Haque Specialized Group's News

Our Correspondent CHITTAGONG, July 22: The Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) has suspended plying of riverboats in “Chaktai khal” for one month due to the construction of a bridge over the canal. The mayor of the city corporation gave the order and urged the boatmen not to carry cargoes from the Khatunganj-Chaktai wholesale consumer market to different areas of the district during the period. Meanwhile, Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association and other traders have demanded withdrawal of the decision taken by the city corporation authority. CCC officials said the construction work of a portion of the marine drive from Feringee Bazar to Shah Amanat bridge is going on now. Under this project, the city corporation is constructing a 60-metre two-lane bridge on Chaktai canal and currently it is installing girders on the bridge. Lt Col Mohiuddin Ahmed, chief engineer of the CCC, said plying of boats has been suspended to avoid any accidents during the installation of girders. But a few boats will be allowed to operate in case of emergency. Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association in a press release said hundreds of boats carry goods, especially consumer items to different areas of the country from Chaktai-Khatunganj-Asadganj area. Hundreds of people who largely depend on carrying cargoes by boats for their livelihood will suffer a lot, they said. They will not suffer if the boats are allowed to ply for a certain period of the day. Even it will not hinder the construction work, the association leaders said. Organising secretary of the association Md Jamal Hossain said trade has already shrunk due to illegal grabbing and sediment in the canal. The situation will get worse if plying of bo pankajdastider@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-23 00:00:05

CHITTAGONG, July 22: Amid a huge ship and container congestion in Chittagong port, the revenue board chairman has assured the businesses, exporters and importers that the port and Chittagong Customs House will remain open and operational round the clock until further notice. "Congestion will ease shortly by keeping import and export activities running round the clock," Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Md Nojibur Rahman told a meeting with the port users in Chittagong on Saturday. He said the port users and businesses will also have to cooperate with the Customs and Port and keep their offices open round the clock to facilitate export and import. The meeting was held at the conference hall of the Chittagong Customs House. Presided over by Chittagong Customs House Commissioner AFM Abdullah, the meeting was addressed, among others, by Shipping Secretary Ashok Madhab Roy, Chittagong Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal, members of the NBR, senior officials of the CCH and CPA and representatives of trade bodies. The NBR chairman said the authorities concerned have suspended weekly holidays for the workers, employees and officers involved directly with the export and import activities. Besides, shipment schedule of export cargoes should be strictly followed so that the export schedules are maintained properly, he added. Leaders of Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association (BICDA) and Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA) told the meeting that they had written to the Chittagong Port Authority in the first week of June to take urgent steps to ease logjam of containers. Moinuddin Mintu, first vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said the RMG industry is suffering a lot due to lack of logistic support from the Chittagong port. "The industry fails to cope with its competitors due to port's inadequate capacity." He further said port users, exporters and importers have been demanding installation of cargo handling equipment for years, but the port authority failed to procure any equipment for a decade. On the other hand, average growth of the port's cargo handling is above 16 per cent. BICDA Chairman Nurul Quayyum Khan stressed on coordinated efforts of all stakeholders including berth operators with Chittagong Port Authority and Chittagong Customs House to resolve problems. He said the port has 21 rubber-tyred gantry cranes against the demand for 56. The cranes are as old as 30 years and some of them often become inoperative. On the other hand, there are only seven straddle carriers whereas the port needs at least 15, he added. The prime seaport faces tremendous congestion of vessels and logjam of containers over the last few weeks which led to an unusual overstay of vessels. The ships arriving at the port with import cargoes including raw materials of the ready-made garment sector and other industries face turnaround time for 15 to 20 days now from five to six days till last May, port's stakeholders said. The country's RMG sector faces the worst situation as they have to resort to air-shipment of export consignments for a delay in arrival of ships in the port. The exporters allege that some orders of RMG import from Bangladesh have already been cancelled by overseas buyers. pankajdastider@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-23 00:00:05

Despite lots of promises in the horizon, Mezbahuddin Ahmed and Shirin Akter lived to the top billing as they retained the titles for the fastest man and woman of the country after winning the 100m sprints in the NRB Commercial Bank 13th Summer Athletics Championships at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Saturday. Mezbah won the dash at 10.80 seconds and new s sprint sensation Saiful Islam Khan Sunny who won the gold in 200 on Friday failed to match his his previous timing of 10.53. This was Mezbah's six national level title on the trot while Shirin won her race at 12.30 seconds, a fifth gold medal at the national level. Shirin was also face new challenges as new sprinter Sohagi is already on the horizon who won 200 meter gold on Friday. The local experts blame weather for poor timing.by both the athletes, reports BSS.  ....

Published at: 2017-07-23 00:00:05

Bangladesh received the third highest amount of Aid for Trade (AfT) commitment in 2015. The amount was $2,424.30 million while the actual disbursement stood at $910.10 million. The report titled ‘Aid for Trade at a Glance 2017: Promoting Trade, Inclusiveness and Connectivity for Sustainable Development’ revealed the information. WTO, in association with Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), prepared and released the report. It also showed that India received the highest amount of AfT commitment worth $2,804.8 million in 2015 followed by Philippines which received the commitment worth $ 2,648.9 million. In 2015, global donors committed $53, 878.8 million as AfT of which 55.8 per cent was for top 20 countries. - AK....

Published at: 2017-07-23 00:00:05

Monira Munni Bangladesh slipped to seventh from its fifth position as US-based fashion companies' apparel-sourcing destination in 2017 as they consider the country risky for trade compliance, according to a study. The much-valued compliance issues in the West outweigh the country's best advantage in terms of price, the survey shows.            The study, titled '2017 Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study', found Bangladesh as the most competitive in terms of price but also the riskiest in terms of trade compliance. Jointly conducted by the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) and the University of Delaware, the results of study were released last Thursday. It surveyed 34 executives from the US-based fashion companies between April and May 2017. This year, Bangladesh stands down as the seventh sourcing destination, with 61 per cent of respondents sourcing there, slipping from fifth (70 per cent) in 2016, the study report revealed. "'Made in Bangladesh' enjoys a prominent price advantage over many other Asian suppliers," it said, adding that respondents say Bangladesh, Cambodia and India are relatively high-risk destinations in terms of compliance. Overall, respondents are cautious about expanding sourcing from Bangladesh over the next two years, with only 32 per cent expecting to somewhat increase sourcing there, and none expecting to substantially increase the trade. Respondents were much more optimistic about Bangladesh in 2015 and 2014 when as many as 42 per cent and 50 per cent of respondents, respectively, planned to expand sourcing from there, it added. Respondents said sourcing in Bangladesh is high-risk since compliance is so important to companies, it said. This risk level could be holding them back from increasing the sourcing of fashion garments. "Labor cost remains the top factor driving up sourcing cost in 2017, with 73 per cent of respondents expecting an increase," it said, adding that wage levels continue to rise quickly in many Asian countries where US fashion companies primarily source, including China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Raw materials and shipping fees are the drivers of sourcing cost this year, with 61 per cent and 58 per cent of respondents, respectively, expecting their costs to increase slightly. Around one-third of respondents expect the cost associated with factory compliance, meeting social and environmental standards, and trade barriers to increase in 2017, it showed, reminding the fact that more must be done to eliminate trade barriers and cut "red tape" on borders to help companies manage and reduce cost. Quoting US official data, it showed that Bangladesh and India were top suppliers for only two categories of apparel while Vietnam was the top supplier for five categories. Though US fashion companies intend to source more from Vietnam and Bangladesh in the next two years, imports from the two countries might grow at a relatively slow pace, it forecast. Bangladesh's overall apparel exports to the US market fell by 5.47 per cent to $2.14 billion during January to May 2017 which was $2.26 billion during the corresponding period of 2016, data from Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) affiliated with the US Department of Commerce have shown. Vietnam's apparel export grew by 6.95 per cent to $4.47 billion during the first five months of the current calendar year, it showed. The study also revealed that respondents unanimously opposed the US border-adjustment tax (BAT) proposal, and called for further removal of trade barriers, including restrictive rules of origin and high tariffs. munni_fe@yahoo.com  ....

Published at: 2017-07-23 00:00:05