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MANDARIN or Chinese is one of the most spoken languages in the world and if we want to learn a second foreign language after English, Chinese could be a good choice. A staggering number of people, one billion people to be exact, speak this language. I am just a beginner, but I take a lot of fun when I meet people who speak Chinese. Chinese is now considered an important language worldwide because of the country's increased presence in the business world.  The Chinese are involved in many businesses throughout the world including Bangladesh and it is sure that in the coming days the presence of Chinese language will spread further. Chinese is a tonal language and learning Mandarin Chinese requires a firm grip on the four Chinese tones used in speaking. When we learn a language we also learn a lot about the nation. Learning a foreign language is really fun. It is not as hard as we presume. The internet has opened a door of opportunity for us. It is a platform for learning Chinese free. Let us use it to our advantage. Zaijian! (Goodbye in Chinese)  Mohammed Sohel hara Bonosree, Dhaka sohelhara@hotmail.com....

Published at: 2017-08-26 05:00:05

Bangladesh should prefer green field investment type of FDI and focus on foreign investment in the form of equity capital, said Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI). These types of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) would help generate more employment, bring positive trade effects, including boosting export earnings, and keep financial stability in the country. The chamber also said that Bangladesh should prefer these types of FDIs instead of merger and acquisition (M&A) type, and FDI in non-tradable service sectors and reinvested earnings. The leading chamber made the suggestions in an editorial titled 'World Investment Report 2017: Investment and the Digital Economy' in the August 2017 issue of its bulletin -- 'Chamber News'. The editorial highlighted findings of the World Investment Report (WIR) 2017, published by UNCTAD. MCCI said M&A type FDI does not generate employment and new production facilities like green field  investment. It may lead to lay-offs, as the acquired firm is restricted. Bangladesh should prefer FDI in the form of equity capital instead of reinvested earnings, as the latter can be a source of considerable financial instability, it said. A prominent feature of FDI inflows into Bangladesh is that bulk of the FDI gets concentrated in non-tradable sectors. It hardly contributes anything to export earnings, but generate repayment obligations in the forms of profits, dividends and repatriation of capital, MCCI also said. "It is worth noting that in 2016 the telecom sector, a prominent service industry, attracted the highest amount of FDI in Bangladesh." Profit remittance and profits retained (profit re-investment) by the subsidiaries are highly volatile, and indeed can be just as volatile as portfolio investment flows, especially during an economic crisis, it added. The composition of FDI in Bangladesh has been undergoing a shift away from equity capital in the direction of reinvested earnings, it said. As revealed in WIR 2017, reinvested earnings were the most important source of FDI in the country in 2016. "Bangladesh has set a GDP growth target of more than 7.0 per cent in the coming years. An essential pre-requisite for high economic growth is, however, a high rate of investment, which unfortunately has remained low and stagnant in the country during the recent years," MCCI noted. According to provisional data of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the ratio of private investment to GDP in fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 was 23.01 per cent, which is only 0.02 percentage point higher than the previous FY. But attaining 7.0 to 8.0 per cent GDP growth will call for a considerable increase in private investment, perhaps worth almost an additional 2.0 per cent of GDP every year, it opined. However, since available domestic savings will be insufficient to meet the increased investment needs, the country will need larger doses of FDI to bridge the resource gap. The government has put in place an elaborate incentive package to attract foreign investors, but without much success. FDI inflow has remained low and proved insufficient to meet the country's investment needs. It is generally believed that the low volume of FDI in Bangladesh is essentially the result of the country's poor investment climate. According to the UNCTAD report, FDI inflow to Bangladesh rose to $2.33 billion in 2016, growing by a negligible 4.3 per cent from $2.23 billion in the previous year. The country's share of the inflow within the South Asian countries was as low as 4.0 per cent in 2016, like the previous years, and only 0.10 percent within the globe. The UNCTAD report found huge decline in global FDI in the past year, and it also forecasts a very weak recovery in global investments this year and in the next. According to the report, global FDI flows, after declining by 2.0 per cent in 2016, to $1.75 trillion, are expected to rise by 5.0 per cent to $1.8 trillion in 2017 and to $1.85 trillion in 2018. However, this increase still puts global FDI below the all-time peak of $1.9 trillion in 2007. UNCTAD warned that cross-border investments by businesses around the world have still not returned to their pre-crisis peak, almost a decade after the 2008 financial crisis. The report noted that FDI flows to the developing countries declined 14 per cent, to $646 billion. Flows to developing Asia fell by 15 per cent to $443 billion, with double-digit drops in most sub-regions, except South Asia. FDI in the structurally weak and vulnerable economies remained fragile. Flows to the LDCs fell by 13 per cent, to $38 billion, and those to Small Island Developing States fell by 6.0 per cent, to $3.5 billion. The FDI inflow in South Asia rose by a modest 6.0 per cent, to $54 billion, while the inflow to India, the largest country in the region, was stagnant at $44 billion. The UNCTAD report has termed these developments - large declines in FDI flows to the developing and structurally weak economies and their modest recovery prospects - as quite troublesome, as companies invested less in the developing world and more in the US and other developed economies. The report suggested that the global policy environment should remain conducive to investment in sustainable development. The poor investment climate in turn is caused by many factors, such as problems of governance, like - policy discontinuity, red-tapism, administrative hassles, poor condition of infrastructure (roads, ports etc), inadequate and erratic supply of power and gas, shortage of skilled labor, and trade policy-related impediments. These problems are largely endogenous, which affect both domestic and foreign investment alike. In order to encourage foreign or local entrepreneurs to invest in the country, the government will need to adopt appropriate measures to solve these problems. "While acknowledging the overriding need for obtaining larger flows of FDI, it should be understood that FDI is not an unmixed blessing. There are benefits and costs accompanying foreign investment." "The task for the policy-makers is to devise policies to increase the benefits and reduce the costs, with the aim of maximising the net benefits," it said. In fact, FDI should not be treated indispensable for economic progress. Empirical studies on the effects of FDI conclude that successful growth in the developing countries is premised essentially on raising the domestic savings rate to a high level and productively investing these savings. The East Asian growth success is based mainly on high domestic savings rather than FDI. Countries like Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China did not rely much on foreign investment. Economic progress in these countries was actually always laid by domestic ventures. Foreign investment was used just to temporarily supplement domestic savings and gain access to certain foreign markets or certain fast changing technologies, it added.     doulot_akter@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-26 05:00:05

Health development surcharge worth Tk 9.0 billion remained unutilised during the last three fiscal years due to lack of a specific guideline to spend the amount. The Value Added Tax (VAT) wing under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected the revenue during the last three financial years, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 as 1.0 per cent 'health development surcharge' from tobacco companies. The amount remained unutilised in the public exchequer as the government did not use it for checking tobacco consumption and campaigning against the health hazardous item. Slow pace of implementation and approval of the 'Health Development Surcharge Management Policy' of the Ministry of Health is responsible for the unutilised fund, sources said. The draft of the policy got approval in an inter-ministerial meeting on February 15, 2017. The policy is scheduled to be placed before the cabinet in this month (August), said a senior health ministry official. He said the National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC) under the ministry of heath can execute a national tobacco control programme with the surcharge amount conducting research and campaign, rehabilitating tobacco-users, creating alternative jobs for tobacco farmers and ensuring overall health development. On January 30-31, 2016 in the South Asian Speakers' conference, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina instructed the authorities to adopt a national tobacco control programme with the amount of health development surcharge. Following the instruction, the ministry of health framed the draft surcharge policy and sought opinion of nine relevant ministries including finance, agriculture and industries. With the recommendations, the health ministry published the draft in its website on December 2016 for public opinion. The government imposed the surcharge in the budget for FY 2014-15 and the NBR issued rules for collecting the amount. As per the rules, the VAT authority collects the surcharge on the basis of value on which they claim VAT. The surcharge is levied for supply of locally produced tobacco products at production stage. Some 11 countries across the world collect this type of surcharge widely known as 'sin-tax'. India, Thailand, Nepal, Qatar, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Iceland and Estonia collect this type of surcharge on tobacco products. In 1976, India introduced Rs 5.0 surcharge on 1,000 sticks of cigarette. It has formed a 'Bidi workers welfare fund' with the surcharge amount to provide free health service, maternity service and scholarships for children. Nepal imposed Rs 0.1 in 1993 and increased it to Rs 0.2 in 2003-04. Thailand, Qatar and Mongolia imposed 2.0 per cent health surcharge each in 2001, 2002 and 2005 respectively. Thailand is running 'Thai health foundation' and Nepal formed 'health tax fund' with the surcharge. In 2013, Vietnam and Laos introduced the surcharge at 1.0 to 2.0 per cent and US$ 0.03. Roksana Kader, additional secretary (public health and world health) of the Ministry of Health said the draft policy has gone through several reviews and revisions following directives of the ministry of finance and stakeholders. "We hope to place the draft policy for approval of the cabinet by this month," she said. After approval of the policy, it will be sent to the finance division to finalise the process of spending the fund of health surcharge, she said. Md Ruhul Quddus, joint secretary and coordinator of National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC) said the cell is now running its activities with the fund support of Bloomberg Philanthropy. "There is no government fund yet for the NTCC. We hope, the surcharge policy would be approved soon so that we can launch national tobacco control programme," he added.       doulot_akter@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-26 05:00:05

The World Bank has held out a development policy credit (DPC) to help create more, better and inclusive jobs in Bangladesh as employment generation slows, officials said. After discussion with Finance Minister AMA Muhith the multilateral lending agency forwarded a policy note in this regard to the ministry of finance last week for further actions, they added.   According to the officials, the WB recently conducted a Jobs Diagnostic assessing the labour market on job creation, as well as the quality and inclusiveness of jobs in Bangladesh. It found multiple challenges that require concerted efforts at both policy and institutional levels. According to the policy note, employment generation grew at a rapid annual rate of 2.7 per cent in Bangladesh during 2003-10 period before slowing sharply down to 1.8 per cent in 2010-15. In the former period the jobs growth was faster than the growth in the working-age population, allowing for lower unemployment and higher labour-force participation. But the trends reversed in 2010-15 with an average of 64,000 jobs per year from 320,000 during 2003-10.   The note noted that slowing in the apparel sector underscores the need for developing a diversified export sector to create quality jobs. While the other manufacturing sectors are growing rapidly to meet an increasing domestic demand, large-scale, export-oriented sectors beyond apparel have yet to emerge to create quality jobs. Sluggish enterprise growth and a high share of micro-enterprise highlights the need for supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for job creation, the policy note said. In addition to employment generation Bangladesh also needs to address the quality of jobs. Substantial shares of workforce are engaged in informal, unpaid, or agricultural work. Only 22 per cent of male and 20 per cent of female workers are wage employees, with large shares of female workers in unpaid work and male workers in day labour. The report also said low levels of technology, outdated management practice, and lagging skills of the workforce, especially among micro-enterprises, perpetuate the creation of low-quality jobs in Bangladesh. Amid slowing job creation and low quality of jobs, inclusive employment is becoming weak here. The WB suggested that a comprehensive and well-coordinated programme of policy reforms could help address the jobs challenges facing Bangladesh. The programme needs to cover three inter-linked objectives: increasing the pace of formal job creation, raising the quality of jobs, and connecting vulnerable workers to job.   Regulatory reform and revisiting distortionary business policies will be critical to acceleration of structural transformation and improving competitiveness, especially for non-RMG sectors and for SMEs, for faster and diversified job creation, it noted. The WB also underscored better-planned and faster urbanisation which is critical to the development of second-tier cities and sustainability of Dhaka. In this regard strategic and coordinated investment in amenities, infrastructure, and administrative capacity is needed. Increasing the level of formality of the labour market will contribute sustainability to enhancing the quality of jobs, the WB said, but argued that it will need to be supported by interventions that boost firm productivity. Developing comprehensive and coherent measures for old-age support would also enhance job quality, especially since options for pensions tend to be provided through employment.   It said the current pension system in the country is insufficient as most workers are excluded. The government needs to find means to expand pension coverage while remaining sustainable. The policy note also suggested that considering the growing importance of overseas employment for development, the government can make several interventions to facilitate more and safer temporary migration of workers. Reduction in migration costs and developing policies to facilitate return and reintegration can help reduce vulnerability of migrant workers overseas, it says. syful-islam@outlook.com ....

Published at: 2017-08-26 05:00:05

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BBA) will borrow US$ 516.34 million to make final payment against the delivery of four passenger aircraft as part of its move to rebuild its fleet, officials said. The national flag carrier has already made pre-delivery payment (PDP) to the US-based Boeing for the procurement of last four Boeing aircraft as per agreements under the government's sovereign guarantee, they added. "The rate of interest will be lower if Biman takes out loan from international financial institutions /lenders under sovereign guarantee. For this, procurement price will also come down," Shakil Meraj, General Manager (Public Relations) and focal point of BBA, told the FE on Thursday. Biman already completed pre-delivery payment to the Boeing for procurement of four 787-800 aircraft, he mentioned. Currently, fund is needed urgently to make the final delivery payment. The civil aviation and tourism ministry has sought sovereign guarantee from the finance ministry in favour of BBA, a senior official of the civil aviation ministry said. "We have received a letter from the civil aviation ministry, seeking sovereign guarantee for delivery payment. The finance ministry is working on this issue," a high official of the finance ministry said. A deal was signed between Finance Division and Sonali Bank, UK to receive a loan of US$ 136 million for making pre-delivery payment. The bank has already given US$ 117.9 million to Biman. The BBA signed two agreements with the Boeing in 2008 for purchasing four 777-300ER aircraft, two 737-800 aircraft and four 787-800 aircraft to modernise its fleet. Four 777-300ER aeroplanes joined the Biman fleet in October-November 2011 and in February-March 2014. The fifth of the Boeing series 737-800 was delivered in 2015. Four other aircraft, mostly 787-800, popularly known as Dream liner, are scheduled to be delivered by 2018 and 2019. It was scheduled to be delivered by 2019-2020. Earlier, BBA cancelled a loan agreement with the Canadian company M/S Maryna (private) Limited after the latter's failure to provide the airlines with US$ 136.05 million in loans for pre-delivery payment to the Boeing within the stipulated time to buy the four passenger aircraft, a source concerned said. Subsequently, the Biman authority has had talks with Sonali Bank UK, a wing of the biggest state-owned commercial bank, he added. In November 2015, the national flag carrier signed a loan agreement with the Canadian company for pre-delivery payment financing to the US-based Boeing, he also said.     rezamumu@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-08-26 05:00:05