Walton wins best refrigerator brand award

Daily sun 26 July 2012

Walton brand of refrigerators was adjudged best among all local and foreign brands of refrigerators for their affordability, quality and durability at the just -concluded Best Brand Award-2011-giving ceremony at a hotel in Dhaka.

Besides, Walton brand of televisions was judged as the second best brand in the brand ranking race, said a press release.

It indicates that Walton brand of refrigerators and televisions is the most popular brand among the consumers in Bangladesh for their ultra-modern design, uncompromising quality and unique price.

Twenty-eight brands, belonging to 28 different local and multinational product categories, were awarded along with top 10 local brands for the first time this year at the event.

Walton was also ranked as the fifth best brand among all best local brands, while the 18th best brand among all local and foreign brands of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Brand Forum (BBF) and Nielsen Bangladesh Ltd. jointly organized the event at a hotel in Dhaka.

It was attended by as many as 500 guests from various corporate houses and business associations as well as local and foreign government dignitaries.

Humayun Kabir, Executive Director (PR & Media) of Walton, received the awards on behalf of Walton at the function.

The brands were ranked following an extensive survey carried out by Bangladesh Brand Forum, in collaboration with Nielsen Bangladesh Ltd, among 5,000 households across the country in May this year.

Shariful Islam, founder of Bangladesh Brand Forum and Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay of INSEAD, Singapore also spoke at the function.

Receiving crests from Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay, Humayun Kabir said consumers accepted Walton products wholeheartedly. Honouring Walton with the Best Brand Awards is an acknowledgement of it.

Plan to set up garments industrial park under direct ownership instead of PPP

Daily Sun, 26 July 2012

The government has undertaken a plan to set up much-awaited ‘Garments Industrial Park’ under ‘direct ownership through selling plots’ instead of earlier plan to set it up under Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

“Leaders of garments and knitwear manufacturers and exporters gave the proposal to the ministry of commerce,” a commerce ministry official told BSS referring to a meeting held here Wednesday.

The 20th meeting of Social Compliance Forum for RMG was held in the commerce ministry’s conference room with Commerce Minister GM Quader in the chair.

Under the proposal, said the official, the government would earmark plots at any suitable place outside Dhaka and those would be sold directly to the entrepreneurs. People who would be affected for land accusation would be compensated through money, he added.

The official said the commerce ministry would soon send a proposal regarding the apparel entrepreneurs’ proposal to the ministry of Industries.

Earlier, the industries ministry took up a project to set up the industrial park at Bausia under Gojaria upazila of Munshiganj district at a cost of Taka 438 crore. The main objective of setting up Garments Industrial Park is to provide one stop service to the apparel makers and reduce pressure of the potential industry on Dhaka city.

The park would have various facilities such as internal roads, drainage facilities, un-interrupted supply of utilities, Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), waste dumping yard and fire fighting unit.

The RMG industry has expanded substantially in recent years but industrial plots were set up in an unplanned manner in the capital and its suburban areas that resulted in environmental pollution and accidents in the industrial units, read the project concept paper. —BSS

Nepal opens rice export with restriction

Daily Sun, 26 July 2012

KATHMANDU: Nepali government has lifted a four-year ban on rice export, paving the way for the country to export up to 10,000 tons of rice from the two customs points-Rasuwa and Tatopani-to China, local media reported yesterday.

Initially, Ministry of Commerce and Supplies and Ministry of Agriculture Development (MoAD) had proposed that export be opened for 50,000 tons of rice from those customs this year.

“Traders can now export 5,000 tons of rice from each of the two customs points,” Commerce Secretary Lal Mani Joshi told Republica daily. “Prime Minister Babu Ram Bhattarai declined to approve export of 50,000 tons of rice, citing the rising price of food in the domestic market.”

Body suggests downsizing number of bank directors

Daily Sun, 26 July 2012

The Bank Amendment Committee of the government has proposed extensive modification to the existing banking law, which include sharp decrease in the member members of banks’ board of director and rise in lenders’ exposure in the capital market.

A finance ministry official said the committee, formed to evaluate Bangladesh Bank proposal on Bank Company Act 1991 amendment, sent a 13-page proposal to the secretary of Banking Division yesterday.

In the proposal of the committee, headed by former Secretary AK Abdul Mubin, proposed each bank’s board to be consisted of 15 members, which is higher than BB proposed 13 members and less than the existing 25 to 30 directors.

The committee also included representatives from different ministries and the business community.

The initiative to amend the Banking Companies Act was taken during the immediate past tenure of the BNP-led government, but it could not be realised due to opposition by various influential quarters.

Even during the period of immediate past caretaker government, a law was promulgated through an ordinance, but the present government did not pass it in parliament.

In the proposal of the committee, the definition of share-holding has been streamlined to avoid ambiguities. Several caps have been introduced to increase the exposure of banks in the capital market, including overall portfolio exposure limit of 40 per cent of the banks’ capital.

However, BB had proposed only 25 percent of the banks’ capital in the capital market from the present exposure limit of 10 percent of the liabilities.

Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had imposed 16 conditions for releasing $ 1 billion credit to Bangladesh, including framing the banking company act and new regulations on classified loans and exposure of commerce banks’ in the local share market.

Talking on the issue, former caretaker government adviser Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam told daily sun that 40 per cent of the bank capital in the stock market would create problem for the local banking sector.

He also said banks will have to collect their capital from bank clients’s deposited money.

Insurance firms asked to avoid transport luxury

Daily Sun, 26 July 2012

The insurance regulator has directed the insurance companies to shun luxury in buying and using vehicles as it causes loss to the interest of policy and share holders.

Insurance Develop-ment and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) issued a circular Wednesday with this directive.

The circular announced new guidelines for trans-portation and vehicular uses of the Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers (CEO) along with other uses of the life and non-life insurance firms.

It said that the vehicles for the Chairmen and CEO or managing directors have to be bought within Tk 4 million.

Besides, the Chairmen will get only one car and no other members of the board will not get any transport facility.