Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The BBN has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
Road, rail, waterways to link entire South Asia
To boost economic activities in the region, the Saarc nations are likely to sign six Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on rail, road, water and air connectivity among the member states. The MoUs are expected to be signed during the 18th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) scheduled for November 26-27 in Nepal. The cabinet has already approved three draft MoUs on road, railways and energy security while the rest three on waterways, civil aviation and tourism are likely to get the government nod in the next cabinet meeting.
Investment-friendly 7th Five-Year Plan sought
Businessmen in Dhaka urged on Wednesday the government to prepare investment-friendly development plan for the country to attract more local and foreign investments for graduating Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021. They have suggested giving priority to development of infrastructure in the Seventh Five-Year Plan (Seventh FYP), lowering of bank interest rate, diversification of export, removal of energy shortage and development of skilled manpower.
Tk 500cr social obligation fund sits idle
The telecom regulator has so far collected Tk 500 crore from mobile operators for a "social obligation fund", but the government is yet to start spending the money in absence of rules on how to use the fund. The telecom ministry said it has almost finalised the rules. But analysts and some officials of the ministry termed the proposed rules ambiguous, saying those will create complexities in utilising the fund. Law binds Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission to create the fund "for extending telecommunication facility in the areas deprived of such facility." The law does not mention any other purpose of the fund.
Bangladesh to introduce RTGS by Sept 15
Bangladesh is going to introduce a Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system by the end of September 2015 aiming to facilitate business activities across the country.
A deal will be signed on Thursday between the Bangladesh Bank (BB) and Sweden-based CMA Small Systems AB in this connection, officials said on Wednesday. “The central bank will start installation workers after signing the deal,” a BB senior official told BBN in Dhaka. He also said: “We expect that the RTGS will go live before the deadline.”
Body formed to scrutinise bourses’ proposal
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has formed a three-member committee to review the proposed listing regulations of the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges that sought some power over initial public offering process. BSEC executive director Saifur Rahman told New Age that the commission had formed the committee on Tuesday to scrutinise the proposed listing regulations of the stock exchanges analysing the existing rules.
Bangladesh makes farms on water to cope up with changing climate
Each year the brown waters of the Gumani river swell during the summer monsoon, creeping over the surrounding fields to flood Charbhangura, a village of 2,500 people in the Pabna district of northwest Bangladesh. From July to October the waters can rise at least 10 feet, reports The New York Times. The trunks of trees more than 30 feet away from the dry season riverbed show watermarks waist high. When the fields flood, the village’s farmers have no work.
BBN/SSR/AD-20Nov14-8:06 am (BST)