Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The BBN has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
Domestic air travel growth stutters
Growth in domestic air travel slowed down last year mainly on the back of one of the major carriers' shift in focus to international routes. Domestic air travel grew 5 percent year-on-year in 2014, in contrast to 10 percent growth recorded for the previous year by the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh. Last year, 680,420 people travelled by air within the country. Regent Airways, which focused more on international routes, however carried around 35 percent fewer passengers nationally last year, as it cut back two domestic routes due to high fuel costs, said Sam Issac, chief adviser to the airline.
Tribunal on share scams suffers teething troubles!
A special tribunal tasked with the job of trying cases of share scams couldn't commence trial even more than a year after its formation. Critics say such an inordinate delay undermines the government move to quickly dispose of the stock-related cases and restore the investors' confidence in stock market. The start-up delay in judicial function, according to experts, is resulting in the piling up of stock market-related cases with different courts, thus further affecting the confidence of general investors.
Banks asked to display ATM charges at all booths in Bangladesh
The central bank of Bangladesh has asked all the banks to display the charges for using automated teller machine (ATM) at an easily viewable place of all ATM booths. The Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, issued a circular in this connection on Monday and asked the banks to follow the instructions properly. The central bank said in absence of display of fees, many ATM users are often confused about the charges for using ATM of banks other than the card-issuing banks.
GSP return still an uphill task
The government has to strive hard to get back GSP facility in the US market anytime soon, given the strong reservations among stakeholders on labour fronts, a diplomatic communication from Bangladesh mission said. The communication made from the Bangladesh mission in Washington DC past week strongly suggested the ministries of commerce, labor and foreign affairs undertake deeper reforms on labour rights and labour rules in an effort to restore the trade privilege.
The mission’s senior officials held a meeting last month with representatives of international labor affairs bureau of department of labour, USTR, ILO and AFL-CIO to pursue the issue of getting back the generalised system of preference and get the feedback from the stakeholders.
Bangladesh to grab spotlight at HK meeting on garment
Global retailers will focus on safety standards and compliance in Bangladesh's garment sector at the sourcing trend meeting in Hong Kong in mid-March. Rick Darling, executive director of government and public affairs of Li & Fung, the world's largest supplier of clothes and toys to retailers, will present a keynote paper on these issues at the meeting on March 16, organisers said in a statement. SourceTrends is an annual event for apparel and footwear brands, manufacturers, retailers, agents and suppliers. This year, Bangladesh is on the radar for the Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza building collapse.
2.5pc of total US tariff is from BD products
The United States of America (USA) continued to collect higher tariffs on Bangladeshi products during import from this country. Last year, the US collected 2.5 per cent of its total tariff revenue against imports from Bangladesh. Data available with the US International Trade Commission (USITC) showed that they earned some $824.30 million (82.43 crore) as tariffs while importing Bangladeshi products worth $5276.16 million (527.61 crore) or $5.276 billion in 2014.
Bangladesh’s imports fall in January
Bangladesh’s overall imports fell substantially in the month of January due mainly to the ongoing political unrest, officials said on Monday. Opening of letters of credit (LCs) against imports, generally known as import orders, decreased by more than 7.0 per cent to US$ 3.20 billion in January last from $3.45 billion in the corresponding period of the previous calendar year. On the other hand, the settlement of LCs, generally known as actual imports, dropped by 7.54 per cent to $3.04 billion during the period under review from $3.29 billion in the same period in the previous year.
Bangladesh’s banks asked to settle farm loans dispute amicably
The central bank of Bangladesh has asked seven state-owned banks (SoBs) for taking effective measures to settle farm loans dispute amicably instead of filling certificate cases against farmers, officials said. The instruction was made at a meeting of the managing directors and chief executive officers of the six SoBs held at the central bank headquarters in Dhaka with Bangladesh Bank (BB) Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury in the chair.
6.7 earthquake hits off Japanese coast
A powerful 6.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Monday. The quake's epicenter was 83 kilometers (52 miles) east-northeast of Miyako, Japan, according to the USGS. It was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep and occurred at 6:06 a.m. Tuesday in Japan (6:06 p.m. ET Monday), reports CNN.
BBN/SSR/AD-17Feb15-10:10 am (BST)