UK-China company to invest $2m in Mongla EPZ

http://www.theindependentbd.com/business/others/28452-uk-china-company-to-invest-2m-in-mongla-epz.html
UK-China company to invest $2m in Mongla EPZ
UNB
Dhaka, Jan 10: A UK-China based company will invest US$ 2 million in Mongla Export Processing Zone (MEPZ).
Mongla Knitwears (Pvt) Limited, a UK-China company, will set up a Knit Garments and Sweater Manufacturing Industries in the MEPZ. The companies will also create employment opportunity for 2047 workers including 30 foreign nationals, a BEPZA press release said. The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) and M/s.  Mongla Knitwears (Pvt) Limited signed an aggrementto this effect at BEPZA Complex in the city on Monday.
M Moyjuddin Ahmed, member (Investment Promotion) of BEPZA and Che Chit Meng, general manager of M/s. Mongla Knitwears (Pvt) Limited signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.

Rangpur Dairy proving a resounding success

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=122513&date=2011-01-11
Rangpur Dairy proving a resounding success

Fresh Milk from RD Milk. Source: http://www.rdmilk.org/

Our Correspondent
RANGPUR, Jan 10: The Rangpur Dairy (RD) Milk processing factory at Boldipukur in Mithapukur Upazila of the district has provided solvency to hundreds of monga-hit poor people in Rangpur.
These poor people are now rearing cows at home and selling milk to factory, first ever small private industry set up in the district after the commissioning of Jamuna Bridge.
Rangpur Dairy Milk undertook a laudable step earlier, to support the poor providing cows on easy terms to produce milk at home so that they might be benefited financially.
RD Milk Manager Ashraful Alam said, “We provided 425 cows among 375 families of Salaipur and Muradpur under Mithapukur Upazila.
He said, “The Company not only aims to do business but also wants to create a financially sound community in the process.”
He said, “RD Milk has not donated the cows to the beneficiaries free of cost. They have to pay the purchase rate of the cows in exchange of supplying milk to the factory for a certain period. When the prices of the cows are completely realised, the authority would transfer ownership of the animals to them.” he said.
Motin Miah at Muradpur in Mithapukur Upazila who received two cows from RD Milk said that he paid the price of the cow to the company. He is now milking 30 litres out of which earning Tk 750 a day.
RD Milk Managing Director Foqruzzaman said, the poor people of Rangpur as well as dairy farmers in the district are getting benefit from RD. He said the dairy farmers in Rangpur who were in utter frustration and were about to close their farms due to frequent losses even two years back are now getting profit by selling milk to RD Milk.
RD Milk has now been producing full cream milk through Ultra High Temperature (UHT) method. Only three companies in the country were producing full cream milk through UHT method. The companies include Pran, Akiz and RD milk.
“We are now supplying the milk products to Dhaka and other parts of the country including the northern districts. At present, about 15000 litres of milk are being processed a day in the industry”.
Foqruzzaman told The Financial Express, “We have a plan to turn RD Milk as one of the biggest milk processing industry of the country so that about 30,000 dairy farmers of Rangpur and its adjoining districts may get benefit.”
He said the authority has completed preparation to produce RD Butter, RD Tea, and RD Sweets. He however expressed his dissatisfaction at the absence of gas supply through pipeline and adequate electricity in Rangpur.
The production cost will be reduced at least 50 percent if there is uninterrupted gas supply. Power shortage also often hampers production resulting in loss to the company, he added.
Regarding prospect of RD Milk, FBCCI Vice-president and former President of Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mostafa Azad Choudhury said it is the first ever industry of its kind set up in Rangpur with the Equity Entrepreneur Fund (EEF) of Bangladesh Bank. He expressed optimism that RD Milk might help a lot in bringing socio-economic change in Rangpur.

Banks asked to lend money to dairy farms with bio-gas plant

http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/business/4547.html
Banks asked to lend money to dairy farms with bio-gas plant
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Pabna
Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman on Sunday urged the commercial banks to increase their credit flow for agriculture sector particularly for setting up commercial dairy farms with bio-gas plants in rural areas.
A coordinated dairy farm is not only environment-friendly, but also meets three basic demands of farmers- protein, fuel and fertiliser, he said.
The governor was addressing a function at Titli tala of Jagannathpur upazila while visiting an Agrani Bank financed bio-gas and hybrid baokul and guava cultivation project.
Bangladesh has enormous capacity of establishing around 40 lakh coordinated dairy farms with four cattle in each, he said referring to a recent survey.
He said the dairy farms can yearly produce 480 crore cubic metre bio-gas, 120 million tonnes of high quality organic fertiliser, 1,700 crore litre milk and one million tonnes of meat apart from creating job for around 1.2 crore skilled and non-skilled rural people.
‘So, it’s huge opportunity for commercial banks to pursue green business on integrated dairy farm and bio-gas plant,’ Atiur said adding that Bangladesh Bank has been trying to make the integrated dairy farm model popular among the people.
The governor said a small dairy farm with four cows and one bio-digester everyday can produce 17 litre milk, 100kg organic fertiliser and 100 cubic biogas.
Director (news) of Channel-I Shykh Siraj, managing director of Agrani Bank Syed Abdul Hamid, government officials and local elites spoke, among others, on the occasion.
Referring to the Bangladesh Bank’s Tk 200 crore re-financing scheme for solar power generation and waste management, the governor urged people to take the opportunity.
The governor lauded the Agrani Bank’s financing project for the bio-gas plant and hybrid baokul and guava cultivation in Pabna and said many commercial banks already invested their money for solar power generation.
He urged the commercial banks to invest more in such projects and said it’s very encouraging to see that the commercial banks are providing the farmers with credit for fruit cultivation.
‘Such initiative will help farmers for cultivating high value crops, making the country more green and contributing to country’s economy,’ said the governor.
The governor urged the commercial banks to give emphasis on ‘area approach’ and provide loan for cultivation of a crop that grows more in a particular area.

Govt targets growth at 9.8pc in manufacturing in 6th 5-yr plan

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=124184&date=2011-01-27
Govt targets growth at 9.8pc in manufacturing in 6th 5-yr plan
Economy to grow to 8pc by 2015
FE Report
The government has targeted an ambitious 9.8 per cent average growth per year during the sixth five-year plan period from the manufacturing sector to spur the economy into 8.0 per cent by FY2015, officials said Wednesday.
At a consultation meeting on the draft five-year development plan with government bodies and private sector exporters in Dhaka, the General Economic Division (GED) of the Planning Ministry has disclosed the growth projection.
Exporters said the growth target would not be achievable if the government did not give boost to the country’s ailing infrastructure including energy supply and diversify the export products.
Trade bodies, policymakers, economists and development experts were present at the consultation meeting on the five-year plan to be implemented during FY2011- FY2015, with Planning Minister AK Khandaker in the chair.
The GED has already drafted the sixth-five year plan to achieve 8.0 per cent growth by FY2015, in which Tk13.3 trillion investments will be required from the private and public sectors.
GED member Professor Shamsul Alam said the sixth five-year plan looks to an average 9.8 per cent annual growth in the manufacturing sector, marking a rise from the depressed level of 5.7 per cent in FY2010 to 11.5 per cent at the concluding year of FY2015.
Industries Minister Dilip Barua said that in the name of back-up to the local industries, we should not undertake policies that would make Bangladesh a market of foreign goods.
Bangladesh Bank governor Dr. Atiur Rahman said growth of low-tech industries should be given more focus in the development policy in addition to the high-tech industries to widen the labour-intensive manufacturing sector.
He said the young graduates should be encouraged to come to the manufacturing sector to turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021.
Salman F. Rahman, president of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries, said Bangladesh has adequate industry back-up for exporting billions of dollars’ worth drugs, but it needs more support of the government.

BTRC slashes bandwidth prices by 31pc

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=171669
BTRC slashes bandwidth prices by 31pc

Md Fazlur Rahman
The telecom regulator has reduced the monthly rental bandwidth price for leased internet access through submarine cable by one-third to spread the communication services among the masses.
The monthly rental bandwidth price for leased internet access through submarine cable will be a maximum of Tk 12,000 per Mbps, said Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in a circular on Tuesday.
There are more than 80 lakh internet users in the country, which will soon cross the one-crore mark, keeping pace with the boom of mobile users, according to BTRC.
Internet services providers said the internet users should get 20 percent extra bandwidth due to a 31 percent decrease in bandwidth prices.
“But it is difficult to say now how much the end-users will be benefited, as our operation and other associated costs will remain the same,” said Rashed Amin Biddut, joint secretary general of Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh.
The association will sit today to discuss the issue, he said, adding that the benefit would not be so high for the internet users if they pass on the amount of money they are paying to the industry regulator to get connected with Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN).
“Each ISP is paying between Tk 12 lakh to Tk 25 lakh to be connected with underground network to operate services in the capital. We have no other way but to pass the costs onto the customers,” Biddut told The Daily Star.
This is the second time the present government has decreased the prices of bandwidth to spread uses of information and communication technology under its Digital Bangladesh vision. It brought down the prices to Tk 17,400 from Tk 28,000, soon after coming power in January 2009.
It was Tk 127,000 until 2006, before the caretaker government brought it down further. Industry people said the rate would be brought down to Tk 10,000 per Mbps.
Analysts say the prices should go down further if the government really wants to boost internet penetration.
“Mobile penetration in the country shot up because of its low-cost nature, and also the call charge is much lower. The same can be true for internet penetration,” said Bangladesh Computer Samity President Mustafa Jabber.
Jabber said the impact would be tremendous. “We had been fighting for long to bring bandwidth prices to this level. It’s a good step forward.”
He said the government should give up its mentality of making profit out of everything and cut bandwidth prices further. “The government buys each Mbps at Tk 6,000. They should make profit of maximum Tk 500. If they even give free bandwidth the return will be huge.”
Jabber said internet users using services of Wimax and mobile operators would be particularly benefited. “They hold the majority share of the growing market. It will spur more price war among operators, ultimately benefiting the customers.”
Mobile operators however said the fixing of the price from the regulator is a piecemeal solution and will not be beneficial for the market competition.

Jute contributes 4.68pc in export earnings

http://www.theindependentbd.com/business/finance/31499-jute-contributes-468pc-in-export-earnings.html
Jute contributes 4.68pc in export earnings
STAFF REPORTER
DHAKA JAN 27: Jute will regain its earlier glory as it is becoming popular globally, the speakers said today at the opening session of International Jute fair.   “Jute sector is contributing 4.68 per cent in export earning last fiscal year and two per cent increase during last two years,” said secretary of Textiles and Jute ministry Ashraful Moqbul, adding  “Though its contribution is not notable at present like the 1960′s but there is no scope to deny its contribution in national economy.”
He was speaking as the chief guest at the opening session of the fair jointly organised by International Jute Study Group (IJSG) and National Jute Board (NJB) of India with collaboration European Union (EU) at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC).
Among others, executive director of Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JDPC) Khandaker Mokhlesur Rahman, secretary of NJB Atri Bhattacharya, first secretary of EU Andrew Barnard and secretary of IJSG Bhupendra Sigh addressed the session.
Jute will be one of the most important cash crop in coming days due to the automobile sector around the world are using jute products, Ashraful said.
He further said, jute is versatile fibre and environment friendly so its use increasing entirely which is good signs for the jute sector of the Bangladesh and India . Both India and Bangladesh will be benefited if joint initiate to promote the diversification of jute, secretary of Textiles and Jute added.
First secretary of EU Andrew Barnard said at least 40 million farmers of   Bangladesh would be benefited directly from this sector and it had a huge prosperity.
Bangladesh is producing quality jute products that can secure market in Europe countries, he said.
He also said that Bangladesh earned US $ 140 million from raw jute export and $ 47 million from jute products.
The fair will open form 9 am to 9 pm started from today (January 27) and continue till January 29.

AWD irrigation can save 30 p.c underground water: Experts

http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=157916&date=2011-01-28
AWD irrigation can save 30 p.c underground water: Experts

Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation. Source: http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/Watermanagement/index.php/coping-with-water-scarcity/alternate-wetting-and-drying-awd

RANGPUR, Jan 28 (BSS) – Agri-scientists and experts have said that popularization and mass adoption of Alternate Drying and Wetting (AWD) irrigation technology in Boro farming can save 30 percent underground water.
Mass applications of the technology can reduce five number irrigations compared to the farmers’ general practice, reduce 30 litres diesel consumption per hectare for irrigation, and produce 500 kg more paddy per hectare.
They said that the country would be benefited by about Taka 6,000 crore annually by adopting the AWD technology for farming Boro in 4.85 million hectares land only for reduced irrigation costs and increased paddy yields in addition to saving huge water.
The ecology, environment, bio- diversity would be improved with retardation in the desertification process as 30 percent less water would be lifted for irrigation purposes every year saving its underground reserve.
Liaison Scientist of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for Bangladesh and former Director General of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Dr M A Hamid Miah recently narrated BSS about the AWD technology.
Rice scientist Dr MA Mazid said that efforts of the agri- related departments and research organisations are continuing to popularize the technology among the farmers.
Principal Scientific Officer of BRRI and its Rangpur Station Chief Dr Gous Ali narrated the ongoing and expanding field level AWD activities to popularize the easiest technology.
They said that the farmers generally consume 3,000 to 5,000 litres irrigated waters to produce one kilogram paddy under different topographical locations, when the paddy plants hardly need 1,500 to 2,000 litres for the same if AWD technology was used.
Dr Hamid Miah said that AWD is a simplest technology of determining irrigation times in Boro fields and it requires a 25 cm long PVC pipe or hollow bamboo pieces or even waste bottles of cold drinks like coco cola etc.
Fifteen cm on one side of the pipe is perforated for easy horizontal movement of water and it is to be installed vertically with its perforated portion under the ground level when the soil within the pipe is scoped out so that soil at the lower end of the pipe is visible.
The farmers should irrigate fields in such a way that water does not overtop the imperforated portions, watch leaching down of water through the pipes, and irrigate when the soil at the bottom of the pipes will be visible with no water standing on the soil hat.
If the AWD were adopted for farming Boro in 48.5 lakh hectares during this season, the country would get benefit of Taka 6,000 crore from additional paddy productions, less use of diesel and electricity alone, the scientists and experts said.
Dr Mazid today told BSS that expanded use of AWD would also allow lifting 30 percent less underground waters annually for irrigation purposes to increase its reserves and get an uncountable national benefit amid the formidable threats of climate changes.
They suggested for ensuring mass use of AWD technology through coordinated efforts of all for availing its full advantages through additional paddy productions and uncountable benefits by saving huge underground waters.