Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.
1.
Container Handling at Ctg port Rises 10% in Aug-Oct: There has been a significant year-on-year rise in the number of containers handled at Chattogram port in the three months till October while there was a drop in the overall handling of cargo and ships. The port handled a total of 8.30 lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers, both goods-laden ones and empty, between August and October. (The Daily Star)
2.
MGI’s $700m Investment in Cumilla EZ Stuck in Energy Crisis: Three production units owned by Meghna Group of Industries (MGI) have been sitting idle inside the Cumilla Economic Zone despite two years having passed since construction works were completed due to a lack of gas and power connections. The industrial conglomerate has already invested $700 million in the three units, with $400 million going towards a steel mill, $200 million for a glass factory and $100 million for a paperboard manufacturing unit, according to Mostafa Kamal, chairman and managing director of MGI. (The Daily Star)
3.
Govt Must Act Fast to Get Western Travel Alerts Lifted, Urges Garment Industry: The interim government must make concerted efforts to persuade western nations, including the United States and the European Union, to withdraw their travel alerts on Bangladesh and counter the claims of attacks on minorities, said garment industry leaders. They also cautioned that failure to do so could result in a loss of business to competing countries. Attending a roundtable hosted by The Business Standard on Sunday, Abdullah Hil Rakib, former senior vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), stressed that the influence of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, an internationally respected figure, could be used to remove these travel alerts. (The Busines Standard)
4.
Priority Resetting Slows ADP Execution to Record Low: Government ministries and divisions spent a record-low Tk219.78 billion altogether in the first four months of this fiscal from the total development budget worth Tk2.78 trillion, amid belt-tightening in spending. Latest official account of implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in the July-October period shows a mere 7.90-percent rate of execution of public-works projects. The ADP spending in the same period of the last fiscal year was Tk316.92 billion, accounting for 11.45 per cent of the outlay, reveals the latest report of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the planning ministry. (The Financial Express)
5.
BIDA Urges Chinese Entrepreneurs to Invest in BD: The head of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) has invited China-based manufacturers to invest in Bangladesh in the wake of the post-US election development. Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, executive chairman of the BIDA, has written an open letter to investors in China, saying that Bangladesh is now ready to emerge as a potential destination for manufacturers planning to relocate or diversify their footprint. (The Financial Express)
6.
LDC Graduation: Bangladesh to Face Substantial Losses: The decision on whether Bangladesh will graduate to the developing country bracket in 2026 will be taken shortly, said the finance adviser to the interim government yesterday. The issue will be discussed with other important persons including the chief adviser in the cabinet soon, said Salehuddin Ahmed, finance adviser, at a discussion organised by the Economic Relations Division (ERD) at the InterContinental Hotel in Dhaka. (The Daily Star).
----Saju Sarker
BBN/SSR/AD