PROFITING FROM BASICS - ICE Business Times

February 2015 Tk. 100

PROFITINGFROMBASICSHow Far Business SchoolsMeet Market Requirments

Spice industry eyes export potential

'Overseas job prospectsstill bright' - BAIRAPresident Md. Abul Bashar

Cover Photo:Din M Shibly

CONTENTSFebruary - 2015 10

cover story profiting from basics

28interview of the month md abul bashar

23photo feature technical education

33sector focusorganic food industry

36special storyspicy concoctions

6from the editor

7letters to editor

8short takes

91word of mouth

76 hrred-flagged 63 startup

chaldal.com 68 gadgetxiaomi mi7 42 follow-up

chinese aid 78 employmentmake & break

CONTENTSFebruary - 2015

20cover interviewprof. imran rahman

32rmgflaws for betterment 32

44trade developmentditf 2015

58diningthe upstairs lounge & bistro

47corporate ethicsfinancial accountability

52internationalcounting wins and losses

94essay labyrinth of corridors

55corporate grooming new perfume arrivals

60on the bookshelfmicrocredit and its discontents

56inside-out syed ashiqur rahman

66techoutsourcing blues

70musicheadphones for creativity

72the big idea emotional intelligence

54academia masters of ideation 2015

87corporate etiquettesmistaken for goodness

81tourism

bird-spotting in bangladesh

50global economy

oil price hike

48blue economy

aquaculture

31manpower

financial boost

80executive health

friends with self in office

74 strategy being human

ICE BusinessTimes6 February 2015

TThese days, we are passing through unfortunate incidents, triggered by political confrontation. In the entire month of January, lives are being lost almost every day, in arson, bomb attacks or in ‘gunfights’. Damage to properties has also been a regular phenomenon.Amid heightened political crisis, the non-stop blockade since 6 January has resulted in disruption in economic activities, road transportation and threatened the present and future business potentials of the country. However, there was no sign of recess and the rival political camps are yet to come closer to any constructive engagement.Under the circumstances, the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called for resolving political differences to allow undisturbed economic activities in a stable situation. In a report, the chamber pointed out that the blockade or hartal programme causes up to Tk 2,500 crore losses daily.A major casualty of political unrest, which goes beyond the notice of many people, is the education sector. Various educational activities from primary to tertiary level have come to a virtual halt whereas hundreds of thousands of educated youths are coming to the job market and looking for newer opportunities.Despite the uncertainties, business cannot stop. We need to see what is being demanded in the job sector and what actually is taught in our academic institutions.With thousands studying business administration, there are a lot of business graduates and post-graduates in the country. Are they on the right track on learning the right set of skills? Are employers still looking for the ultimate perfectionists? Our cover story, ‘Profiting from Basics’ tries to raise some of these issues.As far as overseas employment is concerned, aggressive diplomacy and consistent private sector engagement are required for reopening Bangladesh’s prospects in the labour market, according to Md. Abul Bashar, president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA). In an interview, he underscored the need for tapping potential markets in the countries where there is increasing demand for caregivers due to aging problems, for example. He said that the private sector and the government have to focus on training manpower as there is no alternative to training, given the consistent technological progress and need for updating knowledge and skills.We also tried to venture out to non-business academic ventures, and featured technical education as another way forward. With too many hopeful executives graduating every year, there is a low turnout for technically-skilled manpower locally. This could be a huge area for employment generation, provided students are motivated properly to pursue technical education and the government can consolidate the quality of technical skill trainings.We have dished out our regular features during this period of anxiety, as we believe in being both objective and yet optimistic about the growth of business in Bangladesh. We hope that the political parties can come to a democratic solution to the crisis and allow the citizens to march forward and contribute to the national economy. Bangladesh cannot afford not to make progress, socially, politically and economically.

FROMTHEEDITORGlimpse of a fewpieces from ourFebruary 2015 issue

Dear Editor,I see that your magazine is having quite a

unique experience as the soul business magazine in Bangladesh. I hope your work

would be even widely recognised.Sharmin from Chittagong, HR Consultant

First I want to thank your team for such a publication full of information. And then I’d

like to also add that our generation has little to support the processed food

industry, because of the unusual generation shift. For instance, my mother

even now sticks to the tradition, but I sometimes switch between tradition and

modernity. We have huge gap between generations. That is why I think that this

business will take some time, but will have larger impact on the market.

Fathima from Love Lane, Chittagong, also a Housewife and Culinary expert

It is nice to see some of our junior brothers and sisters are achieving success

and even being pictured on a magazine cover. I think your magazine should bring

more focus on such stories. Students around the country needs to be

encouraged. By the way, I see you have improved your website. But it is still slow.

May be you could look in to that for improvement. My friends here are really

amazed to see such publications in Bangladesh.

Kibria, from Cape Town

Published by Abul Khair on behalf of ICE Media Limited, Kushal Centre, Plot 29, Sector 3, Uttara C/A, Dhaka- 1230 and printed at M.K. Printers,189/1, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208

Editorial and Commercial office: Bengal Centre, Plot-2,Civil Aviation. New Airport Road, Khilkhet, Dhaka 1229.

Editorial Queries: businesstimes.1@gmail.com, wafiur.ibt@gmail.comAdvertising, Sales, Subscription and Distribution: 01711339587, 01819412035, 01920335953, 01716783698, 01675736760

Tel: 880-2-8901132, 8901135, 880-2-8901202 Fax: 88-02-8901205 E-mail: businesstimes.1@gmail.com, businesstimes.mkt@gmail.com

Publisher & Editor : Abul KhairExecutive Director : Nawshin KhairManaging Editor : Nobonita ChowdhuryEditorial Assistant : Wafiur Rahman Ahmed NoushadDesigner : Sk. Yeahhia Head of Marketing : Lucky BegumAssistant Manager Marketing : Farha TaniExecutive, Marketing : Farhan Nair Finance & Accounts : Md. Abdul Alim Sales & Distribution : Md. Manik Mollah Md. Raju Hossain

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR

Write to us atbusinesstimes.1@gmail.com, or send us a note atwww.facebook.com/icebusinesstimeswww.twitter.com/BusinessTimesBD

Be sure to visit our websitefor online viewingat www.icebusinesstimes.net

Vol. 5 No. 6 February 2015

I want to thank you for improving your facebook page. Although there are little reader comments, I believe it won’t be long, before you get attentions.

Keep improving.Hi!

I just want to tell that your website is beautiful. More than it was before. But it is still not friendly. Can you do something to increase user interactions?

COMMENTS

SHORT TAKES

Only 28pc ADP

implementation in 6 months

The government has in the first six months of the fiscal year managed to

implement less than one-third of the annual development programme (ADP). Different ministries,

divisions and agencies spent Tk 224.43 billion during the July-December period of 2014 - 15 financial year. The size of the

ADP is Tk 803.15 billion as undertaken as part of the annual financial outlay. Another Tk 56.85 billion was allocated,

also under the ADP, for autonomous bodies of the government. The rate of spending of

development budget was 27 percent or Tk 180.87 billion during the same

period of 2013-14 fiscal year.

Power tariff hike not nowRepresentatives of consumers have suggested that the

government should not raise power tariff, in view of oil price fall in the international market. At a public hearing, they

demanded downward adjustment of the fuel price at home. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission

organised the hearing to discuss the state-run PDB's proposal to raise electricity tariff

18.12%. Dhaka University Professor MM Akash said there is no logic behind

increasing electricity price as long as the global oil price remains low. The

government, however, maintains that the domestic oil price would not be readjusted to

allow the BPC to make up for its losses.

Apartment prices cut to boost saleProperty developers have slashed down apartment prices significantly in recent times to enhance sales in a market that looked depressed. A report by Sheltech said the realtors were selling each square foot of a flat at Tk 9,091 on average, down from Tk 10,182 in Dhaka in 2014. Dhaka’s apartment prices are 25.92% cheaper now than three years ago. The city has around 20,000 units of flat available for sale. The downward price adjustment in recent years has pushed down profitability of the industry to the minimum level. Further price fall will mean loss for the realtors.

China’s financial crisis looming?A credit crunch in China is ‘highly probable’ this year as slowing economic growth prompts a surge in bad debts, Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicts. Chinese president Xi Jinping trumpeted the ‘new normal’ referring to slower growth. Beijing tries to rein in the credit boom – which has led to a debt pile of $26 trillion – and rebalance the economy from overly relying on exports and investment to consumer spending. Analysts believe the Chinese government has unlimited resources to bail out banks and other organisations as the debts are mostly in renminbi, and the country’s central bank can always print more money.

SHORT TAKES

Myanmar replete with potentials, risksMyanmar is looking forward to a mining boom as it opens up its economy. The country has abundant mineral wealth from jade and rubies to copper and coal. However, long-running insurgencies and a murky regulatory framework are holding back all but the intrepid. Although 69 foreign firms have registered to work in he country’s mining sector, only 11 are operating. Asia Pacific Mining Ltd (APML), has been granted an exploration license covering 650 square km in restive Shan State, where it hopes to find deposits of lead, zinc and silver.

More Vietnamese SoEs to be equitised in 2015The number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Vietnam, set to be equitised during the 2014-15 period, will increase from 432 to 532 companies. The increase was the result of the latest review of the government's restructuring plan for the SOEs. A total of 143 SOEs had been equitised as of December 25, 2014, doubling the 2013 figure. Meanwhile, 167 enterprises had been re-arranged, indicating an increase of 160% compared with that of last year. According to the plan, 479 businesses will be arranged, 432 will be equitised, 22 will be dissolved, and 25 will be merged.

Retail prices index flawed?Retail prices index (RPI), a measure of

inflation used in pay bargaining and to calculate some tax thresholds, is being

described as flawed in the UK. There, demand has come to replace the RPI with a revised consumer prices index (CPI) that includes

housing costs. RPI fails to judge the costs of goods and services in the economy, according to experts at Institute for Fiscal Studies. The

institute’s report for the UK Statistics Authority will come as a blow to trade unions that continue to use RPI as the basis for their

bargaining in annual pay talks. RPI has averaged 0.5% to 1% higher than CPI.

Dividing an empireAsia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, is reorganising his empire into two companies, splitting up his property assets from his ports-to-telecom conglomerate. He controls two major Hong Kong-listed companies, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. and its affiliate, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. The real-estate assets of

both Cheung Kong and Hutchison will be carved out into a new Hong Kong-listed company, called CK Property. The

remaining assets of both companies, which include ports in 26 countries and a stake in Canadian oil

firm Husky Energy, will be listed separately as CKH Holdings. Li and his family trust will

then hold 30.15% of both CKH Holdings and CK Property.

COVER STORY

By Wafiur Rahman

PROFITINGFROM BASICS

How far business schools meetmarket requirements

Special Thanks - BRAC University &University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB)

Photo - Din M Shibly

ICE BusinessTimes 11February 2015

How do business graduates fare in job market? Or, more importantly, what are the skills and the culture that business schools instill up on degree holders?Given the high graduation rates, and yet, owing to disappointingly low employment rates, the percentage of unemployment rate has also been disturbing. Since naturally every graduate wants to enter a job or start his/her own businesses, how do they correlate what is actually taught at business schools to what they want? Are they in line with the ever-changing demands of the corporate industry? Does the hard work at institutions and investment by guardians in business graduates pay off?Salman Rashid is one amongst thousands of Bangladeshi graduates. At a city coffee shop, a few weeks back, the 23-year-old fresh graduate was seen swiping on his smartphone, almost endlessly. When asked about the reason for his constant engagement, he simply shrugged and answered that he was browsing through BDJobs.com and searching for a job that suits his sub-specialty. And marketing is it. It’s also quite difficult to be a

specialist at his age. When asked ‘why didn’t you try anywhere else’, he replied that other areas such as sales or finance are just not going to develop his career.But shouldn’t a proper BBA programme have harnessed his skills to get him entry level recruitment at any post?‘If I know my major in BBA very well, I don’t need anything else? Do I? I’ve tried for more than 25 posts, with no calls for interviews yet,’ said Salman who actually began to ponder his future over this period of anxiety. ‘I can’t prolong my unemployment period.’With thousands of students taking admission for tertiary level education at both public and private universities, the majority of them are taking up graduation and post-graduation courses in business administration (fondly known as BBA and MBA). It is the most preferred subject for studying of this generation and their immediate seniors.After the charms of government jobs wore out in view of pay structure or decline in their number, graduates have been more attracted to joining banks and other private institutions. This was due to the private sector boom that has taken place since the 1990s. The process began a bit earlier when the country’s entrepreneurs were trying to develop business entities.But now, as the population is increasing every year, the number of higher secondary graduates going to universities is also going higher. According to University Grants Commission (UGC), there are over 34 public universities and more than 60 private universities. More are on their way in the future. The number of students is something which even UGC has to update once every few years. So with so many students enrolling and a substantial bulk of that number graduating each year, it is difficult for all to manage jobs right away.

COVER STORY

With so many students enrolling and a substantial bulk of that number graduating each year, it is difficult for all to manage jobs right away.

GAPS BETWEEN TEXTBOOKS AND OFFICE DESKSIf one looks at human history, it would be clear that business has been at the centre of many social activities since the early days of civilization. Some might even say that the continually dynamic exchange of goods is the cornerstone of human development into massive civilizations and the emergence of the modern world. And business shows no signs of fading away. In fact, business stands at the forefront of innovation and progress. Business is the link to the past and the guide to the future.But if we put aside all fancy words, we have to face the harsh question -- Does studying business help in getting a job?‘Yes, quite a lot,’ says Professor Iqbal Ahmad, Director at Dhaka University’s prestigious Institute of Business Administration (IBA). ‘If

you look at IBA’s graduates, they are the ones who get the first priority when applying for any job, which is how we, as faculties of this institution, develop them. But the fact of the matter remains that only the best of the best gets admitted at the IBA, and the rest have to try for different public and private universities, the qualities of which, unfortunately, are not uniform. You can spot an IBA graduate right when you see one, but the same cannot be said for others. I have seen highly talented students getting enrolled in other universities, where, due to the mediocre level of harnessing, they cannot develop their business acumen as much as they could sustain.’That is why there has been an advent of career services for students who are in their 3rd or final year of studying. Career services helps students to obtain part-time or full-time employment in positions which would help them to develop

professionally, as they further their careers hereon. ‘From my understanding, most of the universities have career services office, and usually it’s a ‘one-man-outfit’ or may be a two-man-outfit, and most of them are focused on the last phase of the student, which is centrally when they are outgoing, into the professional world, or becoming a job seeker,’ said Khan AN Murshid, Director of Office of Career Services and Alumni Relations at BRAC University. ‘We, on the other hand, have a different approach - our primary consideration is that career is something which the student has to be aware of, and be concerned about, pretty much from the first or second semester. And this shouldn’t be a last minute rushed preparation for the professional world, because, that will be counterproductive. This is something that has to be built in to the students from the freshman year to right up to their graduation year.’

COVER STORY

WHAT DOES EVERYBODY WANT?Most jobseekers wish they could unlock the secret formula to winning the hearts and minds of employers. What, they wonder, is that unique combination of skills and values that make employers salivate with excitement?‘Every employer is looking for a specific set of skills from jobseekers that match the skills necessary to perform a particular job,’ said Minarul Islam, People Performance Manager at Augmedix Bangladesh, a leading outsourcing firm. ‘By far, the one skill mentioned most often by employers is the ability to listen, write, and speak effectively. Successful communication is critical in business. High analytical research skills are also a must. Managing multiple priorities is essential if one is to succeed in working. While there is some debate about whether leadership is something people are born with, these skills deal with your ability to take charge and manage your co-workers. There is possibly no bigger issue in the workplace than diversity, and jobseekers must demonstrate a sensitivity and

awareness to other people and cultures. Because so many jobs involve working in one or more workgroups, you must have the ability to work with others in a professional manner while attempting to achieve a common goal.’ He pointed out that employability skills and personal values are the critical tools and traits you need to succeed in the workplace. ‘And they are all elements that you can learn, cultivate, develop, and maintain over your lifetime. Once you have identified the sought-after skills and values and assessed the degree to which you possess, then remember to document them and market them (in your resume, cover letter, and interview answers) for job-search success,’ he added.But with so many graduates applying everywhere, it is hard to consider people from all the universities. Safwan Ahsan, former Talent Manager at British American Tobacco Bangladesh, regrets. BATB is generally perceived to be hiring graduates from a specific number of universities. When asked about this, Safwan said that given the fact that resources are limited and in order to focus their efforts, it has been possible to visit only a limited number of universities and make them source. ‘Since Bangladesh has quite a substantial number of universities, both public and private, we tend to focus on a few that would be most relevant to our organisation. One of the primary considerations is generally the quality of talent that we get from some universities and how many of them are currently working for us. Having said that, it must be mentioned that we do not dismiss talented candidates from other institutes at all; after all, diversity is one of our guiding principles. Over a period of 15 years BATB has hired people from over 120 institutes from all over the world, which is a significant number in itself.’

COVER STORY

There is possibly no bigger issue in the workplace than diversity, and jobseekers must demonstrate a sensitivity and awareness to other people and cultures

BLISSFUL KNOWLEDGEProf. Iqbal Ahmad has given a list what should be the basic education at business schools. They are as follows:First, a business degree programme will teach you critical thinking and problem solving skills. Ranging from balancing a budget to weighing marketing mishaps, your mind will be sharpened and quickened to deal with tough situations and find the smoothest way out.Second, you will learn the finer points of data analysis. On the surface, business may just look like exchanging material goods, but any good businessperson knows that underneath it all are but numbers. Knowledge of statistics, patterns, and economic formulas help businesses make the most out of their production.Third, business degree programmes teach communication skills. No business can operate with one person alone and no business can succeed if it doesn’t have clients and consumers. Thus, people skills, negotiation skills, and even hospitality skills are essential for the smooth operation of modern business.Fourth, you will definitely learn how to engage in in-depth research. A successful business takes in all of its surroundings, both physically and economically, in order to maximise its production and its profit. Without knowing what the world needs, how can you help to make it?Fifth, top tier business degree programmes will even encourage the development of creativity. What is the better way for international students to succeed in the global marketplace than to create a truly novel product, idea, or model?

So, what is taught at business schools in Bangladesh?‘Usually Bachelors in Business Administration starts off with basics

required to comprehend quantitative analysis, business communications, etc,’ said Prof. Imran Rahman, Vice Chancellor at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB). ‘Once they progress in their journey, the students are introduced to core business concepts such as marketing and finance. Further sub-specialised areas such as Human Resources also open up as they move further ahead. The objective of the business schools is to make sure that the students can learn the basic abilities so that, for example, when they will be handed a business case, they can study and analyse the merits and challenges of that particular case.’‘Here at ULAB we provide the opportunity for students to take courses outside their designated subjects, thanks to the liberal arts philosophy that we instill in our institution. In public universities, a business student will never be taught courses outside their curriculum, but here they can,’ he told ICE Business Times.

COVER STORY

‘The objective of the business schools is to make sure that the students can learn the basic abilities so that, for example, when they will be handed a business case, they can study and analyse the merits and challenges of that particular case’

PERSISTING GRADUATE UNEMPLOYMENT RATESA British Council-sponsored report on graduate unemployment in South Asia, published last year and prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), shows that nearly 5 out of every 10 graduates in Bangladesh are unemployed (against 3 out of 10 in India and Pakistan). The report partly attributes graduate unemployment problem to the region’s fast expanding but poor quality private education sector and use of outdated curriculum in public universities.‘Graduate unemployment is not unique to countries like Bangladesh,’ said Prof. M Niaz Asadullah, Professor of Development Economics at Malaya University, Kuala Lumpur, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), ‘Japan has for many years suffered from rising graduate unemployment. In South Korea, a country with very high university enrolment rate, the number of economically inactive graduates is over 3 million. In Singapore, graduate unemployment rate was reported to be 3.6% in 2013 against the average unemployment rate of around 2%. However, the EIU-BC estimate of 47% against Bangladesh’s overall unemployment rate of 5% (official estimate) is extremely worrying. As a matter of fact, a bleak graduate unemployment figure nearly 10 times our overall unemployment rate puts the credibility of all Bangladeshi universities on the line.’The EIU-BC report does not add any caveat on the accuracy of the country estimates reported though it does warn the reader against country comparison. A footnote clarifies that ‘inconsistency in definitions across national sources means figures between countries

may not be directly comparable.’ However, this warning is not helpful when the actual definition of unemployment and data sources used is not disclosed for Bangladesh and other South Asian countries. The figures for Bangladesh are puzzling for several reasons. First, the overall reported unemployment rate in Bangladesh is lower (5%) than that for India and Pakistan (8.5% and 6%). How likely is it that graduates have disproportionately high unemployment rate compared to their peers who seek jobs in economies with higher overall unemployment rates? Second, given that the overall macroeconomic conditions and GDP growth rate in Bangladesh have been favourable relative to India and Pakistan in recent years (particularly 2012 onwards); the estimated graduate unemployment rate appears questionable. Third, compared to a decade ago, the labour market and overall economic conditions of Bangladesh have been relatively more favourable to job seeking graduates. This again makes it hard to conceive that every 1 out of every 2 Bangladeshi graduates remains unemployed.Prof. Asadullah surmises a lot of reasons for this. ‘In case of Bangladesh, only 35% females of working-age population participate in the labour market. Among those who decide to work, many do without pay under informal arrangements. In other words, female graduates are disproportionately out of the labour market and don’t enter the calculation of unemployment rate. Any approximation that counts out-of-the-labour-force females as unemployed will hugely overestimate the graduate unemployment rate. Second, high graduate unemployment is a problem if instead of a temporary blip it reflects a chronic oversupply of graduates. The decade of 2000-2010 has seen tertiary

enrolment rate in Bangladesh jump from 5% to 13%.’‘Even then, compared to other countries of similar per capita income, Bangladeshi youths, particularly females, are far behind in terms of university enrolment rate. Therefore, the jury is still out on whether the country is suffering from an excess supply of graduates. Third, measuring graduate unemployment is even harder because many graduates continue in education for a second degree or consider setting up own businesses, which can take time. Even among those who finish higher education, a large proportion may choose to be unemployed to search and accept a job offer if and only if it satisfies their expectations. This sub-population, voluntarily unemployed graduates, is often left out when calculating graduate unemployment rate. Unemployment measure can also vary depending on whether we’re considering a recent cohort of graduates or all graduates in the labour market. For these reasons, the standard practice is to rely on a population of graduates for whom the employment destinations are known. Yet this standard has been comprised by the EIU-BC report.’

COVER STORY

The labour market and overall economic conditions of Bangladesh have been relatively more favourable to job seeking graduates

WHERE THE GAP LIES?‘Half of the courses taught are ideally skill-based training, but then again it can only be attained if there is a love for learning the trade, not merely for getting a job,’ Prof. Imran Rahman said. ‘In Bangladesh this is a big problem. Classroom lectures are not everything, and that is where we are lagging behind. The severe shortage of skills in business graduates is one of the major reasons why there is a high unemployment rate among business majors. But we must remain optimistic, if we can address these problems, then we can pick up the pace.’He added that ULAB is currently undertaking a research survey on what employers actually want from graduates when recruiting. ‘As far as we know, we develop the students to the extent that they can communicate effectively, meet deadlines, knowing how to adjust, etc. Lack of effective English skills also puts us far behind. Native English speakers can express their thoughts freely, whereas our students cannot. English proficiency is taken as a benchmark for high communication skills by employers, had the students been taught both English and Bangla properly in primary level education, then this should not have been the case.’The mushrooming of business graduates are not going hand in hand with employment generation. This is due to lack of job creation in the market. ‘This is not good for society,’ he surmises, ‘70% of the undergraduate students study BBA. It is also a global problem, as there is a pre-conceived notion that

business graduates will get preference than students with other majors, and the business graduates are guaranteed jobs. This is a contemporary problem though. Had this occurred 100-200 years back, we would not have been blessed with Tagore or other distinguished individuals. We need more entrepreneurs, as job creation does not seem to rise anytime soon. Students should not just wait for opportunities, but rather grab when they find one.’

COVER STORY

We need more entrepreneurs, as job creation does not seem to rise anytime soon.

CHALLENGES FOR EMPLOYERS & ACADEMIC INSTITUTESWhen asked about whether business schools are on the right track of delivery quality education to students, Prof. Rahman said that a lot more can be done. ‘The cut-paste curriculum that most universities have adopted need to be phased out and the respective management needs to find out what actually should be taught. Sadly, this is also why there is no actual integration between the business curriculum and employers.’‘Our universities should have more accreditations and set more benchmarks to make themselves more credible in society’s eyes. But lack of good faculties, lack of research grants/funds and questionable quality of education in schools and colleges are hindrances

to our development. Students and parents should not expect that universities will teach language skills, quantitative analysis and self-learning motivation, these should start from a very early point of their education.’ East Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and China are making serious investments so that they can build up on an effective and quality workforce in the near future. ‘We do not get investments like those here,’ he lamented.As far as corporations are concerned, the need to assess the graduate market and seek for customised recruits is essential. ‘Recruiting using social media is a growing trend in today’s world,’ Minarul Islam said. ‘In 2010, for example, 6% of all companies used social media to attract talent. In 2014, so far that number is 94%. Millennials and recruiters are changing the recruiting industry

together. LinkedIn is definitely the front runner in social media for recruiting talent – 94% of employers use LinkedIn to recruit, versus 65% for Facebook and 55% for Twitter. Being that the main purpose of LinkedIn is to be a business tool, this makes perfect sense. Professionals – one of whom could be your ideal candidate – are joining LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new members per second.’But he is hopeful that employers’ perspective will change. ‘I really do not see why graduates from other disciplines cannot apply for the same position as their business discipline peers can,’ he said. Some of the most successful professionals do not have any MBA degree, rather they are from International Relations, Bangla, English and even a certified MBBS-passed doctor. ‘If we can foresee changes, I don’t see why others will not in the near future.’

COVER STORY

WHAT NEXT?As there are business graduates abounding, they need jobs, suitable jobs and in cases their jobs should be focused on creation of more jobs for fellow graduates. Academies are not essentially meant for launching business entities but what they need to do, as experts agree, is to offer quality education instilling proper attitude and culture that can help graduates to face challenges of the real world of business.Of course, there will be no adequate jobs or opportunities unless the national economy

and business activities are vibrant. Business schools as the abode of creating future leaders need to ask the students a few questions on not only their own future but also the society where they will serve and bring changes. The beauty of good academy lies in helping the talents of new generations to flourish and face new and unforeseen business challenges of tomorrow.

COVER INTERVIEW

‘PRIVATE UNIVERSITIESWILL BRING POSITIVECHANGES IN THE STATEOF TERTIARY EDUCATION’Professor Imran RahmanVice Chancellor at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

By Wafiur RahmanPhoto Credit – Titu Zakaria

When it comes to quality education given by tertiary business schools, very few private universities have been able to do that since North South University was the first ever approved private university in 1992. That number does connote x number of elite business schools, but given the high tuition costs that parents pay to most of the private universities (however ‘affordable’ and ‘reasonable’ it may be advertised), it should be a basic right of the students.

When asked about what is basically taught in both the graduate and undergraduate curriculum of Business Administration (MBA and BBA respectively), Prof. Imran Rahman, Vice Chancellor at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), replied that courses which are considered to be useful in enhancing the business knowledge and acumen, are usually taught in tertiary levels. ‘Courses related to business, management, etc are all taught,’ he mentioned, ‘when Dhaka University’s Institute of Business Administration first commenced its journey, their curriculum was based on that of Indiana University from America. Faculties from the North American university came here and tailor-made a curriculum that would suit the needs of the Bangladeshi business school community back in the 1960s.’‘Usually Bachelors in Business Administration starts off with basics required to comprehend quantitative analysis, business communications, etc. Once they progress in their journey, the students are introduced to core business concepts such as marketing, finance, etc. Further sub-specialised areas such as Human Resources also open up as they move further ahead. The objective of the business schools is to make sure that the students can learn the basic abilities so that, for example, when they will be handed a business case, they can study and analyse the merits and challenges of that particular case.’An IBA alumnus himself, Prof. Rahman also recollected that it was ‘in 1967 when IBA first introduced the concept of internship in its postgraduate programme. At the end of a term, the student is assigned to a company as an intern, where they are given various tasks such as preparing reports, conducting research, etc. With the advantage of getting work exposure, it helped interns in getting jobs. In USA, before entering for a MBA programme, they demand that the

organisations to obtain data/information. This helps them to overcome any sort of communicative shyness that they may have had previously. Meeting deadlines is also another aspect that is taught through assignments or presentations.‘Half of the courses taught are ideally skill-based training, but then again it can only be attained if there is a love for learning the trade, not merely for getting a job. In Bangladesh this is a big problem. Classroom lectures are not everything, and that is where we are lagging behind. The severe shortage of skills in business graduates is one of the major reasons why there is a high unemployment rate among business majors. But we must remain optimistic, if we can address these problems, then we can pick up the pace.’Quality control is also something authorities should ponder, Prof. Rahman suggests. ‘If we look at the admission test in IBA, they usually take 100 out of 8000 applicants – that explains the cream of the crops joining an already-elite institution. It does not matter how faculties are teaching, because they know that the students can comprehend easily

applicants have at least 2-3 years of professional work experience, something Bangladeshi business schools introduced much later.’‘Here at ULAB we provide the opportunity for students to take courses outside their designated subjects, thanks to the liberal arts philosophy that we instill in our institution. In public universities, a business student will never be taught courses outside their curriculum, but here they can.’When asked about whether business schools are on the right track of delivery quality education to students, Prof. Rahman said that a lot more can be done. ‘The cut-paste curriculum that most universities have adopted need to be phased out and the respective management needs to find out what actually should be taught. Sadly, this is also why there is no actual integration between the business curriculum and employers. Compared to other majors, BBA/MBA students have a lot more scope to learn more, given the substantial amount of projects and group tasks they have to undertake, they are also subjected to various field-based outdoor researches, where they have to contact relevant companies or

COVER INTERVIEW

The objective of the business schools is to

make sure that the students can learn the

basic abilities so that, for example, when they will be handed a business

case, they can study and analyse the merits and challenges of that

particular case

organisations to obtain data/information. This helps them to overcome any sort of communicative shyness that they may have had previously. Meeting deadlines is also another aspect that is taught through assignments or presentations.‘Half of the courses taught are ideally skill-based training, but then again it can only be attained if there is a love for learning the trade, not merely for getting a job. In Bangladesh this is a big problem. Classroom lectures are not everything, and that is where we are lagging behind. The severe shortage of skills in business graduates is one of the major reasons why there is a high unemployment rate among business majors. But we must remain optimistic, if we can address these problems, then we can pick up the pace.’Quality control is also something authorities should ponder, Prof. Rahman suggests. ‘If we look at the admission test in IBA, they usually take 100 out of 8000 applicants – that explains the cream of the crops joining an already-elite institution. It does not matter how faculties are teaching, because they know that the students can comprehend easily

and harness their potential themselves. But that is not the case in other business schools. This is why teachers should teach for the love of teaching – so that they can be responsible for developing future leaders, rather than just mere business graduates.’‘Our universities should have more accreditations and set more benchmarks to make themselves more credible in society’s eyes. But lack of good faculties, lack of research grants/funds and questionable quality of education in schools and colleges are hindrances to our development. Students and parents should not expect that universities will teach language skills, quantitative analysis and self-learning motivation, these should start from a very early point of their education.’ Southeast Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and China are making serious investments so that they can build up on an effective and quality workforce in the near future. ‘We do not get investments like those here,’ he lamented.He added that ULAB is currently undertaking a research survey on what employers actually want from graduates when recruiting. ‘As far as

we know, we develop the students to the extent that they can communicate effectively, meet deadlines, knowing how to adjust, etc. Lack of effective English skills also puts us far behind. Native English speakers can express their thoughts freely, whereas our students cannot. English proficiency is taken as a benchmark for high communication skills by employers, had the students been taught both English and Bangla properly in primary level education, then this should not have been the case.’The mushrooming of business graduates are not going hand in hand with employment generation. This is due to lack of job creation in the market. ‘This is not good for society,’ he surmises, ‘70% of the undergraduate students study BBA. It is also a global problem, as there is a pre-conceived notion that business graduates will get preference than students with other majors, and the business graduates are guaranteed jobs. This is a contemporary problem though. Had this occurred 100-200 years back, we would not have been blessed with Tagore or other distinguished individuals. We need more entrepreneurs, as job creation does not seem to rise anytime soon. Students should not just wait for opportunities, but rather grab when they find one.’As far as the future is concerned, Prof. Rahman is optimistic. ‘Many university’s authorities share similar sentiments as ULAB does. If we become competitive in terms of quality of our education we provide, then we can reap the rewards accordingly. I believe that private universities will bring positive changes in the state of tertiary education. Taking cue from us, others can emulate cultivating our research culture. Even the public universities can learn from us, as their lack of accountability often shows them to be complacent in the eyes of everyone. I wish I could progress faster, in terms of development.’

COVER INTERVIEW

Photos by Din M ShiblyText by Wafiur Rahman

ALTERNATEROUTE

Technical education better jobalternative to popular subjects

PHOTO FEATURE

T Technical education is the key of country’s development and needs to have 20% of the population to be educated in technology by

2021, where we only have 5% of the population involved in technical education

right now. Our government has been working on this vision from last five years. Technical

education encourages people’s self- employment and by learning technical

education properly one can help the state to develop. It also helps to earn foreign currency

through outsourcing and freelancing so it reduces the poverty as well.

Considering the current scenario, the government should be offering incentives to

private companies to provide in-house or external training to their employees to

sharpen their skills. Currently, most organisations shy away from providing any

training -- despite an acute shortage of skilled workforce -- due to high costs and

employees' tendency to defect to another job after the training period. ‘Most employers

have been operating their businesses with a short-term vision,’ said Parveen Sultana

Huda, deputy policy adviser for Skills Employment Programme Bangladesh.

PHOTO FEATURE

She said that should be a regulatory requirement that compels private

companies to arrange training to their employees. ‘It is an urgent need.’

Bangladesh has a great potential on vocational and technical education due to

its large young population, said Manish Pandey, director of Swisscontact's South

Asia Regional Office.He particularly stressed changing the

mindset of people about vocational and technical education. ‘Vocational education is still considered a last resort here -- this mindset has to be changed.’ Pandey also called upon the private companies in the

country to consider skill development programmes as investments rather than

sunk costs.‘Bangladesh is a dynamic country, as a lot

of skill development programmes are happening here,’ said Libuse Soukupova,

head of the human and social development section of the European

Union's Dhaka office. EU is focusing on education and vocational training in

Bangladesh due to its huge shortage of skilled workforce, she added.

PHOTO FEATURE

There is likelihood of reopening of overseas jobs market in the Middle East if proper diplomacy is pursued, says BAIRA President Md. Abul Bashar. He regrets that the officials of the Bangladesh missions in the labour recipients are not always helpful to the migrant workers, let alone undertaking efforts to explore jobs for more Bangladeshi workers.Bangladesh is one of 10 largest labour sending countries in the world and it receives over $14 billion remittances annually by sending 400,000 workers a year in recent times. Bangladesh Association of

International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) is a platform of private recruiting agents that deals with overseas employment. ‘If our government allows us to work freely, we can send 1 million people annually,’ Abul Bashar told ICE Business Times in an interview at the office of BAIRA on 22 January. He also underscored the need for tapping potential markets in the countries where there is increasing demand for caregivers due to aging problems.The full text of the interview is as follow:

INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH

By Rabiul IslamPhoto - Reza Shahriar Rahman

OVERSEAS JOBPROSPECTS STILL BRIGHTBAIRA president emphasises aggressive diplomacy,more private sector engagement to reopen labour market

How do you look at prospects of overseas employment for Bangladeshi youths?I see bright prospects of overseas employment. More Bangladeshi youth would get jobs abroad in 2015. Through our representatives in various countries we have come to know that the United Arab Emirates will open the labour market for Bangladeshis next month (February). There are also possibilities of reopening of Kuwait’s labour market for the Bangladeshis. If we take into considerations all these developments, we can say that the prospects are really, really bright.

Where do the private sector and the government need to focus on, especially in terms of training, to tap the potentials of jobs outside the country?The private sector and the government have to focus on training manpower as there is no alternative to training, given the consistent technological progress and need for updating knowledge and skills. Demand for trained and skilled manpower is increasing day by day. With this end in view, the government has planned to establish 35 new training centres. At present, the recruiting agents of BAIRA have 70 training centres. BAIRA has planned to establish a large training institute of international standard in Gazipur. Around 20,000 people could be given training every month in the institute.

What are major changes that you’ve witnessed in the culture of exporting manpower in the past three decades?Recently Bangladesh faces problems in overseas jobs markets, especially in the Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. Those countries say that their markets have been saturated for Bangladeshi labourers. Instead of hiring workers from Bangladesh, those countries recruited workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. But unfortunately our embassies did not take proper steps to reopen those markets. It is true that a section of our migrants is engaged in some objectionable activities. The embassies should have taken drastic measures to address the problems and overcome image crisis.

Do you think the country will be able to increase remittance earnings in the forseeable future? Why or why not?Although the growth of remittance is slow recently, I think remittance would increase in future. Because there are possibilities of reopening of a number of markets. Due to civil war, Iraq and Libya did not recruit workers from Bangladesh. We hope we would be able to send workers to these two countries.

Where are we lagging behind in competing with other manpower exporting countries or meeting demands of receiving countries?The officials at Bangladesh embassies abroad are not pro-migrant workers. On the

contrary, the embassies of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka are quite active and prompt in helping migrants workers. The governments of these countries facilitate the private recruiting agents to make business. If our government allows us to work freely, we can send 1 million people annually. The government should identify the disease and take steps accordingly to solve the problems. The government should recall how the recruiting agents sent workers in the past and the private sector can do that now.

What is the role of economic diplomacy in sending manpower with jobs to different countries? Has the private sector any role to play to support the government?The economic diplomacy has a significant role in overseas employment. In this regard, Bangladesh embassies have to play a very important role. Embassy officials have to negotiate with labour ministries and employers of recipient countries to make fresh recruitments or to increase recruitments from Bangladesh. The embassies have to be proactive so that we can send more workers. If the government seeks support from BAIRA, we are ready to provide our support.

Have you, recruiting agents identified any new market (destinations) and areas (job sectors) where Bangladeshi jobseekers have the brightest prospects?We have identified Thailand as a

new destination for Bangladeshi overseas jobseekers. We hope the market would be opened soon. Besides, there are opportunities in developed countries where population growth is zero or minus. Those countries such as Finland, Sweden and Switzerland need care givers for old people. BAIRA and the government are working jointly to send caregivers to those countries.

In view of global tensions and increasing demand of labour at home, how is the business prospect of BAIRA memebers? Have you prepared yourself to make new kind of business?Yes, it is true that the situation of overseas employment is bad. As a result, many private recruiting agents have diversified their business. Many of them have left overseas employment business. BAIRA as an association does not think about other businesses. An individual recruiter can explore business opportunities elsewhere.

Do you think the overseas recruiting agents need to invest in making workers ready for global market and utilize their hard-earned money by providing a series of supports, such as skills, healthcare, language proficiency, insurance, housing scheme and some welfare measures?The association does not work directly for the welfare of the workers. BAIRA members deposit Tk

2,500 to the government against sending a worker abroad. The expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry has a Wage Earners’ Welfare Fund. From this fund, various welfare activities including bringing dead bodies of migrants from abroad and giving financial support to the victims’ families were accomplished.

When will Bangladesh be able to capture more white-collar jobs, in place of only blue-collar jobs? How can education play an important role in this regard?It is not right that we are not sending skilled manpower abroad. We have been able to send 60 percent skilled manpower to the UAE, 70 percent to Oman and 60 percent to Qatar. Still, we need to work for creating skilled manpower. Because a skilled worker receives higher wages than a semi-skilled or unskilled worker does. The government has planned to introduce technical education in class VI. In India, the government has established technical training centres at upazila level. Our government should follow such steps.

Economic diplomacy has a significant role in overseas employment. In this regard, Bangladesh embassies have to play a very important role. Embassy officials have to negotiate with labour ministries and employers of recipient countries to make fresh recruitments or to increase recruitments from Bangladesh

The government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently signed an agreement for a $10 million grant to help scale up skills training for young workers to boost income and productivity. The Government of Switzerland provided the grant which will be administered by ADB. Economic Relations Division (ERD) Joint Secretary Saifuddin Ahmed and Kazuhiko Higuchi, Country Director of Bangladesh Resident Mission, ADB signed the agreement on behalf of the government and ADB respectively.Siroco Messerli, deputy director of cooperation of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Dhaka attended the event. This assistance is part of the $30 million grant that the Government of Switzerland has planned to contribute to the Skills for Employment Investment Programme. The investment program is implemented by the

Government of Bangladesh through the Ministry of Finance. The investment program will be implemented over 7 years."The assistance provided by the Government of Switzerland will support Bangladesh’s efforts to become a middle-income country by raising workers’ skills, productivity and income," said Country Director Kazuhiko Higuchi. The assistance under the first tranche of the investment program will target 40,000 women and disadvantaged people, including those with disabilities. It will also support 32 public training institutions under Ministry of Education, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, and Ministry of Industries; nine industry associations; a microcredit organisation (Palli-Karma Sahayak Foundation); and Bangladesh Bank. The investment programme will equip over 1.25 million youths with employable skills by 2021 through a strong involvement of the private sector. The investment programme will support skills training in 15 priority sectors, starting with six sectors: garments and textiles, leather, construction, light engineering, information technology, and shipbuilding. A major target of the investment program is to boost job placement to around 70 per cent from about 40 per cent now through performance based funding.The investment programme is estimated to cost a total of $1.07 billion. In addition to $30 million from the Government of Switzerland and the $350 million ADB assistance, the investment programme is expected to be complemented by $200 million from the Government of Bangladesh, $400 million from other development partners, and $90 million from the private sector. The first tranche of the ADB loan is $100 million.

Government and ADB signgrant deal worth $100million to boost workers’ skills

FINANCIALBOOST

Photo: Din M Shibly

MANPOWER

MMore than 70% of the buildings in readymade garments (RMG) and textiles sectors are poorly constructed – a state that consumes 30% additional electricity. A recent report said many buildings require extra cooling because of inappropriate metal roofing, which radiates heat. Others need more electric lights because a poor design means there is a dearth of natural lighting, which can exacerbate cooling problems.The study found that the humidity range was above 85% in many factory buildings, while the global permissible standard is 60% at the most. The year-long study jointly carried out by the architecture department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Gesellschaftfuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), run by the German government, suggested that green retrofitting would help the sector by reducing energy consumption and yielding higher output in the RMG industry. It would also minimise the negative environmental impact of the existing textiles and garments factory buildings. The study said most of the garments factories in Bangladesh are suffering from high thermal gains from rooms of inappropriate dimensions and that the noise, ventilation and other things affecting workers’ comfort were not being considered during the

construction of factories. Such ergonomic shortcomings end up impairing their efficiency, the study report noted.Covering quite a number of RMG and textile units, the study found that 46% of the workers have been suffering from chronic headaches, while 27% have been suffering from severe eye pain because of poor lighting. Natural light was found to be preferable to electric light, and workers who work in natural light produced more garments with fewer defects. Sajal Chowdhury, one of the researcher architects from the BUET-GIZ project, said the performances of factory buildings were barely checked before their construction. ‘Building performance modelling, a mandatory requirement in many countries across the world while constructing factory buildings, is still considered an optional design phase in Bangladesh,’ he said. He explained that such modelling was essential to make the most of natural resources like wind and daylight. ‘Our study found that with efficient design, it is possible to achieve far better output with less energy consumption,’ he observed.Dr Khondaker Shabbir Ahmed, a professor of architecture at BUET, said most of the existing RMG and textiles factory buildings were running on fossil fuels. ‘This is of particular concern, as buildings have been reported to account for 44 % of total energy consumption.’‘Energy conservation in building design is very effective at mitigating

the impact of global warming by reducing carbon emissions from building operations. Under these circumstances, green retrofitting of the existing factory buildings could be the perfect solution,’ he added.Dr Zebun Nasreen Ahmed, a professor at the department of architecture at BUET, observed that by adequately employing existing natural resources, such as wind, daylight, solar energy and rainwater, and reusing waste and byproducts generated from the building systems, pollution and impacts on the immediate environment can be prevented. Moreover, by using the green concept, social equity can also be addressed, and a green building ensures that it equitably provides for all the sections of its users by giving them appropriate work and recreation space, said Prof. Nasreen. Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, former president of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said green retrofitting would initially cause the entrepreneurs to shell out a lot of money, but in the long run it would be profitable. ‘Incidents of garments buildings catching fire, and causing losses in lives and properties, occur every year. A certified green factory building will not only ensure better ventilation, fire safety and air quality, but also easier maintenance and use of non-fire-prone equipment.’Some of the renowned garment manufacturers in the country have already introduced green factories to reduce harmful emissions and improve energy efficiency by recycling byproducts and conducting proper waste management. Classic Fashion Concepts has launched a project to set up a green garments factory. Shahidullah Azim, its managing director, said in order to be certified ‘green’, a factory must have all the elements used in it tested by the US-based Green Building Concept (GBC) organisation.

Study favours green factoriesfor improving output

ADDRESSINGFLAWS FORBETTERMENT

THINGS THATARE ON HIGHDEMAND

SECTOR FOCUS

Lack of support stuntsorganic food growth

THINGS THATARE ON HIGHDEMAND

P Production of organic food in Bangladesh is not enough to meet the domestic demand and unfortunately the production has declined mainly due to lack of support from the government, said food experts. A huge percentage of food items, be they imported or produced locally, contain chemicals and the percentage of organic food in the country’s food chain is less than one percent, said Rabbni Badal of Unnayan Bikalper Nitinirdharoni Gobeshona (UBINIG), a research group for development alternatives. A few years ago, Faisal, an organic food manufacturer and supplier, got a national prize for harvesting pesticide-free food products. Faisal used to sell chemical-free fruits and vegetables in different outlets in Dhaka, but had to stop the initiative in 2012. The whole of Bangladesh was under organic farming until the 1960s. In the 1970s, the government provided subsidy to farmers on chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

The subsidy was reduced to 50 % and import and export of chemical fertilizers were opened for the private sector. Of late, some organisations, including Harvest, are trying to supply organic foods. But production has shrunk significantly, largely due to lack of the official assistance.Aurup, who runs a Harvest outlet in Dhaka’s Mohammad area, said, ‘We need capital for better initiatives and it takes a long time to make profits from such kind of businesses. Moreover, many of us don’t have the passion.’ Chemical-free fruits and vegetables have become almost impossible to get now. The country is yet to develop an organic food chain network that has the ability to meet the growing demand for organic foods.UBINIG, however, had initiated a movement to promote organic food in the 1980s. It is working on its neo-agro movement (Naya Krishi Andolon) to provide healthy foods as

SECTOR FOCUS

well as to protect biodiversity-based ecology. Probortana, an associate organisation of UBINIG, has opened several outlets in different part of Dhaka, including Banani and Mohammadpur, to provide organic foods.Harvest has been selling organic foods from its outlets in Mirpur, Mohmmadpur, Kalabagan, Rampura, and Banani areas. It provides home delivery services. It stocks different kinds of food items such as sweets, vegetables, eggs, chickens, and herbal medicines. Consumers can buy different organic food items, including puffed rice from Aush paddy, parched rice (Khoi) and rice processed in traditional way, local fruits, powder rice, sugar cane molasses, date molasses, mustard oil, spices, honey and local fruits, from Probortana outlets, which also have home delivery services.The prices of organic food are 5 to 10 % more than their alternate food products available in the markets.

The naturally produced food is sold in Gulshan Avenue, road no 127, house no 76/2 every Friday from 10 in the morning to 12 at noon, while mainly organic vegetables are sold at German Butcher in Gulshan-2, road no 51, house no 9 on Tuesdays twice a month. On their part, consumers allege that the prices of organic foods are higher and unaffordable for common people.One such consumer, Ferdousi, said many people do not have the capacity to buy organic food items because the prices fixed by the manufacturers are too high. Explaining the reason why some products are expensive, Farida Akter, executive director of UBNIG, said the prices are fixed after calculating the production cost. She claimed it was not much higher as compared to other food products in the market. Production costs for organic foods are typically higher because of greater labour inputs and also because greater diversity of

enterprises means economics of scale cannot be achieved. Agriculturist Fayzul Siddique said, ‘We term food items as classical organic food when they are cultivated on land that was left fallow for three years after farming based on chemical fertilisers.’ According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the pesticide used in the country’s farms was 446,246.78 tonne from 1984 to 2010. The statistics also show that an average of 16,527.65 tonnes of pesticide were consumed by humans every year.About 30 lakh people around the world are affected by poisons due to chemical pesticides and around 7 lakh have been suffering from long-term diseases, according to a study conducted by the World Health Organisation. Considering the health hazards, the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nation has banned use of 13 types of pesticides, including DDT.

SECTOR FOCUS

Production costs for organic foods are typically higher because of greater labour inputs and also because greater diversity of enterprises means economics of

scale cannot be achieved

SPECIAL STORY

By Ahmed SharifPhoto - Din M Shibly

SPICYCONCOCTIONS

Packaged Spice Marketof Bangladesh

SPECIAL STORY

‘I never found the real flavor and taste in packaged branded spices.

But nowadays I hardly have enough time or energy to buy and process fresh

spices,’ said Mrs. Nasreen Mansur, an experienced housewife, who had recently become a mother-in-law. Packaged spices

seem to be the answer for the busy people of Dhaka and other urban areas. Even the

people, who had spent the major part of their lives processing their own spices in the

traditional way, seem to be looking towards an easier solution. And that also has to do a lot with

people’s affordability. A constant economic growth over the last couple of decades helped to change

people’s lifestyle. A lot of people have sacrificed some of their perception in order to get the benefit of

convenience. Though Mrs. Mansur was not entirely happy with the branded spices she bought from the

market, she still went on using those, which highlights the priorities she had set.

She also thinks that if Bangladeshi spices are exported to other countries, which must have been produced from the best

quality spices, are never marketed inside the country. Her lack of confidence on Bangladeshi spices is not surprising, considering

the numerous negative news on the media regarding all kinds of tainted food products. Yet, she did not think of that as enough of a reason to move away from the packaged spices. She already had a bad stint with one brand, but thinks that her current brand is just

about good enough to keep her loyal. She is not alone, which is reflected by an estimated market size of Tk. 900-1,200 crore per year with a yearly

growth rate of 15-20%. These packed spices are replacing fresh spices in Bangladeshi kitchens faster.

SPECIAL STORY

CREATING A MARKET BASEDON CONVENIENCEIt’s not that everyone has become users of packed branded spices. Mrs Nilufa Kamal, another experienced housewife, has stuck to the traditional way of spice processing. ‘I buy 1 kg or ½ kg spices every time, dry them and then grind them at a nearby shop. That is enough for 6-7 months,’ she said. Her husband buys the spices very selectively. She said, ‘There are different types of dried chili. One is hotter than the other, while there are others that produces better colour than some others. If I buy my spices, I can decide which type of spices I would get. If I buy packed spices, I have to take whatever they give me.’ She thinks that the spices produced this way have much better taste than the branded spices. But what is most notable is that she uses several brands of ‘Biriani Masala’. Mixed spices like these give her the convenience that she never thought possible. She is also happy with the quality of the mixed spices. Mrs Mansur and Mrs Kamal are both experienced and traditional housewives living in Dhaka. Their next generations are now looking for convenience from the word ‘go’. But the most notable success of the branded spice industry of Bangladesh is converting such traditional consumers.

SPECIAL STORY

MADE IN BANGLADESHThe products are being marketed in the country backed up by branding efforts, quality TV advertisements, attractive and quality packaging. But industry insiders think that it is the quality of the product that ultimately keeps the consumers loyal. ‘The quality of packaging in Bangladesh has made huge improvements over the years. Yet, if you cannot give quality products, the consumer will never buy the product again regardless of the attractiveness of the packaging,’ said Masud Rana, Head of Marketing at BD Group. The quality of spices had been in the news of late. But despite negative publicity, Bangladeshi spices have found their feet in markets outside the country. ‘Our spices are now being exported to the Middle East, Malaysia, Australia and other countries,’ said Md Marufur Rahman, Assistant Brand Manager, International Market at Pran Group. He said that it is the big number of Bangladeshi workers living in the Middle East that are mainly consuming Bangladeshi spices. Familiarity with Bangladeshi spice flavours and an inherent nationalism is probably the biggest motivating factor for this market segment. These people not only send a big remittance back to the country, they are also helping to establish a market for Bangladeshi products in those countries. Because these people go to the Middle East for some specific period, most of the time they miss their country. Marketing messages like ‘mothers’ cooking’ or ‘wife’s cooking’ attract them. It is interesting that Indian and Pakistani workers in those countries generally prefer brands originating from their respective countries. Though Bangladeshi brands are not that popular among non-Bangladeshi people from the Indian Sub-continent in those countries, the scenario had been gradually changing of late because of the improvement of quality of Bangladeshi spices. The general similarity of spices used by the population from the Sub-continent also helped. It is notable that Bangladeshi

spices are yet to catch a big chunk of the market comprising those countries’ citizens. Mixed spices seem to have a good prospect in these markets, as ‘people of the Middle Eastern countries are a bit lazy and people from the Sub-continent are too busy’, which helped to sell the products, said Marufur Rahman of Pran. Apart from the Bangladeshi crowd, different markets want different flavours. While the Malaysian market wants their spices to produce reddish colours, Middle Eastern markets do not like red. The mixed spices being marketed in different countries are now being matched with the different food habits in those countries. Spice products currently available in those countries are teaching Bangladeshi marketers about the packaging, taste and quality norms prevailing in those countries. These are various international consumer behavior lessons that Bangladeshi marketers are learning every day.

SPECIAL STORY

EVERYTHING COMES FROM THE FIELDSUltimately it is down to the crop fields where these spices come from. As a country based on agriculture, the effect of commercialization on some of the agro products on the overall rural economy of Bangladesh would be significant. Whereas constant issues with farmers not being able to sell their products in the market made headlines in the case of potatoes, vegetables, guava, milk and other agro-products, entrance of corporate bodies as commercial buyers for the farmers seems like a good phenomenon. The spice market had regularly been in the news due to volatile prices, especially during periods of high demand, e.g. during Ramadan and just before Eid-ul Azha. Yet, an assured market for products is another type of encouragement for the growers. Marufur Rahman of Pran said, ‘We are following contract farming method with spice growers. This is benefiting the farmers in different ways including raising quality.’ ‘Spice crops are seasonal. These are produced only once or twice during a year. And that creates a financial need for the farmers. Spice marketing companies are currently giving that support to the farmers,’ said Masud Rana of BD Group. But he also thinks that government monitoring in this area can make the whole system farmer-friendly. ‘If the government had a dedicated agency to ensure food hygiene, it would’ve benefitted everyone. Proper procedures regarding use of fertilizer, chemicals and other materials should be monitored by an agency to help raise the overall standard of food hygiene,’ he thinks. And also as these are seasonal crops, yet their demand is all throughout the year, a certain level of monitoring needs to be there regarding their preservation.Though Bangladesh is still dependent on imported spices to a large extent, local spice production has picked up during the last decade or so. According to the agricultural production trends listed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), some selective spices in Bangladesh have made significant progress over the last decade or so; among those are onion, ginger and garlic. Over a

period of nine years from 2003 to 2011, onion production increased 585%, garlic 514%, ginger 74%, and other spices 192%. Only chili production showed a dismal performance of 28% increase. Also notable is land use for spice cultivation. Onion cultivation recorded an increase in land use of 240%, garlic 191%, ginger 20%, and other spices 52%. Land for chili production, on the other hand, decreased by 38%. It is clear from these trends that farmer interest in onion and garlic cultivation had been the highest, whereas, interest in chili production, the lowest. Onion, garlic and ginger are still being imported due to a supply gap. This may help farmers to keep interested in these crops. But none of these three crops are major part of packaged spice industry. Though ginger and garlic are becoming available in dried or paste form of late, they are still not part of the major packaged spices list. Turmeric, coriander and cumin are major packaged spices along with chili. Their production figures had been very volatile. After getting good prices in one season, many farmers got interested in their cultivation, which resulted in a price reduction the next season. DAE (Department of Agriculture Extension) officials think that reduction in import volume can encourage farmers to cultivate spices. There is no way to grow these crops if the farmers see no profit.

SPECIAL STORY

ADDING TO THE CONVENIENCE BUCKETThe local market is being captured by branded spices fast. ‘There was a time when local companies used to produce only basic spices like chili, turmeric, coriander etc. But nowadays local companies are competing hard against imported brands marketing mixed spices,’ said Md Habibul Islam, Area Manager, Retail Operations at Rahimafrooz Superstores. Halim Mix, Biriani Masala, Mezbani Masala, meat masala, fish masala, chicken masala, etc are gaining in popularity. ‘These mixed spices have a steady demand all throughout the

year, not just during specific seasons,’ he said. ‘It is not just the mixed spices or major powdered spices, all types of spices, including cinnamon, cardamom and others are being marketed intact in packages of various convenient sizes,’ said Islam. There was a time when people used to spend some effort selectively buying these spices from the open market. But now, spices are being sold in packaged format after a quality check. Superstores are playing an important part with their store brands. Convenience seeking consumers are getting further convenience through these packed ‘whole’ spices. In contrast to the powdered spices, these spices are being used for other culinary uses. Because of this packaging and branding efforts, consumer confidence is increasing, thinks Islam of Rahimafrooz Superstores, which owns the Agora superstores chain. ‘We get our spices from the areas that produce the best quality spices. Our contractors sort out the spices and process them, after which, we apply our processes to maintain quality,’ he said. Proper cleaning and maintaining proper weight are other aspects of quality that are also being marketed here. Despite all these quality checks, there are still issues with quality. After negative report about Pran’s powdered turmeric, the company took the product out of the market and did some campaign regarding their new efforts. This, Islam thinks, has helped to regain consumer confidence, as the brand took the complaint very seriously and took steps to rectify the problem. Listening to the consumers is a positive thing.

LEVERAGE FOR OTHER INDUSTRIESPackaged spice industry has also helped other industries to grow around it. ‘There was a time when no company here manufactured

cylinders, which is an essential machinery to produce packaging. Spice industry’s rise along with other industries, helped local and foreign investors to establish cylinder manufacturing industry here,’ said Masud Rana of BD Group. The packaging industry in the country has improved leaps and bounds during the last one decade or so. This is up to world standard in a lot of cases, though there are still some ways to go. Because of price consideration, packaging industry is yet to catch the international market in quite a few places. In the local market, on the other hand, new types of packaging are being introduced of late. ‘Some brands are coming up with plastic jars and boxes, which help users to use the packs for storing,’ said Habibul Islam of Agora. Packaged spices industry has created employment for many in various stages of quality control, processing, packaging, transport, marketing, advertising, and other areas. New products like garlic and ginger in dried and paste forms are entering the market, creating further opportunities. The impact of all these on the economy is significant. Industry people are very optimistic about the spice market. They think that the market has a lot of potential to grow. They foresee a huge packaged spice market down to the remote rural areas. ‘The spice industry, and even the processed food industry in Bangladesh, has so much potential that even if several other companies make their entry here, the market can still accommodate them,’ thinks Masud Rana of BD Group. There was a time when only a few brands were in the market. Now there is Radhuni, Pran, Rani, BD, Fresh, Rupchada, and many other brands. A lot of corporate bodies have realized the potential of this market. But industry people also think that the entrepreneurs here must forgo the thought of making more profit with less investment.

The government is set to establish a national data centre and procure six ships with concessional loans from China. The cabinet committee on economic affairs is likely to consider the two proposals from the ICT Division and the shipping ministry, for which the Export-Import Bank of China will provide $338 million in loans at 2% interest.The repayment period for the loan will be 20 years, with a five-year grace period, said an official of the finance ministry. The data centre will be set up on the premises of Kaliakoir hi-tech park in Gazipur, as part of the government's vision of a Digital Bangladesh by 2021, said an official of the ICT Division.Under the project, a high performance, well-structured and well-protected four-tier data centre

will be established, which the government, non-government and foreign multinational companies can use to store data. The data centre will be the sixth largest in the world, said the official. China has nominated state-owned ZTE Holdings Company and ZTE Corporation for setting up the data centre, according to the proposal from the ICT Division.ZTE Corporation on behalf of the two companies has already conducted a feasibility study free of cost. The two companies will set up the data centre for $154 million in a direct purchase method that will be financed by the Chinese Exim Bank under the concessional loan arrangement. The remaining $184 million of the $338 million-loan will be used to purchase six ships for the

Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC). The ships will be supplied by the China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation (CMC).An official of the shipping ministry said the CMC first demanded around $208 million for the six ships but the ministry through several rounds of negotiations managed to bring down the figure to $184 million. Of the six ships, three are oil tankers and three bulk carriers. At present, BSC has a fleet of only eight ships, the average age of which are over 30 years, said the proposal from the shipping ministry. No ship was added to the fleet since 1991 due to high prices, which the government could not afford with its own resources. Now, an initiative is being taken to procure ships with foreign loans.

FOLLOW-UP

By Wafiur Rahman

RESPITE ISNEVER LATE

China to bankroll data centres and ships

TRADE DEVELOPMENT

By Wafiur RahmanPhoto - Ahmed Rasel

BOTTLE

OLDWINE IN

NEWDespite clichéd title, Dhaka International Trade Fair 2015 offered visitors with innovative stall decoration and product packages

That is right. Packages were the hit of this year’s fair among visiting consumers. The usually shady ‘buy one and get ten free’ offer was rehashed and reinforced, as stall owners feared backlash and black-listing by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB.) Not only that, most of the biggest brands and conglomerates had these offers where, for a meager price, they stashed off bundles of their best products and gave it away as part of their package bundles. I was happy yet devastated to be carrying the bundles of Nabisco, Romania, All-time (PRAN) and New Zealand Dairy Products. Anything more would have resulted in death by gravity pulls from the overweight bundles.

What is new?DITF-2015 was expected to provide an immense opportunity for both buyers and sellers to establish contacts with national and international companies. The fair will exhibit a huge variety of products, including textile and garments, leather and leather goods, including footwear, machinery and equipments, pharmaceuticals, carpets, chemical and allied products, cosmetic and beauty aids, dairy products, electrical and electronic items, food stuff, gift and novelty items, handicrafts, household appliance, furniture, building materials, sports goods, sanitary ware, toys, stationary, watches and clocks and jewelry etc.Despite nationwide blockades by BNP, turnouts were more than substantial on weekends and evenings on the working days. ‘We had gotten poor response during the initial blockade days from January 6. It created obstacle to product transportation. We had earned only around Tk. 3,000 per day during the

first three days, which was very unfortunate. Usually we sell products worth Tk. 100,000 to 150,000 per day at DITF,’ said Md Mirajul Islam, a representative of Bulbul Textile Industries Ltd. ‘We've paid Tk 230,000 for the stall in the fair, but we are not able to do business here for different problems, rather than the Fridays.’Shanok Barua, a salesman of Delhi Aluminum, said usually the visitors rushed to their stall to buy aluminum and stainless steel-made products. The participants alleged that they are facing problems to get power and water supply in the fair. They claimed that they are facing power cut in morning and water supply disruption in washrooms in morning and evening every day. A total of 97 pavilions, 58 mini pavilions, 351 stalls and 10 restaurants have been set up on the fair premises. Some 48 stalls have been allocated to foreign companies, and the rest to local companies. There are nine stalls, set up by women entrepreneurs. Some 14 countries, including India, Pakistan,

China, Malaysia, Iran, Thailand, US, Turkey, Singapore, Australia, UK, UAE, South Korea and Germany, are participating in the fair.‘We have seen many offers and discounts,’ said Shahana Shafiuddin, a proud DITF visitor and housewife, ‘If I didn't have any problem to carry heavy weight luggage I would had buy more household things. You know, I like discounts and offer. Like if you buy ice-cream of TK 100 you will get an extra ice-cream. I bought a packet of milk powder and got a watch for my son. I bought tooth brushes which were TK 37 at outside, and they took TK 25 in the fair. I got TK 200 discount at Nivea lotion, TK 350 discount at my son's full pant (from SmartTex). I saw stalls of India, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea, Iran etc (Allah knows whether they actually from which country). My son liked to ride toy train. I ride on them for twice. We saw these mini kids play area in 3 places. They were not in very good quality but good enough for city kids, who doesn't have much space to play.’

TRADE DEVELOPMENT

Expectations magnanimousBeing a modern furniture brand, Hatil celebrates the idea of minimalism in every piece it creates. 'Slim is smart', the much celebrated tagline of Hatil has a lot more to do rather than just communicating a design philosophy. ‘It portrays a 'green theme'; we must preserve the environment from deterioration,’ commented Selim H. Rahman, CMD of Hatil Complex Ltd. while talking at Hatil Premier Pavilion in Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) 2015.During visit it was seen that stalls of local companies are attracting the low- and middle-income buyers. Mostly, they are crowding the stalls of Walton, Runner, MyOne, Jamuna, RFL and some other local companies. The traders have also expressed satisfaction due to the increasing trend of public gathering from the beginning of the fair.Walton authority says with its existing models, Walton have brought 30 new models of television, refrigerator, air-conditioner, motorcycle, mobile and home appliance products.Md Obaid, a salesman at the Pakistan Pavilion at the DITF, said political instability has been hampering their sales at the fair. ‘We had set up the stall here to make Kashmiri garment items familiar to the people. We had expected higher sales,’ he said.Meanwhile, illegal makeshift stalls at the DITF are hampering the dignity of the mega trade event and causing sufferings to the visitors and participants. The unauthorized stalls, installed at different corners and open space at the fair venue, were seen selling dolls and different food items. Many floating vendors were also selling cigarettes at the fair premises while many visitors were seen smoking.The on-duty police personnel and the fair authority hardly took any initiatives to eject the illegal stalls. Sources alleged that the makeshift

stall owners have been running their businesses illegally by bribing a few officials. A makeshift stall owner seeking anonymity told this correspondent that he had to pay a handsome amount to operate his stall at the DITF. He, however, refused to give details of the persons he had paid the bribes to.Md Arman, a visitor at the fair, expressed frustration over the presence of unauthorised stalls at the fair, saying that the illegal stalls are spoiling the beauty of the events. Md Rezaul Karim, (Deputy Secretary) Member of DITF 2015 committee and Deputy Director of Export Promotion Bureau, however, said there were no such illegal stalls at the fair. He also said that they are alert to check installation of unauthorized stalls at the fair venue.

How this helps usPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina told businessmen to increase productivity to survive in the competitive world of today while opening the Dhaka International Trade Fair. She is correct to observe that quality and productivity are not areas where the country can afford to stand still, but must constantly keep improving, as once Bangladesh

becomes a mid-income country exporters may lose some LDC facilities and the country’s industries will need more than ever to be able to compete at a global level.The DITF’s 516 stalls and pavilions offer a welcome annual platform for businesses of all sizes to showcase their products and attract new customers. With countries such as Australia , China, Germany, India, Turkey, UK and the US taking part in this year’s fair, events like this are vital to help businesses attract new customers and grow their exports.The interest generated by the fair provides a valuable reminder to businesses and consumers alike of the potential of Bangladesh’s economy. Countries such as China and South Korea have used export-led growth as the base to lift millions of their people out of poverty. There is no reason why Bangladesh cannot do the same.The government should keep working with the private sector to improve infrastructure and speed up the expansion of special economic zones. Creating a more amenable environment for investors is vital to help businesses deliver the improvements needed to support healthy growth in exports.

TRADE DEVELOPMENT

Bangladesh's future accounting and finance professionals must acquire competencies to provide strategic insights, in place of traditional scorekeeping duties, to the firms as their role are shifting from financial controller to financial business partner across the world. This observation was made at the CFO Conference-2014 organised by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB).Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, was the chief guest at the inaugural session, which was addressed, among others, by Mohammed Salim, FCMA, ICMAB president, Muzaffar Ahmed FCMA, chairman of seminar and conference committee and past president of ICMAB, and Abu Sayed Md Shaykhul Islam FCMA, vice president of ICMAB. Around 100 chief financial officers (CFOs), senior officials of the accounting and

finance departments from different companies participated in the day-long conference.The conference is a platform to have valuable discussions on the issues from the corporate leaders and scholars, taking the professionalism to a new level. Aubrey Joachim, Past President of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) presented a key-note paper on ‘CFO's Role in Corporate Management’ at the function. In his speech, he said, ‘The roles of finance and accounting professionals have changed over the last few years and will continue to change in the future.’ In place of the tradition scorekeepers and tabulators, he said, ‘Both accounting and finance personnel now find themselves operating in cross-functional teams working to identify new business opportunities, streamlining operations, contributing to decision making and improving profitability.’To transform them to add value to the organisations and become business partners, he strongly suggested the future finance professionals to acquire excellent analytical skills in customer and market analysis besides financial analysis. ‘They will also have to acquire skills to use multi-disciplinary team approach to inform key decision making as well as the ability to integrate inputs from diverse non-financial sources,’ he said.The financial professionals also need to have strong commercial acumen characterised by strong product, process and market knowledge, he added. Three separate panel discussions on ‘CFO in Next Decade’, ‘Meet to the CFOs’ and ‘Journey from CFO to CEO- Listening to the Story’ were held at the conference. Various prominent discussants included Supun Weerasinghe, CEO of Robi, Bhuvnesh Khanna, managing director and country head of Commercial Banking, HSBC, Dr Swapan Kumar Bala, managing director of Dhaka Stock Exchange and others.

CORPORATE ETHICS

Thrust required for ensuring financialdiscipline and accountability

ENSURINGETHICS ANDACCOUNTABILITY

BLUE ECONOMY

Women-led aquafarming projects in Bangladeshhave led to a 500% increase in fish production

THE ASCENSIONOF AQUACULTURE

IBT Report

In Bangladesh, more than 20 million people currently suffer from undernutrition, and nearly a third of the population live in poverty. This needn’t be the case. There are four million ponds throughout rural southern Bangladesh which could be used to cultivate a healthy, high-protein food: fish.Aquaculture is a branch of farming that involves cultivating fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants under controlled conditions. In a recent initiative by the CGIAR research programme on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS), these ponds are being used in women-led aquafarming projects as sources of food and income.The research programme works with 96 women in eight communities to identify the best varieties of fish and feed for local conditions. The project started by establishing a vision of the homestead farms, then identifying specific problems such as the selection of species that can grow well in shaded ponds. With support from researchers, the women designed the research plan, lead meetings and conducted research in their ponds,

recording results and reported back to the group with their findings and observations. The introduction of new aquaculture practices has been coupled with education and training about the nutritional benefits of eating small fish and vegetables. There are huge work opportunities for women in aquaculture. With the ponds close to the home, women can easily access these resources, have a say over their use and take on roles like fish feeding, monitoring growth rates, regular harvesting for consumption and demonstrating techniques to others in the community. In the first year production of fish from ponds increased substantially: on average by 500% from previous years. Likewise, a recent study shows that growth in aquaculture has led to greater fish consumption among the poorest consumers in Bangladesh.A key learning from this initiative, and others like it, is that involving men and women in the learning process helps to develop understanding at the family level, and can advance progress towards gender equality. Kamola Roy, a wife and mother who participated in the project, commented that her husband treated her with more respect, and the family could now enjoy fresh fish every day, when before they only had the means to buy fish once a week.Also, shifting ownership of the work to farmers and prioritising their preferences in the programme design was an important feature. This kind of farmer-led innovation has been shown to build capacity to solve the problems smallholder farmers face.With over 4m small home ponds in Bangladesh, there is great potential to scale this approach and increase fish production. Key to scaling-up the process is the project facilitators’ skill in engaging the farmers in the process and increasing their confidence and capacity to continue. This initiative could also include a management package to give more control to local farmers.Working with an extensive network of donors and partners is essential to create change for the millions who depend on fish in the developing world. As shown in this project, partnerships help to bring technologies and innovations to scale through the sharing of expertise, which will help international NGOs achieve greater development impact.

BLUE ECONOMY

GLOBAL ECONOMY

How falling oil price willaffect economies

THEECONOMY ANDOIL BARRELS

An IBT Desk Report

Global oil prices have fallen sharply over the past seven months, leading to significant revenue shortfalls in many energy exporting nations, while consumers in many importing countries are likely to have to pay less to heat their homes or drive their cars, the BBC said. From 2010 until mid-2014, world oil prices had been fairly stable, at around $110 a barrel. But since June, prices have more than halved. Brent crude oil has now dipped below $50 a barrel for the first time since May 2009 and US crude is down to below $48 a barrel.G

As Brent crude oil prices fell below $50 a barrel at one stage, for the first time since May 2009, global business growth slowed to its weakest in a year, and analysts forecast price volatility including price war between oil producers. The rates of expansion slowed in both the manufacturing and service industries, according to JPMorgan's Global All-Industry Output Index, produced with Markit.The United States increased domestic oil production by around 48% between 2008-13. As the supply has peaked, the demand for oil has slowed down. Declining consumption of oil in Eurozone and Japan in recent times also complicated the situation. Demand even in the US fell. It is China which played a major role in the oil price fall, thanks to a slowdown in the Chinese economy. And the Opec's announcement in November that it would not cut production in response to falling prices caused a further drop in oil price. Although the US government earlier expected that Brent crude would

average $68 a barrel in 2015, some traders forecast the price to be falling to $40 or even $30. However, falling oil prices could be ‘a shot in the arm’ for the global economy, according to the International Monetary Fund. The fund estimates the recent drop in oil prices could add up to 0.7% to global economic output in 2015.This falling price has also coincided with rising dollar prices that may affect many economies like China and Brazil. Russia has been at the receiving end of the fall of its currency against dollars and impacts of the price fall of oil, which is the main source of revenue. Saudi Arabia and the Untied Arab Emirates are also losers in the price fall. According to the Oxford Economics study, the US, a net oil importer, would accelerate economic growth to 3.8 percent in the next two years with oil at $40 a barrel, compared with 3 percent at $84.Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and Opec's most influential member, could support global oil prices by cutting back its own

production, but there is little sign it wants to do this. Although Saudi Arabia needs oil prices to be around $85 in the longer term, it has deep pockets with a reserve fund of some $700bn - so can withstand lower prices for some time. The biggest winner would be the Philippines, whose economic growth would accelerate to 7.6 percent on average over the next two years if oil fell to $40, While cheaper oil helps consumers, business spending is said to have a bigger effect on equities, and oil companies are set to cut investments. Oil at $50 a barrel could trim $6 a share off earnings in the S&P 500 Index this year, according to Savita Subramanian and Dan Suzuki, New York-based strategists at Bank of America Corp. One concern of central bankers is the effect of falling oil prices on inflation. If crude remains below $60 per barrel this quarter, global inflation will reach levels not seen since the worldwide recession ended in 2009, according to JP Morgan Securities LLC economists led by Bruce Kasman in New York.

GLOBAL ECONOMY

As the world's business and political elite ascends the Swiss Alps for an annual bout of crystal-ball gazing this week, history suggests the Davos pundits are likely to get plenty of things wrong. More than 1,500 business leaders and 40 heads of state or government will have attended the January 21-24 meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to network and discuss big themes, from the price of oil to the future of the Internet.This year they are meeting in the midst of upheaval, with security forces on heightened alert after attacks in Paris, the European Central Bank considering a radical government bond-buying programme and the safe-haven Swiss franc rocketing. The mountain air encourages confident pronouncements but the accuracy of Davos predictions has been mixed in recent years.Dud forecasts from last year include

Bank of Japan chief Haruhiko Kuroda declaring the situation in his country was ‘completely changed’. Twelve months on, Japan's economy is back in recession. And no-one last year saw Russia's annexation of Crimea, the rise of Islamic State or oil at $50 a barrel. The twin crises in the euro zone and the banking sector have also been notorious for wrong-footing policymakers and pundits.In 2011 the French finance minister at the time, Christine Lagarde, declared the euro zone had ‘turned the corner’ and told financial markets not to ‘short Europe’. The bloc went on to have an awful year in which short-selling would have been a decidedly smart tactic. In 2012 the tables were turned when economist Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed Dr Doom after he forecast the U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis, predicted that Greece would leave the euro within a

year. It didn't happen, though ‘Grexit’ talk is back on the agenda in time for this year's Davos shindig.The nadir for predictions, however, was January 2008. Despite the onset of the U.S. sub-prime crisis, the Davos crowd overwhelmingly failed to spot the coming crash sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers only eight months later. A comment from Kuwait Investment Authority head Bader Al Sa'ad that bargains in the U.S. financial sector represented ‘a pure investment opportunity’ summed up the overconfident mood at the time.In the technology world, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates famously promised in 2004 to rid the world of spam email within two years. The world's three billion Internet users are still waiting. But Davos has been good at spotting some mega-trends, such as the rise of emerging markets and, more recently, the shale gas-driven rebalancing of economic growth in the United States. It also flagged future global tensions, such as access to water and cybersecurity.An annual survey of confidence among chief executives, unveiled each year at Davos by PricewaterhouseCoopers, shows that CEOs had a reasonably good idea of what was in store in 2007, 2009 and over the past three years, if not in 2008 and 2011. Of course, for most of the 2,500 participants, the event is more about meeting contacts and swapping ideas than pinning down firm predictions.‘Clearly, there are things that are missed,’ said Mark Spelman, managing director at consultancy Accenture, who has been coming to Davos for more than a decade. ‘But it gives me a picture of how 2015 may play out and it's impossible to get the same quantity or quality of interaction in such a condensed period of time in any other place on the planet.’ This year worries about international conflict are a major concern for the global community, according the WEF's annual Global Risks report, though economic fears are still very real.

INTERNATIONAL

What will this year’s World Economic Forum at Davos deliver?

COUNTING WINSAND LOSSES

he Intra- NSU Rounds of “Masters of Ideation 2015” has finally drawn to an end, as NSU Young Entrepreneurs’ Society (YES!) prepares to organize the Nationwide Inter-University phase of its signature event “Masters of Ideation” for the third time this year.The workshop, held on 23rd January (Friday), 2015, kicked off at 11 am. This year 35 teams all over the country representing different universities took part.The workshop was presided over by eminent corporate icons and business strategy specialists from renowned organizations in Bangladesh. They imparted valuable knowledge and technical know-how to the participating teams in preparation for the upcoming rounds. The program was inaugurated by the faculty advisor of young entrepreneurs’ society (YES!), Mohammad Hannan Miah. Among the speakers there were Drabir Alam (Associate Director at cookie jar), K.M. Zubair Habib (MTB) , Zahidul Haque(MTB, branch manager of Bashundhara branch ) & Sakib Billal from Reckitt Benckiser.

Mutual Trust Bank SpeakersMutual trust banks speakers basically thanked YES! For arranging this competition and letting them be part of this initiative. They also

brought light to the fact they are happy to help the young entrepreneurs for their business and also talked about how these competitions can boost a person in the long run.Drabir was one of the honorable speakers of masters of ideation season 3 workshop with real life examples and creative ideas he delivered his speech. In which he talked about lots of important things related to solving cases like figuring out what is the main target/goal, who are the target audience, how participants should plan to reach out to them, how to make judges convince to the optimum solution. And the most important part how to achieve the goal. He answered the queries of the students related for the competition also inspired them in many ways. He delivered one thing solidly that, rather than spending time on slides participants should spend more time on the quality of the content. Sakib Billah represented Reckitt Benckiser as masters of ideations winners of season 3 will have the opportunity for an internship at RB. He talked about the importance of winning the competition and the benefits of working at rb. He presented rb in-front of the participants with slides and videos. His speech was a boost for the participants. After the conclusion of the workshop, the first round kicked

off at 2 pm with 48 teams on board, all competing for the title of Masters of Ideation. Masters of Ideation is a Business Strategy based, case-solving competition aimed at creating a platform to attract, hone and nurture undergraduate students with talent for solving complex, real-life situations faced in today’s business arena. The teams will be judged by eminent corporate personalities from Bangladesh.This year, the participating teams hail from renowned universities all over Bangladesh. Of the 35 teams participating this year, only six teams will go through to the final round for a chance to become “Master of Ideation”. Kicking off with the workshop on 23rd January, the Inter-University rounds will continue throughout the rest of the month. The winning teams will receive BDT 2,80,000 in total prize money among other prizes. The Title sponsor of this competition is Mutual Trust Bank Ltd., sponsoring the event for three years, Strategic Partner-Reckitt Benckizer, Study Abroad partner-TPNL, media partners are-Ekattor TV, The Daily Star, The Daily Ittefaq, Radio Foorti 88.0FM, ICE Business Times and bdnews24.com.This exclusive event is hosted by North South University and organized by YES! the only business club of North South University. Since its inception in 1994, YES! has strived to develop business students of the nation and prepare them for the professional world through organizing events with far-reaching implications. YES! has gained prominence in the student community for its signature brands- “Ad Maker Bangladesh”, “Masters of Ideation” and “NSUers Meet Corporate Icons”. YES! Strives to create, nurture and promote entrepreneurial mindsets among the young generation of Bangladesh. Over the years, they have succeeded in creating sensation in the undergraduate business arena through their multifaceted events.

ACADEMIA

An IBT Report

MASTERS OFIDEATION 2015NSU YES! Helps to motivate finalists byorganising a workshop before the big event

With the global fragrance market expected to reach $15.7 billion by 2017, natural ingredients are driving demand and creating more opportunities for innovation. This season is tipped to feature a number of fresh ingredients and modern interpretations of popular notes. Consumers will continue to look for an effective identity and ability to relate emotionally and personally to a fragrance and in line with this, industry players are formulating fragrances with alternative ingredients. However, the explosion of niche fragrances in the market also means that competition is intensifying. Increased personalization is the second trend identified by Euromonitor International. From a vendor point of view it is important to entice your buyer by offering unique scents that work and last. Fresh fruit, for example, could be the newest hit. Easy to wear blends with a focus on true fresh fruit notes. Soft, floral, soothing, and with a subtle green sharpness. The following can be found from February at Perfume World. Available at 10 branches in Bangladesh, they are the best and the newest that are being offered, only for you. Go and take a breath. See if they enchant your senses or not.

Perfumes look towardsa bright andpromising 2015

Armed ForThe Nose

Female

CORPORATE GROOMING

Dolce&Gabbana Intenso

Jimmy Choo Man

Lacoste Live

Burberry Brit Rhythm ManNew EDT Intense

Versace Bright Crystal Absolu

Boss Mavie Escada Joyful Burberry Brit Rhythm Women Floral EDT

Versace Yellow Diamond Intense Moschino Stars

Everyone in Bangladesh, who is an avid Facebook user, is sure to have liked or at least visited Dhaka Foodies’ page. Dhaka Foodies is a page that was founded by Syed Ashiqur Rahman, in an effort to bring the closet food lovers under

one roof. I call them closet because no other page had brought them together ever before – for posting reviews, sharing experiences, posting photos and more.A multinational veteran, Ashiqur was spot-on to point out that

INSIDE OUT

By Wafiur RahmanPhoto Credit – Titu Zakaria

BRINGING RESTAURANTS ANDFOODIES TOGETHER

MeetSyed Ashiqur Rahman

Founder of

Bangladeshis really do not have any particular pastime or meeting place. ‘If there ever was a source of entertainment for us, it has to be cafes or restaurants,’ he says, ‘even official and personal meetings take place in those settings. So the whole matter is undermined if we say that food is part of our culture, rather food is our culture. This is also a lucrative industry for small and medium sized entrepreneurs, as the setup costs for such ventures are lower than that of other industries. In Banani road 11, for example, there is always a new restaurant opening every week. The operation of over 1300 restaurants in Dhaka alone is testament to that opinion.’‘I wanted to make something in Bangladesh that could have its own restaurant ratings, as well as food reviews, something like Trip Advisor. So in July 2012, I officially launched the Facebook page of Dhaka Foodies. The reviews were at first crowd-funded, as users could go in, taste the food at restaurants and then rate them. This started to become popular to the extent that by 2013, our page was overburdened with over a thousand reviews. That is when I realised that creating a website was the next plausible action.’‘I thought that the Dhaka Foodies website had to be something like the local IMDB (movie ratings website) of food, where only the users’ opinion will matter. So I caught hold of an IT expert, Aftab bhai, who advised me to document my idea,

which I did for quite some time, in the middle of which, he agreed to be part of the project and became my partner. Although we were passionate about startup, we also required financial support to bankroll the cost of making the website. A Dubai-based venture acted as our angel investor and funded us with $50,000.’So far, their events have spoken about their operational abilities. From 2012, they have been holding annual food photography competitions, namely ‘Foodography contests.’ In 2013, the top 50 foodographers had their pictures exhibited at Dhaka Art Centre. This year their sponsor is Coca Cola. Alongside this, various food tasting sessions and food festivals are held by Dhaka Foodies. Their Cupcake Festival, Burger and Biryani Festival and the two Grand Foodies Festivals held so far, have all been received with adulations and with requests for more in future.‘In our website we collect information from the restaurants, upload their menus and have their food tasted by our top critics. These ratings can be viewed by users, and they can also follow the latest updates from their favourite reviewers. Not only that, but we also work hand in hand with the restaurants and their owners. In our

last Grand Foodies festival, we awarded 15 restaurant owners because of their consistent food quality and massive customer retention over time – stalwarts such as Shwarma House, Nanna Biryani, Big Bite, Kosturi, Saltz, North End Coffee Roasters, etc. It was a fulfilling experience for us, as the festival witnessed over 1200 entries, various eating and gaming contests and more. We hope to do this every year.’‘As a platform for foodies, we want to expand into Chittagong and other viable options. Additionally, we are also planning on launching our very own Android app, which will be available this March. It would act as a location guide and prioritise the highest rated restaurants of different locations. We received great response from the crowd at our events, we want to hold on to this as well. We never compromise on quality and ideas. It would have been great if there were more spacious hangout joints, where we could hold weekend fests.’ True, if these plans are put into action, here is wishing Ashiqur and Dhaka Foodies all the best for their future endeavours.

INSIDE OUT

DINING

By Wafiur RahmanPhoto Credit – Din M Shibly

FINE DININGREINTRODUCEDThe Upstairs Lounge & Bistro deliversquality fine dining, without putting muchof a dent in your wallet

According to Syed Ashiqur Rahman, Founder of Dhaka Foodies, there is always one restaurant opening at Banani road 11 in a week. With too many restaurants to choose from, most of them try to be as unique as possible, but not all of them get the approval stamp of cuisine connoisseurs. Unoriginal food, sluggish service, and disparaging ambience – the reasons keep going on. Thankfully, all that will be put to rest as Banani 11’s newest favourite, which happens to be The Upstairs Lounge and Bistro.

Décor and AmbienceJust as their tagline, they are here to redefine leisure both environment-wise and culinary-wise. Located at House 25, 11th floor, Road 11, Block H, Banani (11th floor, the same building that houses BFC, Café Hollywood, Nando’s, Kobe, Bellissimo and other food joints I may not be aware of). They are sure to pick up quite a fight, in terms of customer attainment, but once you enter the restaurant, you will be blown away by the décor. The sofa, the huge lamps above, the table setup, the decoration – everything was in pristine order. Things like that count as first impressions, and Upstairs receives full marks there.

ServiceOne thing you will not find elsewhere is the little remote used for various services – such as calling for ordering, calling for drinks, calling for additional service/bill, etc. This reduces the necessity to wait for a waiter to look at you and then calling them. Rather with the pressing of a button you get their attention right away. That does not mean that Upstairs is a fully automated restaurant. The waiters are cordial and more importantly, knowledgeable. They know how to suggest dishes for people of different tastes. Time between ordering and receiving the meals was also balanced – not too early to suspect pre-cooked food, nor too late to think that the ingredients were to be extracted from their respective sources. Not to mention a complimentary warm hand towel and cold cinnamon drink does help for getting oriented with the place.

MenuUpstairs offers French, Continental and Italian cuisine, something which I had rarely stumbled upon in Bangladesh (usually they end up with pseudo-Continental aftertastes). Those who are familiar

with French cuisine and love it will be happy to see French appetizers such as Nicoise Salad, Quiche Loraine and other items – priced between Tk. 250 to Tk. 1100. That is where they falter, as price is quite steep. But as fine dining is their Unique Selling Proposition (USP), getting hold of premium target groups should not be a problem. Main courses include French classics such as Beef Bourguignon (beef and potato stew), Lobster Thermidor, Mixed Grill and other items, priced mostly between Tk. 750 to Tk. 2400. Their Italian and Continental dishes are also sinfully delicious. A wide array of side dishes such as French fries, Onion Rings, Saffron Rice and others compliment the main dishes amazingly. Similarly, desserts such as Black Forest Gateau and Crème Brulee are appropriate finishers to your tantalising tastebuds. I had the opportunity to try the Crevettes A la Provencale, which roughly translates to sauteed jumbo shrimps. This was cooked with garlic butter, lemon juice and herbs and was served with saffron rice and julienned sweet peppers. The shrimps, although a tad dry and moist without the garlic butter sauce, were cooked to perfection and were beautifully complimented with the rice and peppers. Then came the Upstairs Classic Club Sandwich, which came in toasted white bread. I ordered a side of home fries with garlic mayonnaise – and I have to

say, you must try the fries with mayo, it is the best in town, period. The club was not over-toasted, as is the case at most fast-food joints, the crunchy toasts and inner stuffing was just about right. The crème-de-la-crème was definitely the crème brulee. Every restaurant does cream custard caramel these days, but this is beyond doubt the authentic French version of it. And it delivers in every aspect – aesthetics and taste to be precise. The coating-like caramel crunch has to be broken and then the cream custard is to be devoured – that is as simple as instructions can be.

VerdictOverall, I had a blast eating at Upstairs. That is not what I can say in most restaurants these days. I am okay with ages-old eating institutions retaining their customers over a period of time, but it is also time that newcomers give them a run for their money. Sure, high rental and maintenance costs, saturated market and faltering food quality disable most restaurants to sustain over a period of time. But I really hope that restaurants like the Upstairs Lounge & Bistro can sustain its position as a fine dining outlet, over a lengthy period of time. With great food comes great responsibility, they are to be the torch-bearers of today’s dining generation.

DINING

The extensively trumpeted success of microfinance as a tool for poverty alleviation has placed the Asian country of Bangladesh into the global spotlight. The awarding of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to the Grameen Bank and its founder Prof. Muhammad Yunus elevated microfinance as a ‘liberating force’ for women struggling against ‘repressive social and economic conditions’. Yet little attention has been paid to audi alteram partem, a principle of natural justice that

compels us to ‘hear the other side’ to make a fair assessment of the facts at hand. In getting to hear the other side of microfinance, Microfinance and its discontents, examines the impact of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their microfinance endeavours on the lives and livelihoods of poor rural Bangladeshi women, the archetype of persons living in repressive social and economic conditions.The book is structured around six chapters compiled from ethnographies conducted by the author whilst visiting Bangladesh between 1998 and 2007. Being a native of Bangladesh, fluent in the local language and appreciative of local custom, this immersion was far more extensive than the staged field visits typical of some of the expert assessments made to the country in praise of the microfinance rhetoric.Chapter 1 sets an extensive introduction to the political history of Bangladesh that chronicles its independence from Pakistan in 1971 and the periods of civilian and military rule in the former East Bengal of British India. With contemporary Bangladesh being deemed a failed state, the historical role of NGOs was to ease the burden of its government by conducting social welfare programmes. A devastating cyclone in 1970 and a famine in 1974 meant that the NGOs became relief operators, thus structurally transforming the indigenised NGO sphere. These developments caused NGOs to have strained relationships with the state, the clergy and other rural elites, whilst political tensions also

ON THE BOOKSHELF

Women in Debt inBangladesh

LAMIA KARIM’SMICROFINANCE AND

ITS DISCONTENTS

led to conflict between NGOs. The powerful presence of NGOs often blurred their role into that of a shadow state, given their ability to provide resources and services in especially rural Bangladesh.In setting the research terrain in Chapter 2, the author introduces the term ‘NGO governmentality’ which describes a mode of governance employed to amend the values and behaviour of their clients towards the goals of the NGO. This ‘governmentality’ is a key tenet for the author’s focus of microfinance and gender throughout the book. The author’s immersion is obvious in this chapter, with clear descriptions of her interactions with NGO managers, rural elites and women borrowers and the discomfort and suspicions that resulted. Chapter 2 also gives an insight into the profit-driven motives of Grameen Bank and other NGOs whose operations were included in the study, with evidence of the coercive and brutally punitive measures employed to recover loans from defaulters.Chapter 3 introduces social businesses; neoliberal ventures whereby multinational companies carve niches into new markets through actions shrouded as altruistic and benevolent activities. Two salient investments are discussed which portrays the reality of social businesses. The first investment was a scheme purported to provide health benefits to poor children in rural areas, by targeting women borrowers as potential buyers of fortified yoghurt. With the yoghurt being unaffordable to the rural poor, the product was successfully marketed to urban middle class consumers. The second, a massive roll out of mobile telephony to rural areas resulted in greater profits for Grameen Bank, both through their loans to poor borrowers in setting up a telephony business and telephony subscriptions by mostly urban middle class consumers.

The eight case studies that make up Chapter 4 of the book were the most insightful. The case studies represent the social life of debt with a focus on marginally successful ‘phone ladies’ and the financially savvy moneylender, through failed chicken breeding ventures and the NGO practice of housebreaking, the dismantling of a house to sell off the building materials to recover debt. Far from being the ‘liberating force’ in the microfinance mantra, these case studies show the resultant increased levels of vulnerability of women borrowers in terms of a strained social and familial sphere and their difficult relations with the NGOs. Chapter 5 discusses the contestation between rural clergy and the NGO for authority over rural women borrowers, centred on a quasi pro-democracy rally billed as an entertainment fair in one of the ‘NGO districts’. Whilst the clergy deemed the fair to be encouraging an erosion of acceptable moral standards for rural women, the NGO deemed the prohibition of the fair through a fatwa (religious decree) as antidevelopmental and repressive. In the end, the only losers in this ‘social disaster’ were the women, whose lives were disrupted and their dignity severely impugned. Chapter 6 analyses the power of discourse that cement the rhetoric of the microfinance NGOs. Since women borrowers are termed ‘entrepreneurial’ and Bangladesh the pinnacle of microfinance ideology, the importance of entrenching these ‘truths’ also becomes a key NGO endeavour. This chapter describes examples whereby dissenting voices and alternative interpretations of NGO ‘successes’ are being censored and disregarded. The development of a clique-like poverty seminar industry in Bangladesh, for example, is quite insightful. Although the stated use of aliases to protect the privacy of participants throughout the book are laudable, the portrayal of

individuals in photographs defeats this purpose.The photographs also do not carry statements confirming that the express permission of the subjects has been obtained to use the photographs. Given the threatening situations the author and her research assistants found themselves in on a few occasions, it may mean that the lives and property of the photographed persons may become threatened when the book becomes available in ‘Pirpur Thana’. The geographical details and descriptions of this rural study area are also very detailed and thus potentially easily identifiable.Chapter 1 could have been enhanced by the inclusion of a political map of Bangladesh with its relative location to modern day Pakistan and the colonial borders of British India. The references used are extensive and they are well annotated. With Bengali words used extensively throughout the text, the inclusion of a glossary of such words was extremely helpful. The inclusion of the notes at the end of each chapter would have been more convenient to access, but it does not detract from the readability of the book.Overall, Microfinance and its discontents should stir the conscience of social scientists and development practitioners to look critically at the lives of women who are supposed to be liberated by neoliberal and other policy instruments. The book is written in a scholarly tone but contains a clearly immersed and empathetic voice that exposes microfinance as a measure that weakens rural social solidarity whilst creating new markets for multinational corporations. Not only is the book an excellent critique of the microfinance industry throughout, its conclusion provides a series of thought provoking topics for discussion on how to enhance transparency and accountability in the microfinance industry of Bangladesh.

ON THE BOOKSHELF

STARTUP

GROCERYSHOPPINGMADE EASYChaldal.com promises big things in the age of super consumerism

Bengalis have pretty much embraced the concept of online shopping -- shopping websites and Facebook stores are rapidly on the rise. It is so much easier buying things in the convenience of one's own home knowing that the traffic out there is horrendous and unfair prices and bargaining completely draining out the joys of shopping.Not too long ago we Bengalis were doubtful about this convenient mode of shopping. The status quo of online shopping has drastically changed leading to the emergence of big online brands such as Chaldal.com -- an online shop based in Dhaka founded by Waseem Ali and Zia Ashraf, ingrained in the idea that shopping can be a hassle-free experience for everybody.

HistoryEstablished in 2013 and already operating on a large scale, Chaldal was initially set up to cater to a limited number of areas within the city with only a handful of employees. It now successfully serves the entire city, offering beyond 4000 different items including basic grocery items, office stationery, electronics, baby care, beauty and healthcare products and more.

USPWhat is indeed a remarkable and perhaps the most important facility provided by this online store is the guarantee of formalin-free food items to mitigate one of the increasing concerns regarding food safety among the city dwellers. The service remains open during hartals and promises delivery of hard-to-find items during hyped up demand.Moving on to how to order items from Chaldal.com, a relatively user-friendly shopping website. Just select from categories, pick from your options and select mode of payment. Chaldal.com accepts all payment methods at their disposal to make shopping a relaxing experience -- cash on delivery, BKash, as well as payment through cards upon delivery are accepted by this store. Customers can choose among four delivery slots based on their convenience including next-day delivery for late-night shoppers. Delivery charges are applicable for bills totaling less than Tk. 400.All in all, Chaldal.com is the modern household's way of making everyday purchases – it is convenient delivery services and payment methods are exactly what a homemaker, or for that matter, any member of the family, needs for daily purchases.

Cavalry supportThe company announced its first round of investment led by 500

Startups. 500 Startups provides VC funds to early stage companies with potentials. They are funding Chaldal.com with seed funds with promises for more funds on reaching certain targets. Chaldal.com is the first startup venture to be funded by 500.co in Bangladesh and so far they are also the only Bangladesh based operational company on the process of raising funds from international venture capital firms. This milestone shows that online market of Bangladesh have the attention of global investors and a boost to build e-commerce industry in Bangladesh. Pankaj Jain a venture partner of 500 Startups was in Dhaka for the deal. Currently they are processing around 600 orders per month with an average basket size of Tk. 1400. The company was founded at a time when the country was rocking with political unrest but the country was able to achieve the development milestones consistently. Though Bangladesh has earned some negative reputation recently with its dystopian horror stories but yet one of the fastest growing countries in all sectors. The internet penetration

rate is higher than ever with 3G technology switched on recently, and one of the fastest mobile phone user rates are rapidly transforming to mobile internet users, thanks to Android based cheap smartphones.

What NextChaldal.com not only got the attention of the international investors but from the local firms as well. Inflection Ventures, a Dhaka based VC funding firm has also confirmed to be investing in Chaldal.com and several other investors, confirmed by Waseem Alim, to be in negotiation for investment.During a conversation with Salim Shadman Pathan, a marketing consultant of Chaldal.com, he shared that the online store is working its way up to building relationships based on trust with their customers, just like the regular convenient store in your locality. Although limited within the parameters of Dhaka city presently, the online store aims to spread its operations to Chittagong, Khulna and other regions in the near future.

STARTUP

Young freelancersshowing the way forward

OUTSOURCINGBLUES

Young Bangladeshis, fresh out of colleges and universities, are on course to earn about $100 million a year by 2020 working freelance from home, industry experts indicates. This is five times what the freelancers now earn from jobs outsourced by companies abroad. A young population base, coupled with advances in technology and good pay, is said to be the reason for more and more Bangladeshis taking the freelance route, and the flexible working hours is a bonus.

‘Many people are interested in freelance work in the country due to high income and flexible working hours,’ said Saidur Mamun Khan, country manager of Elance-oDesk, a leading freelancer marketplace. Inadequate opportunity for quality jobs, especially for young graduates, is another reason for the increasing popularity of freelance jobs, he said, adding that around 2 lakh graduates enter the job market every year.

Freelance jobs in software development, customer service, data entry, writing, editing, blogging, accounting, mobile apps development, web development, search engine optimisation, graphic design and translations are all there for the taking. Citing data recently pulled from Elance-oDesk, which helps companies get skilled freelancers, Saidur said businesses spent around $930 million on hiring remote independent workers around the globe in 2014, up from $750 million of 2013. He said the amount is expected to reach $10 billion by 2020.In terms of earnings, Bangladesh is ranked seventh among 186 countries where online jobs are outsourced to, he said. Currently, the country has around 5.5 lakh freelancers registered with different freelance marketplaces. Elance-oDesk has 4.5 lakh registered users in Bangladesh. Saidur stressed the need for improved Internet bandwidth for grabbing more job orders. Sharif Muhammad Shahjahan, who earned $152,000 last year, said, ‘Many global companies are placing orders to us due to cost competitiveness and good quality.’ Sharif has only passed HSC and he

mainly works in image processing for different clients in Australia, the USA, the UK, Norway, South Korea, Singapore and China and has his own outsourcing firm: Ideal Computer and Digital Studio in Savar employing 15 people. ‘Bangladesh is emerging as a leading player in freelancing jobs due to its huge young population base,’ said Emrazina Islam Khan, chief executive of Creative Kittens, a leading outsourcing firm in the country. ‘We have been making websites for 6Connex, a US based company for last one year,’ the 27-year-old said, adding that more than 100 organisations, including GE, Oracle, Perkin Elmer, Ericsson, Sears, Child Help, and North Central University, rely on 6Connex.Outsourcing firm ewebicon.com is earning on an average $8,500 a month and plans to increase the earning to $12,000 by 2016, said Sany Ahmed, chief executive officer of the company, who is just 27. ‘We offer professional SEO services that help businesses increase organic search results and stay on first page rankings of targeted keywords on Google,’ he said, adding that his company also develops micro-business websites for marketing of The Amazon Kindle. Demand for new mobile apps is increasing rapidly due to increased use of smartphone globally, said Mahmud Hassan Sunny, app architect of Business App Station, a local app developing company. Business App Station has so far developed more than 300 mobile apps for various sectors such as education, health and game, said the 25-year-old.‘Anyone can earn money freelancing if he or she knows the work properly,’ said Ariful Islam Sakib, a freelancer, who is studying for his Fazil degree at a madrasa in Demra. English is a must to get jobs, the 22-year-old said. Sakib, who started the freelancing in December last year after four months' training on graphic design, is now earning $600 a month on an average.

GADGET

XIAOMI MI4REVIEWChina’s new favourite Smartphone brand could just be the next iPhone killer

We often hear stories about the ‘Apple of China’ and how existing OEMs should be worried, but it's rare to get a look at any actual devices from the company. China is the world's largest smartphone market, and the #1 OEM in China isn't Samsung or Apple—it's Xiaomi. The company was only founded in 2010, but it sold 18.7 million smartphones in 2013. It expects to triple that number this year.Why—and how—is this startup beating the biggest companies in the world? To discover Xiaomi's secrets and to investigate the state of Android in China, we imported the company's brand new flagship: say hello to the Xiaomi Mi4.Xiaomi's greatest strength is its execution. A lot of things the company does are not unique, but Xiaomi does a fantastic job of whatever it puts its mind to. So yes, the front of the Mi4 (pronounced mee-four) is basically a big iPhone, but it's also built like an iPhone. A steel frame with cham-fered edges, thin bezels, and impeccable construction make this the best Android hardware we've seen all year.For the OS, Xiaomi uses a skinned version of Android called ‘MIUI’ (pronounced me-you-eye). Lots of other OEMs skin Android—it's not an original idea—but again, Xiaomi's strength is in its execution. While many OEM skins are heavy and feel like they slow the phone down, MIUI is actually faster and smoother than stock Android. Xiaomi takes skinning Android seriously. It pushes out OTA updates every single Friday, and, just like CyanogenMod, MIUI is available for download. It can be flashed to more than a hundred different devices, including Xiaomi rivals like Samsung, HTC, Motorola, and LG.

HardwareOn the inside, everything in the Mi4 is top shelf. It has a quad core 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801, 3GB of RAM, 16 or 64GB of internal storage, a 3080mAh battery, and best of all, no silly gimmicks. Every-thing that is here is here for a reason; it works. Xiaomi even managed to out-spec-sheet Samsung's Galaxy S5 with more RAM (3GB vs 2GB) and a bigger battery (3080mAh vs 2800 mAh). A Galaxy S5 costs $700 unlocked, but the MSRP on a Mi4 is only about Tk. 34500 ($320).Xiaomi is frequently compared to Apple, but its business model is completely different. Apple makes most of its money from hardware. Xiaomi calls itself an ‘Internet company,’ more readily likening itself to Google or Amazon's Kindle Fire line. Xiaomi sells the devices for

close to cost and makes money off of the ecosystem—imagine Google's Nexus business strategy as the basis for an entire company. That's why Xiaomi can sell a device with better specs than the Galaxy S5 for less than half the price.Xiaomi doesn't just sell phones; it also makes tablets, smart TVs, Wi-Fi routers, and wearable fitness track-ers. Xiaomi has its own software store, the Mi Market, which houses the usual apps and games. MIUI is highly customizable, and the company sells themes that completely change the look of the phone. Like with Google, users can make a ‘Mi account’ and use Xiaomi-provided cloud services to sync contacts, photos, settings, and files across devices. There is even a ‘find my phone’ feature.

DesignXiaomi's approach to design doesn't seem to value uniqueness. If a design works well and looks good, Xiaomi will take it, and China's notoriously lax enforcement of intellectual property laws allows the company to do so with impunity. As a result, the Xiaomi's products tend to be a mashup of good designs from other companies, which still makes them good, just not original.There are only so many ways to build a rectangle, but the front of the Mi4 is a little too close to the iPhone design for comfort. Sure, it also looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy Alpha (and many would say that's too close to an iPhone, too). But it's the little things, like using a round-ed square icon for the home button and identical earpiece, that really bolster the ’copying’ arguments. The back, meanwhile, looks identical to a Samsung device.The star of the show is the stainless steel frame that surrounds the Mi4. Steel is about three times heavier than aluminum, which gives the Mi4 a satisfying heft. If you're the type that preferred the heavier iPhone 4s or Nexus 4 over their current iterations, you'll be happy with the Mi4.

CameraThe 13MP camera uses Sony's Exmor IMX214 sensor, and it's a perfectly serviceable high-end camera with quick autofocus. The Mi4 uses the same sensor as the OnePlus One, and as was the case with that camera, we occasionally saw washed-out indoor shots. In low light it performs about as well as any other Android camera, but it still can't keep up with the iPhone 5s in a dark environment. Shots usual-ly come out a little on the warm side, but nothing that's a deal breaker.

PerformanceWhile the Mi4's low price gives us reason to be suspicious about Xiaomi's component selection, we haven't found a single spot where Xiaomi cut a corner. All the compo-nents perform on par with similarly specced devices in our benchmarks, with only software getting in the way of the benchmark scores.Xiaomi's continued derivative design hurts the company in so many ways. It makes it easy for people to dismiss the company as yet another cheap clone maker. It also limits the countries Xiaomi can expand to, because in many places, Apple would sue the company out of existence.Everything here is top notch: The best specs, fantastic build quality, a beautiful screen, a dirt cheap price, and software that, while different, works both aesthetically and functionally. If only the company came up with its own hardware design. If Xiaomi ever does apply itself with some original designs, look out world, because this compa-ny will be going places.Xiaomi phones are available at Gadget Gang7 through Facebook (Facebook.com/gadgetgang7) at Tk. 34,700 for 16GB and Tk. 39,700 for 64GB.

GADGET

The open office debate has been widely chronicled at Fast Company, and one of the major issues we have with this floor plan that we’ve yet to overcome is how distracting the whole arrangement can be. Apart from the times that you want to collaborate with those around you, this ‘no walls atmosphere’ is just not conducive to focused work.In fact, recent survey data from Cambridge Sound Management reveals that nearly 30% of office workers are distracted by coworkers's conversations. But noise in general isn’t to blame when it comes to lost productivity. ‘When we talk about distractions, what we’re primarily concerned with is intelligibility,’ says acoustical expert Justin Stout. In other words, what’s distracting about our neighbors’ conversations is that our focus

shifts from our work to figuring out what they are saying.Since shutting your office door is no longer an option, Stout says that the key to enhancing productivity is consistently generating an office ‘hum’—the unintelligible mixture of sounds.Stout recommends accomplishing this by listening to music without lyrics, such as classical or electronic music. ‘The cognitive processes that are needed to understand and interpret lyrics are very different than the processes required to simply listen to rhythms,’ he explains.Some workers like to listen to music when they find themselves losing focus. They may also plug in their earbuds to escape an environment that’s too noisy — or too quiet — or to make a repetitive job feel more

lively. In biological terms, melodious sounds help encourage the release of dopamine in the reward area of the brain, as would eating a delicacy, looking at something appealing or smelling a pleasant aroma, said Dr. Amit Sood, a physician of integrative medicine with the Mayo Clinic. People’s minds tend to wander, ‘and we know that a wandering mind is unhappy,’ Dr. Sood said. ‘Most of that time, we are focusing on the imperfections of life.’ Music can bring us back to the present moment. ‘It breaks you out of just thinking one way,’ said Teresa Lesiuk, an assistant professor in the music therapy program at the University of Miami. Dr. Lesiuk’s research focuses on how music affects

workplace performance. In one study involving information technology specialists, she found that those who listened to music completed their tasks more quickly and came up with better ideas than those who didn’t, because the music improved their mood. ‘When you’re stressed, you might make a decision more hastily; you have a very narrow focus of attention,’ she said. ‘When you’re in a positive mood, you’re able to take in more options.’ Dr. Lesiuk found that personal choice in music was very important. She allowed participants in her study to select whatever music they liked and to listen as long as they wanted. Those who were moderately skilled at their jobs benefited the most, while experts saw little or no effect. And some novices regarded

the music as distracting. Dr. Lesiuk has also found that the older people are, the less time they spend listening to music at work. Few companies have policies about music listening, said Paul Flaharty, a regional vice president at Robert Half Technology, the staffing agency. But it is still a good idea to check with your manager, even if you see others wearing headphones in the office. He said some supervisors might think that workers wearing headphones weren’t fully engaged and were blocking out important interactions ‘because they are going into their own world.’ ‘If someone’s not doing a good job,’ he said, ‘then you can have a hiring manager say that all they do is listen to music all day and that it’s hampering productivity.’ For those who choose to listen to music, it’s

best to set limits, because wearing headphones for an entire shift can be perceived as rude by those nearby. Dr. Sood, at the Mayo Clinic, said it takes just 15 minutes to a half-hour of listening time to regain concentration. Music without lyrics usually works best, he said. Daniel Rubin, a columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer, said he has listened to jazz and piano concertos for most of his 33-year newspaper career — but only when writing on deadline. He started off using a Sony Walkman, but now makes use of 76 days’ worth of music on his iTunes playlist. ‘The person clicking their nails three desks away and the person humming next to me all sound equally loud and it’s hard for me to block them out,’ he said.

DONNINGHEADPHONESFOR CREATIVITYCan The Right Kind Of Music FixOpen Office Distraction?

THE BIG IDEA

Why Emotionally Intelligent PeopleMake More Money

EMOTIONALPHENOMENA

The old adage about leaving your emotions at the door before stepping into the office is dead, according to a recent study from the University of Bonn. Published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior in November 2014, the study showed individuals who displayed emotional intelligence—the ability to discern other people’s emotions—were more likely to bring home a bigger paycheck than their emotionally-stunted colleagues.‘We need to recognize that emotion is part of who we are as individuals and we need to become comfortable with our emotionality,’ says Yongmei Liu, an associate professor at Illinois State University’s College of Business, who coauthored the study.

What Is Emotional Intelligence?‘Emotional intelligence is the ability for people to be able to recognize emotions in oneself and others,’ says Liu. Just as we have cognitive intelligence that helps us perform cognitive tasks, emotional intelligence helps us understand ourselves and others better, and to channel emotional energy in the desired direction.A leader who has a high degree of emotional intelligence can recognize when his or her followers are not in the right emotional state to perform well. They will work to change their emotional state, to energize them about the task so they can be more motivated, focused, and successful.

A Collaborative Workplace Prioritizes EmotionWhile the manufacturing economy of the past focused on productivity and solo-driven work, these days collaboration and teamwork are emphasized—making emotional intelligence more important in the workplace. ‘People increasingly rely on each other to get things done and that means understanding each other’s motives and emotions is a lot more important than it used to be,’ says Liu.To understand the role emotional intelligence plays in modern work environments, the researchers used a collection of images and recordings of actors and children, and then showed them to a group of 142 working adults who were asked to label emotional expression. Those who succeeded in identifying the emotion in 87% of the cases were considered to have high emotional intelligence, while those who scored below 60% were considered to have poor emotional intelligence.Once the emotion recognition task was completed, the researchers then asked the participants’ colleagues and supervisors to assess the political skills of the

participants—whether the participants were socially well attuned, influential, sincere, and are good networkers. The results indicated those who had a good ability to recognize emotions were also considered more socially and politically skilled by their colleagues. One other correlation? They all had significantly higher income than those who scored low on the emotion recognition test.What this tells us, Liu says, is that emotional intelligence is not just this warm and fuzzy ability to get along with others better, but it’s also about the ability to capitalize on understanding where others are coming from and using that information to enhance one’s position.‘People who are better at recognizing others’ emotions are able to use this skill to develop their political skill—to enable them to influence others effectively, get along with others better, and that eventually results in [greater career success and higher income,’ says Liu.

How To Enhance Your Emotional IntelligenceTapping into your own emotions can help you become more attentive to what others feel. Take frequent breaks throughout the day, and ask yourself how you feel. Meditation exercises and verbalizing your emotions with others can also help you to build your emotional intelligence.Organizations can also help employees enhance their emotional intelligence by creating a culture that encourages everyone to celebrate emotions rather than suppressing them. ‘Allow people to be excited about things and to be upset about things,’ says Liu.Starting and ending a meeting by asking participants to take a moment to think about how they’re feeling, and perhaps even state it out loud, can help to build a culture of emotional acceptance and lead to greater success in the long run.

THE BIG IDEA

Organizations can also help employees enhance their emotional intelligence by creating a culture that encourages everyone to celebrate emotions rather than suppressing them

be ‘s

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t of a

ll-- a

By Adeyat Arefin

REDFLAGGED

Reasoning behind why supposedlygood interviews return

depressive news

Over 3000 applications are received in a month against an entry level position of a typical Market Research Support Organization in Bangladesh. The number of candidate shortlisted after preliminary interview is about 15 and surprisingly employment tops at only 4 a month. Sometimes no candidate is offered employment despite a target to add at least 10 people every month (we have an increasing demand against increasing number of clients and projects). The conversion rate from the ‘number of applicants’ to ‘shortlisted candidates after interview’ is very poor. The situation is so bad that graphical representation with possible highest values would look confusing, like the one below:However, the silver lining is the conversion rate from the ‘shortlisted candidates after interview’ to the ‘number of candidates with job offer’, which is 20% approximately. This value is acceptable at the moment when compared with the conversion rate of ‘number of applicants’ versus ‘shortlisted candidates after interview’, which is less than 1%. The story is the same for almost all the organisations in this. Certainly, if theinitial conversion rate is improved, the expected number of candidates can be employed.

Now, the internet is beaming with tips and videos on how well one could perform in interviews. In addition, local recruitment or ‘Grooming’ organizations count to hundreds and experienced personals number roughly to thousands. A candidate has 100% opportunity to obtain job offer until certain unexpected notions or depressing hints are exchanged with the interviewer(s), what HRs like would refer to as ‘Red Flags’. However, a candidate needs to avoid these occurrences from happening during the recruitment process. Not all candidates are recruited or expelled based on their knowledge centering the vacancy, but certain responses and mode of conduct and some aspects of sublime quality may trigger the Red-Flag signal. I’d Red-Flag a candidate he/she puts forward a thought that places him/her directly at the rejection list. Couple of scenarios from my experience endangering a candidate to the Red-Flagged zone may be these:

Not knowing the keywordsSay a job description refers a phrase ‘Legwork is necessary’. During an interview, if a candidate was asked if he/she understood the meaning of ‘legwork’, and he/she answers the interviewer by noting that he could ‘walk to work anytime necessary’, that Red-Flags the candidate! The candidate failed to understand that legwork

refers to frequent travelling over locations for professional purposes. Similarly, most job descriptions do contain industry specific terms or jargons. It is extremely necessary to understand every word and sentences in the job description.

Confusion about the obvious responsibilities‘Do you like to travel?’ is a common question for various positions offered to candidates these days. A candidate, who applied for a job that requires travelling distances, was asked about the reason behind job switch. To the astonishment of the interviewer(s), the candidate replied, ‘I am looking forward to a desk job since my present responsibilities requires a bit of travelling’!Mostly, a red flag tends to disqualify the candidate unless the interview turns out to be extremely well in latter part of the interview. The following precautions could help to be safe from being red flaged:1. Once an application is done, keep a

copy of the job description. Often, when an interview is scheduled, the job description is not found in the websites. The copy can help the interviewee to learn important details regarding the job and prepare better for the position.

2. There are thousands of jobs available through websites, newspapers and various other mediums. Read the job description carefully and find out if it matches the skills and interest before applying. Do not apply if the requirements fail to align.

At the end of the day, proper research and reading is highly necessary to compete in the interview process. Avoiding red flags can increase the number of ‘shortlisted candidates after the interview’ for the industry. Plus, an acceptable initial conversion rate can be achieved to meet expectation. After all, we are looking forward to hire candidates who can understand and comprehend not-so-complex communication patters. Prove it, and you’ll not be Red-Flagged.

At the end of the day, proper research and reading is highly necessary to compete in the interview process

Number of applicants

Shortlisted candidatesafter interview

Number of candidateswith job offer

Estimated 4000 against a vacancy

20 Candidates for the second phase

Only 4 on an average are selected

EMPLOYMENT

5Things Job CandidatesObsess Over, What HiringManagers Don’t Care About

NOT ALWAYSABOUT MAKINGOR BREAKING

It doesn’t matter how much work experience you have, or how many interviews you’ve knocked out of the park—job hunting is bound to make even the most confident candidates feel insecure. And since so many factors are out of your control—like whether you’ll hear back about that perfect fit opportunity—it’s no wonder many people find themselves attempting to regain a little power by obsessing over what they can control.But the truth is, not all job-search details are make-or-break. To help you discern what’s worth your worry—and what’s definitely not—we chatted with two career experts to identify five easy-to-obsess-over details that hiring managers really don’t care about … and what to focus on instead.

1. How Fancy Your Resume LooksIn today’s competitive job market, it’s crucial to make your CV shine brighter than the hundreds of others on a hiring manager’s desk. Often, that pressure leads people to toil over the glossiest resume template—with fancy fonts, bold pops of color, and custom sub-sections—in an effort to express their exceptional flair for style.But unless you’re applying for a design position and need to showcase those skills, Alison Green, a former nonprofit chief of staff and author of the AskaManager blog, is giving you permission to quit obsessing.‘No employer is going to hire you just because you have a beautifully laid-out resume,’ she says. ‘Plus, it makes it look like you don’t have a clear idea of what things really matter.’What Does Matter: ‘Standing out is about the strength of your candidacy, which is something you can’t buy, fake, or promote through even the most beautiful font choice,’ Green says.If you really want to prove you’re a strong candidate, create an easily readable document that prominently highlights your professional accomplishments.For example, maybe you exceeded your sales targets for three years in a row, successfully serviced your company’s most difficult account, or were chosen to represent your department at a major industry conference—make sure these points stand out on your CV.One other thing to keep in mind? Stick to the facts, Green says, adding that hiring managers won’t give much weight to overly subjective descriptions and self-assessments you can’t substantiate, like ‘excellent management skills’ or ‘creative communicator.’

2. If You Send a HandwrittenThank You NoteBack in the day, a thoughtfully composed, handwritten note was considered to be the best way to properly complete the interview process. But fast-forward to today’s hyper-connected world, when even hiring seems to move much faster—causing many job seekers to stress about the appropriate way to reach out post-interview.Stacey Hawley, a career and leadership development coach and founder of The Credo Company, insists that stressing over how you follow up isn’t what hiring managers are concerned about.‘Interviewers just care that they get [a note],’ she says, adding that it’s best to send it—using the medium of your choice—within 48 hours of your meeting.What Does Matter: Rather than simply thanking hiring managers for their time—something that doesn’t add value to the decision-making process—Hawley says to make sure your note contains meaningful information that proves you were paying attention and are still interested in the position.‘Think about the conversation, and write something both personal and business-related,’ she suggests. ‘Tell them how much you appreciated discussing a certain business topic, then thank them for sharing their insights about something personal.’

3. Whether Your Resume Fits on One PageYou’ve probably heard traditional career advice that warns job seekers against submitting a resume that spills over to two or more pages.After all, a 2012 study found hiring managers spend just six seconds reviewing a candidate’s materials before determining whether the person is a good fit.So those hours you spent editing, adjusting margins and tweaking the font size to squeeze every last bit of information on a single page seems reasonable enough.But Green says you can throw this advice out the window—if you’ve been out of college for at least five years and have enough legitimate experience to include.What Does Matter: Now that you have carte blanche to make your resume as long—or short—as you see fit, concentrate on making sure you’ve highlighted only the most pertinent facts from your job history.‘Hiring managers often skim a resume first, so jam-packing yours with every job you’ve ever had reduces the chance that their eye will land on what you truly want them to see,’ Green says.So give the majority of your resume’s real estate to the most recent and relevant information—and downplay the rest. ‘You could even put the internships or junior positions together without bullet points,’ Green adds. ‘You don’t need to treat them with equal weight [compared to full-time staff positions].’

Another option? Organize your resume by ‘Relevant Experience’ and ‘Other Work Experience,’ rather than chronological order. ‘This allows you to highlight the experiences and skills that the hiring manager or recruiter is most interested in, while still addressing your overall work history,’ Green says.

4. Crafting a Clever Cover LetterIf writer’s block always seems to hit just as you sit down to write the perfect cover letter, you certainly wouldn’t be alone.But the truth is that a cover letter doesn’t have to be that complicated. ‘Just imagine you’re writing an email to a friend about why you’d be perfect for this job,’ Green says. ‘That’s the tone you want.’What Does Matter: The key to a great cover letter is to emphasize the passions and personal traits that make you uniquely qualified to excel in a particular job—but don’t come across in your resume.‘Somewhere along the line, people got the idea that a cover letter should offer the same details as your resume, but it’s the opposite,’ Green says. ‘If all you do is summarize your work history, you’re squandering an opportunity.’She offers an example of a woman who applied for an administrative position, but didn’t have as much experience as other candidates Green was considering.‘In her cover letter, the woman explained how her friends teased her for neurotically color-coding her

closet and alphabetizing her spices, and she talked about how she’s known in her peer group for her love of organization,’ Green says. ‘You cannot put that in a resume. But it told me so much about the type of person she was, and likely the type of approach she would have to that job.’The result? The woman scored an interview—and the job.

5. Why You Haven’t Heard BackWhether you’ve just submitted your resume and are wondering if you’ll be called for an interview, or you’re waiting to hear if you’ll be asked back for a second one, it’s hard to be patient … or think of anything else.Hawley sympathizes—but warns job seekers not to check in too often.‘For them, this is a major event in their lives, but for the interviewers, they’re meeting other people and, of course, working! Work gets in the way of the interview process all of the time,’ she says. ‘I know it’s hard, but be patient. The last thing you should do is email the interviewers and ask when you’ll hear back—repeatedly.’What Does Matter: If you do snag an interview, satisfy your curiosity by asking for a timeline before you leave. ‘If you know when the powers-that-be want to make a decision by, it’s reasonable to check in after that point for an update,’ Green says.After that, shift your focus back to what you can control: continuing your job search.‘For your mental health, the best thing you can do is pretend you didn’t get the job as soon as you walk out the door,’ Green says. ‘Put it out of your mind. Then you won’t agonize day after day.’Bonus: You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you do get that phone call with an offer.

EMPLOYMENT

Contrary to the reality show adage, ‘I’m not here to make friends,’ it’s perfectly normal to go into a new, perhaps competitive, workplace seeking a confidant.In fact, there are heaps of data that suggest that workplace friendships can enhance your professional life, taking a job from tolerable to enjoyable. And studies show that those benefits extend to employers who will see their employees take fewer sick days, stick around for much longer and show more enthusiasm for the work they’re doing.But what if the person you're closest to in the office suddenly gets fired?‘It feels like a gross violation of trust when your best friend is let go,’ says Dr. Ron Friedman, a social psychologist specializing in human motivation and the author of ‘The Best Place To Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace’. ‘And that can be really demotivating for a number of reasons.’As Friedman explains, the first person to get blamed is usually the figure of authority who did the

firing, which he characterizes as a ‘display of power’. But before you go barging into your boss’ office demanding an explanation, Friedman suggests taking a step back.‘Recognize that it may not be about your friend,’ says Friedman. ‘There are some things in an organization that you may not know about simply because of the level you’re at and because of the work you’re exposed to.’In other words, your boss usually has a boss, too, and the situation may be more complicated than you realize. Or perhaps, your friend’s actions weren’t on the up and up, and you weren’t aware of those details. Instead of digging through the murky details, Friedman suggests searching for lessons and being realistic about ‘what behaviors didn’t serve your colleague well that you can improve on for your performance.’ After all, when a coworker gets fired it can feel like you may be up next on the chopping block. And finally, Friedman says it’s important to accept your negative emotions about the situation.

What EmployersCan DoIt’s equally important for employers to realize that their staff may be feeling a bit demoralized in the wake of a firing, especially if many of them were close with their former coworker.‘Any time you have a display of power in the workplace, that

increases the distance between employees and the people in a position of authority,’ says Friedman. ‘So, from an employer perspective, it’s really critical when this happens to be open about why it happened and be specific in identifying the behaviors that caused you to have to let go of this person.’If you can legally do so, tell your employees why you let their coworker go. Otherwise, a lack of understanding on their part only perpetuates the negative emotions they’re already dealing with. And in the aftermath of a firing, employers should think of ways to make their team stronger and actively encourage the formation of new friendships. For instance, if you bring in a replacement soon after the firing, Friedman suggests introducing new employees as people, not walking resumes. ‘When you have someone join your organization, don’t just introduce them by their professional experience and their resume,’ says Friedman. ‘Talk a little bit about what their interests are outside of work.’ Current employees will be able to quickly identify commonalities with their new coworker and hopefully, form a friendship with them down the road.

Maintaining your friendshipAs for your now unfortunately unemployed friend, just because you don't work together anymore doesn't mean you can't maintain the relationship. But Friedman suggests that you avoid venting with them about your former shared workplace. Instead, if you feel comfortable and the reason for their firing wasn’t too egregious, see if you can assist them with their job hunt, referring them to others in your network or writing a recommendation. And now that your friendship can grow outside of the office, your conversations can expand beyond work woes.

EXECUTIVE HEALTH

What to dowhen your workis your best friend

CLOSEST CONFIDANT

TOURISM

By Saad MahmudPhoto - Aal Maruf Russell

LOOKINGFOR BIRDIESA Better Scope forBird watching in Bangladesh

Bird watching in Bangladesh is more than you could ever imagine. Abundance of resident, migratory

and seasonal birds makes our land a paradise for ornithologists

all around the world. Bulbul, magpie, robin, common game birds, cuckoos, hawks, ducks,

owls etc. are the major resident birds in Bangladesh. Bangladesh

is situated on the cross path of two major migratory flyways. Our

wetlands, many of which are situated in Sylhet, are the home

for migratory birds. Even in Dhaka, Jahangirnagar University

is a famous sanctuary for migratory birds. The coastal areas,

including Sundarban forest are important breeding, resting and

feeding ground for a large variety of resident and migratory bird.

TOURISM

While Trekking through the Jungle of the Sundarbans, you can have the opportunity to observe both animals and birds. Meantime the footprint of

tiger will be an additional benefit.During winter in Sylhet, the vast

wetlands like Hail Haor, Hakaluki Haor, Tanguar Haor is crowded with

a diverse range of migratory birds. Among these wetlands, Tanguar

Haor is located in Sunamganj District (northeast of Bangladesh)

covering an area of about 100 square kilometers of which 2,802.36

square hectares is wetland. With a unique ecosystem, it includes more

than hundred resident birds and many more seasonal species of bird.Lawachara National Park, located at

Kamalganj Upazila, Maulvi Bazar District in the northeastern region of the country, is a major national park

and nature reserve in Bangladesh. Biological diversity is a strong

aspect of Lawachara National Park. The wildlife in Lawachara includes nearly 460 species of which nearly

250 are bird species.

TOURISM

A little far from the maddening crowd of Dhaka, Jahangirnagar University is a bird sanctuary for seasonal

migratory birds. Each year thousands of bird watchers gather in this university. It takes only an hour from the

Dhaka city to Jahangirnagar University by car or bus.Now you already know why Bangladesh is a heaven for

birdwatchers from all around the world. All you need is just a pair of binoculars, a sturdy pair of hiking shoes, and a lot

of patience.There are 12 bird sanctuaries in Bangladesh, but the

Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is the most famous and the largest bird sanctuary in Asia - being home to over 300 of resident

bird species. The sanctuary is also a renowned refuge for migratory birds like barons, ibis, pelicans and painted storks that make Bharatpur their temporary home during the winter

months.Although covering a total area of only 29 square kilometers

(11 of which are marshes and grassland) Bharatpur is a birdlover's paradise and shouldn't be missed. The Sanctuary

is open throughout the year, but the ideal months for visiting Bangladesh are from August-November for resident breeding

birds and October- February for migrant birds.While visitors can walk at their leisure on well-defined forest trails, bird lovers can also take a ride on a rickshaw or take a

boat. Bird watching excursions are offered throughout the day, but sightseeing ventures in early morning or late

evening may prove to be the most interesting.

Fair at Jahangirnagar UniversityBird watchers say despite the adverse impact of ongoing climate change, migratory birds come to Bangladesh wetlands every year to escape the extreme cold in the regions where they come from. ‘Migratory birds are our natural resources. We should make efforts to protect them,’ said amateur bird-photographer Zakia Roushan Runi, who visits JU every year. Runi, however, said that he fears that the number of birds visiting Bangladesh is declining during the last few years because neighboring countries are also providing sanctuaries for them.But Emam Ul Haque, president of Bangladesh Bird Club, said that Bangladesh is still a safe heaven for thousands of migratory birds. Haque said that migratory birds not only enrich Bangladesh's bio-diversity by creating a balance in the ecosystem, but also enhance the beauty of the surrounding through their colorful presence. Availability of food and sustainable environment in Bangladesh attract migratory birds to stay for a certain time in the country's water-bodies, said Haque, who takes regular bird watching trips to various forests in the country. Like Runi, he also expressed his concern that rapid growth of industries in Bangladesh like many other Asian countries may threaten bird habitats, resulting in the decline of the influx of birds from other countries.

Besides these, Sonadia Island

TOURISM

CORPORATE ETIQUETTES

Top ways to irritate your co-workers by doing these

MISTAKEN FOR GOODNESS?

Business etiquette isn't just about

observing the social niceties; sometimes

business etiquette is simply not

irritating other people

unnecessarily.Here are things that irritate me;

feel free to add your own in the comments:

1. Email to say you just left a voicemail.You called. It's urgent. She didn't answer. You had to leave a voicemail. Crap. So you turn to your computer and send an email. You say, ‘I just left you a voicemail... please get it as soon as you can...’ She doesn't respond right away. Crap. Now you go to Twitter and send a DM. ‘Hey, check your email and voicemail,’ it says. Nothing. Maybe you should post something on her Facebook timeline...? Or maybe not.What you don't know is that she just isn't available; an earthquake wouldn't get her out of that client meeting. What you do know is that she'll have to sift through all the stuff you sent when she does get out. Give people a chance to respond. Sometimes they're just as busy as you are.And if you absolutely must email to say you left a voicemail, go ahead and explain exactly what you need in the email, and tell her she can delete the voicemail. Or vice versa. Never create a communication chain people have to follow.

2. Pretend to be ‘just checking in.’You and another vendor worked together on a project for a client a couple years ago. He calls. ‘Hi,’ he says. ‘I just thought I'd see how you're doing.’‘I'm doing great,’ you say. You chat for a while. Finally you say, ‘Hey, it's good to hear from you--what can I do for you?’‘Nothing,’ he replies. ‘I just wanted to check in.’Ah. It's almost guaranteed he'll call back a few days later, wanting something.If you want something, don't pretend you're just checking in. Say ‘hi.’ Then get to the point. Describe what you want. Ask for what you need.Pretending otherwise is just insulting.We're not stupid. We know you want something. We're cool with that.So get to it.

4. Forget ‘no’ is the new ‘yes.’ We're all raised to say ‘yes.’ We like to help people. We like to be supportive. Yes is polite. But we don't have time to say yes to anywhere close to everything... and when we have too many ‘yeses’ on our plate we don't come through.Most people are disappointed by no, but they understand. They're cool with it. An initial yes creates excitement, and then when yes someday turns into no, at the very least that will cause hurt feelings. Then there are some requests we shouldn't accept, even if we do have time: Requests for introductions to certain contacts, requests for unusual favors, etc.See no as your best way to protect something incredibly precious. Time. Time to do what you need to do.

3. Set up an email auto-response... and then respond.It's disconcerting to get a live response 10 minutes after an auto-response. Hmm, you think. Does that mean I'm really important? But wait, he didn't respond to that other email I sent? Does that mean...?If you know you won't be checking in, auto-responses are fine. (Just make sure each individual only gets one--nothing is worse than serial auto-responses.)A better approach is to tell key people ahead of time that you'll be away and how you plan to communicate during that time. Then you can respond on your own terms--and they'll understand.Because face it--you're not fooling anyone, especially yourself: Regardless of your intentions, you will be checking in.

5. Forget ‘no’ really does mean ‘no.’Then flip things around. Ask once. If you hear ‘no,’ and you're not in sales, don't ask again.This is especially true in social media. According to a Robert Half survey, 39% of respondents were ‘not very comfortable’ or ‘not comfortable at all’ with friend or connection requests from people who manage them. The percentages were almost identical for clients, and even worse for vendors.If employees, clients, or vendors ask to connect with you, go for it.But if you ask, take no for an answer--or better yet, consider not asking at all.

7. Make someone read an entire email thread to figure out what you want. In general, you should include the thread if it's helpful for background information, but say clearly what you want right up front.Give the recipient the option of reading more if they want to, but never make them need to.

8. Assume what is urgent to you is urgent to the recipient. News flash: It almost never is. To recipients, an email flagged as ‘high priority’ only indicates that you think you are the high priority.Forget the flags and use the subject line to get attention. Your employees won't ignore a subject line like, ‘I need your help: We're about to lose our client!’

9. Connect your tweets to your LinkedIn account.This is especially true if many of your followers are also connections. Unlike ice cream, people don't like to be double-dipped.No one wants to read about your killer lunch meeting twice.

6. Tag other people in a photo without their permission. Yeah, you took the photo so yeah, you own the legal rights and can reproduce, distribute, and otherwise use it as you see fit, even if I'm in it. Hooray for you. That doesn't mean I like how I look in the photo... and that definitely doesn't mean I want it to be easy for other people to see it.Always ask before you tag. Better yet, don't tag at all. All you're doing is trying to impress people by who you know anyway.(By the way: If getting tagged really irritates you, set up an alert that notifies you whenever you've been tagged in a photo.)

10. Use the reply-all button. Anything that is nice to know won't be remembered anyway. And someday, somehow, you'll email someone you shouldn't... and things will never be the same.Instead, always add multiple recipients manually. You'll be forced to think twice before wasting someone's time and you'll also avoid, say, sending that cost estimate to a vendor that you intended for the client.

11. Use email for arguing, criticizing, giving bad news, or saying ‘no.’Good news? Fine, email away.Bad news? Deliver it by phone or in person.Of course you should apply a little judgment: If someone you don't know emails asking for a favor, it's okay to say ‘no’ by email. But if you have some sort of relationship, or they are someone whose opinion you value, or you've ever met or talked to them before... don't deliver bad news by email.That's just hiding behind the technology.

WORD OF MOUTH

Bangladesh Manages Highest Index GainConsumers in Asia Pacific’s emerging markets remain optimistic despite a slight decline in overall consumer confidence for the region, according to the MasterCard Index™ of Consumer Confidence, released today. This decrease comes after the region recorded the highest consumer confidence score in more than 10 years in the previous survey (H1 2014).Respondents were asked to give a six-month outlook on five economic factors including the economy, employment prospects, regular income prospects, and their quality of life. The Index is calculated with zero as the most pessimistic, 100 as most optimistic and 50 as neutral. Compared to H1 2014, only the Philippines (up 7.7 Index points) and Bangladesh (up 16.9 Index points) out of the 16 Asia Pacific markets surveyed recorded a greater than 5 Index point improvement in consumer confidence. 10 out of 16 Asia Pacific markets remained stable with either muted improvements or declines.

Banglalink, country's second largest telecom operator is offering Viber daily pack at only Tk. 6 considering the growing need of the customers. By subscribing to Viber daily pack one can enjoy unlimited Viber, all day! Banglalink is the first operator to introduce such an innovative offer.Any Banglalink prepaid and call & control subscribers with internet enabled handset can purchase the daily Viber pack. Through this pack the subscriber can enjoy Viber at full speed up to 20MB, after 20MB of Viber usage fair usage policy will apply. The subscribers can still use Viber at 128Kbps after reaching the fair usage limit, without any additional data charge! The daily Viber pack can be used for Viber only; internet usage for any other purpose will be charged separately. To use internet for other websites the subscriber can purchase any volume based pack alongside Viber. The data usage for other sites will be deducted from any other data pack the subscriber has or through Pay-As-You-Go (if the subscriber is not subscribed to any other pack). This is a limited time offer, to enjoy unlimited Viber dial 5000*535# and subscribe to daily Viber pack! Dial *5000*500# to check volume status. To unsubscribe from the pack, dial *5000*539#.

Amari Dhaka Offers Burger and MacaroonsThis season, Amari Dhaka is offering delicious Lamb Burger and Macaroon. Wine and dine your way around the world as you embark on a culinary journey with their dining options. Enjoy your meal with them in Cascade Lounge to establish such relationship bonds. The relaxed ambience of Cascades Lounge is perfect for an informal business meeting or catching up with friends over tea, coffee and light snacks. Known for its high-quality service, Cascade Lounge is now offering the best Lamb Burger and Macaroon in town. These may be served hot or as takeaway food.The Lamb Burger comes with a thin slab of feta cheese, thinly sliced onions and cumin mayonnaise. Meanwhile, the Macaroon is a chewy mound of shredded almonds, lightly sweetened and held together by egg whites. Cascade Lounge Macaroon is definitely the best macaroon you could ever taste, filling you up with warm, fuzzy happiness after just one bite. Come and try their exciting macaroon flavours – Orange, Raspberry, Blueberry, Coffee, Red Velvet, Citron (Lemon), Chocolate, Blackberry, Caramel Nut and Green Tea starting from 11 January to 11 February at Cascade Lounge.

Banglalink Viber daily pack is now @ tk. 6!!

WORD OF MOUTH

Shahed Borw Noor to help develop BangladeshThe agreement signing ceremony between Shahed Borw Noor International Ltd which is in collaboration with the Syrikat Markaz Malazia Sdn Bhd was held recently at Pan Pacific Sonar Gaon Hotel, Dhaka. Mr. Shahed Badshah Borwlightjan, son of Osman, Chairman of Shahed Borw Noor International Ltd., and the eminent officials of Syrikat Markaz Malazia Sdn Bhd Executive Director Dr Sabrina was present at the signing ceremony. The major manufacturing firms from Malaysia, China, Japan and Korea are involved in the projects.The collaboration was made in Partnership for Industrial Development. Shahed Borw Noor International Ltd. was established for the contribution to development of the national economy. The company has branched out its development works in various industries with, Manufacturing, Financial & Investment Institution, Engineering & Design, Property & Township Development, and Energy & Technology. They will focus on industrial Development and go forward with the projects of consumer culture that require competitive prices, high quality and excellence in the field of industry and technology.‘We affirm that our hard and relentless work to participate and cooperate through our expertise, Investment and capabilities to contribute to the development of industry in Bangladesh and to participate in the increased manufacturing efforts, supporting innovation, targeting economic growth positively, and providing jobs and a better life for the people of Bangladesh’ said Dr Rashed Joher, chairman of Syarikat Markaz Malizia Sdn Bhd.This is the beginning of a great journey towards making Bangladesh a sustainable country by focusing on elevating the lifestyle through new jobs, developing much needed infrastructure and creating an educated and skillful work force. With the blessings of the people, the Chairman wishes to advance its activities.

New Etihad Airways UniformsEtihad Airways recently revealed its much anticipated new uniforms at a spectacular show in Abu Dhabi, paving the way for a new age of glamorous and sophisticated flying. Created by Italian Haute Couturier Ettore Bilotta at his atelier in Milan, the new uniform exudes a classic elegance seldom seen in the aisles of modern airliners, and cleverly merges dramatic elements of old world haute couture from 1960s Paris and Rome, with the more contemporary fashions evident on the runways of London, New York, Milan and Tokyo. The beautiful collection possesses a style which has come to characterise the Etihad Airways brand and which will enhance the airline’s reputation as the standard-bearer of superlative customer service. Unveiled at a catwalk show held for global media, the launch has been timed to coincide with the arrival of Etihad Airways’ fleet of Airbus A380 and Boeing 787-9 aircraft, equipped with the airline’s revolutionary new cabins. The debut of the new uniforms represents the grand finale to what has been a momentous year for the airline on the world stage.

WORD OF MOUTH

Standard Chartered appoints Abrar Anwar as new CEO of BangladeshStandard Chartered today announced Abrar A. Anwar as the new Chief Executive Officer for Bangladesh, the oldest and largest international bank in the country. Jim McCabe, who has led the Standard Chartered franchise in Bangladesh for the last five years, will now take on the role of CEO in Sri Lanka.Abrar, currently Head of Corporate & Institutional Clients, joined Standard Chartered Bank in January 2011. His leadership has delivered impressive revenue growth, diversifying the business beyond traditional banking into sophisticated financial solutions to meet the more

complex needs of corporates in Bangladesh today. Abrar has more than 23 years experience in international banking in Bangladesh, India and the UK. His achievements include setting up of the first ‘Syndication & Structured Finance’ business in Bangladesh (for the then ANZ Grindlays Bank), along with successful closure of milestone transactions in the Energy & Power, Infrastructure, Telecom, Aviation, Domestic and Export-oriented industries.Announcing the appointment, Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO, India & South Asia, said ‘I am delighted that Abrar will lead our business in Bangladesh, a unique and fast growing franchise for Standard Chartered, the largest international bank in the country. Abrar is a hugely talented member of our team and he has already made a major contribution to our success, under Jim McCabe’s leadership. His deep knowledge of Bangladesh, a key growth market for us globally, and our customers and clients will take this exciting business to new heights.’Upon his appointment as Bangladesh CEO, Abrar said ‘We have great ambitions for our business here and I am excited about the opportunities to serve our customers, clients, staff and the community. We have long been proud of the major social contribution we make in Bangladesh over the past 100 years - financing the businesses, small and large, which drive growth and job creation across the country and investing in our people and the communities in which we live and work. I am honoured to be entrusted with the responsibility of leading the talented team at Standard Chartered in Bangladesh.’ Abrar A. Anwar will continue to be based in Dhaka and has taken up his new appointment from 1 January 2015.

BRAC Bank signs MoU with Midland Bank LtdBRAC Bank has recently signed an agreement with Midland Bank Limited. Under this agreement, Midland Bank will execute Xpress Money remittance transactions from all of their outlets as a sub agent of BRAC Bank Limited. Mohammad Mamdudur Rashid, Deputy Managing Director, BRAC Bank, and Md Ahsan-uz-Zaman, Managing Director & CEO, Midland Bank Limited, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective banks.

ESSAYESSAY

By SM Zakaria

LABYRINTHINECORRIDORS

Business in contemporaryBangladesh

History in PerspectiveMagna Carta (the great charter) or the Magna Carta Libertatum (the great charter of liberties) was issued on 15 June 1215, by King John of England with a view to making peace with some rebellious barons (noble men of means). The king was repressive and the barons did not agree to give in; so the charter was issued with commitments from the royalty to protect the rights of the church, to protect the barons from illegal imprisonment, to protect the barons from payment of unlimited taxes and to provide the barons the right to quick justice.The

contemporary political, religious, business, and social systems in England did possess such inner strength, courage and stature that it could compel a feudal king to come to terms with religious and business leaders and sign a charter ensuring certain basic rights of the members of the society.Some 800 years after, in 2015, when citizens of England are poised to celebrate the commencement of the Magna Carta, one of the greatest manmade historical documents that sought to defy despotic actions and ensure freedom and justice for the humanity, we, the people of Bangladesh, are still crying in the absence of our rights to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ Past and ongoing political developments have denied the people of these rights and they have been made to live a life of subjugation similar to that of colonial era, being deprived of the smooth opportunity to earn livelihoods, safe movement, the right to assemble and speak out for themselves, the right to choose their leaders, the right to justice, and appallingly, incessant attempts are on for influencing people’s thinking process so a permanent bias for certain political dogma could be achieved to the benefit of a political sect.This is not a water body for fishes to live; as fishes need unpolluted waters to live and multiply, so business needs an unpolluted social environment to flourish and sustain. But that is wanting severely. On a broader account, during the last 43 years after independence of the country, nine sets of government have governed the country – each of them did not hold and represent the people’s hope and will. The social environment promoted by them did not suit the people, nor the business. Autocratic policies hostile to freedom, peace and business; corruption dragging business down and bolstering un-business amassing of wealth featured the tenures of most of those governments.

The TruthNo matter how the political, social and economic environment behave with the people, the naked truth is that they have to save their lives by, at the bottom line, acquiring the basic consumer items necessary to sustain, and then as a protective measure, by maintaining growth into the future. Bangladesh is a blatant example of this evolutionary process that goes on in human societies: people cannot wait for somebody, some government to spoon-feed them; evolution in people’s efforts to save life, sustain life has to go without being dampened by any bar or barrier; it is an inevitability, an invincible social stream that has to flow creating creaks and cracks through all sorts of natural and human hurdles.One hundred and sixty million people living in a land mass covering only 55,000 sq. miles did not have until now any choice but to wage a momentous war against all odds and perils, all deprivations to earn a livelihood: they have been successful. Their muscles and minds especially that of the weaker part of the society are spending from the available human capital and getting paid off. But, the country has now reached a cross-roads, a labyrinth of paths as to where to go, what to do, which way lies the conomic and social emancipation ofherproletariat people.

The CulpritIt is a hard truth for Bangladesh that she lacks in vitality in terms of both surface and underground resources, but that has not been insurmountable as demonstrated in our success in adding values to what we have, in acquiring remarkable wealth by utilising what we have profusely – the so called manpower. Clearly, politics remains as the culprit in failing us to stride ahead by calibrating available resources to grab opportunities obtaining in the domestic and global markets. We have crossed long politically arid paths up to now; while most of the

world in this 21st century has grown mature enough to deal in business, politics, diplomacy, science & technology, creating and managing wealth, the contemporary perils of our politics offer nothing but bad omen for our futurity. Our wellbeing appears to have been seized by our reactionary attitude and activities.Though constitutionally socialistic, we have embraced open market economic and pluralistic political practices as our motto and have been performing accordingly but meekly. Our productive future lies in the hands of the private sector, because 99% of our productive entities are owned by individual private owners. The specific problems facing them are shoddy infrastructure and law & order conditions, weak port facilities, insufficient fuel and power supply, under developed domestic market, un-smart labour market, under developed services market etc., among others. The broader problem consists in rowdy and uncivilized political environment. In a modern state, politics is the outer circle that encompasses and defines every aspect of social dynamics; this is more so in Bangladesh, because social institutions that guard people’s rights and privileges are pitifully weakplaying in the hands of successive governments.

The Magna Carta for BangladeshIf our future is to be saved at all, if our business and for that matter our efforts to acquire wealth is to be bolstered, if stability and peace are to be put firm as social norms, the social myopia about our rights and responsibilities needs be removed at the first instance, then we need to look far beyond and sit in a national convention of enlightened minds and leaders and adopt a charter – The Magna Carta for the Citizens of Bangladesh – which shall enshrine people’s commitments to provide protection to each and every citizen of this country as to his/her right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’

One hundred and sixty million people living in a land mass covering only 55,000 sq. miles did not have until now any choice but to wage a momentous war against all odds and perils, all deprivations to earn a livelihood

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