Emerging Bangladesh-July-Sept. 2013 by BGCCI Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry

The Business Magazine of the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BGCCI)

Emerging Bangladesh July - Sept. 2013

BANGLADESH

THE SECOND GENERATION IS HERE

WHAT’S THEIR VISION & HOW THEY’LL MAKE IT HAPPEN

Exclusive Interview

Pauline Tamesis Country Director, UNDP

CMEP Extends Heartiest Felicitations on the

Day of German Unity We Promote Education Through German Language & Culture

Chandana Management Education Placement (CMEP) An International Education Advising Center A Concern of CMEP Foundation Office in Bangladesh

Office in USA

House 27/E, (3rd Floor) Road-10, Banani, Dhaka 1213 Phone: +880-2-98827-31 Fax: +880-2-988-27-33 Email : kkhasan@chandanamanagement.com Website : http://education.chandanamanagement.com

Chandana Management, Inc. 566 NW 55TH Terrece Boca Raton, FL-33487, USA. Tel/Fax: +1-561-241-5247 Mobile: +1-561-929-3925 Email: info@chandanamanagement.com Website: http://www.chandanamanagement.com

P 10

CONTENTS 06

From the Editor

Special Interview

Opening Remarks

M A Jabbar, Managing Director, DBL Group

The Second Generation is Here

Honorable Minister for International Development of Norway Heikki Holmas visits DBL Group factory workers with Managing Director M A Jabbar

BGCCI Events BGCCI activities over the last quarter

Person of Interest Interview of Pauline Tamesis, Country Director, UNDP

Business Wisdom 10 Things You Need to Know About Supply Chain Management

As a part of BGCCIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Branding

Emerging Bangladesh

Bangladesh campaign, the

Volume 1 Issue 3 July/Sept. 2013

chamber wants to recognize the top Business Leaders of Bangladesh with an exclusive book publication. If you would like to recommend an entrepreneur, businessman or innovator, send us an email at 100leaders@bgcci.com

The business magazine of the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry Emerging Bangladesh will be published four times p.a. by the Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry Publisher Sakhawat Abu Khair on behalf of Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry It is distributed free of charge to members and qualified nonmembers in Bangladesh and abroad.

P 22 Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry German House, 1st Floor, House: 10/C, Road 90, Gulshan 2, Dhaka1212, Bangladesh Tel +88 02 8826480, Fax +88 02 8824858 info@bgcci.com, www.bgcci.com, Www.eurochamber.banglades h.com

Features & Advertisement

*All opinions expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the views of BGCCI

Printed at

Tawhidur Rashid Photography Din Muhammad Shibly Design & Layout Linework

Binimoy Printers Ltd.

Members' News Giz EBL Prime Insurance BASF Chemtrek CMEP

Special Report: Bangladesh's Next Billion Dollar Industries

Feature 66

'Tis the Season of Holiday-Making

35 Cover Focus

Bangladesh 2.0 Interviews of Second Generation Business People What’s Their Vision & How They’ll make It Happen

On its 10 years anniversary, BGCCI extends deep gratitude to its Founder, Presidents, Executive Directors and Executive Board Members. Founder: Mr. Sayed Jamaluddin Haider Presidents: Mr. Sayed Jamaluddin Haider Dr. Peter E. Albrich (2001-2004) Mr. Ruhul Amin (2004-2006) Mr. Nasir A. Chowdhury (2006-2007) Mr. Md. Saiful Islam (2007-2011) Mr. Sakhawat Abu Khair (2012-Till Date) Executive Directors: Mrs. Irmgard Hettich Sherchan (2007) Mr. Syed Feroze Ahmed (2008) Mr. Mir Muniruzzaman (2009) Dipl. Oec. Daniel Seidl (2009-Till Date) BGCCI Executive Committee 2012-2013 President Sakhawat Abu Khair Senior Vice President David Hasanat Treasurer Olaf Handloegten Executive Board Members Bernd Hagen Sakhawat Hossain Shakhawat Hossain Yesmin Ipphat Amrita Islam Omar Sadat Farooq Siddiqui Executive Director Daniel Seidl Chief Advisor Saiful Islam

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FROM THE EDITOR

In our first issue (January-March, 2013) we did a special report called Bangladesh 2.0. In that issue, BGCCI presented a series of interviews of diverse opinion leaders who contemplated how Bangladesh can step forward to become a middle-income country by the next decade. We had a series of outlooks that gave an exciting vision of future: the experts opined how to plot the trajectory of sustainable growth in different sectors. In this issue, BGCCI wanted to exchange views of tomorrow with the young and energetic second generation of business people. Emerging Bangladesh asked them about their vision and how they want to make a difference. This endeavor also brought forth the ways of implementing several ideas of good business. In the past, we have seen how the first generation businesspeople have laid the foundation of what Bangladesh has become today. The world is changing and so is Bangladesh. The new world order poses bigger challenges to the new generation. The technology, the know-how, the elements are there. It's a good news that people whom we have featured have many celebrated virtues of entrepreneurship like visions, leadership and organization cultures. The ten businesspeople we interviewed are sure to change that notion about Bangladeshi entrepreneurship. Among them, a few have already taken over their patriarch's business; a few will soon; while a few have already set up their own enterprises successfully. What does this tell us? This gives us a notion that after pursuing an education abroad, they came back to their roots with a sense of duty to do something for their families and the country. They are successfully implementing the best business practices they have seen and learnt. They are open to suggestions and adapt easily to changes. The latter attitude is very much

needed as the world economy due to various factors are changing its course abruptly and only those who can envision how the future is going to be like will sustain in the long run. We have heard about their achievements and their hopes for a better Bangladesh. We are encouraged and believe that they are some of the true representatives of Bangladesh 2.0. I am delighted that Emerging Bangladesh has interviewed Pauline Tamesis, the Country Director of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She has expressed many words of hope and ambition regarding Bangladesh. In the past, we have seen development sectors working hand in hand with private sectors. UNDPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s participation in the Second Global Social Responsibility Conference 2013 bore testimony to that fact. Her interview will give our readers an idea of how Bangladesh can reap the benefits of its emerging opportunities, vibrant civil society and demographic dividend. She also mentioned about Bangladesh's achievement in Human Development index and attaining a stunning position in the list of those countries who have achieved some of the important Millennium Development Goals. As she clearly mentioned, no one alone can set the country on a path of prosperity. BGCCI will also work with people from both private and development sector to make Bangladesh shine on in days to come. Thank you.

Daniel Seidl Executive Director, BGCCI

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

OPENING REMARKS

SAKHAWAT ABU KHAIR PRESIDENT, BGCCI

THE SECOND GENERATION IS HERE 08

{Emerging Bangladesh} July-Sept. 2013

Globally, more than 72% of family-owned businesses (FOBs) do not survive beyond the third generation, suggested a recent study conducted by Hay Group, an international consultancy firm. The research studied business firms of India (unfortunately no Bangladeshi firm was studied) and found out two thirds of these companies have no succession plans in place. It is interesting in a sense that it sheds lights on the dilemmas the FOBs in Asia face where ‘ Confucianistic values like loyalty and filial piety are deep-rooted’. The study discussed how to find the right successor within the family. The Hay group report also indicates: The first generation builds, the second expands and the third destroys. From this perspective, this issue of Emerging Bangladesh deals with an enlightening issue: interviews of a few second-generation business people whose companies are proud members of BGCCI, the biggest bilateral business chamber in Bangladesh.

Ten young business talents from ten distinguished companies have been featured in this issue. Some of them started at the bottom of the managerial pyramid and slowly and successfully made it to the top. Two things are important here. Number one: their predecessors did not readily believe in the popular adage that blood is thicker than water. They wanted their successors to be honed and gain firsthand experience of complex processes of manufacturing, sourcing, marketing, or distributing. Many of them were born with silver spoons in their mouths but while at work, they traded sweat and time with position. The GenNext in our cover story was thus blessed with proper training to be reckoned as ‘professionally driven’, not ‘promoter driven’. Number two: since all of these young business talents knew that they would have to work their way to the top, they sincerely learned and observed and some of them are still learning. This whole process of grooming made them patient and taught them humility ; they are closer to their workers and employees; they know how things happen or go awry at the bottom of the pyramid - in a word, they are the time-tested

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

successors of businesses they own or are going to own. But what seems more important to me is: all of them are going to become great leaders in course of time. All of them will definitely emerge as good businesspersons. By which I mean they know how to make profits in a smarter way-with the aid of technological automation and better handling of issues like wages and skill development of workers and over all compliance as well as green business policies which will allow them to give back to the environment and the community they operate in.

It is high time we measure the proportion of Bangladesh Inc. sales by our own FOBs. It is high time we seriously study what first generation owners think about succession. There should be institutions coming up with Management Programs to study the conditions of FOBs in Bangladesh and how to future-proof them by injecting adequate amount of professionalism so that the country does not have to face something Hay Group Popularly calls, ‘the third generation curse’. Last but not least, one good news appeared as a silver lining amid the clouds of bad news in the readymade garments industry. A recent study by consulting firm McKinsey & Co found that Bangladesh's 20 billion USD garment business would surely outrival Vietnam and Cambodia in the ranking of countries with the highest potential for future sourcing. As Achim Berg, a partner in McKinsey's German office, and the author of the study quotes, “Bangladesh is still No. 1”, when it comes to outsourcing apparels in big volumes. The author, however, mentioned about challenges ahead of Bangladesh. At home, a National tripartite committee is formed with participation from ILO-Government, workers and employers. I firmly hope we manage to walk the talk this time: come to terms with effective fire safety and building safety for workers, without whom we can never spell success.

BGCCI EVENT

Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry celebrated its 10 years Anniversary

Sakhawat Abu Khair, President of BGCCI

Daniel Seidl, Executive Director of BGCCI

Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BGCCI) celebrated its 10th anniversary with a gala event on the evening of 14th June at the grand Ballroom of the Hotel Radisson Blu in Dhaka with 450 guests. The Chamber started its journey on the 9th June of 2003, and emerged as the biggest bilateral business chamber in the country with 450-plus members till date. The guests present at the event were: H.E. William Hanna, Ambassador, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh; Dr. Ralf Reusch, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany; Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed,

President, FBCCI; Mr. Sayed Jamaluddin Haider, Founder and the First President of BGCCI; Mr. Md Saiful Islam, Chief Advisor, BGCCI, and Sakhawat Abu Khair, current President of BGCCI. H.E. William Hanna made a call to the business community to harness the immense potential of Bangladesh to make further achievements and progress in the economy. He also put emphasis on the issues of compliance, rights of the labors, preservation of environment and ensuring quality of the businesses. He highly praised BGCCI for its roles and said, this is the one of its kind business chamber, which is most dynamic and effective. Dr. Reusch made a nice presentation on BGCCI's activities in recent times.

BGCCI Past Presidents and Executive Directors and current Executive board at the 10 years Anniversary event

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

Saiful Islam, Chief Advisor and Former President (2007-2011), BGCCI

Sayed Jamaluddin Haider, Founder President

The guests present at the event were: H.E. William Hanna, Ambassador, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh; Dr. Ralf Reusch, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany; Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, President, FBCCI; Mr. Sayed Jamaluddin Haider, Founder and the First President of BGCCI; Mr. Md Saiful Islam, Chief Advisor, BGCCI, and Sakhawat Abu Khair, current President of BGCCI. H.E. William Hanna made a call to the business community to harness the immense potential of Bangladesh to make further achievements and progress in the economy. He also put emphasis on the issues of compliance, rights of the labors, preservation of environment and ensuring quality of the businesses. He highly praised BGCCI for its roles and said, this is the one of its kind business chamber, which is most dynamic and effective. Dr. Reusch made a nice presentation on BGCCI's activities in recent times. According to him, BGCCI stands for Big, Glamorous, Competitive, Communicative, and International. He said, this chamber become the biggest bilateral chamber and has set unique examples by organizing events like Global Social responsibility conference and so on and being offering professional services. Dr. Reusch showed a video with regards from the foreign office in Germany.

Dr. Ralf Reusch, Former Charge d'Affaires of German

H.E. William Hana, Ambassador, European Union

The FBCCI president said, “Bangladesh and Germany have a wonderful bilateral trade relationship. In strengthening that relation BGCCI played a significant role.” He also praised the feat BGCCI achieved by dint of its professionalism and international approach and hoped in future the bilateral trade relationship will foster in future. The founding president of BGCCI Sayed Jamaluddin Haider said, “We started the chamber with a view to bolstering the trade relationship between Bangladesh and Germany. Among many obstacles the chamber has reached this height.” Expressing his optimism, he said, “I believe the present leadership at the chamber will take it further heights of success.”

Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, President, FBCCI

Dirk Claus, Photo Editor (STERN)

Mr. Sakhawat Abu Khair, president of the chamber congratulated the members on achieving this remarkable feat. In his speech, he mentioned about the necessity of doing good business, which is not only profitable but also compliant. He extended a special note of thanks all the former presidents and executive director as well as the executive board and members to make it possible tonight. The President congratulated Executive Director Daniel Seidl for his success and underlined that he is a real 'Brand Ambassador' of Bangladesh. Mr. Md. Saiful Islam, the current Chief Advisor and the Former President of the Chamber (2007-2011) said, “BGCCI is the only non-political chamber where we only concentrate on promoting bilateral trade and branding Bangladesh. That is the secret of BGCCI's success. It has achieved that credibility and brand value. That is why when McKinsey & Company (the most renowned consulting company in the world) decided to do the 1st ever independent study on Readymade garments study of Bangladesh they chose BGCCI.”

Cake cutting ceremony

Mr. Daniel Seidl, Executive Director of the Chamber spoke at the event. He said, “We started the chamber with 43 paying {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

Picture Impressions

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

PERSON OF INTEREST

Pauline

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

Tamesis The Country Director of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) speaks to Emerging Bangladesh about the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bright economic prospects, the development challenges of the coming decade, and the democratic dividend it stands to reap by investing in its youth. {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Complete overnight liberalization poses many risks, most notably in the area of capital movements and balance of payments instability.â&#x20AC;? 16

Dubbed a 'basket case' in the seventies, Bangladesh has over the years made some real progress. How can a developing country like Bangladesh unlock the door to greater prosperity?

Bangladesh has fully debunked this characterization. I mean this not merely in terms of its economic performance (annual growth has now reached a trend rate of 6 to 6.5% and the country is targeting middle income status), but crucially also, its human development outcomes. Analysis from UNDP's Human Development Report (HDR) in 2010, underlined that Bangladesh had been one of the world's greatest improves in the years since independence. Its Human Development Index doubled on the comparable 1980 value and it ranked 3rd in terms of the rate of improvement out of 95 countries. Its MDG record is equally impressive, meeting its poverty target ahead of time and showing exemplary performance on the health and educational goals. Within the most recent HDR for 2013, Bangladesh is further identified as exemplifying the rise of the global south. There has been some debate on how this has been possible given the many and varied challenges. I am not of the school that believes it is the product of serendipity or some sort of fluke. Rather, for me, it has to do with the basic features and orientation of this society and country. Its economy is largely labor intensive and open, inequality is not ingrained; it has been remarkably progressive on gender issues; its peoples are outward looking and entrepreneurial; it has a vibrant civil society, and it is blessed with a commitment to social solidarity. I am not pretending all is rosy in the garden, but continuing to perform in the way it has, is a good start. The missing ingredient that may be truly transformative, I believe, is in the governance arena. I mean this in both a democratic, and an administrative sense. Bangladesh needs to modernize its politics and expand democratic spaces, and develop a stronger, better quality state. Moreover, the old approach will not be well suited to tackling new challenges, not least the massive social and economic change which are taking place in the country. In addition, there are the very real threats posed by global climate change. Bangladesh is especially vulnerable to rising sea levels and more volatile weather patterns. Continued successful development is contingent on the way these particular issues are dealt with. How can Bangladesh reap from its 'demographic dividend'? Analysis from our colleagues at UNFPA, who work with the national Bureau of Statistics, show Bangladesh is reaching a replacement level of fertility and will soon complete its demographic transition. This is impressive for a country, which faced potentially explosive population growth. Successive governments in the 1970's and 1980's, which supported strong family planning efforts, should be commended for their farsightedness. {Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

â&#x20AC;&#x153;UNDP as an organization cannot win this battle alone. We need all partners working with us on the twin fronts of climate change: both adaptation and mitigation. We are therefore reaching out to organizations like BGCCI to involve its private sector members more directly to help Bangladesh identify and scale up win-win opportunities to combat climate change.â&#x20AC;?

Prior to joining UNDP Bangladesh as Country Director, Pauline Tamesis was the Practice Team Leader for Democratic Governance and Coordinator for Asia Regional Governance Programme, UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok. Pauline worked at UNDP Bureau for

In addition, you are right the demographic dividend offers enormous opportunities in the coming two to three decades. In this period, the working (productive) population will swell. It is the right time for the country to make the leap to a modern and industrialized future. Central to this is the effective management of key processes. I mean areas like mass education, social protection, skills training, and healthcare, which secure a highly productive economy; but also the management of key problem topics: urbanization, rapid industrialization, rural-urban migration, and environmental regulation. Macroeconomic management, capital market reform and trade policy will also need ongoing attention if the full gains are to be realized. It is believed that openness to trade can help the development of least developed countries. What's your take on that? I agree very strongly that trade offers engine for accelerated growth and is therefore vital for socioeconomic transformation. Indeed, few countries that have transitioned from developing to developed status have all done so through an active engagement in global trade. However, these countries' experience, and I am thinking especially of the East Asian Tiger Economies, show that any opening-up must also be phased and accompanied by careful management and oversight. Complete overnight liberalization poses many risks, most notably in the area of capital movements and balance of payments instability. Equally, lasting structural change in the economy is not well served by an unconsidered, rapid tearing down of trade barriers, without also building productive capacity. This means actively supporting higher value added supply, and specifically, industrialization. Yet I am also wary of being too prescriptive, countries have to find their own way, and avoid over-protection.

Development Policy in New York as the Democratic Governance Practice Manager and earlier as the global Policy Adviser on Anti-Corruption, Accountability, and Transparency. Since 1999, she has served on the Programme Advisory Committee of the International Anticorruption Conference. Pauline has 15 years of international development and financial management experience, with 13 years of diverse governance experience in technical/policy advisory and programme management, fund raising and knowledge networking. Previous assignments include UNDP Manila, where she was a national officer.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

“The demographic dividend offers enormous opportunities in the coming two to three decades. In this period, the working (productive) population will swell. It is the right time for the country to make the leap to a modern and industrialized future.” It seems to me that Bangladesh's cautious position of promoting trade vigorously, while also retaining certain protections and maintaining capital account restrictions is the right approach in this context. I also want to underline that the internal economy is also vital in securing prosperity, and especially in mediating the impacts of economic transformation, ensuring that outcomes are equitable. To implement the concept of Green Economy to ensure sustainable growth, private sectors will need directions and incentives from development organizations like yours. What role does UNDP intend to play in regards to this? How are you planning to ensure participation of the private sector of Bangladesh? UNDP has established a niche in the area of inclusive green economy in Bangladesh and besides the government, our main partner in this new frontier is of course the private sector. In fact, we have been working with the private sector for several years now here in Bangladesh. This includes major companies in the pharmaceutical sector; refrigeration and lighting sectors and various companies involved in modern energy and renewable energy end uses. More recently, our partnership has included reaching out to the brick industry one of largest stationery source of GHG emissions in Bangladesh. Through these initiatives, we are already promoting the replication of green jobs that are environmentally sustainable and ensure decent labor conditions. As you may know, we are on the ground in 177 countries and territories, this gives us an added advantage of bringing in global perspective and local insight to help this new concept of green economy become more robust and pragmatic in the context of Bangladesh. Green Economy as a concept is still evolving I believe its inclusion as a theme in last year's Rio+20 Conference helped it gain more traction. From UNDP, we are sensitizing the main partners of Green Economy, bringing in latest thinking through establishment of high-level policy forums such as Green Development Forum; reaching out to policy makers for the need “whole of government” approach. I think already there is enough sensitization here that Green Economy is much broader than a silo approach on environment only. Within the government, we are working with and providing training to various Ministries e.g. Ministries of Finance, Power and Energy, Planning Commission etc. As I said, private sector is vital is all this. We are bringing government closer to private sector by supporting new global initiatives such as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions where massive private sector investment will be required in various

sectors ; and this will ensure three objectives: economic growth; environmental sustainability (by focusing on energy efficiency, mitigation etc.) and inclusive social development. For such sector wide NAMA implementation, we will be working with private sector, donor partners, and the government together. What kind of assistance from UNDP can help Bangladesh overcome the challenges of climate change? Climate change is the defining development challenge of our time. For Bangladesh, impacts of climate change are amplified by our specific geographical situation - a low-lying deltaic country, funnel shaped coastline with one of the highest population densities in the world. UNDP has a lot to offer the government, relevant policy makers, civil society, private sector, NGOs and most importantly the millions of Bangladeshi citizens who bear the brunt of impacts of climate change. Historically Bangladesh had very little role in greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate climate change; but the country is at the receiving end of its impacts. The impacts are manifold and are felt in the form of more intense and more frequent extreme events such as natural disasters like cyclones, floods, drought etc. As I already said, there is a direct povertyclimate linkage; the poorest are most vulnerable to the challenges of climate change. In the past decade, with UNDP's support, the country has moved aggressively with innovative practices and solutions to adapt to climate change. In the global climate policy discourse, the country is signatory to major international conventions and multilateral agreements concerning climate change mitigation and protection of the ozone layer. UNDP collaborates with the government to undertake necessary reforms to implement these conventions and to catapult the interconnected issues of poverty, environment, and climate at the heart of every national planning process, documents, and guidelines. Having said the above, do keep in mind, UNDP as an organization cannot win this battle alone. We need all partners working with us on the twin fronts of climate change: both adaptation and mitigation. We are therefore reaching out to organizations like BGCCI to involve its private sector members more directly to help Bangladesh identify and scale up win-win opportunities to combat climate change. This way Bangladesh can achieve middle income country status but avoid the mistakes of dirty industrialization. This is very important for the sustainability of our planet and well being of our future generations. This inclusive and equitable human development idea is at the core of UNDP's mandate. The goal is ambitious but I believe it is doable and we are here to coordinate and partner and provide the needed support to all the major partners in this process.

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

Business Wisdom

Supply Chain

1 Understanding the supply chain: This involves a conceptual understanding of what a supply chain is and its various issues. It also includes the factors while designing, planning or operating a supply chain besides tracing its historical background.

Achieving strategic fit and scope: It defines supply chain strategy and explains how creating a strategic fit between a company's competitive strategy and it's supply chain remains important to optimize the performance. This also includes the scope of expanding the strategic fit from one operation within a company to all stages of the supply chain.

Optimizing the supply chain drivers and metrics: The supply chain drivers and metrics which are significantly reshaping the way business is done in the contemporary hyper competitive environment across the globe and the concept of underlying philosophy of the supply chain must be adhered to gain the maximum out of it. Taking in consideration of the logistic and cross functional drivers and knowing how to use

4 Designing the supply chain network: Distribution refers to the steps taken to move and store products from one stage to another in a supply chain network. Identifying several potential options for distribution network and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each of them is of great importance. The main aim here remains to work out a logical framework to select the appropriate distribution network for a particular product,

5 Designing a global supply chain network as the business expands: Globalization has offered tremendous opportunities as well as increased risk in the development of supply chains. It is important to identify sources of risk in global supply chain, adopt risk mitigation strategy, evaluate network design decision under uncertainty and monitor the changes in global supply chain decisions.

A supply chain consists of all parties involved directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. The supply chain includes not only the manufacturer and suppliers, but also transporters, warehouses, retailers, and even customers themselves. Within each organization, the supply chain

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

Management

6 Determining the demand forecasting: Demand forecasts forms the basis of all supply chain planning and are essential for making supply chain decisions. This involves the use of historical demand information and its use to forecast future demand and understand how it affects the supply chain.

Aggregate planning: Aggregate planning is a procedure to determine ideal levels of capacity, production, subcontracting, inventory, stock outs and even pricing over a specific time period. This is essential to indentify the information required to produce an aggregate plan and outline the basic trade-offs to optimize the plan.

Inventory management: The role of inventory and its proper management is of very high importance in a supply chain. Determining the various levels and types of inventory and replenishment plans to obtain economy of scale are few of the essentials to be considered here.

9 Sourcing and revenue management: This ultimately becomes imperative as to maintain a sustainable supply chain. The key factor in a supply chain is to maximize the profit in the total chain. With efficient sourcing and well organized revenue management the supply chain success is well determined.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

10 Use of IT and Green practices: The supply chain practices should be modified as the modern world observes changes in IT and promoting Green concepts to reduce impact on the environment. Adopting an efficient ERP module and best practices to promote green and eco friendly supply chain concept are creating worldwide awareness to sustain any business.

*Ref: Supply Chain Management by Sunil Chopra, Peter Meindl and D.V. Karla.

SPECIAL INTERVIEW

“We firmly believe that managing responsibility is managing success.” M A Jabbar Managing Director, DBL Group Conserving water and protecting the environment is more important than ever these days. Can you tell us what makes DBL special in this regard and how DBL is contributing its part to protect the environment? DBL Group considers the environment as one of its foremost priorities and has incorporated environmental management into its core business model. Over the years, DBL has actively involved itself with different stakeholders on environment sustainability programs. This has helped the organization in increasing its knowledge for environment sustainability. Accordingly, DBL has been applying its knowledge in implementing environmental sustainable program. Some of the programs in which DBL is currently engaged are below: ·

Sustainable Water Use by H&M

Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) by PUMA & Esprit

PaCT (Partnership for Cleaner Textiles) by IFC

ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) by H&M, PUMA, G-Star and C&A

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) by G-Star

Sustainability Program by PUMA

EMAS Easy by GIZ

CERES (Sustainability Performance Reporting System) by H&M

CP (Cleaner Production) by IFC

ESIP (Energy Saving Initiative Program) by H&M and GIZ

DBL Group has formed a dedicated Energy Management Center which is responsible for overseeing the environmental issues. Some of the initiatives taken by us are, ·

Use of highly efficient machineries reducing water and energy consumption

Eliminate leaks, minimize washing and rinsing operations, use of water nozzle

Treat all effluent through biological treatment plant, ensuring

zero surface water contamination ·

Innovative measures such as the use of magnetic devices for water softening resulting in energy savings alongside conventional energy saving mechanisms

Use the concept of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) for solid waste management

Bio Gas plant to generate gas from solid waste such as cow dung

Rain water harvesting

DBL Group complies with the required environmental legislations and codes and works closely with buyers and investors. DBL Group has seen a massive expansion over the years, being the preferred supplier of many major western retailers. What are the key factors for your business success? We provide our buyers with good quality products and shorter lead times at competitive price. This helped us to gain confidence and trust of our buyers, resulting in higher revenues for us. Returns from business were strategically invested back into business by way of setting up state of the art backward linkage industries comprising of spinning, fabric knitting, fabric dyeing and finishing units. Additionally investment was also made in washing plant, all over printing, garment screen printing and corrugated carton factory. The plant and machineries are energy efficient and of high performance and are imported from companies in Europe and USA. These strong backward linkage industries helped us to have in-house quality control and shorter lead time, thereby resulting in further growth for us. We had long term vision. From the very beginning of our journey we have been rigid with maintaining quality and on-time delivery. We marched forward with a strong team spirit and commitment. We firmly believe that managing responsibility is managing success. We are flexible and committed to our strategic partners and all stake holders. Workers’ compliance is a very important issue in Bangladesh. How does DBL ensure the safety, welfare and fair treatment of its employees? DBL Group has setup an internal audit compliance team which report to the Board of Directors. The audit compliance team does regular internal audits to ensure the safety, welfare and fair

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

DBL Group won The Bangladesh Business Award 2012 under Enterprise of the Year category. Vice Chairman of DBL Group, M A Rahim received the award from Honorable Minister of Finance A M A Muhit

Winner Takes All A list of awards won by DBL group so far L

DBL Group was awarded the 'Enterprise of the Year' at the 13th DHL-Dailystar Bangladesh Business Awards 2012.

LL Social & Environmental Excellence Awards 2012 D DBL Group was awarded for 'Factory of the Year for Environmental Sustainability' & 'Best Waste Management' under Environmental Compliance category. E Honorable Mentions in 'Health & Safety' & 'Improvement of Working and Living Conditions for the Workers' under Social Compliance category were also received. LLL Standard Chartered-Financial Express CSR Award - 2010-11 LY HSBC Export Excellence Award 2009 Y CSR Award of BGMEA - 2008 YL Highest Exporter Award of BGMEA 2005 YLL Flamingo Fashions Ltd. as the 'Platinum Supplier' of H&M. Flamingo Fashions Ltd. is the only 'Platinum Supplier' of H&M in Bangladesh for knit garments. YLLL 7KH\ DUH the only company in Bangladesh to have exported fabrics to Marks & Spencer factory in Indonesia and we are the sole supplier of fabrics to the factories in Dhaka, EPZ, manufacturing for Marks & Spencer. L[ Mr. Jabbar was invited by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attend the CSR Conference 2012 held in Oslo. [ Hamza Textiles Limited (a concern of DBL Group) received acknowledgement certificate from Financial Times/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards 2013 in the 'Sustainable Investment of the Year' category.

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

treatment of the employees. Any major risk/violation found during the audit is reported immediately to the Board of Directors. The team with other functional departmental mangers has received training on OH&S, SA 8000, WRAP, ISO 9000, ISO 14001 What is your future outlook on Bangladesh's RMG sector in general and DBL Group in particular? We definitely see a bright future for Bangladesh's garment sector provided all stakeholders are committed. The government should come up with necessary infrastructure policy and regulatory support. As per Mckinsey & Company â&#x20AC;&#x153;With about 15 billion USD in exports in 2010, ready-made garments are the country's most important industrial sector; they represent 13% and more than 75% of GDP and total exports, respectively. McKinsey forecasts export-value growth of 7 to 9% annually within the next ten years, so the market will double by 2015 and nearly triple by 2020.â&#x20AC;? We feel by the year 2025 garments export from Bangladesh can reach 75 billion USD and DBL Group will have a visible contribution in the export earnings of Bangladesh.

MEMBERS

GIZ organizes “Export Market based Workshop” with ITC

PSES (Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards in the Industry), a joint project of the governments of Bangladesh and Germany, implemented by Deutsche GesellschaftfürInternationaleZusammenar beit(GIZ) GmbH, organized a two-day capacity-building workshop sponsored by International Trade Center (ITC), Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI)and supported by European Union (EU) on “Researching and Analyzing Export Markets” from June 26-27, 2013 at the German House in Gulshan 2, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The aim of this workshop was to connect exporters with equity and debt financing sources and creating linkages between Bangladeshi exporters and Diaspora communities.

“It was most informative!”, “the most useful workshop I have attended in recent times, under the most hospitable environment!” and “Kudos to GIZ for organizing such a good workshop!” were only a handful of the positive feedback received during and post the success that has been the ITC workshop this year, hosted by GIZ for the second consecutive time. This training workshop was developed to build capacity of firms or management positions that are interested

to export their products (but need targeted technical assistance to take the next step) or wish to enter new markets. The content of the workshop included elements on how to improve access to loan and leverage export opportunities offered by diaspora communities. A group of 45 participants from different Bangladeshi and international organization received this training, among them members of Chamber, Associations and officials of ministries representing various sectors like garments, textile, electronics, IT, fisheries, Jute, leather, pharmaceuticals and footwear. The workshop was spread out into two days: first day provided greater knowledge and experience of the market analysis and research process, using ITC's web-based tools such as Market Access Map, Trade Map and more importantly, the Standards Map. It also included a presentation on identifying trade opportunities provided by the diaspora and how to engage diaspora in broader context i.e. as entrepreneurs/investors; capacity builders, ambassador/advocates etc. The second day focused more on the Standards Map, voluntary sustainability standards and their role in international trade. In the long run, this training has the potential to translate into tangible export orders and other related firm-level

“The EU nation countries contributed 55.13% towards the total export of Bangladesh, with Germany shouldering an impressive 15.45% on its own, compared to the US, which contributed 19.3% based on ITC Trade Map data end of fiscal year 2012.” economic benefits. The training was conducted by Mathieu Lamolle who has over 10 years of experience in international trade, market access and sustainable development issues. Lamolle emphasized on the impact of the European export market compared to the rest of the world and said, “The EU nation countries contributed 55.13% towards the total export of Bangladesh, with Germany shouldering an impressive 15.45% on its own, compared to the US, which contributed 19.3% based on ITC Trade Map data end of fiscal year 2012.” The graph extracted from the ITC Trade Map here encapsulates the statistics for the fiscal year ending 2012:- Mr. Lamolle, having already trained contemporaries earlier in 2012 from similar organizations and background, comfortably blended with the participants and was seen to be able to create an interactive session on both days, full of information and knowledge sharing. Promita Sengupta, the acting Country Director for GIZ, in her introductory speech, had motivated the participants by encouraging everyone to work closely

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

From the left, Daniel Seidl, BGCCI; William Hannah, EU; Promita Sengupta, GIZ; Elke Shrestha, GIZ and Mathieu Lamolle, ITC.

together, especially in a developing country like Bangladesh, which almost completely relies on its export. The chief guest, the European Union's Ambassador to Bangladesh, H.E. William Hannah also highlighted in his keynote speech how the potentials for exports of non-textile industrial products with a very liberal originating rule still remain untapped. Echoing such thoughts, Daniel Seidl, Executive Director of BGCCI and also a guest speaker at the inaugural ceremony,

noted in his speech, “Bangladesh is an emerging market with an interesting growth rate of 6% and a population of 164 million, of which 52% is under 25! A lot of countries have already been sourcing from here but the ball game has now changed. The parties requesting orders are no longer dictating the terms and the compliant factories are over booked. The question arises on how we can build trust first here in Bangladesh (for overseas buyers) and

build a bridge between the local and overseas markets.” Seidl also commented, “BGCCI is the biggest bilateral business chamber in Bangladesh and our goal is to promote trade between Bangladesh, Germany and the rest of Europe. It also plays a vital role in branding this country, through the Branding Bangladesh campaign, and engages with European press to challenge negative perceptions and encourage balanced reporting, on the image of Bangladesh overseas.” He also wished the workshop and its participants all the success in their individual endeavors and hoped that collectively this nation can reach greater heights. The closing ceremony also took place at the German House at the end of the second day workshop on the 27th June, where certificates were awarded to the participants by Elke Shrestha, the acting Program Coordinator for PSES. This workshop was organized by GIZ for the second consecutive year in collaboration with ITC and there are plans to conduct more such trainings in 2014 and 2015. The total workshop was facilitated by Noushin Safinaz, Senior Advisor (PSES, GIZ) and the PSES PR team.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

MEMBERS

EBL Soaring High in Aviation Financing

orking closely with national carrier and local private airlines for over a decade EBL has become synonymous with aviation financing in Bangladesh.

With innovative and tailor-made financial solutions, Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) has curved a niche for itself in aviation financing in Bangladesh. Over the past one decade excellent track record, special products, and the ability to innovate and keep pace with the fast changing world have made EBL the undisputable market leader in aircraft financing in the country. From financing Boeing purchase for national flag carrier to financing private sector airlines to helicopter import, EBL has made its mark in almost all areas of aviation industry. “We believe in specialization. For us each customer is unique and we offer tailor-made products for them. Our milestone deal of 114.49 million USD Biman for purchase of two 777-300 ER aircrafts from Boeing, BDT 980 million syndicated loan for Regent Airways and 65 million USD loan for Biman do tell a tale of consistence excellence and our commitment to contribute to the development of aviation industry,” says Managing Director and CEO of EBL Ali Reza Iftekhar with aplomb.

114.49 million USD for Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd. to finance Pre Delivery Payment (PDP) to Boeing for purchase of two brand new Boeing B777-300 ER aircrafts. EBL won the milestone deal competing with global banks for its innovative solutions. Biman has a 1.3 billion USD agreement with Boeing for purchase of 10 new aircrafts. Of which, the successful deal for first two 777-300 ER paved the way for subsequent purchases. These first two 777-300 ER aircrafts are already in Biman's fleet since 2012. Eight other aircrafts will be purchased by 2020. They are two B777-300ERs, four B787 Dreamliners and two B737-800s. As an undisputed leader in the field, EBL in 2010 was the first local bank to act as the lead arranger for raising BDT 980 million for Regent Airways, one of the successful airlines in domestic operations in Bangladesh. Regent Airways purchased two 50-seater DASH 8 Q300s.

According to official statistics about 8.5 million Bangladeshis are living and working abroad contributing to the growth of passenger movements. Because of business growth Bangladeshis are also traveling to international destinations in great numbers. While the aggregate global growth in passenger carrier is about 6% in the past few years, Bangladesh has registered an average 8% growth in the last three years. In cargo sector, the growth figure is phenomenal at 13 % while global average is 7%. This suggests that there are plenty of growth opportunities in aviation industry in Bangladesh. EBL's strong footprint in aviation owes much to its rich deep understanding of the industry and product range, which includes working capital finance, pre-delivery payment financing, syndicated long term commercial loan, syndicated project finance, structured LC and trade finance for aircraft/helicopter import. EBL played a catalytic role in the coming of age of the country's private sector and helped the industry take off the ground. Apart from working with pride and confidence with the national carrier Biman, EBL's expertise in aviation financing proved critical in making the Regent Airways, Novo Air Ltd, South Asian Airlines Ltd, and Meghna Aviation Ltd ventures successful. “The success of EBL lies in its ethos and passion to perform and delivery,” says Iftekhar and elaborates, “We are precise, transparent, and innovative. We understand issues in depth. This is why we keep things simple and clear.” EBL is working closely with local corporates for helicopter import and financing. In aviation financing history of Bangladesh EBL is the first local bank to lead and arrange a syndicated USD Term Loan facility of

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

“The success of EBL lies in its ethos and passion to perform and delivery.” Ali Reza Iftekhar Managing Director and CEO of EBL

As an undisputed leader in the field, EBL in 2010 was the first local bank to act as the lead arranger for raising BDT 980m for Regent Airways, one of the successful airlines in domestic operations in Bangladesh. In 2012, EBL took the bold initiative to financed 9.75 million USD to purchase of two Embraer ERJ-145 aircrafts for Novo Air, which entered the domestic skies in January 2013. Currently, EBL is working as the advisor and arranger to Regent Airways for facilitating delivery of two 737-700 aircrafts and arrange required financing. Regent Airways is taking lease of two Boeing 737-700 aircrafts from International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), USA. Regent is also taking dry lease of a brand new Havilland aircraft from Cavu Management LLC, Florida. This DHC-6-400 aircraft manufactured by Viking Air, Canada has option of landing and takeoff in water. This aircraft will serve Chevron Bangladesh Ltd for their gas project in Bibiana, Sylhet.

“We believe in holistic approach, our card products and services are also designed to complement the growth of aviation industry. We have recently introduced Airmile Reward Program - EBL SkyMiles. A first in Bangladesh,” says Iftekhar. “Our existing and new EBL Visa Platinum, Visa Signature and Visa Infinite Credit Cardholders can now earn Skymiles for every 60 taka or 1 dollar retail spending. The accumulated Skymiles can be redeemed for air tickets, absolutely free, for any destination and over 360 Airlines worldwide.” “Along with this Reward Program we have also launched three Skymile branded credit cards with Visa Infinite Card.” EBL as the first bank in Bangladesh has tied up with agoda.com making it easier for the customers to make their hotel bookings online. It is an Online Travel Agency (OTA) that specializes in hotel booking. EBL Cardholders will get up to 7% off over already lowest agoda.com rates. Agoda.com is a platform through which EBL cardholders can choose from over 2,85,000 hotels. EBL with its skills and knowledge about aviation financing has not only set new industry standards but continue to build on its experience to add value to the growth of aviation industry in Bangladesh. EBL is also helping the local airlines to spread their wings to regional skies. Talking about the motto of the bank, Iftekhar says in a confident note, “winning for today is building for tomorrow.” He concludes by adding that, “with our expertise in aircraft financing and prudent banking solutions, we are now ready to cater to the needs of international clients.”

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

MEMBERS

Prime Insurance signed an MoU with Standard Chartered Bank on Cash Management Solution Prime Insurance Company Limited has signed an MoU with Standard Chartered Bank Limited to set up a smooth banking transaction for its employees, client and stakeholders.

Shirazie, Director & Head of Transaction Banking of Standard Chartered Bank signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organization.

In this connection, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Prime Insurance Company and Standard Chartered Bank Ltd on Cash Management Solution to provide payroll solution to the employees of Prime Insurance and Cash Management solutions that will enable Prime Insurance to manage their transactional cash flows and provide prompt services to their valued clients on Wednesday of August 21 at the Ball room of The Westin Dhaka. Md. Ezhar Hossain, Managing Director of Prime Insurance Company Limited and Hussain

The Chairman of Prime Insurance Company Ferdous Amin expressed that by this agreement both of the two companies will be benefitted as well as the MoU will definitely give some new insights for shaping up the financial strategies of Prime Insurance. The Board of Directors and top Executives of Prime Insurance Company and Standard Chartered Banks, Managing Director of Different banks and Valued Corporate Clients of Prime Insurance, President of different Chambers were also present at the occasion.

Md Ezhar Hossain, Managing Director of Prime Insurance Company Ltd and Hussain Shirazie, Director & Head of Transaction Banking of Standard Chartered Bank exchange documents after signing an agreement recently.

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

MEMBERS

BASF Bangladesh launches Master Builders Solutions To celebrate the launch of the new brand, the EB team at BASF Bangladesh and Regional Business Unit (RBU) head Mark Volmer had invited their guests to an event at a five star hotel in the capital, Dhaka on July 4. Some 165 architects, designers, building owners, constructors, concrete and cement producers and engineers followed the invitation and were greeted by Fahima Shahadat, Business Manager and Master Builder Solutions project leader in Bangladesh. The official launch of Master Builders Solutions was an unveiling, literally: After a laser show complete with theater fog on the stage, the curtain lifted and revealed the new brand and logo while confetti was raining down. The dramatic moment was framed by an abundance of information: First, N. Janakiram Raju, head of BASF Bangladesh, introduced BASF in his presentation:â&#x20AC;&#x153;We create chemistryâ&#x20AC;?. Following this, Mark Volmer head of the RBU Construction Chemicals, Asia Pacific, provided an introduction to the new brand, its background and its benefits for the customer. After the unveiling the focus shifted to specific technologies: Upen Patel, Business Director, EB India, presented smart dynamic concrete a particularly flowable concrete

thanks to MasterGlenium which is given robustness and self-leveling properties by MasterMix. Smart Dynamic Concrete is durable, easy to apply, saves time and money and has a low environmental footprint properties Bangladesh's construction sector embraces as well: Speed and stability are trump cards here, too, and the sector has grown by about 15% in previous years, mainly through residential and office construction in Dhaka and numerous transport infrastructure projects throughout the country. Finally Charles C. Jones, Marketing Manager, EB India, explained the benefits of plasticizers of the Polyheed 8900 series. The event was rounded out by the expert opinion of two prominent representatives from the country's construction sector: Professor M. Shamim Z. Bosunia, President of the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh and Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor of the University of Asia Pacific in Dhaka, reported on their utterly positive experiences from 20 years of working with construction chemicals, and said they were convinced that the new brand would bring substantial benefits both for Bangladesh's construction sector and for BASF.

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

MEMBERS

Chemtrek launched EUROSOFT Cationic Prill Softener Chemtrek is the first and only manufacturer of the Cationic Prill Softener in the country. Bangladesh can now be considered as the fifth country manufacturing this product in Asia. Recently in a Chemtrek launched the much anticipated textile essential through a Meet-the-Press organized in a five star Hotel in Dhaka. Husna Mansur, Chairman; Abul Mansur, Vice Chairman; Ainul Azim, Managing Director and Faisal Mansur, CEO of Chemtrek were present at the event. Daniel Seidl, Executive Director of BGCCI also spoke at the event. The technology transfer was done by a group of German and American Scientists. Cationic Softener is a very essential chemical for textile and Garments wet processing. It imparts excellent softening and lubricity to fabric and protect it from mold. Over 30,000 tons is imported every year from Taiwan, Germany, China and Korea. Therefore, EUROSOFT has a great potential for import replacement that will save the valuable foreign currency

used for the import. A BGCCI Gold Member, Chemtrek has started the manufacturing and sales of EUROSOFT since November, 2012. It is now regularly used by many textile industries and Garment Wash Plants in the country. Chemtrek ensures high quality and offers competitive pricing that makes EUROSOFT a cost effective product and money saver for the industry. While the product is receiving wide acceptance in the country, it is also being regularly exported to Srilanka. Currently negotiations are underway for export of EUROSOFT to the users in India and Pakistan. It may be mentioned here that Chemtrek's sister company Chemtrek Consumers Ltd. is the manufacturer of the following brands that are marketed globally: Kelly's and Turbo: Home care product; His & Her: Hair and Body care products.

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

MEMBERS

Learn German Online with CMEP It is our pleasure to apprise you all that CMEP has currently become the active Gold member of BGCCI. As many of you already know that CMEP is an international education advising center in Bangladesh that has been promoting German education through German language Institute (located in Germany) since its inception. Our pivotal purpose is to encourage the students to learn German language to study in Germany, where the medium of instruction at tertiary level is German. Therefore, their prior knowledge of the language will, certainly, help them to be acquainted with the system quickly and get hold of the ins and outs of the technologically and globally advanced German education. This language will help our students communicate with people at ease as well as visit various places such as educational institutions, research institutes, cultural centers, museums, and the like. With this view in mind, very recently, CMEP has launched a new hitech method to introduce Bangladeshi students to German language through online, which is provided by our language partner "Sprachcaffe". Our students are getting in touch with native German teachers, at least visually, through this distance-learning program. They are the well-experienced educators of German language who are immensely capable of speaking German with accurate pronunciation in native accents. We are using high-tech equipments like multimedia projectors, quality white screens, and other accompanying IT tools ensuring the quality projection of classes through video conferences in an atmosphere in which you will feel like attending your class in the native country. This is the first time implementation of online German language course offered by CMEP in Bangladesh for our students who have made up their minds to accomplish their study in Germany. That is, it is an authentic process and means to sort out the genuine and competent candidates through various tests, which will, understandably, make huge contributions in the field of their interest and expertise. Certainly, these practices and trainings make their adaption to German culture smoother and easier. As they will be quite ahead of the other students in terms of their acquisition of the language, they will naturally tend to adapt to norms and mores of German culture. Let's look at feasibility of the matter in relation to its applicability and utility.

potential in many a field. So, through this online German language course, we are procuring many students who intend to give their best to prove their worth. One more thing our German language Institute virtually offers the students is 9-month course to learn the language, which is called â&#x20AC;&#x153;German Intensive Course- DSH Preparation.â&#x20AC;? And this 9-month German language course is not so sufficient as to meet the requirement of the program; but if the students can acquire some prior knowledge by completing A1 level in German language under CMEP in Bangladesh, then they are on the right track to complete the rest of the 9-month course in Germany smoothly and effectively. On top of that, language is not a factor; rather a formulation; and this formulation cannot be changed. Thus, German language, as a medium of instruction, to study in Germany will not affect our students. After all, the benefits our students will cash in on by learning German language through online dissemination are as follows: 1. Get affection and love with this language 2. Get involved with the culture of host language 3. Know more about German education and its challenge Not knowing German language, sometimes our students face problems when they arrive in Germany, especially communicating with people both outside and inside the academia. Sometimes students finding difficulties in learning German will, for sure, feel enthusiastic and eager to learn German language under the innovative technique and dynamic leadership of the native educators born in Germany.

To commence with, online German language course programs provided by German Language Institute " Sprachcaffe" under the auspice of the European Language Framework, which is used to maintain quality control. It would be apposite to mention here that this package of German language is comprised of six levels which are: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 & C2 respectively. So, our focus is to introduce Bangladeshi students to acquire the minimum knowledge of German language which belongs to A1 level. This course, we are providing for students, is equally divided into two partsone being A1.1 (6 weeks = 48 units) and the other A1.2 ( 6 weeks= 48 units). Moreover, the books and curriculum we are following here are same as those followed by the Goethe Institut. Hence it proves beyond doubt that students will complete this A1 level course with 96 units that will form a strong foundation to cope with the rest of courses to follow in Germany As we mentioned earlier, language is related with education, tradition, and culture-the acquaintance of which helps the students to come with flying color in the end. With great sincerity and integrity, CMEP is always searching for some genuine and competent students, who will be genuinely keen on studying in Germany to prove their {Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

COVER FOCUS BANGLADESH 2.0

Bangladesh 2.0: The Second Generation of Businesspeople One of the most memorable quotations in literature is attributed to George R R Martin's character Tywin Lannister: “All of us will soon be dead and rotting underground. It's the family name that lives on. It's all that lives on. Not your personal glory, not your honor... but family.” These words are a striking way to remind us that we all leave a legacy, and what we pass on is what will eventually matter in the pages of history. Family matters. It is what we have been taught ever since childhood, and it is what we shall remember when our time ends our family, and what we did with it. Ensuring a solid legacy has been for many people an obsessive dream and an ambition that they will go to all ends to fulfill. The family name commands respect, it brings recognition, and it adds credibility. “We could establish a dynasty that would last a thousand years... or we could collapse into nothing,” the Lannister patriarch further adds. One of the most fail proof ways of establishing a family name, and in turn, a dynasty, is to plant a family owned business in the bed of sustainable success. For Tywin Lannister there was no choice but to continue the legacy his ancestors had left, better it, and plan for its future so that House Lannister remained the most powerful family in his world. It was a burning ambition and he went to all ends to maintain it. Matriarchs and patriarchs, who also act as heads of family owned businesses, covet the same goal. However, the matter of succession becomes an issue because our present society has empowered younger members to discover their own ambitions and encourages them to pursue them. What happens when the heir apparent suddenly decides that he or she wishes to pursue a career vastly removed from the jobs done in the family owned business? Who, then, shall take over? Is the line of succession to be ignored and the younger son of the third daughter to lead the business? Even if the younger members are sure in their minds that we will lead their forefathers' businesses, many of them still desire to pursue a foreign education that will better enable them to take charge. A global viewpoint makes working with locals smoother, they reason. Visiting international cities, attending leadership conferences, being used to a 'course method' approach to their learning, made them more aware and socially conscious. For most, the transition from 'international student' to “FOB heir” is a smooth process. Others, however, might feel out of touch with the local customs after experiencing the wider world, though most fall in the former category. They desire to make changes for the better while still preserving the family values. Some of them wish to digitalize the entire process, while still others change from a “one man army” to a “team”. A few people will enter into a managerial role and lead immediately, while others will work their way up they learn to follow in order to lead. Their own values, when coupled with those established by their predecessors, make the family owned business a force to be reckoned with. As you read on this issue's cover story, you will know about ten such business people who are taking their FOB or their own enterprises to a new height implementing individual visions and ideas. In fact, they are the true representatives of Bangladesh tomorrow.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

BANGLADESH 2.0

Mostafa Q Sobhan Managing Director, Dragon Group

While getting on to the 16th floor of the gigantic Dragon Tower during lunchtime, you will see hordes of workers swarming out of the gates. You will see faces, of mostly young people and a bunch of men and women in their mid 20s, 30s and even 40s. All of them are off to enjoy their afternoon meal, reluctant and busy chatting with one another. Even on the stairs, schools of women, giggling, whispering, or just silently coming down. Everyone is at an ease as if they were in their own houses; or at least this building offers a palpable comforting effect in their body and soul. A really strong building that has enjoyed more than 20 summers ; a factory that provides livelihood to around 4000 workers, the saga of Dragon Sweaters Ltd., a concern of Dragon Group which employs about 12000 workers in all of its units , is one of the biggest success stories of Bangladesh's knitwear industry. Atop of that building is the corporate office of the company. The workforce there too looks lazy at the lunch hour except one man, who was ready for the interview. Meet Mostafa Q Sobhan, the Managing Director of the eponymous sweater factory and spinning mill and number of other companies ranging from IT , Insurance and to hospitality business. His office is managing the Shanghai Office that is the sourcing hub of the company in Mainland China and the UK office that is responsible for the marketing endeavors. The company at present annually exports around 6 million pieces of sweater to international brands like Primark, Awear, C& A, George, NEXT , WALMART etc. Surprisingly, the man at the helm of this successful enterprise seems rather down to earth, poised. Sobhan, who is also the Chairman of the Child Labor Standing Committee of BGMEA faced his first questions in an eloquent manner: “It's true due to the recent incidents Bangladesh is facing an image crisis among the international buyers but if you look closely several good things are about to happen.” He sounds like those who can extract positivism from almost anything. “The companies which are already compliant will keep the good job and can command good price from

“Diversifying our portfolio will enable us to grow in different fields as the economy grows up.” 38

buyers and due to pressure from buyers and other stakeholders the working conditions will dramatically improve in the industry which will ultimately result in more orders coming into Bangladesh and definitely in the long run both the workers and owner would benefit ,” he adds. Will the foreign buyers, many of which face fierce criticism at their home for seeing the cheapest form of labor around the world, leave us? When asked, Sobhan reveals: the fact is all my buyers called up after the gruesome incidents and assured that they were not going to leave me provided I took precautionary steps to ensure strict compliance to their code of conduct. “The capacity is also the reason,” he goes on to saying, “ no one can produce such huge volumes in such a short lead time; hence those who claim that Vietnam or Combodia or Myanmar is going to snatch away the Bangladesh's share of the pie can swallow their own words.” However, he expects that international buyers too will take us seriously by offering us better and fair price for our products, local companies, on the other hand, should not try to cut each other off by offering lesser, and lesser prices; because such cut throat competition can never do any good to the industry. “We must master the skills and art of better negotiations; we need to make our planning perfect and should immediately make sure that our labors are skilled enough to ensure better productivity in an efficient way,” he asserts. Sobhan joined his father, Mostafa Golam Quddus' business after completing Graduation from Nottingham Trent University in the UK. He started off at the floor level and didn't have the luxury to be promoted by his father; rather he managed his way to the top by having firsthand experience of how to make sweaters; how to market or distribute it. For the last three years, he is solely running the show. Are you doing things differently than your father used to? Sobhan answers with a smile. “During my father's stint, it was like a one-man army-everything was at his beck and call.” He has however decentralized the whole management process. “I hire people who I find are smarter than me and than train them properly; I want them to own their jobs and have feeling for the company; this ensures that they will take the right decision on right time to make the best use of opportunities and constant follow up mechanism are also implemented on them to oversee that work is going on at desired speed,” Sobhan explains while sharing his recipes as a successful manager with us. Diversification is Sobhan's another forte. According to him, with 175 million dollar worth locally made software (of which 70% are exported), Bangladesh IT-industry can easily fetch 1 billion US dollar in export revenue within the next ten years. Which is why he set off into IT-business: his exclusive agreement of MICSROSOFT Partner IT academy in association with Microsoft will impart not only IT-Training among the youth but eventually will foray into software manufacturing and export. His another big venture is

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

“Would you make an investment if I reduce your inventory of scrap from 90 days to 45 days, so that your working capital reduces to 50% with the current 18% cost of funds?” in Bangladesh. So what has been your achievement in SS Steel so far? “I am still learning, every day,” she answers with a smile. According to her views, one can claim to have achieved something only if one can double the wealth inherited. The local market has world-class steel producers, unfortunately hindered by the severe lack of energy supply and infrastructure. A mother of two, Sarazeen is an avid reader and is especially fond of black-and-white dramas. So, has it ever occurred that you were in a dilemma to choose between your career and your children?

She replies,“My children are very much aware of the importance of productive work. That should be the main purpose of one's life.” At the end of our interview, Sarazeen rushes to another meeting, almost like a force of nature. No matter how busy she is with her career, she maintains that “parenting is a serious career and a solemn responsibility.” Explaining physics to her twelve-year old son and reading nursery rhymes to her three year-old daughter is also part of the job. Her favorite parting quote is: Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason”Ayn Rand

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

BANGLADESH 2.0

Sarazeen Bratzler née Kazi Managing Director, SS Solutions

SAP is at the center of today's technology revolution, developing innovations that not only help businesses run like never before, but also improve the lives of people everywhere. As the market leader in enterprise application software for the last 40 years, SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 248,500 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. So why don't you and your company join the best-run companies as well? If you like to find out more about how to become a best-run company, this is where Sarazeen Kazi comes in. This admirably dynamic woman can assist you by transforming your business to take up the challenges of the present and the future. As we were having a bumpy car ride from Gulshan 1 to Gulshan 2,

As the market leader in enterprise application software for the last 40 years, SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run

better. 36

due to numerous potholes, she had her phone ringing continuously. She is preoccupied with meeting clients from S.S. Solutions and working with S.S. Steel, an old family concern. A dedicated fan of Ayn Rand's 57-year-old 1200-page novel 'Atlas Shrugged', Sarazeen believes that “...heroes are entrepreneurs, they trade values for values.” A hardcore realist, Sarazeen believes there is no alternative to values, such as honesty, integrity, and productivity, claiming “there are no short cuts in life.” After studying Math and Physics in Georgetown University, Washington D.C., she returned to the family steel factory to assist her father, Bangladesh's darling footballer Kazi Salahuddin. It was no cakewalk for her. She joined the company as a trainee and had firsthand experience in the scrap yard and melt shop. A quick learner and hardworking by nature, it is only expected that SAP, Germany's Blue chip Company for renowned enterprise software solutions, roped her in, when they envisioned digging the gold mine in Bangladesh. Supported by partners like PriceWaterHouse Cooper and Ernst & Young, Sarazeen wants SAP to become a household name. As the Managing Director of SS Solutions, a Gold Partner of SAP, she stated “Our goal is to make SAP accessible at an affordable price with niche foreign and local resources. As SAP makes the world 'run better,' SS Solutions would like to be part of enabling Bangladesh to 'run better.'” Sarazeen continues: “I would like to share a story with you, which prompted me to explain SAP standing on one foot. My father, a businessman, once asked me to summarize ‘this SAP thing’ in a few sentences. As it is, the Apple iPhone is already a huge technology challenge for him. Life in his view is “all about your foot on the ground, from the war, to the football field or to the scrap yard of the steel mills.” So, Sarazeen explained to him. “Would you make an investment if I reduce your inventory of scrap from 90 days to 45 days, so that your working capital reduces to 50% with the current 18% cost of funds?” He stopped and listened. From then on, he never questioned the value of SAP. Sarazeen wants to make this investment offer to all the companies

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

A really strong building that has enjoyed more than 20 summers ; a factory that provides livelihood to around 4000 workers, the saga of Dragon Sweaters Ltd., a concern of Dragon Group which employs about 12000 workers in all of its units , is one of the biggest success stories of Bangladesh's knitwear industry. setting up a four-star hotel in Dhaka; an MOU has already been signed with Carlson Rezidor Hotel group (an American company which also owns the Radisson and Country Inn & suites Brand ) . The Group is also major shareholder in a Rupali Insurance company and just recently got approval for operating a new Life Insurance company in the country. So why trying so many different fields? Sobhan answers: the economy of Bangladesh is at its infancy at the moment. Diversifying our portfolio will enable us to grow in different fields as the economy grows up. In future, one of his most ambitious projects is to set up a private EPZ with all modern amenities that the foreign investors look for. Sobhan is thankful that bilateral trade bodies like BGCCI are not only bringing FDIs but also branding Bangladesh in a very fruitful way. Sobhan himself is one of the directors of Canada Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He states that the export trade between two countries is around 1.1 billion USD of which majority are garments products , and Bangladesh imports about 400 million

USD from Canada of which mostly are finished products and agricultural products and services . But Canadian investors are interested to venture into other fields, especially into agricultural products and textile manufacturing. CANCHAM is also working to hold a Trade fair in February of 2014, followed by a food festival in mid-March of the same year and the Chamber is also planning to hold a Showcase Fair in Toronto in the near future where local enterprises will display Bangladeshi products and services to the Canadian Market. Sobhan, a regular tennis player, sees more automation is due in coming days in the knitwear industry. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In next five to ten years, there will be installations of around 3000 Automatic hand flat knitting machines in our factory and this is going to take our productivity to a new level. With advancements of this stature, becoming something as big as China is definitely going to be a dream come true,â&#x20AC;? Sobhan beams with hope.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

BANGLADESH 2.0

Romo Rouf Chowdhury Managing Director, Rangs Group

His friendly disposition and belief in the happiness of the people around him make him both a motivation and inspiration to the people who work alongside him. 40

Romo Rouf Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely considered as one of the most successful entrepreneurs of his generation. As Managing Director of Rangs Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates of the country, with vested interest in industries t h a t i n c l u d e a u t o m o b i l e s, electronics, real estate, shipping, phar maceuticals, renewable energy, servicing, media & publications, telecommunication, he constantly strives to implement the practical initiatives required to achieve his vision guided by relentless focus on values. In doing this, he delivers operational excellence to meet commitments to the community ser ved. U n c o n ve n t i o n a l t h i n k i n g , imagination and straight talk are characteristic of his leadership style. Born in 1972, this young entrepreneur graduated from Durham University, UK in Civil Engineering. On returning from the UK in 1996, along with assuming responsibility in the family's traditional automobile business and he personally and passionately set up a real-estate business. Today Rangs Properties Limited is a market leader in the construction and sale of quality

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

residential and commercial projects. As Managing Director of the Rangs Group he is leading diversified business activity taking his businesses to new heights every day. Conducting business countrywide and worldwide, driven by the passion to be the best, under his leadership Rangs Group brings trusted brands of around the world within the reach of eve r yo ne in Bangladesh. Mentionable brands are Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Suzuki (2 wheelers), The Daily Shokaler Khobor, and the prestigious luxury brand from Germany, Mercedes-Benz among others. Romo is a self-confident businessman instantly recognizable wherever he goes but he still cares a lot about people. One of the reasons of his success is the way he treats his staff and colleagues. His friendly disposition and belief in the happiness of the people around him make him both a motivation and inspiration to the people who work alongside him. When he is not wheeling and dealing he can be found cr uising the rivers of Bangladesh sailing his boat or reading a book, Paulo Coelho being a favorite author.

As Managing Director of the Rangs Group he is leading diversified business activity taking his businesses to new heights every day.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

BANGLADESH 2.0

Amrita Islam Deputy Managing Director, Picard Bangladesh Ltd.

Amrita Islam's recent visit to a 4000-employee leather goods manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam was special for many reasons. She wanted to see how the factory produces world class leather goods for a popular North American Brand which Amrita's own company Picard Bangladesh is going to manufacture in a couple of months. The most striking feature that Amrita found in the company in Vietnam was the cultural perception of work among the people she encountered there. Everyone was attentive and engrossed in his or her own tasks, which shows how successfully they have drawn a line between their work and leisure: they know how to complete a task on time and then set off to the circle they belong to. 'It's not like they are more skilled than our Bangladeshi workers; they just have a different

So, what's the biggest challenge for the leather goods manufacturing companies in Bangladesh? When asked, Amrita strongly opined: the lack of right person at the right place. 42

discipline and mindset towards work. Three workers were silently using one cutting machine, which is impossible to imagine for a Bangladeshi factory. You will surely find the latter engaged in frequent chit-chats, which ultimately takes a toll on their timely delivery of work,' she explains. Not for the love of overtime they receive with salary, it's just a relaxed attitude towards work among our workers that she has observed during her five year tenure at Picard Bangladesh Ltd. Picard Bangladesh Ltd. is the pioneer in leather goods manufacturing in Bangladesh. Previously the company was only exporting to Germany, whereas now it has branched out to buyers in Singapore, Australia, and Italy. Famous brands like Tessere, Jane Shilton from Singapore; Kitamura from Japan; Sportscraft, Wilson Accessories and Barmah Hats from Australia are now outsourcing from Picard Bangladesh. Amrita seems very happy when she mentions about the Italian brand Max & Co. (under the Max Mara Group), for whom the first shipment is going to be done by the end of last month. Much of this credit goes to Amrita who joined her father Saiful Islam's 18-years old company in 2008 as a Management Trainee. Fast forward two years: she became the Head of Operations and Business Development and in 2013, she became the Deputy Managing Director of the company. Throughout her tenure, she focused on one particular goal: to expand the export basket of Picard Bangladesh. To be more specific: by 2020, she wants Picard Bangladesh to be making 50% of its products for the Picard brand and the rest half for renowned international brands; the proportion is currently 70:30. She wants the world to see that like RMG, Bangladesh too has the prowess to be number one outsourcing destination of leather goods. And she has every reason to be this much optimistic. The leather and leather goods industry exhibited 129% of growth in last couple of years here. Since leather goods need a lot of handwork to be involved, Bangladesh's mettle in regards to this is beyond any question. In addition, a la the RMG sector the labor cost is easily affordable for many international buyers, whereas China is moving away from traditional manufacturing as the labor costs are increasing. So, what's the biggest challenge for the leather goods manufacturing

{Emerging Bangladesh} July-Sept. 2013

To be more specific: by 2020, she wants Picard Bangladesh to be making 50% of its products for the mother brand Picard in Germany and the rest half for renowned international brands; the proportion is currently 70:30. companies in Bangladesh? When asked, Amrita strongly opined: the lack of right person at the right place. Her company closely works with University of Leather Technology and many a time, she finds recruits from there lack in practical industrial training. 'The theoretical curriculum at the university is excellent. However, the students receive very little hands-on experience. It would be beneficial for both the students and their future employers if they were able to receive industry experience in conjunction with theory. Since the leather goods sector is relatively new in Bangladesh, it is also difficult to get experienced professional people ,' she adds. 'It's the people who make the real difference.'

unified educated voice of workers is behind the eruptions of the recent sporadic labor unrest. 'The workers need to be educated of what they really want. Rising the wage is not going to solve the problem as that will put more pressures on their daily expensesbecause, an increase in the wage will eventually lead to swell in price of every single commodity and service they have access to. 'It's a lose-all situation,' she states. So, what exactly should they asked for? When asked, Amrita indicates to the needs of benefits like proper gratuity and healthcare facility of workers. 'They should seek for all those fringe benefits that actually can bring a change in their quality of lifestyle.'

Amrita, who is a graduate from the University of New South Wales, Australia took Organization and Management studies in her Masters, as she wanted to have important insights and better soft skills of being a manager, which her undergrad Majors like Economics and Accountancy 'couldn't provide'. Amrita thinks the absence of a

Bold and buoyant with a pragmatic vision, Amrita is hopeful that the upcoming shift of her company to a new 8-storied factory premises will eventually make it more productive. We wish her all the best!

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

BANGLADESH 2.0

Robin Razon Sakhawat Director, Robintex Group The late 20th century witnessed the dawn of a new religion. This new set of beliefs and practices breathed a new life in something that the modern world owes a lot to. That 'something' is nothing but industrialization, which has changed our lifestyle completely with many of its blessings or blemishes. Moreover, innovation is, take it or leave it, that new religion which changed how we perceive or practice industrialization for personal to national gains; for making individual wealth to building an entire economy. Robin Razon Sakhawat is a firm believer of this hypothesis and it is completely on par with the motto of his company, Robintex Group: destined for industrial innovation. With a mission to offer quality knit apparels in the world market, Robintex Group, consisting of three sister concerns in its same premise, has been operating in the export oriented knit textile industries in Bangladesh. Starting with an initial investment about 3 million USD, today, an aggregate investment of 95.55 million USD; direct employment of 7500 people, and an export of about 65.11 million USD in 2011-Robintex is a promise well-kept. “It's a promise to innovate continuously and offer top most quality of products with the use of best practices,” Robin states. “For the worldwide customers, I would like to convey this simple message that as a Germany-Bangladesh joint venture, Robintex has successfully started its business journey by earning global partners faith and continual export growth from the very inception of its establishment.” Increasing by more than 27.50% every year for over the last decade, Robintex exported apparel worth about 65.11million USD in the year 2011 and about 36 million pieces of apparel worth about 82 million USD in 2012. Giving correct value to the meaning of its slogan, Destined for Industrial Innovation, Robintex is persistently putting our efforts to utilize unique and innovative attempts which customers may realize from its adoption of top brand machineries, mastering technologies and

“We believe we have made our working place a second home for the workers and they truly feel it.” 44

congenial working environment. Beside all of required utilities and about 0.71 million square feet of floor space for production, with 1864 sewing machines. “It has an ideal environment to produce about 120000 pieces of high quality and diverse types of knit garments every day,” Robin pinpoints the capacity of the company. The company has given utmost priority to the issues regarding workers interests, rights and working condition, and tried to establish sustainable control over the workforce by practicing an ideal human relation model of management. “Governing the workers participation committees (WPC), for an instance, is a regular effort to mitigate the grievances of the workers in a proper way,” he adds. Besides, the company has certainly proved its ability to apply contingent polices that are compliant to government laws, appropriate to the workers demand, befitting to changing and present socio-cultural circumstances. “We prioritize the welfare activities too. We believe we have made our working place a second home for the workers and they truly feel it.”Robintex regularly trains its workers for safe chemical handling and firefighting. Evacuations drills are carried out on a regular schedule so that all of its people can keep themselves trained and ready to respond to quick evacuation calls in case of fire or other emergencies. Thru a well- structured workers participation committee (WPC), a mutual participatory approach is practiced in Robintex. “Under its capacity, the top management makes itself always available to hear the workers to mitigate their grievances in a proper way,” he adds. Highlighting the certificates and awards is not all about to prove the company's position, rather, what it ensures the practice of quality culture that help us get rid of objections from buyers internally and minimize likely problems. “What is more, we have consciously strategized our production procedures, in-house management and quality leadership that benefit worldwide appeal traders and consumers by maintaining delivery schedule most professionally and on top contending for the price leadership which a buyer can definitely rely on and find it most competitive in this region, or probably in the entire world.” Company's latest winning streaks at various award ceremonies bore testimony to this fact. Besides, an active member of BCI, it has successfully obtained ISO, Organic Cotton Certificate, i.e., Control Union Certificate, OEKOTEX Certificate, and several others. Robintex Bangladesh Ltd. received an Award for World Quality Commitment Paris 2012. It is the first and only time for a Bangladeshi textile company to receive this prestigious award. Also this year March, the company won twin awards: International Quality Era Award for Quality and Excellence in Geneva and Platinum Technology Award for Quality and Best Trade in Berlin. Keeping abreast of the fabrics quality in global context and demand, Robintex, being an active member of BCI, is very much conscious

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

Beside all of required utilities and about 0.71 million square feet of floor space for production, with 1864 sewing machines, Robintex has an ideal environment to produce about 120000 pieces of high quality and diverse types of knit garments every day. about not only the yarn quality but also the best of knitting quality by using the most dependable computerized circular and flat knitting machines of top-notch quality. “Its use of Germany origin high speed Terrot and Mayer & Ciecircular knitting machines from the year 2012 is an instance of our commitment of bringing innovation in production,” he exemplifies. As of the whole industry, Robin thinks there are many other contemporary companies who are doing really well when it comes to adapting to new technologies, with compliance issues and so on. However, he feels a vision is still missing and the recipe to succeed with that vision will have to put in the place. “Otherwise, the world will know only about the sad accidents; not the new benchmarks we have been making.”

Robintex, as the director puts himself, always pleasantly welcomes the potential customers to visit us and look forward to their interests to experience a better business with the company. They will of course like our demonstration of infrastructural and industrial strength and attitude towards business commitments what we respect the most. On this occasion, Robin extends his heartfelt gratitude to all valued clients whose trust on us supported a lot in enjoying a continuous growth for long and in the continued expansion of business for Robintex Group.“We have gone for further expansion to increase our production capacity by 25% to about 6 million pieces of garments a year, and am pretty much sure that the in future, we will be able to become bigger.”

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

BANGLADESH 2.0

Ibnul Wara Managing Director, Austan Ltd.

Ibnul Wara was one of the thousands of visitors from 39 countries who made it to the GDS-an immensely popular international event for shoes and accessories. It was a chilly winter morning in Dusseldorf; heavy snowfalls had already caused a massive traffic outside, leading to many buyers cancelling their appointments. But those who were inside enjoyed the fête to the fullest. Standing amidst that ocean of opportunities, Ibnul , the young Managing Director of Austan Ltd. was enjoying how big players, especially the ones from India were nabbing their share of the pie. He hoped one day, he too was going to join the club of those achievers. And why wouldn't he be? A report from Research & Markets, world's renowned market research store, forecasts that the demand for leather Goods industry has grown than ever before. Industry revenue is expected to reach 91.2 billion USD by 2018, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 3.4%, over the next five years. To reap the best harvest from the hay days of global shoe and leather goods industry, GDS is looking forward to become the 'Global destinations of shoes and accessories with a new concept-trendier, earlier and more market driven. Ibnul thinks the same concept should be adopted here in Bangladesh. Ibnul, whose leisure time passion circles around cricket always wanted to be a businessman and at this stage, working for a thrust sector like leather industry, the sheer optimism he possess is almost contagious. In the last one decade, the leather industry has experienced a tremendous growth and that added a incredible momentum in the leather goods and footwear industry. “Leather and leather products in Bangladesh have grown at a remarkable rate of

“The country deserves positive publicity as well where there is truth to it.” 46

300% over the decade, the former having almost 900% growth,” says Ibnul. “I believe I am at the right place at the right time,” he adds. “It means we need to go up the ladder and contemplate heavily on value addition,”he states. “I believe we should start thinking about 360degree vision and roadmap, that will set Bangladesh on the path of staggering prosperity from these exportable,” he adds. He believes that Vietnam should be the benchmark for this sector in Bangladesh says, “we have access to basic raw materials as opposed to Vietnam, who, despite having to rely heavily on import of raw material (approx. 70%) has a sector value of approximately 8billion USD which is almost 8 times that of Bangladesh. We have a share of less than 1% of the world market share!” Ibnul wants to emulate their game plan here and show that Bangladesh has much more to offer than meets the eye. “It's time for certain policy changes in this sector,” says Ibnul. “Policies were put in place to support tannery sector by putting subsidy in the form of rebate on export of Crust (semi finished) leather. Now its time to focus on value addition and discourage the export of crust. Up to 80% value addition is possible by encouraging to convert our raw materials into finished products such as shoes and bags.” He believes foreign investment will play a crucial role in this aspect. Currently our major exportable from the leather industry are crusts. The country procures approximately 220m sqf of raw materials locally among which 50% is exported. The export breakdown consists of 75% at the crust stage hence losing tremendous opportunity of in-house value addition. “Imagine how much more we can add to our export earnings by encouraging value addition in the sector,” Ibnul beams with sanguinity, who's own company is specialized to produce finished leather. According to him, it will not only save money from draining out of the country but also can turn help Bangladesh beat Vietnam where the volume of leather and footwear exports has gradually increased from US$1 billion in 2000 to 8 billion USD in 2011, leading to a trade surplus by this sector of 48%. Data also shows that in the first six months of 2012, Vietnam exported in excess of 3 billion USD worth of footwear, an 8% year-on-year increase. But as mentioned earlier, we need a policy change and a massive drive to implement what we envision for. Ibnul also points to the biggest headache of the leather industry in Bangladesh. Human Right Watch's recent report has already

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

“Leather and leather products in Bangladesh have grown at a remarkable rate of 300% over the decade, the former having almost 900% growth.”

criticized the work and environmental conditions in the tanneries in Bangladesh. However, the report does not cover the other side of the story where the government is working on certain measures to address the issue by relocating the tannery industry to Savar with proper working conditions and a central water treatment plant. “The country deserves positive publicity as well where there is truth to it,” Ibnul sounds grim though he hopes the issue is settled at any cost. As of his own company, he is happy as it is situated inside Export Processing Zone with facilities like adequate gas and electricity supply. Besides, a central ETP plant ensures that toxic waste materials are treated properly and not left to cause harm to workers or the local community. Austan Ltd. at present is producing finished leather to be exported to a many top companies in Europe, North America, Japan, Australia,

etc. “Approximately 2-4 million sq. feet of finished leather (printed, napa-a soft leather and wax-finished lather) a year we export to these countries,” he mentions. The brands it supplies leather to are: Fossil, Max & Co. , Picard, Tommy Hilfiger, Sportscraft and Kitamura amongst many others. The factory has a workforce of 100 people and is blessed with all the avant-garde heavy machines needed to produce finished leathers. Ibnul considers the leather industry can bring Bangladesh the same amount of foreign currency and pride that readymade garments industry did. “In this connection, I think the Human Rights Watch's report is a blessing in the disguise. It warns us that we need to be compliant, environment friendly. In a word, we need to be responsible. Taking it seriously, we can come up with a future-proof strategy to attain a sustainable growth,” he concludes with a note of positivity.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

BANGLADESH 2.0

Sumbal Momen Manager, Marketing Communications, Pride Group

As we were talking about Pride's billboards all over the town showing models clad in saris or western outfits having loud colors, flaunting unconventional looks and oozing oodles of boldness, Sumbal Momen, one of the three young entrants of the third generation of Pride Group , who is at the helm of her company's marketing and brand communications department, knows that much water has flown under the bridge. Like a smart marketer, she is apt in feeling the pulse of time and hence, wants to break the stereotype and to represent her female models as bold characters having strong spirits. And she truly is good at it. Like it or not, one is bound to look back at those billboards, which means the recall rates for Pride Limited and Urban Truth are much higher than its contemporaries who basically showcase the same girls in almost the same attires. It is ironic to Sumbal that her generation is facing the same dilemma her grandfather, Al-Hajj Halimur Rahman faced in the 60s, which brought about the existence of Pride: combating the surge of Indian or Pakistani designer wear, and the ever prevalent

“As an enterprise, Pride Group has set new benchmarks by being first in many endeavors: thanks to the efforts of Dr. Moyeen, we are one of the pioneers in adopting best practices in the RMG industry.” 48

demand for things not “deshi”. “Even though Pride is and always will be a sort of tradition that mothers and grandmothers wear on a early Eid morning, the challenge now is to make Pride relatable again to a younger, more fashionable market, while promoting our strength in weaving, printing and quality. These are locally manufactured products, as good if not better than international products. We have a lot to be proud of in Pride”, asserts Sumbal. However, Pride is not all about saris. They are a vertical textile group engaged in manufacturing and export of knitwear to the EU. According to Sumbal, she takes a lot of pride in the fact that they are still a family managed company. “Eventually, to ensure a company's sustainability, we must go the route of professional management, and that process has begun, but there is a lot of blood, sweat and tears that we have put in as a family. My uncles and father are still extremely active and involved, and now the third generation has come to help. A company is only as strong as its family”. Their vision, as coined by their Director, Dr. Moyeen, is “To Be A Thought Leader”, and Sumbal believes that they have done much to deserve that title. “As an enterprise, Pride Group has set new benchmarks by being first in many endeavors: thanks to the efforts of Dr. Moyeen, we are one of the pioneers in adopting best practices in the RMG industry. In retail, we were one of the first local brands to properly implement the concept of retail management, with branding, fixed pricing, a proper showroom to display products, visual merchandising, and the current retail and garment industry owes a lot to the innovative thinking of Mohammed Abdul Moyeed, Dr. Moyeen and Professor Mohammed Abdul Momen, directors of Pride Group,” says Sumbal. With a major in Economics , her stint at college studying Liberal Arts offered her a wider window of so many new things happening all over the world. It was during her time in college that Pride Group's newest brand, “Urban Truth” came into being. “The strength we have acquired in export with our fabrication and design capabilities has made us confident to provide for the local market what we have been supplying internationally. We have been involved in the manufacturing of women's apparel for more than 20 years. This, combined with our retailing experience, gave us the idea to create our own brand.” They also have plans to take this brand international. “With the kind of investment we put into Urban Truth, it would make good business sense to have a global outlook. If the opportunity presented itself, we would definitely like to penetrate the international market, but the competition is

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

“The strength we have acquired in export with our fabrication and design capabilities has made us confident to provide for the local market what we have been supplying internationally.” mind-boggling. Then again, brands like Zara became giants in their home base before venturing out, so we are optimistic.” The path has been challenging, especially in the recent year when the retail market saw a dip. “With the political climate, the stock market fiasco, customers have become very conservative in their spending, which is why the retail market has seen the lowest performance this past Eid in years. But I strongly believe that even with these factors, the only way to stand out is through innovation. This market has become too homogenous, and we have to deal

not only with competition but copy-cats, and frauds masquerading as our products. We have a lot of challenges ahead, but Pride was born different. We have the experience, we have the brute strength and the knowledge, and the spirit with which our grandfather built this, still fuels not only my father and uncles, but myself, my brothers and sister who are in the business, as well. I am optimistic.” We too have no reason to argue with her.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

BANGLADESH 2.0

Fakir Nafizuzzaman Director, Fakir Apparels Ltd.

A day becomes much more exciting and challenging to Fakir Nafizuzzaman as soon as he steps at Fakir Apparels. Most of the time, the schedule is very hectic, but that's ok for an energetic man like him. Nonetheless, there is one particular day every week that seems almost electric; it charges him with so much renewed vigor. This is the day when Nafiz's employees gather in a special meeting place called “The Idea Centre”. As the name suggests, it is easy to understand the “why” of their gathering: to come up with some new ideas to add more momentum in productivity-may be in the form of increasing efficiency or by decreasing waste-all very much in accord with the ethos of their company. His father established the company in the year 1998 with a view to becoming excellent quality apparels manufacturer by satisfying social, ethical and environmental commitment. A very down to earth, humble and result oriented man he was and lady luck had no problem bestowing all the successes he

“We never stopped inspiring and culturing creativity; which in return has always kept us on par with the ever changing universe of apparel goods.” 50

deserves without any qualms. Having a workforce of around 8000 people, currently the factory's yearly turnover is 80 million USD a year and it caters to clients like H & M, C&A, Tom Tailor, Esprit, Levis, Primark to name a few. And there is another metric that causes envy in many: The company is enjoying a steady 15% growth every year. So what is the recipe for success? Nafiz, himself a graduate in Marketing and Finance, says, “We never stopped inspiring and culturing creativity; which in return has always kept us on par with the ever changing universe of apparel goods.” He is especially thankful to all the innovative designers from home and abroad who have helped them palpate the pulse of changing tastes of brands around the world. That weekly meeting in the so-called “Idea Centre” is just another example to keep fueling inventiveness. Nafiz boastfully mentions about how his team came up with a solution to lessen wastage of so much of paper just by photocopying. “One of us came up with the idea and we thought let's try it and the result is a revelation. No one ever imagined that we were wasting so much of paper and now we are on the way to reverse it completely,” he elaborates. But it was enlightening to know that people just don't do brainstorming during that session; there is even a provision of giving push-ups and doing other sorts of physical exercises. Nafiz, who himself is a big fan of English Premier League, plays football with his employees. He believes these are important to get the creative juice flowing. And all these efforts of continuous innovation and highly commendable work and employee ethics have enabled the company to add a few remarkable gems in its crown. It has been H&M Gold Supplier since 2011. From 2008 to 2010, the company was awarded Best Workers Friendly Knitwear Industry by BKMEA and Ministry of Labor & Employment of Bangladesh. In 2012, Brand Forum awarded “Best Worker Management Relationship” and Best Factory providing “Workers Special Benefits / Benefits beyond Labor Law” under Social and Environmental Excellence category to Fakir Apparels. Fakir Apparels has always been a dynamic company as it adapts easily with a new technology or method. “Time teaches us a lot of thing. Proper knowledge enables us to make more informed decisions and that practice is embedded in the DNA of this company,” he informs. “Couple it with a world class marketing strategy, you are sure to come

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

In 2012, Brand Forum awarded “Best Worker Management Relationship” and Best Factory providing “Workers Special Benefits / Benefits beyond Labor Law” under Social and Environmental Excellence category to Fakir Apparels. up with a winning formula,” Nafiz shares his company's bag of tricks with Emerging Bangladesh. We asked him about his take on the world apparel industries. Big companies are afraid of upcoming challenges and the one that tops the chart is uncertainty. According to him, it is us who have created the uncertainty. Our greed and myopic visions have not only crippled the world economy but also have traumatized every single business sector. And for a labor intensive sector like RMG, which is very competitive, long term plans are badly needed. “We have to look at the growth of other countries: China- 31.6%, Vietnam12%; Korea-32% and Bangladesh-24%. Now forget about China; if you take Vietnam into account you will see they are paying much more to their workers (0.38 USD/hour, in Bangladesh it’s 0.22USD/Hour). So besides manufacturing and price hike due to ingredients becoming costlier than ever, soaring labor cost is going to hit us soon,” Nafiz doesn't sound concerned but confident. According to him, giving a cold shoulder to the call of increasing wages of labors is not going to solve the problem. “We will have to

become more sophisticated; have to move up the value chain to produce more designer products than just basic items. For that, we will have to make our labors more skilled and efficient; then our buyers won't haggle much and we can ensure better wages for our workers. Also, it's not only about how much we pay them. We have to think about a formula that changes the quality of their lives.” At the same time, Nafiz suggests of adopting much leaner manufacturing while focusing to cut wastes as much as possible. As for his own company, in future, he wants to inaugurate more digitalized solutions and analytics. “My father built this company and we have many employees who are here from the beginning; these people are willing to work for my dad. As a boss, I would like to emulate him totally but as you can see, time will demand more automation, I think I would like to be more tech savvy in operational management.” Nafiz considers Bill Gates to be the business icon to look up to. “You can see that he has revolutionized the software industry; one day I would like to leave a mark as big as him in the sector I work for,” Nafiz Concludes.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

BANGLADESH 2.0

Zoana Shahab Khan Director, Zeeshan International Agencies Pvt. Ltd.

One of the advantages of staying in a cosmopolitan city is you come in touch with so many exciting cultures and people. And if you are young, have a vibrant friend circle and look forward to enjoying your freedom in a meaningful way, every day offers you so much to learn about life. Zoana Shahab Khan is lucky to have that chance, though she doesn't believe that there is anything called luck; success depends on how much effort you are willing to give behind a project. She is thankful for her stay in London, which changed her perception about many things, especially work ethics. She went there to pursue her graduation at UCL and realized how important it is for a person to become disciplined in every walk of life and learn how to take responsibility. “Usually we are very much pampered and protected here by our parents and hardly any of us would like to do our own stuff, but staying abroad changed all that for me. It helped me become an independent, confident and organized person, be it work or leisure,” she states. We were sitting at the Gulshan-1 office of Zeeshan International. Not a very big set up here, but as soon as you step in, you can feel the vibrant work environment. The company was started by her father ShahabUddin Khan in 1992 as an indenting company to deal with paper and petrochemical products. The man like a true visionary

“With the right guidance I believe the next generation can prosper in any sort of business.” 52

ventured into a business, which had almost no other players in the then market and his hard work, and time-appropriate steps made him a pioneer. After more than two decades, the company has successfully diversified into many other branches of not only paper but into pre-press and printing machineries and evolved into a onestop solution provider for the printing industry. They are the pioneer in bringing the Computer to Plate (CTP) printing technology to Bangladesh and are currently representing brands including Kodak, Konica Minolta, X-rite Pantone, Micro Inks and many others. The company's annual turnover is 62 M USD, excluding that of Hanzee Industrial Co. Ltd-a sister concern of Zeeshan Group. What's more striking is that Hanzee Industrial, a joint venture with Hansol Paper, the global paper giant from South Korea, started operation in 2011 and within two years, its turnover stands at 13.7 million USD. So, what's the magic behind? Zoana states: “It is about providing paper and paper board of international standards locally but with much lower lead time and almost zero inventory for the packaging industries in Bangladesh. This has proved to be highly efficient for the exporters in the fast paced RMG industry. Our motto has been to ensure customer satisfaction by rendering world-class customer service and never to compromise with quality.” So did she always want to join the family business? When asked, Zoana says, “For a brief period, I wanted to become an investment banker. The job seemed both challenging and prestigious to me.” Due to her majors in Economics and Finance, she was highly encouraged to join that league. Later, as time passed, she found her true calling in business. “Blame it on the DNA, the entrepreneurial spirit runs in my blood and I am so thankful to my parents for that.” Zoana who still considers herself to be a keen learner of the business, thinks there are certain things that only time can teach. She is optimistic about the youth of our country who are born risk-taker. “With the right guidance I believe the next generation can prosper in any sort of business.” She thinks the government should do much more to encourage people who want to be job-makers, not just mere job seekers. Pointing at many examples of successful enterprises around the country, she says, “Bangladesh truly owes a lot to these people who have brought the country such good growth in last couple of decades and all of them inspire me big time.” Zoana thinks the second generation of entrepreneurs in Bangladesh is here to add much more new things in our export basket as the

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

What's more striking is that Hanzee Industrial, a joint venture with Hansol Paper, the global paper giant from South Korea, started operation in 2011 and within two years, its turnover stands at 13.7 million USD. opportunities are aplenty, as Asia becomes the next engine of growth of world economy. “We have to look out to new opportunities and make ourselves prepared for challenges of tomorrow. The demands of printing industry are soaring day by day and not many in the market can ensure the quality; this is where our experience and professionalism of two decades comes in handy. Our vision is to create a one-stop solution for our clients by providing all their required materials under one shed.” She is quite justified in putting such claims, as the company already is a winner of - International Quality Crown Award 2013 (Gold category). Since paper is a big concern in their business, the question comes

easily in mind: what happens if in future, more and more officers decide to go paperless? Zoana takes the question with a grain of salt. “In Bangladesh, I still believe that is not going to happen any time soon. And to find out better solutions to keep enterprises afloat, we support innovation. As you know we are pioneering new printing technology to make Bangladesh more competitive in the world stage, it shows that we have already thought about it. We the second generation of Bangladeshi Inc. is definitely going to add more volume in sales. The technology is here to help us; the people of our country are very hard working and we have our patriarchs' experiences to use as stepping stone.”

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BANGLADESH 2.0

Faisal Mansur CEO, Chemtrek Industries Bangladesh Ltd.

Faisal Mansur joined early 2011 to overlook Chemtrek Consumers, a concern of Chemtrek Industries Bangladesh Ltd. With his education finished from the United States and having experience in Sales, IT, Marketing, and Design, Faisal wanted to use his knowledge to bring Chemtrek into the digital era. However, he had two barriers to overcome. The first one was the usual communication barrier. Being brought up in the USA since his early boyhood, it wasn't that easy for him to become fluent in Bengali though it was his mother tongue. But there was a bigger problem. He found out that some of the employees of his company are time bandits. They were lacking commitments to their works and failing repeatedly to meet deadlines, and never ran short of excuses. Calm and patient by nature, Faisal took time to understand their psychology. He spoke with them and made them understand how they were wasting their potential. Instead of coming harsh on them, Faisal gave them achievable targets. Whether it was large targets relating to sales, or simple targets such as Internet usage time. Faisal's motivation did magic: even the most underperforming employees of the company started to give extra efforts to achieve their goals. “It was tough but I was happy when I found these people became more attentive and punctual,” says he. “Usually I have always found local people much more hardworking, yet we still need to go a long way when it comes to adapt to proper organizational culture in big enterprises. In order to do that, we must take the necessary steps no matter how big or small!”

“We didn't want to set up a mere company here; we wanted to set up a culture.” 54

Being a student of International Marketing, the cutthroat competition in the local market is nothing new to Faisal. “Predatory marketing policy is very much en vogue here: instead of flaunting their strength, many players simply like to strike at their competitors' weakness. So, one must be very cautious.” At the same time, Faisal believes small companies in Bangladesh are not up for spending big bucks for creation of a new product or innovation of old ones. That is not the case with his company. The very fact of innovation is what his parents set out to accomplish in Bangladesh. Both Husna Mansur and Abul Mansur, parents of Faisal Mansur could have happily stayed back in the United States of America. Being successful chemists, they had already proved their mettle in the highly competitive professional atmosphere of the country that spends billions of dollars every year for research and development. They had both fame and money. But deep down inside, they had this craving to come back to their country that hardly has seen investments in R & D sector. Both of them wanted to contribute in their own ways to the economy of the country. They chose the chemical sector, in which both of them had ample aptitude and idea. Along with them, joined Ainul Azim, a retired army colonel and cousin of Husna to look after the business. That's how Chemtrek came into existence. “Inspired by the motivation of enriching the country's poor chemical sector, our supreme goal is to help place Bangladesh on track as a prominent location for the era of Chemical Manufacturing,” Faisal describes his company's objective. So far ranging from household cares to textile chemicals; the company manufactures and produces 40+ items, which gives Chemtrek recognition as a local company with global standards. We want to be your partner to innovative chemicals!” Among a number of new products, one thing that brought Chemtrek under spotlight was the launching of Eurosoft, a type of Cationic Fabric Softener. Cationic Fabric Softener is one of those chemicals that is an absolute necessity for Garments and Textile Industries. A simple product by appearance yet requires a highly technical factory to produce! In Bangladesh alone, the market cap for this softener is US$54 Million. It used to be imported 100%. But thanks to Chemtrek, Bangladesh can now be considered as the fifth country manufacturing this product in Asia. “The demand is vast: over 30,000 tons is imported from countries like Taiwan, Germany, China, and

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

“The demand is vast: over 30,000 tons is imported from countries like Taiwan, Germany, China, and Korea. We have started to manufacture it since last November. Locally we can meet up to 300 tons. In a year, we would like to achieve the goal of producing 1000 tons.” Korea. We have started to manufacture it since last November. Locally we can meet up to 300 tons. In a year, we would like to achieve the goal of producing 1000 tons,” Faisal informs. What attracts buyers from India and Pakistan is the cost effectiveness of our Bangladeshi- manufactured softeners. Due to the expansion of middle class, the consumer products market in Bangladesh is bigger than ever before. Chemtrek wants to capture a sizeable share of the Household and Body Care consumer market, currently enjoyed by few multinationals and local companies. They have products like Kellys and Turbo and His and Her Body care. “With an aim to increase consumer satisfaction and total market coverage we diversified our distribution channel throughout the country. Our market and distribution set up works with a view to close with a maximum number of retailers who are near to

consumers,” states Faisal. Under Faisal's leadership, the teams were reinvigorated and that eventually brought positive change to the company. Faisal pursues his leisure time by doing graphic designing. He started from a very early age and now it's almost like an addiction to him. “Playing with designs is great fun to me. Besides, it widens my mental horizon and fuels my creativity.” As for his company, is there anything special he would like to achieve? “We didn't want to set up a mere company here; we wanted to set up a culture. Keeping that in mind, we would like to venture into newer fields of consumer goods and win over our customers by offering international quality products in a cost effective way,” Faisal concludes depicting his dreams of tomorrow.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Bangladesh Next Billion Dollar Industries 56

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

What if the only billion dollar industry of Bangladesh, that is responsible for more than 80% of the export earning, loses its growth; or even worse loses its market? Calculating the probability of such incident will be a mammoth task. However, recent scenario such as political instability, violence and possessions in order to increase the wages of garments workers, and withdrawal of GSP facility cast doubt on the future of RMG sector and raise one question will there be any industry to back up our export earning if RMG falls apart? The answer of the question is not easy since most of the other industries in our country are able to export less than a billion dollar annually. The agriculture and frozen food sector may have the prospect to cross the billion dollar border but the capacity of agricultural production is not unlimited. Moreover, the domestic demand of such product has been increasing with the increase of population. Here is the necessity of such industry which will be able to contribute to the export earnings after satisfying the domestic needs; an industry which is yet to reach its full potential. Economists believe that the diversification of portfolio reduces the risk. The task may become gigantic for one industry but the simultaneous development of some industries will eventually diversify our earning sources and decrease the pressure from RMG sector. That is why, in quest for Bangladesh's next billion dollar industries, Tanay Kumar Roy has reviewed five different sectors that are yet to flourish to its full potential.

A welder working at Western Marine Shipyard Ltd.

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IT Industry

No more seating down at the sideline; the Information Technology and software industry of Bangladesh has joined the mainstream economy contributing 450 million USD in recent years. According to the industry experts, currently the IT industry of Bangladesh is having a consistent growth rate of 25%. Not only the industry is contributing significantly in the national income, but also it has been playing very crucial role in creating high quality employment for a sizable portion of young graduates of the country. According to Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), around 800 organizations are registered in this sector. Current data says that the industry is employing more than 70,000 people. Over 70% of the companies are found to be involved in development and maintenance of software for their clients followed by IT enabled service (49.8%) and Ecommerce/ Web services (45.4%). The most value added service is developing software products or productized services which done by 18% of the businesses. Moreover, a good number of software and IT service companies who provide non-specialized/non-focused services are surviving on business demand generated across different client industries. Examples of such general IT solutions are accounting solution, web site development, CRM, sales automation, office management, security solutions etc. An analysis of the export data reveals that, on an average the annual export of IT related product and services has experienced 29.71% growth. In the fiscal year 2012-13, Bangladesh has achieved 100 million USD export earning which 43.53% greater than that of the previous year. This contribution is made by 160 companies who render their services in almost 60 countries. USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Netherlands are the top buyers of such services. Some of the top companies in the sector are REVE Systems (VoIP Mobile Dialer Solutions), Tiger IT (developing biometric solutions for international clients), SSD-Tech (developing VAS mobile platforms for companies across two continents).

Even though the industry has b e e n experiencing high g rowth rate, some issues such as low s p e e d o f internet is taking a toll on its future growth prospect. However, recent data from BRTC shows that 66.38% of 160 million people have access to mobile services and 22.27% of the population has access to internet considering over 10 million internet users in 2011. Recently, the largest mobile operators of Bangladesh has purchased 3G license from government. The new 3G connection is expected to enhance the speed of connection and include more of the population in the network. Another issue raised by KPMG in its report in 2012 is that the services that Bangladesh provides have lower value added potential comparing to the other countries. The government, to boost up this sector, has come up with the plan of setting up IT parks in various zones of the country. The second IT park is going to be established at Janata Tower in Karwan Bazar. To attract investors more in this sector, 10 years of tax holiday has been announced. Recently, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been funded by World Bank. In the project called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Leveraging ICT: Growth, Employment and Governanceâ&#x20AC;?, 70 million dollars will be spent to develop 30,000 international standard IT professionals. The project will also generate indirect employment of 120,000 people. It is expected that the professionals would be able to provide higher value added services and solved the issue raised by KPMG. Moreover, the government has begun collecting ideas regarding public services (e.g. education, health, banking and financial services) from its directorates and departments to develop mobile applications (apps) to provide such services to people. So, it is not exaggerated when immediate past President of BASIS Fahim Mashroor said that if export growth of IT sector continued like this it were quite possible to achieve 1 billion dollar by 2021.

Not only the companies but also 35,000+ freelancers who work individually or in a group contributed 7 million dollars to the earning of Bangladesh in 2010. According to KPMG, Dhaka city is the one of the top city holding largest number of freelancers who cost individual freelancers who cost almost 40% lower than established destinations like India and Philippines and 1/10th of that in US. That is why it is no wonder why Gartner, one of the most respected global consulting groups, has included Bangladesh in the list of top 30 outsourcing countries in 2010.

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

Light Engineering Industry

What would you expect from an industry when the local demand of its products experiences around 30% secular growth per annum? Statistics may vary but the industry that meets more than half of the demand of the local market and earns millions of dollars for the country requires special attention. That is why, Light Engineering (LE) sector attached as one of the Highest 'Priority Sector' (in the Export Policy-2009) and a 'thrust sector' (in its Industry Policy 2010) by the government of Bangladesh. Business Promotion Council (BPC), responsible for the advancement of key sectors, states that over 10,000 of different types of products are manufactured in this industry. The consumer of light engineering products and services are both the public and private sector. This industry produces capital machinery and spares for cement, paper, jute, textile, sugar, food processing, railway, shipping, garments and provides backup support by repairing and maintaining the equipment. According to Business Promotion Council, a number of potential export quality light engineering products are going to foreign market on direct and subcontracting means. These are spare parts of paper & cement mills, bicycle, fancy light fitting, construction equipment, battery, voltage stabilizer, iron chain, cast iron article, carbon rod, motorcycles, bicycles, automobile spares, electronics items, and stainless steel wares. Large companies do not lead the industry. Instead, a research conducted by BUET found that around 40,000 of Small and Medium Enterprises around the country make up the sector. South Asia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) managed by International Finance Corporation (IFC), in its study in 2008 categorized the industry in 31 clusters across the country. The largest cluster of all is at Dholaikhal in Dhaka that houses around 5,000

SMEs. All together the industry employs 600,000 to 800,000 people directly and 2 million people indirectly. Most of the products are exported to 17 countries including UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, North Sudan, Tanzania, Myanmar and Iran. Bangladesh is on the way to expand our overseas market by introducing office in Dubai and USA. Thus Bangladesh has the opportunity to extend its export of LE products over $300 million compared to 282 million USD in June 2011- May 2012 and surpass average annual export growth of 13%. There are a number of reasons behind the success of the growth despite the industry lacks technological expertise. Availability of trainable labors at competitive cost perhaps is the most significant reason of all. On the other hand, the small firms working in the sector form clusters and develop expertise on a particular technology or production process and thus improve their productivity. Minimum Duty on import of basic raw materials, 10% cash incentive for light engineering product export by government are also contributing to the growth of the sector. What Bangladesh currently requires is structured policy from government, setting up â&#x20AC;&#x153;clustered industrial parksâ&#x20AC;?, international quality and testing laboratory, research and development. If these steps are taken, it is expected that Bangladesh will be able to grab potential market since the labor costs are increasing in rival. Moreover, the availability of trade concessions (such as GSP, SAPTA and WTO Hong Kong declaration 2005) and DFQF (Duty Free and Quota Free)access to 97% of products including light engineering products from LDCs) to rich countries would help Bangladesh increase its export volume.

All together the industry employs 600,000 to 800,000 people directly and 2 million people indirectly. 60

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Leather Industry

If the scope of value addition is considered, the industry that beats RMG is leather. Leather industry has 90% scope of value addition as opposed to 50% of that of RMG. On the other hand, 90% of the raw materials needed for the industry is available locally. As a result, the industry, holding the 4th place in terms of earning foreign exchange, is considered as a 'thrust sector' by the government. The industry is categorized in 3 sub sectors leather, leather products and leather footwear. According to the data provided by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), they hold 41%, 16% and 43% of the total leather industry respectively totaling to 980.67 million dollar worth of export value. The industry has experienced 15.23% average annual export growth for last 11 years; the growth rate of fiscal year 2012-13 being 28.81%. Among the subsectors, leather products experienced highest growth rate of 62.6% with 161.62 million USD export earnings. Most of the leather made products include trunks, suitcases, handbags, shopping bags, belts, musical instrument cases, traveling bags, rucksacks, map-cases, cutlery cases etc. they are mainly exported to Italy, New Zealand, Poland, UK, Belgium, France, Germany, the USA, Canada and Spain. Besides, new destinations like South Africa, Latin America, Oceania, Far-East Asia and Russia have emerged recently. The leather sector, with its 3 subsectors, includes 220 tanneries, 3,500 MSMEs and 110 large firms of leather products controlling more than 90% of the export market. Most of the enterprises are located in Hazaribag of Dhaka, followed by two big clusters at Bhairab and Chittagong. The sector generates direct and indirect employment for about 850,000 people, including a significant number of women, particularly in the leather products industries. According to a report prepared by European Union's INSPIRED program, the footwear and leather goods are mostly dominated by MSMEs (70%). Organized factories like Bata, Apex, Jennys, etc are

controlling the rest 30% market. The larger enterprises are controlling the domestic market of high ended leather products but they are mostly dependent on imported products. This is because, 50% percent of the leather produced is being exported in the form of semi-finished and finished leather losing the value addition opportunity. Rest 50% is being converted into footwear and leather products for low-end market. So there is an immense opportunity for the MSMEs to provide up to 150 million USD in import substitution via becoming subcontractors for these very large global enterprises. A d e q u a t e c o m p e t i t i ve wo r k f o r c e s, availability of labor and low labor cost, unique grain pattern and fiber structure of cattle, cheaper price and relatively less lead time as a result of locally available basic raw materials, geographical location of tanneries are the key strength of the industry. Moreover, high tax on competitors by major leather products importers, no duty on shoes, leather products made and exported from Bangladesh, GSP facilities for export to EU have made the industry globally competitive. That is why, global retail chains such as JC Penny, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Wal-Mart, which buy clothes from Bangladesh, also started collecting footwear from here to widen sourcing along with garments, according to exporters. The main controversy of the industry is the pollution it creates. The unmonitored pollution in Hazaribag area is of major concern. To control pollution, promote the industry and develop the quality of products the government of Bangladesh announced that the tanneries located in Hazaribag will be shifted to a purpose-built and modern cluster in Savar, on the banks of the river Dhaleswari, 10 kilometers from Hazaribag. The key highlight of the Savar cluster was to be the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), conforming to international environmental standards. Implemented by Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC),the project will support 195 tanneries with an employment potential of 100,000 people. It is expected that the construction of the cluster will draw attention of the foreign investors and the sector will be able to produce more value added products.

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

Pharmaceuticals Industry

Who could imagine that an industry would double its revenue within 2 years? Nothing seems impossible for the pharmaceuticals industry of Bangladesh which has reached annual revenue of BDT 124.25 billion (1.52 billion USD) in 2012, compared to its retail market size of BDT 68 billion in 2010. MarketResearch.com, an industry and market research company that published the data, also forecast that the revenue of the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare sector will be 1.79 billion USD and 5.16 billion USD in 2013 respectively. The average annual growth rate of the local market of Bangladesh, which is responsible for 97% supply of necessary medicine in the country, is 16.5% in lass 11 years. According to BRAC EPL, an industry research company, the increased life expectancy of population, increased medical coverage, emergence of private healthcare services, growing income base of population and popularization of wellness drug are some of the factors contributing to high industry growth in recent times.

exported products include tablets, capsules, syrups, specialized products like inhalers, suppositories, steroids, nasal sprays, injections, anti-cancer drugs, antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS and antibird flu drugs. Although at present Bangladesh exports generic medicines to a good number of low-end markets in the Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin and African regions where markets are less regulated, the real opportunity for the country's pharmaceutical sector to grow with attendant challenges lies in penetrating the high-end advanced markets After being successful in these less-regulated markets, the companies took the initiative to explore some of the more-regulated markets like Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Singapore.

Bangladesh manufactures about 450 generic drugs for 5,300 registered brands which have 8,300 different forms of dosages and strengths. These include a wide range of products from anti-ulcerants, flour-quinolones, anti-rheumatic non-steroid drugs, non-narcotic analgesics, antihistamines, and oral anti-diabetic drugs. Some larger firms have also started producing anti-cancer and anti-retroviral drugs. Domestic manufacturers account for 97% of the drug sales in the local market while the remaining 3% are imported. About 85% of the drugs sold in Bangladesh are generics and 15% are patented drugs. There are about 250 licensed pharmaceutical manufacturers in the country; however, currently a little over 168 companies are in operation. It is highly concentrated as top 20 companies produce 85% of the revenue. The top pharmaceuticals companies based on export revenue in 2012 are BEXIMCO, Novartis, Square, Incepta, Tecno, Renata and Acme. Among the 49 LDCs, Bangladesh is the only country which has a very strong manufacturing base in pharmaceuticals. Bangladesh as an LDC is now legally allowed to reverse engineer, manufacture and sell generic versions of on-patent pharmaceutical products for domestic consumption as well as for export to other LDCs. Most of the

Even though government-spending proportion for health sector in Bangladesh is lower than that of other countries in Asian region, it is one possible area where future growth may come from. Increase in government spending, increase in number of modern hospitals, and increase in life expectancy of people (Bangladesh 68.3, World 69.4, South Asia 65) are some of the drivers for future growth. According to BRAC EPL, healthcare expenditure in nominal value will grow at 15.4% annually over the next five years. To promote the sector government has taken some steps which include: import duty reduction for certain raw materials (from 12% to 5%), lower duty for importing certain capital machineries used in the pharmaceutical industry (from 12% to 3%), withdrawal of 5% import duty, 15% vat, 20% supplementary duty for different pharmaceutical products, and extended eligibility for tax holiday (ranging from 5 to 7 years based on location) for both pharmaceutical and API firms. One of the major concerning issues for the pharmaceuticals industry is Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement which permits Bangladesh to reverse-engineer patented generic pharmaceutical products to sell locally and export to markets around the world. Bangladesh imports approximately 80% of its APIs for domestic production; 20% of which are patented. The exemption continues till December 31, 2015 and it is assumed that if the exemption is not increased the cost of pharmaceutical products will increase and Bangladesh will face severe problems. However, analysts think impact may not be devastating as proportion of patent drugs is very small in our market. Moreover, the government is constructing an API industrial park at Gajaria upazila in Munshiganj spending more than BDT 2 billion. The construction of the park is expected to be completed before the exemption is over and it is expected that Bangladesh can save at least 70% of cost of raw materials when the industrial park goes into production.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

Shipbuilding Industry

Studies show that the labor cost in shipbuilding industry comprises between 20% and 30% of total manufacturing costs. In Bangladesh, it is 15% less than that of China. What would take the second largest ship breaking country of the world to create a shipbuilding industry? May be late, but the answer has been found and shipbuilding is on the verge of being an important sector in the economy of Bangladesh. All inland and coastal ships are now manufactured in Bangladeshi shipyards. As the turnover of the industry has reached 600 million USD in 2012, the government has declared shipping industry as one of the driving forces of our economy. The government's move aims at developing the shipbuilding sector to its full scale so that more and more orders from overseas pour in to the Bangladeshi dockyards.

entrepreneurs, with the support of government, have utilized the cost as a competitive advantage and gained access to the world market. Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) in one of its research findings said that the country's shipbuilding industry could become the third largest foreign exchange earner in less than ten years. But it requires government's provides support to overcome some of the shortcomings such as access to bank guarantees, access through green channels, declaration of export-oriented shipyards as export processing zones, capital investment, and infrastructure and technological support.

According to industry ministry sources, though there were some 70 shipbuilding firms in Bangladesh in the beginning of 2012. Among them Ananda, Western Marine, High Speed Shipbuilding, Dhaka Dock yard and Engineering Works, Khan Brothers Shipbuilding and Karnaphuli Shipyard are the leading ones that make ocean-going vessels for international buyers. They are capable of making ships of about 10,000 DWT (Dead Weight Ton) as per international standard.

In response to the demand of the industry, the government has initiated some steps which include offering a 12-year tax rebate facility to the local ship building industry to help the latter flourish and earn foreign exchange in greater volume. Under the facility, listed shipbuilders will have to pay only 5% corporate tax while the rate will be 10% for non-listed ones. The decision was taken following repeated requests made by the ship building industry leaders so that the industry could grow at a faster pace when the global economy especially that of Europe is in deep financial crisis. On the other hand, Denmark expressed keen interest to transfer its sophisticated technology to modernize Bangladesh's growing shipbuilding industr y and its infrastructure. The implication of advanced technology is expected to be able to attract European investors which will increase the liquidity of this capital intensive industry.

A study conducted by Denmark Embassy of Bangladesh, the shipbuilding industry has been experiencing 10% growth rate on an average. The country has been exporting new ships to European Union market, especially to Denmark, Finland and Germany. It is now set to deliver a good number of ships under orders received from Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Foreign companies such as Grona Shipping, KOMROWSKI, WESSELS, LohmaanBereederungen GmbH and Co KG, Stella Shipping, LAMOR Group are the key buyers of those ships. The rapid growth of shipbuilding industry in recent years can be attributed to the abundance of cheap labor, initiatives of the entrepreneurs, patronization of the government, and geographical structure of Bangladesh. Studies show that the labor cost in shipbuilding industry comprises between 20% and 30% of total manufacturing costs. In Bangladesh, it is 15% less than that of China. The

The industry experts hopes that the tax rebate and the mutual cooperation of Denmark will help the shipbuilding industry to grow at a faster pace, creating 1.5 million additional jobs and earning 2 billion USD from export of ships by 2015.

{Emerging Bangladesh} bgcci.com

FEATURE FESTIVAL

'TIS the SEASON for HOLIDAY-MAKING After running the marathon in the rat race that we call â&#x20AC;&#x153;everyday lifeâ&#x20AC;?, we Bangladeshis love our holidays. We put all our eggs in these sporadically chronicled breaks, planning our happiest of activities celebrating, traveling, and SLEEPING! I, for one, am guilty of slicing into a healthy portion of both my Eid holidays each year to snooze. Having confessed that, at the risk of sounding like a complete hypocrite, I will request you to not sleep away your holidays. Don't do what I do. Utilize your holidays better, especially during the coming months. It always seems that before we even work out the kinks of Eid-ul-Fitr from our system, the second major festival of the year Eid-ul-Adha comes knocking (despite the allotted two and half months interval in between).While the first festival punctuates the closing of the month long fasting and abstinence aimed to help the affluent commiserate with the underprivileged, the second event denotes

unwavering faith and the willingness to sacrifice and share one's privileges with the needy while highlighting the Islamic pilgrimage to the city of Mecca. Both events require various pious rituals to be performed, but it's the fringe curriculum that really gets everyone in the mood to rejoice. When it comes to celebrating Eid-ul-Adha in Bangladesh, which is expected to take place mid-October this year, it is usually the gorurhaat (livestock trade fair) that has the entire nation in an uproar. Gigantic bazaars, complete with funfair, mushroom almost overnight throughout the nations where even the most orderly of persons get down and dirty to acquire that perfect cow or goat at the best rate. While on the roads during the weeks before the festival event, one will find the new owners of these livestock walk their animal home from the fair, proudly displaying their purchases adorned by colorful accessories. And do the bystanders simply observe? Absolutely not! They shout out asking for the buying price because they know the owner is just itching to divulge. This endearing practice you will only get to witness in Bangladesh. This year, we can expect to enjoy the third most celebrated religious festival, Durga Puja (prayers to the Hindu chief-goddess Durga), back-to-back with Eidul-Adha. While on many levels, the ritualistic concepts of the two events contradict one another, what is really interesting to see is how the people of these two faiths harmoniously celebrate their individual proceedings, often even participating in each other's merriment. The Bijaya Dashami (victorious tenth) closes a series of events and religious prayers that take place over a period of ten days, during which the goddess is invoked, prayed to and then her images are immersed in water. The immersion, which takes place in the evening of the tenth day, is an especially a fascinating sight where usually giant effigies of the goddess in sunk into rivers, pond, lakes and even the ocean. With two of the largest religious festivals of the nation covering the two largest religious communities, October is set out to be a very busy holiday season indeed. One of the most enjoyable aspects I find of celebrating festivals in Bangladesh is that there is almost always an aura of mystery revolving around the schedule of these holidays. As most festivals are dependent on the lunar cycle, it always becomes a hot topic among communities as to when the next holiday will come up. Because making the most of the opportunity is paramount! -By Zaireen Sultana Lupa

{Emerging Bangladesh} July - Sept. 2013

A Bangladesh - Germany Joint Venture Robintex (Bangladesh) Limited Robintex (Bangladesh) Limited, Garments Section Comptex Bangladesh Limited Robin Knitware Limited

ESQRâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Quality Achievements Award, London 2013

International Quality ERA AWard, Geneva 2013

Technology Award Quality & Best Trade, Berlin 2013

World Quality Commitment Award, Paris 2012

Corporate Head Office: T.K Bhaban (8th Floor), 13 Kawran Bazar, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh Factory: Vulta, Rupganj, Narayangonj, Bangladesh. www.robintexbd.com