the project.

A company will be set up to manage the fund, technically known as an infrastructure private equity fund.

In its report submitted to the power and energy ministry last month, the committee said the government can form the fund of Tk 1,500 crore-Tk 2,500 crore under public-private partnership.

The committee put forward a draft of the terms and conditions of the proposed company.

The government will have a 51 percent share of the fund, while the private sector will own the rest.

The 12-member committee headed by Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Ziaul Hassan Siddiqui was formed in October 2009.

The fund will invest in power, energy, hydrocarbon, solar and wind power, biomass and biogas, energy-efficient products, LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal, and recycling waste into products.

Both public and private entities can be financed under the project. This is not a subsidy fund but a commercially focused one with an appetite for long-term returns, the report says.

The government will appoint a professional fund manager from the private sector to run the fund.

An ‘investment committee’ composed of five members will be nominated by the fund manager.

The company to manage the fund may invest in listed or non-listed issuers or new projects with sponsors who have established operating track record and positive cash flow and projects sponsored by such type of entities.

The company will generally hold minority positions in the equity or debt profile of an issuer.

The tenure of the company will be 12-14 years and after that it will be liquidated, according to the report. The projects to be financed by the company will be commercially viable and the profit accruing from it will return to the fund and the profit will be distributed as per stake of the shareholders.

Power and energy ministry officials said a meeting has already been held with the finance minister over the formation of the fund.

The finance minister has asked the officials concerned to work out any possible problems, they said.

The minister has also called for such funds for other sectors, the power ministry officials added.

Power Division officials said initially the government will create the fund with Tk 1,500 crore but ultimately its size would go up. Bonds may be sold to the expatriates and released in the stockmarket for raising the fund.

They said the government considers a provision for whitening black money for making investment in the company.

According to the report, the government needs investment of about Tk 66,000 crore or $9.5 billion in the next five years for generation, transmission and distribution of power.
The government will issue bonds and debt instruments to local and foreign investors in a bid to raise a fund for financing projects including those of power and infrastructure.

The finance ministry yesterday issued a circular about creation of the Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund (BIFF).

The circular said: “The BIFF will attract investment from local and foreign investors through internationally practised financing options such as bonds, debt instruments and equity offering. It will also invest in different companies that are implementing projects in Bangladesh’s infrastructure sector.”

Finance ministry officials said, of the Tk 2,100 crore kept for public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the revised budget of the current fiscal year, Tk 1,600 crore will go to the fund as its initial capital.

This is the first-ever allocation to be used for PPP projects.

The fund will soon be registered as a company

The government has declared its vision for power sector to free the country from load shedding beyond 2010 and make electricity available for all by 2020, the report said.

The government has set a target to generate 7,000 megawatts of electricity by 2013 and 20,000 megawatts by 2021

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Industrious low-cost workforce
Bangladesh offers a well-educated, highly adaptive and industrious workforce with the lowest wages and salaries in the region. 57.3% of the population is under 25, providing a youthful group for recruitment. The country has consistently developed a skilled workforce catering to investors needs. English is widely spoken, making communication easy.

Strategic location, regional connectivity and worldwide access
Bangladesh is strategically located next to India, China and ASEAN markets. As the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) comes into force, investors in Bangladesh will enjoy duty-free access to India and other member countries.

Strong local market and growth
Bangladesh has proved to be an attractive investment location with its 144 million population and consistent economic growth leading to strong and growing domestic demand.

Low cost of energy
Energy prices in Bangladesh are the most competitive in the region. Transportation on green compressed natural gas is less than 20% of the diesel price.

Proven export competitiveness
Bangladesh enjoys tariff-free access to the European Union, Canada, Australia and Japan. In Europe, Bangladesh enjoys 60% of the market share and is the top manufacturing exporter amongst 50 least developed countries.

Competitive incentives
Bangladesh offers the most liberal FDI regime in South Asia, allowing 100% foreign equity with unrestricted exit policy, easy remittance of royalty and repatriation of profits and incomes.

Export processing zones
Bangladesh offers export-oriented industrial enclaves with infrastructural facilities and logistical support for foreign investors. The country is also developing its core infrastructures, including roads, highways, surface transport and port facilities for a better business environment.

Positive climate
A largely homogeneous society with people living in harmony irrespective of race and religion, Bangladesh is a democratic country enjoying broad bi-partisan political support for private investment. The legal and policy framework for business is conducive to foreign investment.

In today’s age of globalisation and inter-regional collaboration, the world has become a global village. Trade liberalisation, flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) and development of capital markets — the widely acknowledged ??three pillars of globalisation?? — have brought economic prosperity to many nations.FDI inflow, which reached $1 billion for the first time in 2008, increasing market capitalisation in the bourses, and a respectable GDP growth helped Bangladesh rank among the top three South Asian countries.

Of late Bangladesh received Standard & Poor’s ??BB-?? long-term and ??B?? short-term sovereign credit ratings for both foreign and local currency. Bangladesh has come a long way from its earlier ??unknown risk?? phase to a ??stable outlook?? which, according to S&P, reflects ??expectations that a prudent macroeconomic policy-setting will prevail and microeconomic reforms to gradually address growth constraints will continue??. Moody’s also certified Bangladesh’s strong fundamentals.

Further, Bangladesh’s regulatory regime vehemently supports private sector investment with incentives of 100 percent foreign ownership, repatriation of dividend and the foreign investment protection act itself. Companies such as Marico, an Indian corporate, have demonstrated the success potential in Bangladesh and have enabled other such investors to envision their participation in this market, in several promising sectors.

Power

With demand for power at around 5,600 MW against an average supply of 3,800 MW, there remains a consistent gap of 1,800MW. Only 35 percent of the population have access to electricity. Consequently opportunities abound.

Increasing the country’s power generation to 8,000 MW by 2015 with requirements of around $10 billion is the starting point. Coal-based small power plants, which would need around $2 billion from joint-venture partners and debt financing, should also be considered. Particularly, to reduce dependence on gas-based power generation in the backdrop of potential depletion of gas reserves by 2015, the coal-based plants present strong possibilities. LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals should also be explored.

On the policy front, the government is progressing on a draft public private partnership (PPP) policy, which will replace the existing Bangladesh Private Sector Infrastructure Guidelines (BPSIG). The ??Bangladesh Public-Private Partnership Policy and Guidelines?? is expected to incorporate provisions for special fiscal incentives and hence, be more investment-friendly.

Telecom

Telecom is one of the fastest growing sectors with around 54 million subscribers (30 percent of the population) and six operators (mostly foreign-owned). Due to large investments by NTT DoCoMo and Bharti Telecom, the FDI inflow has grown at 50 percent. As the government is unlikely to issue more mobile licences, future investment will be in proliferation of data-based and value added services. Implementation of 3G (third generation) licences will also require significant investment.

Further opportunities lie in manufacturing of handsets by utilising relatively cheap labour of the country. With some differentiation in quality, design or price, Bangladesh-India joint ventures can compete in the inexpensive phone set market.

Health care

?The demand for health care services is rising rapidly because of increasing purchasing power of the growing middle- and upper-middle classes, increasing life expectancy, declining mortality and rising incidence of chronic and treatable diseases.

In response to these factors, private, premium-priced hospitals with international standard facilities, such as Apollo, United, Square, Popular, are now very popular. The registration of 200,000 patients with Apollo Hospitals Dhaka since 2005 is a testament to this popularity.

Further, considering that the Bangladeshis spend nearly $200 million abroad for treatment, there is enough space to grow. Foreign investors can also play a bigger role in improving the health care standards by setting up world-class nurses/technicians training institutes.

Education

Increasingly we see a large number of undergraduates and graduates aspiring towards higher education abroad. Local private universities have also grown rapidly in response to demand, despite the high premiums charged. Consequently, opportunities to establish campuses of renowned business schools, affiliations with private universities, especially reasonably priced secondary and higher secondary institutions, also abound.

Business Process Outsourcing

Outsourcing of services is increasingly popular as it allows organisations to focus on core competencies and capitalise on specialist knowledge in respective functions. While Bangladesh is still at the nascent phase, it must start pitching for Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO), primarily offshore outsourcing, now. Statistics shows that the global “addressable” BPO market is worth $122-$154 billion, of which $10 billion+ is travel/hospitality, $10 billion telecoms, and $20 billion+ is finance, accounting and human resource. This is a huge market to tap as only 8 percent of that capacity was utilised as of 2006.

Though Bangladesh is comparatively new to this field, there is a huge potential in call centres, data entry facilities, and such sectors that can be served with low to medium level of skilled resources. The pie is big and growing — it is up to us to partner with neighboring countries and investors and capture a slice.

Pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceuticals have gradually evolved from an import-based industry to a self-manufacturing one exporting to 70 countries with a market size of over $750 million. Foreign investments — either in the form of joint ventures with Bangladeshi companies or other partnerships whereby research and development is run in laboratories in India with complementing manufacturing plants in Bangladesh — should be welcomed. These companies, such as Sun Pharmaceuticals of India, can utilise the competitively priced labour in Bangladesh and use cost advantages to capture the export market.

Since Bangladesh has received exemption from Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights till 2016, manufacturers’ ability to continue to produce pharmaceuticals products till the expiry of the exemption period increases the incentives greatly.

FMCG

?Some other areas of interest could be FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) segments given Bangladesh’s large population with progressive increase in purchasing capacity.

The present regime has identified PPP as one of the key focus areas and is committed to attracting foreign investors to thrust sectors. The government has resolved to ensure economic and political stability and foster transparency and availability of information. If we move forward to partner with the right organisation to invest in the right sector, only then it will result in mutual economic and commercial benefits. Most importantly, we have to move at the right time to tap the opportunities — I believe now is precisely the right time

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powergrid-Bangladesh

According to a decision, made at a regular cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Planning Minister AK Khandaker and PM’s Finance Affairs Adviser Moshiur Rahman will scrutinise the deal for ratification.

PM’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said this to reporters after the meeting

“The cabinet has formed a high-powered committee to settle the agreement on power import from India,” Abul Kalam Azad, press secretary to the Prime Minister told reporters after the cabinet meeting at the Secretariat.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Planning Minister AK Khandker and Prime Minister”s Finance Affairs Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman were asked to submit the report in this regard soon.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the cabinet meeting.
The MoU on power import was signed during Sheikh Hasina”s recent visit to India. The government would also ratify the MoU after getting the report, press secretary said.
Azad said the government has decided to import power from the friendly nation to meet the demand alongside producing electricity locally.
He said that a contract would be signed between Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and the National Thermal Power Corporation of India on the import.
The press secretary said the cabinet also approved Bangladesh Parjatan Board Bill-2010 for the improvement of services in the tourism industry.
On December 24, 2009, the cabinet sent back the law for further amendments and final approval.
The meeting also approved Bangladesh Non-government Primary Teachers Welfare Trust Bill-2010. Under the new bill, a teacher would be the member secretary of the welfare trust and there would be two vice-chairmen in place of one.
Ministers, state ministers and secretaries, among others, were present at the meeting. Besides, the cabinet approved the final draft of Ansar (Amendment) Act-2010 to regularise the jobs of the Ansars after nine years of service, which previously was 12 years.
The cabinet meeting was also informed about the recent visit of Ministry of Expatriates” Welfare & Overseas Employment (MEWOE) Eng Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain to Lebanon for exploring market.

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Power state minister Enamul Haque said at a seminar on Tuesday that it would not be easy to reduce power shortage to below 10 percent within 2015 as the government had proposed.

Replying to comments the minister said the suggestions were simply not feasible. “We need more time and planning.” He said the government had come up with a plan. But if other had alternative suggestions they could come forward with the plan.

“Nothing can be achieved from just criticism.”
The country has a shortfall of 30 percent compared to the power demand. “But we will resolve the power crisis completely by 2021,” said Haque.

Ijaz Hossain, a professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, said that the so-called system loss was actually not system loss at all.

Outlining the government’s plan for developing the country’s rickety power infrastructure, State Minister for Power Enamul Haque yesterday underscored the need for addressing the problem holistically by integrating the available resources.

Besides, developing the regional grid to exchange electricity with the neighbouring countries, which have high prospect in different types of power projects, is also imperative to solve the crisis, he said.

“We are emphasising solution to the energy and power crisis at regional and sub-regional level considering the fact that we are living in a global village. We can’t move without the help of others,” Haque added.

The state minister made the remarks while speaking at the plenary session of a conference on ‘energy for growth’, organised by the Bangladesh chapter of International Chamber of Commerce at a city hotel.

Haque said additional 9,000 megawatts (MW) electricity will be required to be produced within the next five years under short, medium and long term plans, out of which more than 5,000MW would be produced under the private sector.

The total generation addition in 2015 will be 9,426MW and the new addition will be made through implementation of more than 50 projects under fast track, short, medium and long-term plans, he said, adding that the primary fuel for the projects would be liquid fuel, gas and coal.

“We’ve about three billion tonnes of estimated proven coal reserve in five coal fields and we’re seriously thinking about the extraction of the indigenous coal and its use for power generation,” he said.

The minister further said initiatives are also being taken for ensuring a mix of conventional and renewable fuel in power generation.

He said the government is putting its best efforts to develop the indigenous energy resources, renewable energy and nuclear power plants.

Enamul Haque said initiatives have also been taken to establish LNG terminals for importing LNG vis-?-vis the efforts for increasing gas exploration.

He called upon the private investors to join hands with the government for the development of renewable energy side by side contribution in the conventional energy.

Paul J Heytens, country director of Asian Development Bank, said the current situation calls for measures in the short-term to rapidly close the gas supply and power generation gaps that also lay the foundation for long-term development of the sector, through better integration of power and gas policy, planning and investment.

He said the ADB is keen on assisting Bangladesh in setting up more new plants and expanding transmission and distribution networks.

“Over the next three years, Asian Development Bank plans to provide another $900 million in financial support through its public sector window for the power and energy sectors,” Heytens said.

Chaired by Dr Victor K Fung, chairman of International Chambers of Commerce (ICC), the session was also addressed by Dr Thomas von Schwarzenberg, chief geologist of RWE Power International GmbH, Germany, Vinod Kumar, executive director of CESC Limited of RPG Enterprises, India, and Tawhid Ali, senior vice president and director of Research Alliance Bernstein

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The two sides would sign the agreement when Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visits Russia later this year, said Mosharraf Hossain. “We have finalised the deal. The cabinet early this week approved the draft,” he said.

Russia will build the 1,000-megawatt plants near Bangladesh’s northern town of Rooppur, with the projects expected to be finished by 2017.

Bangladesh has long suffered severe power outages due to demands imposed by its fast-growing economy, which has been growing at around six percent a year since 2004.

But the crisis has worsened this year, as the gap between demand and supply shot up due to years of under-investment in new power plants.

The International Monetary Fund last week said the country’s economic growth would slide to five percent a year — the worst performance in eight years — largely due to the worsening energy crisis.

In 2007, Bangladesh received approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the industry’s global watchdog, to set up a nuclear power plant.

Experts say Bangladesh’s gas reserves are also fast depleting, forcing the country to look for alternative sources of energy.
Previous news :Bangladesh approves nuke power deal with Russia

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