ICE Business Times, April 2015

April 2015 Tk. 100

BRUISED BUT NOT BATTERED THE RELENTLESS JOURNEY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTREPRENEURS

Special Report

3G acting as a harbinger of change ‘Our concentration of focus should go towards the “unbanked” population’ - Muklesur Rahman, Managing Director, NRB Bank Ltd

April - 2015

CONTENTS 6

from the editor

8

letters to editor

92

word of mouth

78

foreign trade philippines-bangladesh business council

9

cover story bruised but not battered

20

interview of the month -------------

89

travel holidaying reveries

38

festivity flowers and special days

33

special report telecom industry

Cover Photo: M Ponir Hossain

80

tribute Lee Kuan Yew

70

decorum work space

68

creativity inspiration from writing

66

branding static kitty

62

money matter portable wages

74

design office remade

25

42

blue economy reviving river toutes

inside out tale of a local corporate brand

56

24

going green solar power projects

banking sluggish implementation of adb

63

29

remittance expectations pay off

rmg salt to fresh wounds

82

52

aviation airline disaster

rebound 7 resume strategies

44

money plan fdi promises brigher future

32

April - 2015

41

event spotlight hr adaptaion

CONTENTS

corporate grooming bangla perfumes

72

ethics economy and family

46

management employees in creative roles

48

manpower skilled human resource

84

gadget symphony xplorer h20

49

academia masters of ideation 2015

54

environment paperless banking

64

marketing darvinism marketing agency

58

innovation deal with cern

59

startup business from google glass

76 hrcareer change

global mobile gaming 86 gaming

FROM THE EDITOR Glimpse of a few pieces from our April 2015 issue

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Historically, Bangladesh followed a development strategy in which private investment was controlled through a host of regulations involving investment sanctioning, credit disbursement, import licensing, foreign exchange allocation, etc. While these regulatory barriers thwarted private investment in general, the impact fell unevenly on SMEs. This was because of the relative inability of the SMEs to cope with the regulations compared to their large-scale counterparts. Thus, the policy regime was largely biased against the SMEs although, paradoxically, promoting SME development was a stated objective of successive governments.

As mentioned above, small and medium entrepreneurs have always been somewhat neglected by the policy makers of this country. But their resilience to struggle and overcome all odds have created countless numbers to success stories. That is why we feel that our cover story on SME sector should show how this sector is neglected, both policy-wise and for other predicaments. Even after that, SME financing is on the upward trend, with several financial institutions and other key stakeholders pledging to help this industry flourish.

Similarly, our interviewee for this month, Muklesur Rahman, MD and CEO at NRB Bank Ltd, had similar sentiments about our small and medium entrepreneurs.He expressed his desire to expand banking to the 'unbanked,' he stated in this issue's interview of the month.

Lives are also being changed by our telecom industry, who is trying hard to instill the uber-popular 3G connectivity to most of the regions of Bangladesh. As a harbinger of change, gone are the competition days of voice calls among the telecom service providers. Data service is the name of the game today, with too many services introduced by the telecom operators. But sadly, we are also lagging behind in connectivity issues.

Pakistan had their 3G services launched after us, said a high official, but now they are vying for LTE connectivity, while our companies are fighting over 3G competitiveness.

These are just some of the main articles of our April 2015 issue. As spring has been unleashed in its fullest potential, expect lots of humidity and dust in the coming months, but even that is better than the political heat, something that is still not sensing any conclusion in the coming days. We hope to see some respite from all this and experience the magic of the upcoming Pohela Boishakh and other festivities in the new year. Wishing our readers and patrons all a heartiest Shubho Noboborsho

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The last issue's cover story on the upcoming challenges of the RMG industry is something which I believe to be a very pertinent issue. I seriously do not think that trying hard to regain the US GSP status should be in our agenda anymore. I think we should focus more on maintaning the European GSP status. There are many Bangladeshi private sector businessmen who are excelling in their European business ventures. This shows our versatility and this should be prioritised.

We are not a nation who relies on cajoling other nations into giving us aid anymore.

Write to us at

businesstimes.1@gmail.com, or send us a note at www.facebook.com/icebusinesstimes www.twitter.com/BusinessTimesBD

Be sure to visit our website for online viewing at www.icebusinesstimes.net

Hamid Azam, Lalbagh, Dhaka I really enjoyed the dining review on Baburchi. I was sick and tired of going through restaurants which, although are aesthetically beautiful, do not really offer soul food. But the restaurants which people flock to, restaurants like Baburchi, Xindian and the rest of the Xia-named restaurants, they are the real cornerstones of our restaurant industry.

They deserve reviews on their own accolade.

Fatima Jannat, Dhanmondi

Vol. 5 No. 8

Main articles should be a lot more in-depth, though I know no one would want to read so much, but I think some people still do I like the motivational and innovative articles. We can learn a lot from them

COMMENTS

Publisher & Editor Executive Director Editorial Assistant

April 2015

: Abul Khair : Nawshin Khair : Wafiur Rahman Ahmed Noushad Designer : Sk. Yeahhia Head of Marketing : Lucky Begum Assistant Manager Marketing : Farha Tani Executive, Marketing : Farhan Nair Finance & Accounts : Md. Abdul Alim Sales & Distribution : Md. Manik Mollah Md. Raju Hossain

Published by Abul Khair on behalf of ICE Media Limited, Kushal Centre, Plot 29, Sector 3, Uttara C/A, Dhaka- 1230 and printed at M.K. Printers,189/1, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208 Editorial and Commercial office: Bengal Centre, Plot-2,Civil Aviation. New Airport Road, Khilkhet, Dhaka 1229.

Editorial Queries: businesstimes.1@gmail.com, wafiur.ibt@gmail.com Advertising, Sales, Subscription and Distribution: 01711339587, 01819412035, 01920335953, 01716783698, 01675736760 Tel: 880-2-8901132, 8901135, 880-2-8901202 Fax: 88-02-8901205 E-mail: businesstimes.1@gmail.com, businesstimes.mkt@gmail.com

COVER STORY

BRUISED BRUISES BUT NOT BATTERED

The SME industry still reels from multiple constraints. But despite setbacks, the sector offers immense potential and hope for those who aim to make it big in life

By Wafiur Rahman

ICE BusinessTimes

April 2015

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COVER STORY

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Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are playing increasingly important role as engines of economic growth in many countries including ours. SMEs provide low cost employment opportunities and render flexibility to the economy.

Many of the SMEs are engaged in

export activities suggesting that they are internationally competitive.

Considering the importance of SME sector in the economy of Bangladesh and understanding the constraints under which such enterprises operate, it is evident that policies to support the development and growth of SMEs are necessary. In the policy strategies, smooth and sustainable development of SMEs all over the country will be considered as one of the vehicles for poverty alleviation, and generation of more employment.

Nearly 11.3 million jobs are generated by non-farm establishments in Bangladesh, of which 73 % are created by micro enterprises. Focusing on the 10+ units, small units constitute 35.2 % of the employment, followed by medium and large units comprising 8.8 and 56.0 % respectively. In other words, SMEs employ 1.3 million people, constituting 44 % of the total

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Official data and statistics overview

Although there were no exact data of SMEs available in the country until 2005, when first survey about SMEs was conducted. It was estimated that over 30 million people working in this sector with agriculture the major areas of SMEs as well as fishing and cottage industry is also being focused. Textile is a new entry for this sector and since 2007 this sector has taken lead over others with more than 20 thousand units of SMEs established to promote jobs and textile exports of Bangladesh.

The government is also focusing on this sector with training, guidelines and financing facilities for growth of textile. This has been the major reason behind the Bangladesh rapid growth and boom in SMEs. SMEs have a tremendous potential in empowering budding entrepreneurs and transforming society in Bangladesh. To target this sector’s huge potential, BRAC Bank Ltd introduced SME banking first time in 2001 and since then 46 SME/Agro Branches, 22 special centres and 152 branches and 399 SME unit offices were established in Bangladesh to support SMEs and untapped the potential at rapid pace.

In the last ten years BRAC Bank has become the largest bank of Bangladesh to support and finance small and medium enterprises while worldwide it is being rank at No 4. However this bank has the biggest ratio of defaulters in the country.

Although strict loan policy is being implemented, but due to some unavoidable circumstance some loans become bad business for the bank.

For BRAC Bank, Business risk, high interest rate, high defaulter rate, certain government policy changes are the major challenges over the years. The proposed part of the report tried to find out some

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April 2015

steps could be initiated by BRAC Bank in order to overcome existing weakness. The bank need special training, low interest rate and a commitment for business success is needed in Bangladesh to change this trend.

Role of Bangladesh Bank

Bangladesh Bank has initiated a mega step to boost SME sector with the help of IDA and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Bangladesh Bank has already started many schemes and programmes to flourish this sector.

In all big cities special counters have been created for SME and new soft loans were offered to youth from Taka 50,000 to Taka 50,000,000 (approximately US$641 –US$641,700) which has given a new spirit and commitment to unemployed youth to see this as a big opportunity for their own business. It is true that so far the role of bank has not created a big difference as the Bangladesh youth still looking for good salary jobs not

strict loan policy is being implemented, but due to some unavoidable circumstance some loans become bad business for the bank for their own business.

Some experts believes that due to energy crises, law and order situation in Pakistan, over 30 thousand small and medium units were shifted to Bangladesh from Pakistani textile industry which has created healthy competition and rapid opportunities for the SMEs in Bangladesh in last 5 to 7 years.

Besides soft loans, Bangladesh Bank is also providing guidelines, risk assessments and training to selected youth for their new businesses in this areas where all basic facilities are already available to set up new business.

Major shift in Policies regarding SMEs

2010 has been the golden year in the history of Bangladesh for SMEs growth when every bank was asked to focus on SMEs development with soft loans and special counters at specific branches SMEs. Banks were asked by the government to ease formalities and conditions for youth to start their own business in different cities to boost economy and provide livelihood to unemployed youth.

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COVER STORY

Women entrepreneurs in focus

Under new policy of the Bangladesh Government, each bank has been advised to open special counters for women and finance the women business projects 12

In the backdrop of recent recession and global circumstances, it has become essential to make women’s development possible and increase share of women in business activities. With the women empowerment Bangladesh want to transform its socio economic conditions at a rapid pace.

Under new policy of the Bangladesh Government, each bank has been advised to open special counters for women and finance the women business projects with Tk 2,500,000 (approximately US$32,000) on easy conditions and provide them all possible support to set up new business in their desired localities. Now banks and financial institution have been putting highest priority in receiving loan applications from women small and medium enterprises. The processing time is also reasonable for women applicants.

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Policy makers putting attention back on SMEs

The present government in the current National Budget reaffirmed its commitment to boosting the role of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) within the economic periphery of Bangladesh. In particular, it aimed to provide VAT exemptions to firms whose annual turnover remains below Tk70lakh (Tk7m).

This is a positive initiative, given SMEs can play an instrumental role in the economic transformation of nations.

According to Ashikur Rahman, Senior Economist at Policy Research Institute, policymakers ICE BusinessTimes

April 2015

must pay attention to the lessons that one can draw from international experiences. ‘Our research at the PRI suggests that the performance of SMEs in terms of contribution to GDP, exports and employment is far below those achieved in the dynamic East Asian economies. A detailed review of cross-country experiences as well as case studies shows the potential of SMEs for development.

The potential of SMEs in economic development is best demonstrated by the examples of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and China. SMEs have contributed admirably to employment, investment, value-addition and exports in these countries. Importantly, they have played a profound role in helping the emergence of a modern manufacturing sector in the concerned countries.’

To sum up: what are the main lessons for Bangladesh that one can draw from international experience? In view of the definitional differences where a small enterprise in one country is a large enterprise in another, it is difficult to aggregate all experiences for use in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, there are areas of experience where the policies and principles are applicable to Bangladesh’s context. Seen from this angle, several important lessons emerge. These include: • The production sharing partnership agreements between large and small enterprises in Japan, Korea and Malaysia suggest a pattern of manufacturing development that merits serious attention of policy makers in developing countries including Bangladesh. This partnership has been particularly helpful in supporting the exports of SMEs. • SMEs have been a fertile ground for learning and technology transfer, especially in China and Malaysia through strategic production sharing agreements with international firms. This is a major finding that has important policy bearing for Bangladesh. Getting connected to the international vertical production chains can provide a major impetus to upgrading SMEs in Bangladesh. This will also allow Bangladesh to entertain a diversified export base, which is fundamental for creating a resilient economy.

• A range of targeted support programmes (bicycle sector in the case of Taiwan) could be helpful in developing SMEs. These include programmes for financial support, technology transfer, skill development, industrial zones, and fiscal incentives.

• Institutions are very important to foster the growth of SMEs. These include dedicated government agencies and supportive legal framework. Japan’s experience is particularly illustrative of how strong institutional support can guide the development of SMEs. • Monitoring and evaluation of performance of SMEs is essential. This is necessary in order to understand the constraints and gear public policy accordingly. It is also necessary to evaluate if the support programmes are achieving their intended objectives. Again, Japan’s experience in this regard is particularly instructive. Updated database on basic structure of SMEs and performance indicators is necessary to determine how SMEs are performing.

On the whole, the review of international experience with SMEs suggests that these enterprises have the capacity to boost inclusive development, especially in labour-intensive low income countries. Nevertheless, this requires sound policy and institutional support, and is unlikely to occur in an automatic or accidental manner.

The experience with SMEs in Bangladesh reveals that the country, till date, has fallen short in exploiting this avenue for fostering economic development.

Moreover, given there is an acute shortage of a proper diagnostic research about the nature of the sector in Bangladesh and its major constraints, primarily due to the lack of availability of data, it remains beyond the scope of policymakers to pinpoint exact policy framework capable of creating supportive conditions for this sector.

In the absence of such knowledge, a prudent strategy is to meticulously isolate international experiences, some of which are summarised above, that can in principle transfer over to the Bangladesh situation.

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COVER STORY

SME Financing hits new record

The commercial banks and financial institutions (FIs) set a new record in lending to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) disbursing Tk 1 lakh 910 crore in a single year, reports BSS. The impressive figure for 2014 represents a phenomenal increase in lending from the full spectrum of finance providers including state-owned banks, private banks, foreign banks and non-banking financial institutions.

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Of the total amount disbursed up to December 30 last year, banking sector laid out Tk 98 thousand 32 crore and 95 lakh when the FIs shared the rest Tk 2 thousand 877 crore and 20 lakh. The annual growth in SME lending was 13.34 %.

‘The central bank has expanded SME financing to create new entrepreneurs and employment opportunities in addition to empower women’, Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor said earlier when he was talking about the objective of accelerating SME financing.

Last year banks provided loans to 5 lakh 41 thousand 41 hundred and 656 entrepreneurs, of which 42 thousand 730 were women, according to BB. A BB document also shows that the SME loan programme so far created around 1.5 million new employment opportunities across the country.

‘The banks and FIs increased their lending programme for SME sector as advised and encouraged by the central bank’, said general manager of SME and Special Programmes Department Swapan Kumar Roy. Roy said the quality of SME financing also improved due to constant and effective monitoring of the central bank. He said the loan recovery also increased phenomenally last year, which stood 64.95 % higher at Tk 69 thousand 172 crore at the end of December.

BB latest data also showed that the major share of the total disbursed SME loan goes to business, with receiving Tk 62 thousand 767 crore and 18 lakh or 62.20 % of the total lending to SME. Industrial sector got the second highest amount of loan of Tk 30 thousand 246 crore and 20 lakh, which was nearly 30.0 % of the total disbursement.

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COVER STORY

Challenges so far

Historically, Bangladesh followed a development strategy in which private investment was controlled through a host of regulations involving investment sanctioning, credit disbursement, import licensing, foreign exchange allocation, etc.

While these regulatory barriers thwarted private investment in general, the impact fell unevenly on SMEs. This was because of the relative inability of the SMEs to cope with the regulations compared to their large-scale counterparts. Thus, the policy regime was largely biased against the SMEs although, paradoxically, promoting SME development was a stated objective of successive governments.

Although successive five-year plan documents have mentioned development of small, medium and cottage enterprises as priority area,

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April 2015

public development expenditure in this sector has not been commensurate with this declared policy. Thus, in the Fourth Five Year Plan, the revised public allocation to this sector was Taka 2,016 million which was a meager 0.58 % of the total public development outlay in the plan. What is even worse, only about 69 % of this small allocation were actually invested during the plan period. In the current Fifth Five-Year Plan, the share of the sector in total public development expenditure has gone down even further. If the sector has to make much headway, there is need for substantial increase in public investment in the sector particularly in the area of training, extension, research, market promotion, etc. A collaborative effort of the government with business associations, non-governmental organizations NGOs and other

development partners is recommended in such public outlays.

During the past decade, substantial reforms have been carried out in the external trade regime of Bangladesh. The import procedure has been greatly eased and deregulated. Import tariffs have been lowered and quantitative restrictions virtually eliminated. All these have facilitated greater access of domestic producers to imported raw materials. This has particularly benefited SMEs as they were affected more adversely by the regulated trade regime.

However, import liberalization has also exposed domestic producers to competition from foreign goods. To ensure a level playing field and to enable domestic SMEs to compete effectively with imports, the following policy concerns need to be addressed.

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COVER STORY Prior Announcement of Policy Changes: To enable domestic producers, particularly the SMEs, to prepare themselves to face external competition there is need for adequate forewarning about impending policy direction. This is particularly true of trade policy measures. If the government makes prior announcements of its impending trade policy changes, particularly with respect to tariff schedules, investors will be aware of the degree of competition they will be facing with the changes and will make adjustments in their investment and production plans accordingly.

Tariff Rationalization: To encourage domestic production, there should be adequate gap between duty on raw materials and duty on finished products. In fixing duty on finished products, possible under-invoicing and dumping should be taken into account, as otherwise, effective duty rates on finished goods will turn out to be lower than that on raw materials in spite of the higher statutory rate on the finished item.

Appropriate Tariff Valuation: To avert the problem of under-invoicing, a system of tariff value has been put in place for certain categories of imports. There are complaints that these tariff values are often not in line with the going world price of these items which sometimes puts domestic producers at a relatively disadvantaged position.

Trade License: Investors are required to procure trade license from local government bodies by paying statutory fees. The process involves unnecessary delays, harassment and side payments. The procedure needs to be simplified and the issuance of the license made automatic subject to payment of requisite fees and declaration by the investor that the proposed investment is in conformity with the rules and regulations and zoning restrictions of the local government authority.

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Registration under Factories Act: According to the Factories Act 1965, all manufacturing units employing 10 or more workers are required to be registered with the office of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Establishments. The job of the Factory Inspector is to oversee the working condition and safety measures in the factory. In practice, the regulation has proved to be a major source of delay, harassment and unofficial payments for the investors particularly for those in the SME sub-sector as the existing regulations do not differentiate between different size categories with respect to safety and working conditions requirements. To relieve the investors of these problems the requirements relating to safety and working conditions should be defined separately and realistically for the SMEs and the discretionary powers of the Inspector should be minimized. Registration should be automatic once the investor has declared that the requirements have been complied with.

Clearance from the Department of Environment: All industries are also required to obtain a certificate from the Department of Environment in respect of proper arrangement for anti-pollution and safety measures. Here again, the requirements should be clearly stated for the type and size categories of industry and the investor should be allowed to go ahead with investment on the basis of the undertaking that the requirements will be complied with.

Registration with Sponsoring Agency: Registration with sponsoring agencies such as the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), Board of Investment (BOI) or Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) is voluntary unless an enterprise wants to avail itself of government incentives. To keep track of private investment in various sub-sectors, it would be useful to make registration with the sponsoring agency mandatory.

However, to relieve the investors of

April 2015

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COVER STORY

possible hassles, registration procedure should be simplified requiring minimum information to be provided by the investor, and registration should not be held up until the proof of investment has been produced as the current practice appears to be.

Contract Enforcement and Resolution: This is a constraint, which is faced by both large and small firms. Inadequacy in the system for contract enforcement and resolution arises from archaic legal system where procedure of adjudication is long drawn out and cumbersome and the system is corrupt. As a result it is not difficult to delay a scheduled date for hearing. SMEs with low sustaining power often lose out in the long drawn out court battle.

Collateral Requirements: One of the main factors that have hampered flow of institutional finance into SMEs is banks' pre-occupation with collateral based lending. Traditionally banks have used fixed asset ownership,

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April 2015

particularly land ownership as the basis for judging credit-worthiness.

This puts SMEs at a relative disadvantage, as large entrepreneurs are often able to get around the problem because of their influence and contacts by putting up collateral of dubious valuation. The solution to this problem lies in banks seeking deposit relationship with owners of SMEs and using cash flow rather than asset ownership as the criterion for credit-worthiness.

An expanded credit guarantee scheme will have to play a vital role in this regard.

Bureaucracy and Corruption: Because of lack of proper autonomy and accountability the public sector financial institutions are beset with inflexibility, inefficiency, political interventions and corruption. Since the performance of the bank officials is not properly evaluated they lack the incentive to bring a large number of suitable borrowers, particularly those in the SME sector, within the fold of institutional financing. They adopt a passive and inflexible attitude

towards the borrowers either to avoid the risk of making an inappropriate lending or to force the borrower to make side payments for more favorable handling of the loan application. Until necessary reforms in the public financial institutions are carried out, the SMEs will continue to bear the brunt of this institutional malice.

Major Findings: Over the years, various studies have been conducted to identify constraints encountered by entrepreneurs in the industrial sector. A summary of the ranking of the problems from selected studies over the 1988-98 period is presented in this section. The subsectors include: Steel Furniture, Small Metal Works and Light Engineering, Electrical Small Goods, Plastic Products, Specialized Handloom, Bakeries, Textile Dyeing and Printing, and Footwear. Electricity, credit, and law and order are respectively the three top ranked problems followed by legal barriers, excess competition, and dearth of technical assistance.

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COVER STORY

In conclusion A well developed SME sector is a pre-requisite to attaining higher growth of large-scale industry and the services sector as well.

According to a CIDA report, quoted by a national daily in its issue on August 1, 2010, there are about 6.0 million SMEs in Bangladesh, which contribute about 50 % of the country's industrial output, employing about 80 % of its industrial labour force. SMEs are labour intensive and also need less capital. They are also significant contributors to backward linkage to heavy industries. About 60 to 65 % of SMEs are located outside the metropolitan areas of Dhaka and Chittagong, having easy access to labour and more conducive physical environment. Business costs are thus low in these areas. Therefore, SMEs grow overtime and contribute to enterprise creation, private entrepreneurship development and employment generation.

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While the overall contribution of SMEs to the national economy is easily recognized, opinions differ on the extent of the contribution of this sector. Various categories of SMEs together contribute 80 to 85 % of industrial employment and 25 % of total civilian employment. Apart from employment generation, SMEs also contribute significantly to the creation of value added in manufacturing activity. Figures quoted by different sources ADB (2002), WB (2003), Planning Commission (2008) and BIDS (1998) on value added contributions of the SMEs are closely similar, varying between 45-50 % of the total manufacturing value added.

Despite their pre-eminence, SMEs have not been able to grow to their full potential in the country due to various constraints, such as the lack of medium and long-term credit, limited access to market opportunities, technology, expertise and information, lack of suitable incentives, inefficient and limited

About 60 to 65 % of SMEs are located outside the metropolitan areas of Dhaka and Chittagong, having easy access to labour and more conducive physical environment outreach of government services, and weak capacity among SME entrepreneurs in managing functional areas of business.

Implementation of employment and income generation and poverty reduction programmes and strategies has been a systematic and continuous effort in Bangladesh.

Rapid and sustainable growth of SMEs is undoubtedly an important vehicle for accelerating national economic growth, which is an indispensable condition for raising employment and reducing poverty in the economy.

April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes

INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH

Our concentration of focus should go towards the “unbanked” population’ Muklesur Rahman, Managing Director of NRB Bank Ltd, talks about his perspective on banking tidbits, next area of focus and more

By Wafiur Rahman Photos by Din M Shibly

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April 2015

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INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH Muklesur Rahman is a veteran banker with more than 29 years' experience in reputed local and foreign banks. Prior to joining NRB Bank, he served various senior management positions in various local and global banks. Commencing a career with United Commercial Bank in 1984, he gradually moved up the ladder by serving top global banks such as Standard Chartered, ANZ Grindlays, Citi NA in various senior management capacities leading large teams in areas spanning branch management, retail, SME, operations, distribution, compliance, foreign trade, project management, etc.

In his long career, he has successfully led some large projects including a mammoth core banking system migration at Eastern Bank where he led from the front as the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the project. He has attended numerous leadership, management development and learning programs at home and abroad and instilled international best practices in all entities he has served. He has brought numerous local and international accolades both for himself and for the organizations he worked.

What is your opinion about the current state of Bangladeshi banking sector?

Presently, there are 56 banks operating in Bangladesh – some state-owned, some private or foreign banks – with a combined amount of over 8000 branches across the country. Recently the state-owned banks faced the financial scam of Hall-Mark and Bismillah Group, which showed a lack of governance, transparency and accountability. On the other hand, most of the private commercial banks in our country have government structure and follow the operational/risk management guidelines of Bangladesh Bank in terms of prudential and management norms.

The policies and guidelines provided by Bangladesh Bank are well-formulated and are of international standard. In order to strengthen the capital framework of banks, they have already put Basel II in place and are already in the process of implementing Basel III, which was introduced in 2013 by Bank for International Standard (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland. The private commercial banks of Bangladesh contribute significantly towards the development of the economy of the country. Specifically, the growth in private sector industries and businesses and the private commercial banks’ contributions are remarkable. But under the present scenario of the country, all the banks are having challenges in their growth of businesses. We are assuming that

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mostly the SME industry of the country started facing disruption in their businesses, which may affect the loan portfolio of the banking sector.

What do you think are the biggest opportunities and challenges faced by the 4th generation banks such as NRB Bank Ltd?

Actually the timing of the beginning of the operation of these banks was not smooth, given the turmoil since 2013. Specifically, the investors are going slow and were in a stage of ‘wait and watch’. On the other hand, the deposit/lending rate of interest are in competition, which resulted in high cost of deposit and less rate of interest in lending. Thus, the spread between interest rate of deposit and lending is a challenge. Furthermore, these banks have to be very careful while lending to the borrowers, to keep their loan portfolio in good health. And in this case, borrower selection is the most important part.

We are the only bank among 4th generation banks who are operating under Centralised Process Management (CPM) by support functions like operation/service delivery unit, credit risk management unit, information technology unit, human resource and facility management unit, finance, internal control and compliance – all these with segmental business unit like retail banking, SME banking, corporate banking, treasury and investment banking. We are progressive but not aggressive in lending. We started

our banking operation in 4th August 2013. Till 2014 we made the platform. This year we started focusing on doing business. We have already launched our retail and SME banking product suits along with debit/global debit card, credit card, internet banking and call center. We invested in technology and people, which are the key part to make the bank in a sustainable position as well as doing lending carefully. We always believe in sustainable growth. Presently, the challenges we are facing like less appetite of borrowing from the good borrowers.

On the other hand, there are three ‘NRB’ tagged banks which creates confusion among the customers and in the banking industry. Our opportunities are providing tailor-made products, standard service quality and developing entrepreneurship.

Do you feel that the market is oversaturated with too many banks these days?

We are a country of 160 million people. Having 56 banks in the country seems acceptable but our concentration of focus should go towards the ‘unbanked’ population, who do not have access to finance.

Our present governor of Bangladesh Bank always emphasise in these areas. But we are all trying to concentrate our banking operations in Chittagong and Dhaka, all while sharing big and medium level corporate customers. We should concentrate on other parts of the

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INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH country, by giving focus on entrepreneurship development and also providing support to young and women entrepreneurs.

What are your main areas of focusing? Do you have any plans on providing assistance to small and medium entrepreneurs?

How important do you think is the role of Non-Resident Bangladeshis in the growth of Bangladesh economy, and also that of Bangladeshi migrant workers?

Our focusing area is, as mentioned above, entrepreneurship development, and also to bring Non-resident Bangladesh (NRB) investment in the country. We have already launched SME banking with of bundle of product suits, and also launched Bangladesh International, which includes all types of retail and investment products for NRBs. Very soon we are going to UK, Italy, Malaysia and UAE for NRB Bank road shows to gather attraction for our products and create awareness among NRBs. We are also promoting to our customers several alternate channels like internet banking, etc.

There are over 10 million NRBs across the globe. In the last five years, there has been significant increase in foreign direct investment (FDI), deducing their contribution to the economy. Definitely they are important, but we have to facilitate them by bringing their money and investing those in profitable venture.

Given the level of high competency in corporate culture today, do you think graduates should consider a career in banking today?

With a youth population of over 4.5

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crore, aged between 20 to 35, it is not possible for the government to accommodate all of them in government services. We have all seen that job creation has been done by the private sector, the last decade witness lots of progress in that regard. Their contribution in the national economy and GDP stands out.

I think graduates should consider a career in banking. With over 56 banks and 8000 branches across the country, we are progressing to an age of digitisation, where we need more competent employees. We have approximately 200 employees, out of whom 80% are below the age of 40. Banking has changed, with lots of innovative products and services, which have also attained global standards.

Has the role of government's financial bodies played an important part in helping new banks to proceed forward? What incentives have they provided in this regard?

Definitely the regulators such as Bangladesh Bank provide extensive support. They have also allowed lots of changes such as mobile banking, electronic banking transfers, all of which are revolutionary. Without them it would not be possible. I believe they should allow for a more level-playing ground for all the banks, with consideration to the state and condition of each banks.

As far as challenges are concerned, the income tax rate of 42.5% is quite a burden. With probable tax incentives and 25% tax holidays for banks who are eligible for such rewards, it can be a desirable incentive for us.

In almost 2 years of operations, do you think NRB Bank Ltd has

succeeded in maintaining their vision/mission?

Our vision is to be the leading dedicated financial institution for NRBs to invest in Bangladesh and for Bangladeshi individuals and corporate to access international markets. Our mission is be the preferred provider of targeted financial services as a conduit for investment to and from Bangladesh for our Bangladeshi communities both domestically and internationally, to accelerate the industrialisation of Bangladesh. We will strengthen these relationships by providing the right solutions that combine professionalism, expertise and financial strength.

We have a vision for investment in people and technology, and thus far, I think we have succeeded in maintaining our vision and mission.

How important is CSR in your banking policies?

Although it is an important venture for all banks, I think it is a burden which should be considered by regulators. To have a fund of Tk. 400 crore from capital is quite a daunting task, instead, it should be taken from profit percentages. I hope the policy makers will consider this in future.

Where do you see the future of your bank a decade from now?

As per our vision, we want to maintain our global standard in banking, all while contributing to the development of the economy.

Bringing NRBs for local investment is also in our agenda, we want to bridge both the local and international Bangladeshis together.

Contribution towards the growth of the SME industry will always remain a priority, and most importantly, our initiative to make banking for all is every-growing in determination. Just like our brand promise, we are not just another bank.

April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes

S

BANKING

Some 88 projects saw no expenditure while in some 92 projects there was zero real progress in the Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) of the last fiscal year (2013-14), although its implementation rate fared better with 95 per cent success rate. This was revealed at an implementation progress review report of the ADP for fiscal year 2013-14 submitted before the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting held on March 10 in the capital, with NEC chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Planning Ministry submitted the report.

Analyzing the report, it was found that the revised ADP allocation against these 88 projects in FY14 was Tk 34.01 crore of which TK 0.66 crore were released. This was also 0.05 per cent of the overall revised ADP allocation for the last fiscal year. The report cited delay in invitation of tender bids for the newly included projects, non responsive of the tenders, non availability of project loans, delay in release of funds, non acquisition of land, problems relating to cases, revision of the DPP, delay in approval of the RDPP, delay in striking agreements with the donors and nominal allocation as some of the notable reasons for having zero implementation progress during the period.

An IMED official said such trend indicates that the concerned Ministries and Divisions do not give due importance towards

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implementing all the projects under the ADP. He said concentrated efforts are needed from all concerned for ensuring proper implementation of the development projects under the ADP through utmost utilisation of the country’s resources.

The IMED report also showed that during the FY 14, a total of 92 projects witnessed zero real progress, or no infrastructural work, although Tk 21.78 crore were expended against these projects. Out of these 180 projects that witnessed zero financial progress or zero real progress, Tk 1 lakh was earmarked against each of some 52 projects in FY 14, but they saw new progress.

According to the IMED, about Tk 56,913.45 crore was spent in the last fiscal year out of the revised ADP allocation of TK 60,000 crore, raising the implementation rate to 95 per cent. Of the amount, Tk 38,116.20 crore was spent from the government exchequer which was 98 per cent of the overall revised allocation in local resources. On the other hand, some Tk 18,797.25 crore was spent from the project

assistance part which was also 89 per cent of revised allocation from the project assistance part. The report said out of the total number of 1366 projects in the revised ADP of last year, the financial progress of 756 projects and the real progress of some 781 projects were laudable.

Besides, the financial progress of some 327 projects and the real progress of some 257 projects were satisfactory, the financial progress of some 81 projects while the real progress of some 116 projects were somewhat satisfactory, the financial progress of some 63 projects and the real progress of some 71 projects were not satisfactory while there was not much expenditure (4 per cent) against 51 projects throughout the last year, and not enough physical works (4 per cent) during the period in 49 projects. In the last fiscal year, some 298 projects were kept for completion by June 2014, but the overall number of completed projects totalled 233. Of these, the project duration increased against 189 projects while the project cost increased against 86 projects.

DEVELOPMENT IMED report reveals THUS sluggish implementation of ADP FAR

April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes

BLUE ECONOMY

WATERWORLDS Dredging on to revive river routes

T

ICE BusinessTimes

Transportation of goods through the country's inland waterways has declined in the last two decades, due to the shrinking of the river routes and loss of navigability across the country. In the past, trade hubs had developed along the major river routes of the country, as traders found it easier and cheaper to transport goods through the waterways.

April 2015

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BLUE ECONOMY

However, the sector has not evolved in the last 40 years, because of continued neglect by policy makers.

The inland waterways suffered a gradual decline, not only because of loss of navigability, but also because of deteriorating service quality and safety standards.

What was once a mighty 24,000 kms of navigable river routes, has now come down to 6,000 kms only, that too in monsoon when the rivers are in full form. In the dry season, the length of navigable river route shrinks to 3,800 kms, making it difficult for to navigate passenger and freight vessels, said Samsuddoha Khondaker, chairman of Bangladesh Inland Waterways Transport Authority (BIWTA).

Against this backdrop, BIWTA has initiated a number of major projects, under the capital dredging programme, to restore the 65 river routes across the country, he added.

Regarding the cost of dredging, the chairman said, ‘The estimated cost

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of dredging along the 65 river routes has been fixed to Tk. 11,982 crore.

Dredging the river routes will be completed in several phases.

Seventy% of the country’s total freight movement is through the rivers. The government wants to increase this to 80%. Also, it wants to increase the share of passenger movement, through waterways, to 60%, from the present 40%,’ the BIWTA chairman said.

According to several traders, Chittagong Port handles the major share of containers reaching Bangladesh, of which, 70 per cent are known to originate from or are destined for the Dhaka-Narayanganj region. Of this, a major volume is transported by road; and less than 10 per cent by rail. The existing Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Mongla highways are already bursting in the seams with traffic.

At their current capacity—and even after developing the Dhaka-Chittagong highway into

a four-lane one—it is not expected that these highways will be able to handle the increasing container traffic. This is due to paucity of container carriers, over-congestion of traffic on highways, restrictive road curves, and inadequate bearing capacity of bridges.

Of the 65 river route projects, the 12 river routes will be dredged at a cost of Tk 508.46 crore, and the project is likely to be completed in June 2015, while 53 river routes will be dredged in two phases—the first phase comprising 24 routes and the second comprising the rest, Khondaker said.

‘The twenty-four river routes, out of 53, are now being dredged at a cost of Tk 1,873.64 crore, while the remaining 29 river routes will be dredged in the second phase, at a cost of Tk 9,600 crore. Dredging the 24 river routes would be completed

by June 2018,’ the BIWTA chairman added. The dredging would facilitate movement of cargo and passenger vessels, round-the-year, on the 65

April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes

BLUE ECONOMY

river routes, the BIWTA chairman said. He added that excessive silting—causing rivers to die—is an outcome of lack of coordination between the local governments and the Bangladesh Water Development Board.

Dredging activities are being led by chief engineer of the BIWTA’s dredging department, MA Motin, with the assistance of superintendent engineer of BIWTA, Rakibul Islam Talukder, and executive engineers Tariqul Hasan and Saidur Rahman. A total of 18 dredgers of the BIWTA have been deployed for the task.

As has been planned, a total of 3,453 lakh cubic metres of silt will be removed, under the project to dredge all the 65 river routes. It has been estimated that 316 lakh cubic metres of silt will be removed from the first 12 river routes, 1,014 lakh cubic metres of silt will be removed by dredging the next 24 river routes, and 2,123 lakh cubic metres of silt

ICE BusinessTimes

April 2015

will be removed from the final 29 river routes, under the project, the chief engineer said. About 22 per cent of the dredging work have been completed, under the ‘Dredging on 12 important river routes’ project initiated in October 2011, MA Motin said.

The 12 river routes are: DhakaTaltala-Dohuri- Zazira- MadaripurKabirajpur- Chowdhurihat on the Ichhamati, Padma and the Arial Khan in Dhaka, Munshiganj, Madaripur and Shariatpur; Laharhat-Veduria on the Arial Khan and the Tentulia in Barisal and Bhola; Shaheberhat- TungibariLaharhat on the Tentulia in Barisal; Sadarghat-Berulia on the Turag in Dhaka; Paturia-Baghabari on the Jamuna in Manikganj, Shirajganj and Pabna; Demra-Ghorashal-Palash on the Shitalakhya in Dhaka and Narsingdi; DhakaRamcharMadaripur on the Arial Khan in Dhaka and Madaripur;

Dhaka-Shariatpur on the Padma in Dhaka, Chandpur and Shariatpur districts; Chandpur- NandirbazarShikarpur-Hularhat on the Dakatia, Meghna and the Shandhya in Barisal and Pirojpur; HularhatCharchapli- Gopalganj on the Kaliganga, the Saildaha and Modhumati in Pirojpur and Gopalganj districts; Narayanganj-Daudkandi on the Shitalakhya, the Meghna and the Gumti, flowing through Narayanganj and Comilla; and Dhaka-Sureswar-Angaria-Madaripur on the Padma, Dupaldia canal and Arial Khan in Dhaka, Shariatpur and Madaripur districts.

Meanwhile, only 3 per cent of the dredging has been completed in the 24 river routes, out of 53 river routes, he said, adding that the project will be completed in June 2018. The 24 river routes are: Dhaka-Munshiganj-Gajaria-Chandp ur-Chittagong, Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar- St Martins Isl and-Teknaf,

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BLUE ECONOMY

Chandpur- Char- Prakash- HijlaBarisal, Chandpur- Muladi- Barisal, GhasikhaliBarisalKaliganjChandpur- Aricha, Bhairab BazarLipsha- Chhatak-Sylhet, GaglajorMohonganj, Lawargar-Durlovpur, Chitri-Nabinagar-Kuti Bazar, Narsingdi -Katiadi, NarsingdiMarichakandiSalimganjBancharampur- Homna, DaudkandiHomna- Ramkrishnapur, ChandpurIchuliFaridganj, BarisalJhalakathi- Barguna- Patharghata, KhulnaGajirhatBardiaManikdha, Nandibazar- Madaripur, Dilalpur- Ghoradigha- ChamraghatNilkiAtparaNetrokona, Manumukh- Moulvi Bazar, MirpurSavar, Sripur-Bhola KheyaghatGangapur- Bhola, ChawkighataKaliganj, Patuakhali-Mirzaganj, Hosnabad- Torki- Fasiatala, and Dalar Char- Baliakandi- BoalmariKasiani. The dredging of the second phase, comprising 29 river routes, is likely to begin from July this year, and is scheduled to complete the

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work in June 2025.

However, the BIWTA has now employed most of its resources to reopen the Mongla-Ghashiakhali channel.

‘Considering the importance of the channel and this being a priority project of the Prime Minister, we have deployed 14 dredgers and around 30 excavators, to dredge the Mongla-Ghashiakhali channel. The channel is very important for carrying goods and plying of cargo vessels to Mongla port and other destinations,’ Motin said.

Maintenance dredging is increasing every year due to huge silts being carried during monsoon from the upstream, the chief engineer said, adding, ‘We have to carry out maintenance dredging of 60-70 lakh cubic metres, every year, in 10 ferry routes. Besides, it is needed to carry out maintenance dredging on the remaining waterways, to keep the river routes navigable. We think that the volume of maintenance dredging

will increase to 200-250 lakh cubic metres, within two years.’

Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA), said, ‘It's absolutely essential to restore the navigability of the country’s rivers. Our rivers are drying due to the lack of proper management.

Taking this opportunity, a section of unscrupulous people is occupying the rivers, putting the environment in grave danger.’

Transportation costs via waterways is much less than the other modes, he said, adding that the government should clean the river beds through proper dredging, to facilitate transportation thorough waterways.

Tauhidul Anwar, former member of the Joint River Commission (JRC), told The Independent that the rivers are losing navigability, due to heavy siltation every year. ‘Carrying goods through river routes is cheaper and safe. The demand for using waterways is increasing day by day, due to several reasons. But, many river routes have already become unusable. If the authorities fail to restore the navigability of the river routes, many more routes will disappear soon,’ he said.

According to a study conducted by the World Bank, in 2007, titled ‘Revival of inland water transport: Options and strategies’, around 12.3 per cent of the rural population in Bangladesh use water-based transport as the only mode of communication. Besides, the study also suggested that the unit cost of using waterways is significantly lower than road or railways, with road freight charges at Tk. 4.5 per tonne and per km, while it is only Tk. 0.98, per tonne and per km via the waterways.

April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes

RMG

SALT TO FRESH WOUNDS Falling euro adds to woes of RMG exporters

ICE BusinessTimes

April 2015

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RMG

Bangladesh’s textile and clothing exporters, still reeling from the impact of continuing political unrest in the country, now say they are facing a second shock wave: the freefall of the euro, reports Just-style, a news portal. Industry lobbyists and analysts fear the decline in value of the European single currency will cut exporters’ profit margins, weakening their ability to compete in the 19 countries using the euro. Analysts say that Bangladeshi exporters may have to resort to currency hedging and market diversification to maximise sales and returns, the report said.

Data from the Bangladesh Bank, indicates that the value of the euro against the Bangladesh taka (BDT) has fallen by 17 per cent since July 1, 2014. The euro was trading at Tk 88.20 against Euro on February 26.

This shift is of special concern to Bangladesh’s clothing sector as the euro-area is the country’s biggest trading partner, representing three-quarters of its annual merchandise shipments (of all kinds of goods). ‘This (euro fall) is having serious repercussions. It’s like a double whammy,’ Md Atiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told just-style, regretting that it has coincided with political unrest that

30

has - among other things - seen transport blocked on Bangladesh roads.

‘If this [euro] trend continues, we’ll lose out to our competing countries,’ he said, adding that the ‘political turmoil will have a negative impact in the long run. Buyers have stopped visiting Bangladesh. They say ‘you come to us for meetings’,’ he added.

AKM Salim Osman, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), has similar concerns. He said both problems are dragging down orders, forcing knitters to curtail production in the past two months by 40 per cent.

The problems are all the more galling because they are preventing Bangladesh companies from ‘benefitting from the price fall of oil and cotton in the international market. People are not buying raw materials,’ he told just-style.

Zahid Hussain, lead economist of The World Bank in Dhaka, agreed that the depreciation of the euro will have an ‘adverse’ impact on the profits of exporters who export to the eurozone: ‘Prices are fixed in the euro and so exporters will get less taka against the same amount of the euro,’ he said, adding that the impact will be determined by ‘how long the euro remains weak.’ Abul Basher, a research fellow with

state-backed think-tank the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, suggested that businesses should opt for hedging against the volatility of exchange rates, where they can.

Another tactic Basher argued, is to diversify into other markets. ‘Two of the three largest economies of the world are located in Asia: India and China together account for about 45 per cent of the world’s population, pointing to a huge potential as destination markets for Bangladesh,’ he told Just-style.

While the European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy of quantitative easing has depreciated the euro. Hussain said there might be a silver lining if ECB bond purchases achieve their objective of stimulating the eurozone economy. ‘In that case, the adverse effects on profit may be counteracted by positive demand effects,’ he said.

In the seven months to January, Bangladesh earned US$14.40 billion from exports of woven and knitted garments, the government’s Export Promotion Bureau said. There are a few bright spots.

Dhaka-based apparel maker Ananta Group, which made $165m last year in overseas sales, has emerged unscathed by the euro’s plunge, even if more than 60 per cent of its products are destined for Europe, because it prices product in US dollars. ‘We’re exporting in dollars even to Europe, so the euro [slide] does not affect us,’ Sharif Zahir, the company’s managing director, told just-style.

But Basher warned that even the exporters, who receive export income in the euro-area in US dollars, will ‘now face the pressure to reduce the price of their exports’ given retailers sell in euro and it has depreciated against the USD as well.

Meanwhile, four leading business bodies including the BGMEA and BKMEA are said to have filed court orders at the weekend seeking restrictions on the hartal and blockades that have persisted in the country since the first week of January.

April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes

EVENT SPOTLIGHT

ADAPTATION IS THE KEY

HR managers must change with the needs of time

Human resource managers will have to cope with changing scenarios to attract talented people, groom them and meet the company's expectations to drive growth, analysts said recently. Several changes are taking place in the workplace around the world, said Peter Wilson, secretary general of the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA), a US-based global network of professionals in people management.

‘More and more women are joining the workforce. So, a male dominant workforce will have to make way for them. Besides, five different generations are working in the same company in the developed world because of increasing longevity -while this might be three in case of Bangladesh. So different generations might have different mentalities. HR managers will have to act as a broker in these situations,’ said

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the expert at the opening ceremony of the fourth BSHRM International HR Conference at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.

The programme was hosted by Bangladesh Society for Human Resource Management (BSHRM), which promotes the growth of human resource professionals in the country. With the fast-paced advancement of technology, people are working 24/7 and are picking up information all the time that might be helpful for the companies, said Wilson. ‘So, work life balance is a very important issue. HR managers would have to keep this in mind.’

The Australian said HR managers need to understand the expectations of modern workers. ‘They also have to embrace global best practices to ensure the best workplace for best outcomes for the company.’ Out of the world's seven billion people, four

billion are working, said Wilson.

‘But in the coming decades, many jobs will disappear. So, workers will have to be trained and educated so they can cope with any change in the future.’

During a business session of the daylong conference, Mehboobur Rahman, founder president of BSHRM, said HR directors should sit in the board room of every organisation as they are the backbone of every company. He said the demand for talented people is growing in the country, but there is a dearth of supply. ‘There might be some problem with the HR managers in terms of practice and mindset. We have a huge population and the people of the country can be trained easily.’

‘You need to educate and energise the people and enlighten the workplace,’ he said. Prof Anwar Hossain, vice chancellor of Southeast University, who moderated the session, said, ‘Although technological advancements are happening, HR managers would have to have a humane face. Otherwise, they will not survive.’

Noor Ali, managing director of Unique Group, called for setting up institutions to equip people with skills to cater to the needs of the industries. Jalalul Azim, managing director of Pragati Life Insurance Company, said the role of HR managers is vital in order to attract talented people. HR managers will have to embrace technological innovation, he added. ‘Otherwise, they will not be able to compete.

With the advent of technology, the typical nine-to-five working hours are not attractive to talented people.

They want flexible working hours and they want to work without coming to office.’ Sabur Khan, chairman of Daffodil International University, called for reforms in the educational system in order to prepare graduates for the challenges they face when they enter the job market.

April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes

SPECIAL REPORT

HARBINGER OF CHANGE

How 3G is reshaping the telecom industry's trajectory

By Ahmed Sharif

ICE BusinessTimes

In June 2014, Airtel, one of the mobile phone service providersin Bangladesh, launched their ‘Mobile TV’ services. Company officials said that subscribers can watch TV channels, video channels, movies and even exclusive videos of Manchester United. The launching of the service through a ceremony with Airtel’s Chief Operating Officer attending just gave the indication of the importance of the service and how competitive the telecom industry has become since the introduction of the technology phenomena called 3G.Though important, such ceremonies were regular at all mobile phone operator offices.Mobile video is no longer an exclusive thing in Bangladesh. Within a very short time, services have jumped from being concepts to reality. After just over one year of inauguration of 3G, to assess the impact of such changes, it needs to be understood where the changes happed and how.

April 2015

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SPECIAL REPORT

3G Lifestyle

The biggest change brought by 3G is in people’s lifestyle. ‘A smartphone with a mobile connection is more than just a phone; its part of one’s lifestyle,’ said one official working in the industry. Apps are at the heart of today’s smart-phones. An app may be able to provide information of various types, but that may be used very differently by different individuals. A same app may attract a woman with its beauty or culinary sections, while on the other hand, it may attract a journalist or a politician with its news section.

Some of these apps may be so slow to download in 2G system that consumers would get tired. Websites took an age to download, which restricted their potential to attract people and also kept convenience out of people’s reach. Because of superior speed of 3G, operators can now offer a lot of new attractive benefits to consumers. 3G has opened a new level of opportunities for such apps. In fact, some industry people predict all big companies and brands having their own apps, which they would promote more

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than anything else.

Another aspect of communication that had been heavily influenced by 3G is mobile video calling. Because of the existence of a substantial Bangladeshi population in other countries, this service was embraced by a big chunk of the population.

‘There is at least one family member in every family or in their extended family who is studying in a foreign country. Not only that, there was a time when people used to travel to other countries once every five years, which has now increased to once every year. This higher mobility among the people has created a different kind of demand for mobile services,’ said one official.

The use of social media is another aspect that has seen a boom since the introduction of 3G. There is an increased amount of data sharing among the people which were not possible in the 2G days. Photo and video sharing has become a daily phenomenon. Such sharing has also pushed the boundaries of journalism with live streaming video and what not.

There is a debate as to what extent

3G services can possibly be developed in Bangladesh. ‘Using a mobile is a thing that people are always fascinated about. Can you show a single housemaid today who can’t operate a mobile phone?

They can’t yet operate a smart phone, but they can probably understand what happens when a coloured picture is pushed. I don’t think its impossible to think that they would surprise you if they get a couple of days with a smart-phone. Because this doesn’t require a person to learn ABCD or rocket science,’ said one official working in the industry. He recognized the fact that a lot of traditional minded, but educated people cannot even save a number or type an SMS on a mobile phone. A lot of such people are also not interested to learn new tricks. So, using a mobile phone has less to do with a person’s educational qualification and more to do with embracing new things. The new generation has the thirst to get new things or to experience new things, whether they come from the higher economic order or lower.

April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes

SPECIAL REPORT

Implementation and Competition

Hand-in-Hand

From its inception, the cost of 3G services was discussed very frequently. Even though some of that cost was to be borne by the operators, others were to be borne by the consumers. The consumer-end cost revolved around handsets while adopting the technology for the time. Operators think that one of the major barriers of 3G was the price of 3G compatible handsets. At the initial state, less than 10% handsets in the Bangladeshi market were 3G compatible.

This was overcome by some handset manufacturers who have started to come up with handsets cheap enough for most people. The service aspect of price control was achieved through already existing competitiveness in the mobile phone sector.

Service providers provide their services according to the capabilities of handset manufacturers. This is closely linked to people’s purchasing power as well as how tech savvy they are. Thus the price point of mobile handsets and the availability of such handsets become crucial. A mobile service provider, while thinking of a service, calculates the highest possible spending by a consumer behind a handset which would be a prerequisite for that particular service. The service provider looks for handsets in the market at that price point. If such handsets are not available, then co-operation with handset makers becomes a new proposition.Sometimes there are formal agreements among companies to come up with joint marketing plans. The fact of the matter is, this is no longer an industry where one can succeed alone. There was a time when the industry was only dependent on voice calls. And voice calls could be done with any mobile handset; even the most primitive ones. ‘You can’t think of devices separately from the telecom industry. Device wasn’t a concern once. But now its no longer just a device,’ said one official.

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April 2015

Some of the industry players think that implementation of 3G in Bangladesh was perhaps a bit late. They have cited examples of Nepal and Myanmar. Nepal has embraced 3G before Bangladesh even though it was much more difficult to implement it there because of hilly terrain. ‘Pakistan has launched 3G after Bangladesh.

Yet, they are already going for LTE,’ said one official working in the industry. After 3G, the emergence of 4G and later technologies would be more like logical changes. But the change from 2G to 3G was like a giant leap forward. Industry people think that after a proper implementation of 3G in Bangladesh, a further upgrade would arrive much quicker than many people may think.

3G has made the market even more competitive. ‘During the 2G days, competition was in voice calls only. Now data services are within the realms of competition,’ said one official.

‘Just imagine the day when 3G was being promoted for the first time. One of the operators said ‘3G’, another said ‘3.5G’, yet another said ‘3.9G’. From the very first day of 3G, the effort was on to gain a competitive advantage,’ said another official. Every single day, the technology pages of newspapers contain some sort of offers from telecom service providers.

Previously, during the days of 2G, differentiation was created only with price and usage offers, but now along with price, offer dynamisms have come up strongly, as there is lesser strain on net speed.Industry players see even more competitiveness in the market in the coming days.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Big ‘G’

There is a lot about technology beyond its commercial feasibility.

It’s a global phenomenon that cannot be ignored just because it does not show itself well on spreadsheets. The cost of lagging behind would be a lot more than implementing it. ‘If we remain only feasibility-concerned, then our country can never change,’ said one official. The role of the government here is the most crucial. As they are the ones who need to think where they want technology to play its role for the overall development of the country.They need to decide how many sectors they want covered by technology. As long as the government does not get involved, the real impact of technology would remain behind curtains.

Licensing and renewals are some of the big decisions in the mobile industry. In fact, these are so big with such investment requirements, that these are not even in the realms of the local representatives of the telecom

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operators. These investment decisions are discussed by the group-level representatives of the companies.

They maintain contact with government representatives, that is, Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC). Upgrading to the next level of technology would require operators to understand the required amount of investment, the readiness of the market to adopt new technology and their willingness to pay for it, the possible impact on revenue streams, etc. Companies need to develop products based on the next level of technology that would help people in their day to day lives, thereby giving them value and generating revenue for the companies. And ultimately how much the people would pay for the services and whether that would be enough to cover the cost of investment, would indicate towards the justification of the promotion to the next level.

Industry concerned say that the cost increase between 2G and 3G was not that much, which means the industry had benefited from cost

point of view, which ultimately helped the consumers. ‘You can compare the cost of services before and after 3G. The operators have provided the services almost at the rate of 2G. I doubt how many countries in the world provide 3G services at this cost. And in terms of voice call rate, we are already the cheapest country in the world,’ said one official. He thinks that the local regulatory bodies did a good job.

They have helped a healthy competition in the market. He thinks that if the regulators relax some of the rules and reduce licensing fees somewhat, the end users would be able to avail the services at a cheaper rate. Operators would also want the lowest cost on their part, as that increases profit for the companies and the companies are here to do business.But probably the regulators have done their own calculations and have also thought about the country. He does not think that the regulators would do something that would go against the interests of the country.

April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes

SPECIAL REPORT

No Promise for Jobseekers

The impact of 3G on employment in the telecom sector was not huge, as stated by industry officials. They think that the maturity of the industry had more to do with the lesser number of new recruitment happening in the sector. A young industry needs people of all types, while a mature industry goes on developing experienced people.

‘There was a time when huge recruitment happened in the sector.

But this is a highly automated sector where relatively less technical staff are required. Because of market saturation, industry players have looked towards more automation, which probably had an impact on the job market. But this has nothing to do with 3G, which was implemented through capacity building of the existing pool of human resources,’ said one official.

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April 2015

Success-Failure From the operators’ perspective, it would require a long study to understand the impact of 3G on the companies’ business and financial statements. Today, it is also not possible to calculate the exact impact of the services on the society, as this would require a much longer time to reveal. It is very easy for someone for downplay the impact of a high-tech mobile phone with a high-speed connection as it is only going to provide small benefits in day to day life. But the collective impact of these small benefits would be huge in the coming days. The impact of 3G on the education system cannot be measured in financial terms. Availability of information has helped education and changed people’s viewpoint overnight. The confidence of

individuals in reaching their aims has increased significantly with the availability of technology. These are going to help as building blocks of the society in the days to come.

The pace of change in this era of technology is tremendous. As one of the officials in the industry mentioned, ‘If you thought about something just six months back, its already happening today.’ It is not that we have to invent new kinds of services all the time. Sometimes, it is even possible to import and idea from another country and simply try it out in this market. Copying ideas are much easier today because the platform can support the implementation of the ideas.

According to the operators, regulators are already thinking about 4G, and it can arrive any time soon enough. It all now depends on the assessment of the regulators.

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Photo: Ashraf Apu

FESTIVITY

FLOWERS AND SPECIAL DAYS

Business thrives thrice in Spring

Photo: Ashraf Apu

By Rezvi Newaz

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It is growing and growing without much notice in a crowded city of Dhaka, the central point of many activities in Bangladesh. The business with flowers is turning into an industry with a lot of promises for domestic market and for exports.

And the month of February has a tremendous role in helping the flower industry to flourish. The Pahela Falgun (the beginning of the spring), the Valentine’s Day and the International Mother Language Day on February 21 are the days in February that sees jump in sales of flower, especially windfall profit made by sellers.

On February 9, 2015, a boy was selling a stick of flower for Tk 15 in front of DCC market in Gulshan. ‘I will charge Tk 80 for this piece on the Valentine’s Day,’ he said with a broad smile on his face, when we asked him about the prospect of sales on special days.

Shahbag has emerged as major hub of flower trading – both wholesale and retail – in view of its proximity with Dhaka University campus, central Shaheed Minar and banking on the higher demand for flower on special days. Khamarbari is another point of wholesale trading with flower and foliage. Thousands of people are involved in the value chain.

Bangladeshi people started showing respect to the valiant sons of the soil who sacrificed their lives for the cause of mother language in 1952 with flowers and never stopped afterwards. Thousands of mourners came in processions with wreaths to offer them at the altar of the Shaheed Minar (the monument for martyrs) at zero hour and afterwards on February 21.

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FESTIVITY round the year but they always target the special days like 31 December, Valentine’s Day, national days and the religious festivals and important days.

The annual turnover of the flower industry is no less than Tk 500 crore, according to Mr Rahim.

His farmland is in Godkhali, the country’s flower hub located in Jessore. Flowers are grown in some other pockets such as Birulia of Savar in Dhaka. Flower cultivation is now being extended to hilly districts of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. Altogether the floriculture is extended to at least 20 districts as commercial basis.

I had the opportunity to see a local wholesale market in Godkhali last year two days before the Valentine’s Day, when US ambassador Dan Mozena visited Godkhali and Panisara of Jhikorgachha.

Thousands of acres of land are used for flower cultivation. In the early morning, hundreds of people were seen carrying flowers from the nearby villages. Wholesalers collect flowers and foliage from the

farmers, and they load them on trucks to be send to Dhaka and some other destinations all over the country.

Ambassador Mozena promised that the US government would help build a specialised cold storage in Godkhali in the coming days.

However, when asked, Sher Ali, the pioneer of floriculture in Jessore and founder president of Godkhali Flower Cultivators and Flower Traders Welfare Samity, said they were yet to know any development regarding the cold storage. He expressed confidence that Godkhali would make Bangladesh proud of its achievement.

The flower trade has changed the fortune of Towhidul Islam who has been in the trade for 15 years. From a mediocre start he became a wholesaler in Khamarbari. Currently his average profit margin is 40-50%.

Fates of many like him are related with the Valentine's Day and other important days that could be used for promotion of flower industry in Bangladesh.

Photo: Ashraf Apu

In recent decades, the people started cerebrating Pahela Falgun, if not like Pahela Baishakh, but in the manner that shows its own festivity with colourful flowers being used by women and bouquet and flower sticks presented to dear ones. The decoration with flowers increases its business.

However, the biggest charm of the month February to the youths is February 14 or the Valentine’s Day. Young people take great enthusiasm to present flowers to their loved ones. This celebration is a recent introduction in this part of the world and getting popularity day by day.

A large quantity of flowers is made available in the market across the country for a brisk business. The flowers of high demand on the Valentine's Day are rose, gladiolus, gerbera and tuberose. The president of Bangladesh Flower Society Mr Abdur Rahim told ICE Business Times that on the two days (Pahela Falgun and Valentine’s Day) flower trade increased manifold compared to normal days.

Traders say they produce flowers

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April 2015

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Photo: M Ponir Hossain

FESTIVITY

What else is in the offering?

The run up to Pohela Falgun and Valentine’s Day is filled with all things mushy, red and heart-shaped. As nothing sells better than emotions, V-Day has also become a booming business. But in an age where e-versions of everything is preferred, we wondered if gift stores across the city have been clocking in the same sales. The result, curiously, is that these special days, especially Valentine’s Day, sell better and bigger.

A walk in to any of the many novelty stores across the city sees them covered in a blanket of red. From velvet-covered props to cushions to wall hangings to heart-shaped confetti, stores cater to the imaginative minds of the besotted and love-struck.

Teddy bears, the poster animal for cute and cuddly, come in a variety of merchandise – snowglobes, keepsakes, key chains, greeting cards, etc. With advertisements centred around celebrating the day

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and a miscellany of deals and packages for people looking for a getaway, the focus on February 14 has been rather intensive over the past few years.

Says Mahbubul Alam, a 25-year old software employee, “For Valentine’s Day, we buy stuff like photo frames, mugs with messages written on them, etc. It’s like a memory to celebrate love and what we have.

Sometimes you cannot express your feelings by yourself, so we gift each other to celebrate love. Which is what makes shopping at these stores pretty cool.”

Considering that we’re still a country that’s nascent to online retail, it also probably explains why gift shopping has definitely not seen a decline, feels Asif Ali, a manager of Hallmark’s at New Market for the past 10 years.

“There has never been a decrease.

In fact, the number of cards sold goes up during the week preceding Valentine’s Day. The musical cards are the most popular cards right now,” he shares.

For many, the gesture of gifting also stems from the watching their favourite stars do so on the big screen. From shots of them shopping at stores like Archies, to dramatic dialogues inspired from love tokens, Asif says stores can thank film culture for their sales. “I feel it is okay to give cute things that express your love, and one certainly does not need a particular day for it. But these days, it’s like a ritual where people give gifts because others are doing so or they find it interesting when celebrities do it on television or in films.’

Greeting card companies actually have teams of copywriters dedicated to writing these awww... inspiring messages.

Over years, these companies have managed to stay in touch with these rapidly changing trends. Plus the art of 3D presentation seems to beat the digital any day. From pop-up cards to scented cards to musical cards, an e-card slightly fades in comparison, making physical store owners quite the happy lot.

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CORPORATE GROOMING

Flowery CONTENT Why floral perfumes are best for spring season

My Burberry

Versace bright Crystal Absolu

Balmain Extatic Intense Gold Edition

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce

ICE BusinessTimes

Gucci Flora Garden Collection

April 2015

Boucheron Place Vendome Elixir

Especially Escada Elixir

Probably the most popular fragrance category, floral perfumes aren’t just for young girls or grannies. Most floral scents will be romantic and feminine, but depending on the ingredients they can be soft (subtle whiffs and powdery notes), fresh (like newly cut flowers) or intense (with hints of fruit and sweet spices). Common floral notes include jasmine, rose, gardenia, and iris. A floral fragrance can either smell like a mixed bouquet or a single scent, and is a great way to inject a bit of summer sunshine into your day.

If you like your fragrances floral then you're in good company. Floral fragrances are by far the most popular perfume category and one of the first perfume categories to have been created. Feminine, sensual and fresh, floral fragrances are the best beauty shortcut to feeling super summery. With spring currently in the offing and summer on the horizon we've got to thinking about the best floral fragrances for the season ahead.

From complex blends of various flowers to single flower fragrances, there's sure to be a floral fragrance for you.

The great thing about the scents below is that these are not too flowery or sweet to overbear your senses, as they contain the perfect balance of aromas to keep everyone asking what you are wearing. The perfect mixes, normally the hardest to find, are the ones that breathe life back into your skin and endure your various activities throughout your busy day. We will take a look at the 7 best floral perfumes for women and see if your favorites made the list.

The following floral perfumes can be found at Perfume World. Available at 10 branches in Bangladesh, they are the best perfumes you can gift your loved ones, be it Pohela Boishakh or any other spring/summer occasion. Go and take a breath. See if they enchant your senses or not.

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INSIDE OUT

The tale of a local corporate brand and how it transformed itself with the needs of today’s market

By Wafiur Rahman

CHANGING WITH TIMES:

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT

P

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People do many things to shape their future. As it is unpredictable, it is best to embrace it, cultivate what is forthcoming (all while releasing your trepidation), preparing yourself for hurdles, challenging yourself and all the other necessary motivational tools needed to succeed. That is the

inspiration that drove the transformational success story of Super Star Group Ltd (SSG). This is merely not fancy words that they used on their annual calendar, but something that they adhere to professionally as well. As Aftab Mahmud Khurshid, Group CMO and Head of Business Development at SSG rightfully points out, ‘a calendar portrays your corporate identity.’

For a company that has been in business for more than 20 years, SSG has been through a lot. In order to change with the needs of time, they have gone through a process of revamping themselves and reach for the next level. ‘It was a timely decision by the management,’ says Aftab, ‘‘In order for SSG to transform itself to a corporate brand, it needed a facelift,’ Aftab surmised. ‘That is why we changed our vision, mission and values. As a contemporary corporate brand to live with; we need to emphasize on one voice philosophy in all our communications. As long as all this is instilled through our employees, our products, our customers and our communications, it will be possible for us to stick to our brand promise consistently. To communicate visually, verbally and virtually we follow a single brand strategy in all our actions as a modern company to make our future better and brighter in all aspects. This is also vital to develop our image and help us to become a good corporate citizen.

We need to remember that our brand is our culture and our culture will shape our future.’

Despite their sustained foothold in the market, Aftab was modest about SSG’s

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INSIDE OUT

new initiatives. ‘We are very new here, with a new marketing division,’ he said, ‘but new additions add new values to everything. Local companies, as we have seen, are mostly sales-oriented, not focusing on quality management, proper HR or proper policy/procedures. The total corporate mindset is still missing among local companies, which is necessary to run professionally.’

But Aftab also has solutions right up his sleeves. ‘In order to overcome this, we have to maintain our future growth potential. Critical success factors include hiring good people, allowing them to work properly and professionally. Most importantly, patience is needed to prosper.

Nothing changes overnight. Quality product, people and service will always result in automatic growth.

As long as there is support from top management, who have strategic positive thinking.

Professional decentralisation is also a must.

Sadly, most companies are still ‘one-man shows’. This needs to be changed. Authority needs to be delegated.’

He also pinpointed on the areas where local companies are lagging behind, in terms of communications. ‘We are lagging behind time. Most of our companies think that advertising and public relations can conduct branding. But these two elements are meager attributes for brand communication.

A more holistic approach is needed.

It should not be confined to just advertising.

Rather, creative communication and cross-selling

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April 2015

concept is a must, with an Omni-channel media strategy. As times are changing, coordination between marketing and digital/cyber marketing is also integral to a company’s marketing success. I believe that brand marketing is a continuous creative engineering and strategic business science.’

Given his extensive experience in the world of branding and marketing, Aftab holds words of wisdom for the next generation corporates and entrepreneurs. ‘They have to think about strategy and planning appropriately. The pace should be fast, otherwise we will lag behind modern countries even more.

They can effectively use the media to their advantage, whereas we still cannot. This is the era of information marketing, so the proper blending of quality product, innovation and marketing is essential for success. It is another misconception here that marketing is cost, but both marketing and innovation are long term investments. If you have a good product, sales revenue is the last part of marketing. Extensive research and development are keys to success in innovation. Only

through proper marketing can you earn revenue, secure businesses, step ahead of the competition.

Otherwise you will be out of sight and further out of the mind of the customers. Sales alone cannot propel that drive.’

‘Brand marketing is chemistry between intuition and market information, where sometimes you have to follow your gut feelings.

People should consider marketing insight for taking decisions. Based on that, the right segment for the right product can be identified and eventually your future will be bright.’

The vision of SSG is to be the most contemporary conglomerate locally and globally. Their mission is to provide innovative products and solutions that offer customers delight. Their values are being bold, responsive, innovative, global, human, tech-savvy and bright.

‘Because we believe our future is bright,’ Aftab adds. ‘As per our vision, we will be a local conglomerate with a foothold in the global marketplace. Our plans for expansion are underway. If you follow our logo, it indicates that our future is on the way up.’

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MONEY PLAN

RESPITE IN THE MIDST OF TURMOIL FDI holds the promise of a brighter future

Increasing global integration and trade internationalisation are economic trends certain to characterise the world economy to an even greater degree in the future.

Bangladesh is well-positioned to take advantage of these trends, including in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).

FDI involves capital provided by a foreign investor, either directly or through a related enterprise, where the investor is directly involved in

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the management of the established enterprise.

For a developing economy in transition from an agricultural to a more modern base, such as the Bangladeshi economy, FDI offers considerable scope to strengthen domestic economic conditions to the benefit of the country and betterment of its people.

Recognising its benefits, many countries offer FDI incentives including tax concessions, tax holidays, accelerated depreciation

on plants and machinery, export subsidies and import entitlements.

Such strategies, including the establishment of special economic zones and lucrative incentive packages, are likewise important for Bangladesh.

FDI can have a positive impact in several ways. It enables the building up of physical capital, creates employment opportunities and develops production capacity. FDI enhances local labour skills through

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MONEY PLAN

technology transfer and management knowhow. In turn, the domestic economy becomes better able to integrate globally to take advantage of emerging economic opportunities at the international level.

In addition, as unemployed people gain employment due to FDI, the standard of living increases along with purchasing power, providing impetus for the business cycle to move faster.

This gain is compounded by the development of local support industries and institutions.

Simultaneously, transport facilities and infrastructure, communications systems and education stand to benefit. Increased competition in the local market meanwhile can reduce the price of commodities, as gross domestic product rises.

In recent years Bangladesh has experienced a surge in FDI. Foreign investors were attracted by abundant resources, skilled and cheap labour, effective monetary and fiscal policy, infrastructure improvements and long-term strategic planning. From an FDI inflow of $0.7 billion in 2009, effective government policy has encouraged FDI inflow to rise to $1.6 billion in 2013. The key areas of activity in attracting FDI have included trade and exchange rate liberalisation, current account convertibility and an emphasis on private sector-led development.

The infrastructure and services sectors have been opened to private investment, domestic and

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foreign alike. It is foreseeable that with the more open trade policy associated with the presence of foreign firms, the Bangladeshi economy stands to experience broad technological and productivity gains.

It is envisaged that the private sector will play an increasingly active role in infrastructure and human resource development programmes. With this goal in mind, government policy reforms in recent years have endeavoured to create a more open and competitive climate for both foreign and domestic investors. The Board of Investment (BoI) has an important role in creating a favourable investment climate. Established in 1989 with a mandate to encourage investment in the private sector, identify hindrances to investment and provide necessary facility and assistance in the establishment of industrial units, the BoI offers investors a wide range of services including promotion, support, advice and aftercare.

Coupled with the activities of the BoI, generous private investment opportunities under the government's liberalised industrial policy and export-oriented, private-sector-led economic growth strategy have strengthened ties with developed countries. It can yield cost advantages in the form of the

positive externalities resulting from technology transfer. Recent growth experience, meanwhile, has validated the decision to pursue higher national education expenditure in order to make the domestic labour force more competitive. This strategy has in turn substantially increased the number of potential investors and source of investments in key sectors, including manufacturing, telecommunication, energy and gas.

FDI is fast becoming a significant source of financing for domestic investment in Bangladesh. To maintain competitive strength in attracting FDI, it is important to continue to promote the country's natural economic assets including its strategic geographic location with respect to global trade, its convenient access to international sea and air routes and its low-cost workforce. In addition, domestic purchasing power for FDI products in a country of 160 million people is not negligible.

Under continued careful management and encouragement, Bangladesh stands to gain substantially from FDI in the years to come. With the benchmark strategies in place, there is little reason to doubt that FDI performance in contributing to national development will be very satisfactory.

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MANAGEMENT

EGALITARIAN FOR ALL W

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Employees in creative roles deserve strong managers as well What if the nature of the employee's job is to be creative and innovative? This requires that an employee be willing to take risks and make mistakes. Should you still manage that employee closely? Should you still tell him what to do and how to do it? Should you still monitor, measure and document? Won't that inhibit the employee's creativity and innovation? Won't that make the employee less likely to take the necessary risks and make the necessary mistakes?

First, don't conflate reinventing the wheel with innovation. The wheel has already been invented. You do nobody any favors by keeping them in the dark about it.

Real innovation builds on what has already been invented. Real innovation takes the next step. So if you want to promote innovation, you need to make sure the employee understands the state of the art. Spell out all that has already been invented, so the employee has real stepping-stones from which to launch.

Second, if the employee's job is to be creative, the biggest favor you can do for that employee is be very clear about what is not within the employee's discretion. Spell out all the guidelines and specifications. Make it clear that any creativity must occur within those parameters.

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MANAGEMENT What if you want the employee to be creative in the most freeform way?

You don't want to hold the employee back in any way? No guidelines. No parameters. Really? That's a very rare assignment. Like... Jackson Pollock rare.

But maybe you have that very rare assignment. OK. Is there a time limit? Or will you pay the employee to brainstorm ad infinitum? How will you know when the employee is ‘done’? How will you recognize a finished ‘result’?

Third, if you want an employee to feel free to take risks and make mistakes, then what you need to do is spell that out as a concrete assignment: ‘I want you to go take risks and make mistakes.’ Maybe you need to tell the employee how many risks to take and how many mistakes. Maybe not. But you have to find a way to create a space in which risk taking and mistakes are safe---maybe a padded room. And you have to find a way to create a timeframe. And if you want to be kind, you should find a way to define some parameters.

What some firms do, when creativity and innovation are real business drivers, is they define a percentage of time and set it aside for creativity.

Let's say 20%. They tell people, ‘We want you to use 20% of your time on projects that are not your official tasks and responsibilities... Use that time to pursue your own creative projects.’ That kind of allowance usually comes with a caveat, ‘By the way, whatever you invent during that time is our property.’ Or if they are very smart, ‘Whatever you invent during that time is 75% our property.’ Of course, some people will use that time to invent. Others won't.

Fourth, there are numerous management tools designed to get employees to take risks, make mistakes, be creative, and innovate.

Maybe you pose a set of questions?

Or challenges? Fill a room with toys.

Or finger paint. Or clay. Or music.

Incense? You get the idea.

Fifth, what most managers do with

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‘creatives’ working on a creative assignment is they provide rough guidelines for a rough draft. They set a deadline for a rough draft.

Then they let the creatives do their thing. Once the manager has a rough draft, the manager works with the creative employee(s) to come up with a plan for moving the rough draft to a final draft.

Here's a corollary of the managing creativity question: Sometimes a manager doesn't have clear expectations---a clear goal with clear guidelines---just yet.

Sometimes a manager doesn't know, at the outset of a project exactly what success will look like. The manager doesn't know what she is looking for... yet. Maybe this is a project of first impression.

Sometimes the manager needs an employee to ‘take a crack at it’ so the manager has something to look at.

Then the manager has a better idea of what the final product should be.

This is a case where managers end up using employees to work out the early stages of the manager's own creative process. Sometimes this can be very frustrating for the employee because the employee works hard on a project that feels very creative only to have the manager send the employee back to the drawing board several times until the manager finally takes over the project and totally reworks it. The employee feels like all of his own work has been for nothing and/or the manager

has hijacked the project. What is a manager to do in this situation?

Be very clear and very honest with the employee from the outset of the assignment. Explain to the employee that you don't have a clear goal with clear guidelines: ‘I don't know what success will look like. I don't know what I'm looking for. What I really need is for you to 'take a crack at it' so I have something to look at. Let me be clear. This is really my project and I'm asking you to help me jump-start my own creative process. I am really asking you to come up with a very rough draft. I will probably send you back to the drawing board several times. Then at some point I'll take over the project and totally rework it. This is still a very important project to me. This assignment is very important and very difficult. Do you think you are up for it?’ By saying this, you are spelling out your expectations as best you can. If there are parameters you do know about, try to articulate them.

And don't forget to attach a deadline on the first very rough draft... and every time you send the employee back to the drawing board.

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MANPOWER

THE NEED FOR MORE

Skilled human resources is the need of the hour, experts suggest Management experts and corporate personalities have stressed on need-based education system in Bangladesh to build up skilled human resource in the country to face challenges posed by business houses. ‘Over the last two decades, the definitive term ‘industrial relations’ itself has evolved in ‘employee relations’, and hence ‘workplace relations’,’ said Peter Wilson, Chairman of the Australian Human Resource Institute, while delivering key note address at the 4th International Conference of Bangladesh Society for Human Resources Management (BSHRM) at the

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Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC), Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city recently.

Chaired by Prof Anwar Hossain, Vice Chancellor of the South East University, among others, Md Noor Ali, Managing Director of Unique Group, Md Jalalul Azim, Managing Director of Pragati Life Insurance, Prof MA Rashid, CEO of Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital and Research Institute, and Mehbubur Rehman, Founder president of BSHRM took part in the session. ‘Industrial relations is still used as a sub-descriptor within the modern field of workplace relations. From the perspective of the human resources profession, ‘industrial relations’ relates to legislative practice issues with industrial employment laws,’ he added.

‘The various components of development — health, education, environment, employment, manpower development, and science and technology — are not new. What is new is their combination in a unified approach to development policy making and planning that focuses on the role of human beings as both a critical input to and the ultimate beneficiaries of, the development process,’ Wilson elaborated. Md Noor Ali said in Bangladesh, development programmes touch on virtually all aspects of human resource development, but the integrated approach has not yet been generally adopted. ‘There has been a tendency to emphasise either economic considerationsdominated or social welfare-dominated strategy. But what is needed is a human capital approach or the human needs approach.’

He said human resources division of any corporate house is the hearth of business that helps maintain coordination among different section of the organisation. So, there is no alternative to building up leadership among the human resources division, he added. Prof MA Rashid said human resource development is dealt with sectorally in separate sections of national planning documents and typically implemented by several agencies.

A central goal of development should be there to effect an equitable distribution of human resources development opportunities and benefits, he said adding, ‘At the same time, priority should be given to those population groups which could benefit most from such opportunities by virtue of either the urgency of their needs or their ability to put them to best use, not only for themselves but for the development of priority sectors.’

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ACADEMIA

CONCEPT IS THE KEY

Mutual Trust Bank NSU Yes! Presents Masters of Ideation 2015

Photo: Titu Zakaria

Mutual Trust Bank presents Masters of Ideation 2015 – the battle for supremacy, organized by North South University Young Entrepreneurs Society (NSU YES!), has completed its third season this year with its recently held grand finale.

Success for this inter-university competition was already in the bag and NSU YES! has once again organized their major event without any major setbacks.

Masters of Ideation is an inter-university business strategy based case solving competition

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where competitors from different university nationwide compete against each other. 48 teams from different university participated out of which 1 team with their extreme talent, utmost dedication and hard work won the title of ‘Master of Ideation’ along with prize money of BDT 1, 35,000. The champion team not only won the title and the biggest prize money ever offered in any inter-university competition, but were also offered internship from Masters of Ideation’s strategic partner, Reckitt Benkiser. The first

runner up and second runner up received a prize money of BDT 85,000 and BDT 60,000 respectively and were also offered an internship from Mutual Trust Bank.

NSU YES! has successfully organized their signature event and now they are all set to organize their next major events Ad Maker Bangladesh and NSUers Meet Corporate Icons.

Ad maker Bangladesh, initiated back in 2009, is the biggest and the most prestigious inter-university competition. Ad Maker Bangladesh

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ACADEMIA is a television commercial and integrated marketing campaign making competition where students from different universities show their talent of marketing to the entire nation.

Another in-house event of NSU YES! Is NSUers Meet Corporate Icons.

NSUers Meet Corporate Icons is an event only for North South University students where they get the rare opportunity and privilege to meet the corporate icons from different business fields. Corporate icons take some time out from their busy schedule and conduct a seminar inside North South University to enlighten North South University’s students about the corporate world. They share their experiences and struggles that they have faced in their field and tells the students how to survive is this extremely competitive corporate world. NSUers Meet Corporate Icons is an exclusive event again organized my NSU YES! as this event provides an opportunity for the students to know about the corporate world beforehand.

This year’s Masters of Ideation started off with 36 teams in the first round. The First round, comprised of solving a business case, tested the contestants for basic Case analysis abilities and perceptual capabilities.

In the Second round, the teams faced an even more complex case that tested their in-depth analytical abilities and critical thinking abilities. Teams were hard pushed to solve the overly complex case that they faced in the second round. Of the twenty teams that made it through the second round, only eight teams displayed the necessary skills to pass through round 2.

Round 3, the Ideation Round, had a unique flavor in it, being the first of its kind in Bangladesh. Here, the qualifying eight teams faced the challenge of applying all the knowledge acquired in the previous rounds, in a real-life situation. The teams were given a simulated market environment and given an analysis of the market preferences.

Then, they were asked to design their product based on the consumer

preferences and market pricing, after which they had to sell it to the consumers. This round presented unique difficulties and challenges to the participants, and was probably the most entertaining round of the season.

The Grand Finale of Masters of Ideation 2015, organized by NSU Young Entrepreneur’s Society (YES!) was held on Monday, 2nd March 2015. The Final presentations kicked off in style, with teams hailing from reputed Universities including Institute of Business Administration (IBA), North South University (NSU), Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) and Jahangirnagar University.

The Panel of Judges included reputed personalities from renowned Organizations. The panel of Judges included Mr. Sami Al Hafiz (Mutual Trust Bank), Saad Jashim (British American Tobacco), Zaheen Islam (Reckitt-Benckiser), and Shadman Sadekin (Unilever Bangladesh).

They expressed their satisfaction and content at having been able to judge some of the brightest minds in

Photo: Titu Zakaria

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ACADEMIA the Undergraduate business arena.

The teams started off with their presentations at 8 P.M., and continued till 10:30 P.M. within this span of time, the five teams faced off in a stunning display of talent and skill that cemented their worth of being Finalists of one of the greatest events of the Undergraduate business arena.

Team Potter Hailing from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Team Potter Started the show-off with a brilliant display of stunning slides, in-depth knowledge and excellent presentation skills. Among the many interesting insights that they provided into the matter, some of the more notable ones were providing an extensive seven- year strategy aimed at capturing market share and providing more extensive recreational facilities such as Surfing and tourist fishing.

Team Orkid Although Team Orkid (hailing from Jahangirnagar University) showed great promise and talent, their lack of experience became apparent

through their lack of confidence in front of the judges. However, the fact that they have been able to reach the final round of Masters of Ideation is proof of their talents and potential. Surely, the business arena will see more of this team in the near future.

Arctic Cube

North South University has been proud to produce many exceptional teams in recent years. Arctic Cube has earned the right to count themselves among this esteemed list of elites. Everything about this team has been an absolute delight. Their exemplary presentation skills grabbed the judges’ attention from the very start. They presented a detailed insight into the case they were presented with, leaving very few loopholes for judges to scrutinize. Not only that- their presentation slides were simply beautiful. The video that they presented showcased exemplary amounts of creativity, professionalism and IT skills.

Meraki

Hailing from Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), team Meraki consists of fresh undergraduates seeking to make their mark in the world of Undergraduate business competitions. What stood out among them was their unwavering confidence in the face of intense pressure, among other things. The slides were simple and easy to understand- just enough to make their presentation all the more interesting. It was evident from their presentation that, they had put a lot of thought and research into it. The promo Ad that they designed had all the markings of a true piece of art.

Meraki were also confident in deterring all of the judges’ arguments, showing that they had indeed come well prepared.

Wait for it

Institute of Business Administration (IBA) is renowned all over the nation for producing talent, and team ‘wait ICE BusinessTimes

April 2015

for it’ is a glaring example of just that. They had the perfect combination of creativity, professionalism, insight and skill to take them through any obstacle that presents itself, and that is precisely what has made them one of the best teams in this season of ‘Masters of Ideation’. The way in which they presented the case was simply a beauty to behold- unflinching confidence, excellent representation of facts and aesthetically pleasing presentation slides. By the end of their session, nobody had any doubts as to the fact that team ‘Wait for it’ had definitely done their homework. Their approach to the problem was simplistic, effective and had potentially far-reaching implications without a doubt.

The top 5 teams faced off in the most anticipated event of the year for the title of ‘Master of Ideation’. After a hard-fought battle of more than two hours, the eminent judges- all from reputed National and Multinational Organizations- finally came to the decision of which teams to name the Winners (Team ‘Wait for It’ from IBA), Runners Up (Team ‘Arctic Cube’ from NSU) and the Second Runners Up (Team ‘Meraki’ from BUP).

Team ‘Wait for It’ consisted of Ahmed Tashfiq Rafsan, Abreshmee Adeeba Haque and Sami Tahsin.

Team ‘Arctic Cube’ consisted of Faria Mowla, Md. Nakibur Rahman and Safirul Karim.

Team ‘Meraki’ consisted of Rabita Jahan Priyota, Shahnewaz Mahmood and Rushnan Aritree Arpa.

This event was presented by Mutual Trust Bank, the Title sponsor for the event. Reckitt Benckiser is the strategic partner for this endeavor.

The English Print Media partner for Masters of Ideation 2015 was ‘The Daily Star’. The Bangla print Media partner was ‘The Daily Ittefaq’, Radio partner was ‘Radio Foorti’, online news partner was ‘bdnews24.com’, live broadcasting partner was WebTV, study abroad partner was TPNL, and the lifestyle partner was ‘Amber Lifestyle’.

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REBOUND

MAKING A COMEBACK

7 resume strategies for the long-term unemployed

While economic recovery indicators like a declining unemployment rate are often celebrated, they don’t show the whole picture. For many long-term unemployed, finding a job becomes a bleaker prospect the longer they’re out of work. A September 2014 report from Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) found that people who are long-term unemployed (defined as being without a job for six months or more), have a 20% to 40% lower probability of being employed one to two years in the future.

But as the economy adds more jobs, that means more opportunities for employment. If you've been out of the office for more than six months, you should make some tweaks to your resume to increase your chances.

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REBOUND

If you’ve been out of work for a while, create a small business, suggests management consultant John Paul Engel, founder of Knowledge Capital Consulting.

Determine which of your skills and expertise are salable to others and market yourself for hire. You may do consulting or sales work as an independent contractor, for example.

‘You have to be truthful about the work you’re doing, but this can help bridge a gap and bring in some income,’ he says.

volunteer work to show that you’ve remained active in a work environment. Also, use your time off to improve your skills, learn new technology, or get an industry certification and document it on your resume—even if your effort is still a work-in-progress, suggests career coach and resume writer Cheryl E. Palmer.

‘Certifications have become very common in many fields. Being able to show that you have recent training in your field can definitely be a plus. It demonstrates that you are staying current,’ Palmer says.

3. Skip the chronological format

6. Customize your resume for each job

Traditional resume formats that present your experience based on the chronological order of your jobs can shine a white-hot spotlight on the gaps. Quillen suggests a hybrid resume that ditches clunky objective statements and, instead, includes an upfront summary of the job you’re seeking with some bullet points that highlight key strengths and accomplishments.

‘You might have nine or 10 bullet points that really summarize who you are and what your strengths are—I’m an HR professional and looking to do X, Y, and Z, and here are my strengths—so that it takes up about the top third of the resume, then the rest is chronological,’ he suggests.

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all resumes. Customizing your resume is as easy as highlighting sections and changing them, but few people create tailored resumes for the jobs they’re pursuing, he says. If you’re going after a job in sales, think about that company and that specific job and highlight areas of your past experience that are most relevant, maybe reordering bullet points or skills presentation to make you the most perfect candidate you can be, he says. A caveat: Multiple versions and making changes means you need to relentlessly proofread your resume.

Grammatical errors and typos can get you nixed pretty quickly, Quillen adds.

4. Focus on Results Not Tasks

7. Send it to everyone you know

2. Create a job

1. Explain the absence

Instead of trying to hide a big gap on your resume, explain it, says veteran human resources director Daniel Quillen, author of The Perfect Resume. Either in your resume or on your cover letter, address the fact that you’ve had a large employment gap and give it some context. This is especially helpful if you left the workforce to care for children or if you were part of a large layoff.

‘That’s important because it helps me understand that he or she wasn’t laid off for performance. If they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or they were one of the last ones in, so they were the first ones out, that knowledge helps me erase that gap as an issue,’ Quillen says.

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Engel says you should scour your resume for opportunities to ‘eliminate the risk of hiring you.’

Each segment of your resume should focus on the results you’ve achieved for your employer. Too many resumes focus on tasks, he says. To stand out, focus on the results you generated.

5. Show how you’ve kept current

List contract, temporary or even

Once you have a good resume, send it to everyone you know who might be in a position to pass it along, Quillen says. You might think that everyone knows what you do or that you’re out of work, but that’s often not the case or they may not think of referring you, he adds. Later, if a contact uncovers a lead, you can send an updated, customized resume. But get the word out by distributing your resume. You never know from where a great job lead can come, Quillen says.

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ENVIRONMENT

GOING GREEN Bangladesh Bank plans

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on making banking sector paperless

Bangladesh Bank has planned making the country’s banking sector paperless, which will be a big step forward towards green transformation of the financial sector. ‘We are committed to implementing a full scale IT based paperless banking operation in due course,’ BB Governor Atiur Rahman said, adding that a separate department has been established at the central bank to address the green issues in a broader manner.

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The governor made the announcement while launching the Energy Efficiency Engagement Event.

Observing that transforming financial sector more eco-friendly is indispensible for ensuring an environmentally sustainable economic growth, he put green banking at the front of the forecourt of the agenda for large scale green transformation and said - ‘No doubt, green banking is a catalyst for green

April 2015

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ENVIRONMENT

‘This initiative reflects a clear commitment of DANIDA and NCCI activities towards green transformation and green growth of Bangladesh’ growth’. Atiur, who drove green banking in the country banking sector, appreciated Nordic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) and Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) for establishing the Energy Efficiency secretariat in Bangladesh.

‘This initiative reflects a clear commitment of DANIDA and NCCI activities towards green transformation and green growth of Bangladesh,’ he said. The governor also highlighted the different initiatives of the central bank to make the country’s banking and eventually the financially sector environmentally more responsible.

‘Bangladesh Bank has been providing a range of policy and

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April 2015

financing support to banks and FIs (financial institutions) for mainstreaming green banking into the core banking practices. These endeavors have been enhanced in the last couple of years,’ the governor said. He said so 47 green products have been included in the BB refinance scheme of which 23 are green energy.

‘Shifting the investment from fossil-fuel to green energy is the only way for transforming economic growth paths. Assessment of environmental risks above the threshold limit is a must,’ he observed.

The governor said Bangladesh maintained more than 6.0 per cent real GDP growth over the last 10 years, which is poised to increase in the years ahead. To continue this growth momentum, it has been estimated that energy consumption should grow at the rate of at least 10 per cent. He said we understood most of the lenders are not familiar with Energy Efficiency Technology and approaches and require technical support to appraise and manage loans for Energy Efficiency projects. ‘In this scenario, we do expect the Energy Efficiency secretariat will look into these challenges for converting them into opportunities which will indeed give impetus to the green transformation, green growth of Bangladesh economy,’ the governor said.

Denmark Ambassador Hanne Fugl Eskjaer, Head of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Engineering Department, BUET Dr. Mohammad Tamim, ABB Solutions in Energy Efficiency Country Manager Rajarshi Banerjee, Danida Senior Advisor Stephan Skare Enevoldsen and NCCI President Shamim Ul Huq also spoke on the occasion.

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GOING GREEN

NOT SO SUNNY FOR NOW Turmoil takes steam off solar \power projects

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GOING GREEN

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The much-applauded solar power programme took a hit in January due to the ongoing political unrest, with the installation of solar home systems dropping by around 5 percent from the previous month.

Last month, some 44,302 units of solar home systems were installed

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April 2015

across the country, down from 46,569 in December last year. The installation is now on a decreasing trend due to the disruption in supply chain brought about by the non-stop countrywide blockade from January 6, said Mahmood Malik, chief executive of Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. Idcol provides grants and soft loans to villagers through its 47 partners to install the home systems in off-grid areas.

Most partner organisations cannot bring components of the units to remote areas amid fear of arson and vandalism of delivery vans, he said.

Besides, people in rural areas are now less interested in buying such units as the prolonged political unrest has eroded their earnings, said Munawar Misbah Moin, managing director of Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd. The company takes the solar home systems to rural areas under the Idcol programme through Rural Services Foundation, a non-profit organisation of Rahimafrooz Group.

‘The worst thing is that the installment overdue is substantially increasing -- this will have a negative impact going forward.’ The ongoing political instability has already drained consumer confidence, said Ruhul Quddus, a renewable energy analyst. ‘People, especially in rural areas, are struggling to meet their basic necessities. So, they are reluctant to spend money on non-basic items like solar power.’

The import of low-quality and cheap Chinese products by traders in old Dhaka is another reason for the decline in installation of Idcol's home systems in recent times, he said.

‘Many people are now buying solar home systems from Nawabpur-based traders in old Dhaka as they are offering much lower prices,’ Quddus added. As of January, more than 3.49 million units have been installed with support from the World Bank and other development partners, according to Idcol, the implementing agency.

As a result, around 20 million people are benefitting from solar electricity for lighting, watching TV, charging mobile phones and using other low-load appliances. The programme for installing solar home systems in Bangladesh has the fastest penetration rate in the world, according to WB. Idcol started financing the home systems in January 2003 with support from WB and Global Environment Facility. The initial target was to finance 50,000 units

by June 2008, which was achieved three years ahead of schedule and with $2 million less than the projected cost, it said. The next target too was met ahead of schedule, in June 2011, owing much to the easy credit facility, subsidies, technical support and quality equipment. Idcol, the state-owned non-bank financial institution, has now set a target of financing six million such systems by 2017.

Presently, 68 percent of the total population (including renewable energy) has access to electricity.

The per capita electricity generation is 348 kilowatt per hour, which is very low compared to other developing countries, according to the website of the Power Division. To make electricity available for all by 2021, the government wants to enhance electricity generation to 24,000MW, 10 percent of which would come from renewable energy.

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INNOVATION

ONE STEP AT A TIME

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Bangladesh inks deal with CERN to boost science, technology

Bangladesh has moved one major step closer towards the advanced science and technology through signing an international co-operation agreement with CERN, the European organisation for nuclear research, in Geneva.

M Shameem Ahsan, ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh in Geneva, Switzerland signed the instrument of cooperation on behalf of Bangladesh government with Dr Rolf Heuer, director general of CERN, according to a press release of External Publicity Wing of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka.

Since the ‘Vision 2021’ of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had articulated the aspirations of her government for advancement in the field of science and technology for the benefit of the people, this 58

cooperation with CERN was yet another milestone towards that goal, the ambassador stated at the time of signing the deal.

The director general of CERN also remembered his recent successful visit to Bangladesh and praised the efforts of the Bangladesh government for taking the benefits of science and technology to the doorstep of the people.

He assured the support of CERN in this effort and hoped that the teachers, students and researchers of Bangladesh would be immensely benefited from this formal cooperation.

CERN will conduct a high-level short school on advanced particle and quantum physics at Dhaka University from 15 to 18 December 2014. Eminent professors from CERN, Belgium and India will be

conducting the lessons.

As the pioneering institute for research of fundamental physics in the world, CERN has recently attracted the global attention for its discovery of Higg’s Boson - the ‘God’s Particle’. CERN- the largest research laboratory in the world and the center of excellence for research in fundamental and quantum physics, has the long tradition of establishing international co-operation in research and training and promoting contacts among scientists and professionals and interchange with other laboratories and institutes around the world. It also offers advanced training for researchers and professionals of different countries.

For the countries like Bangladesh, CERN provides the unique opportunity for the much needed technology transfer, education and training for the researchers, scholars, academics and students.

Most importantly, CERN offers different programs for students and researchers from developing countries in the form of internship, summer and other specialised schools which are open to all.

Cooperation between Bangladesh and CERN will facilitate opportunity of research in experimental and theoretical particle physics and related aspects of technologies for particle accelerators, particle detectors and information technology.

Inventions and discoveries of CERN are playing a major role in the fight against deadly diseases like cancer.

Bangladesh will be greatly benefited from this cooperation with CERN especially the universities, institutes, organisations, academics, professionals and the students of Bangladesh will have much to gain. And, it’s expected that the institutions and individuals will take initiatives to achieve their own excellence through this newly created opportunity.

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STARTUP

BUILDING A BUSINESS FROM GOOGLE GLASS

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How Augmedix can change the face of Health IT Augmedix was part of the Innovation Showcase at the Innovation Xtreme event hosted by Startup Dhaka. SD Asia knew about Augmedix and what the company was doing for some time and finally got in touch with the founder and CEO of Augmedix Ian Shakil. Augmedix currently makes a Google Glass App that allows doctors to take care of their documentation more efficiently and focus more on their patients.

What is Augmedix? What does the company do?

We are working to tackle the biggest pain point in all of healthcare right now. There’s a fact that doctors spend a third or more of their day typing away on the computer, on their electronic health records. And not do what they were taught at med school to do, which is carry health records right in front of them. Doctors hate having to turn their backs and feed the beast, as I say.

And patients don’t like it either when they look at the doctor’s back. The system finds this to be a very painful problem from an efficiency standpoint. Augmedix steps in and resolves this problem. When doctors wear Google Glass and use our service. Doctors don’t spend a third of their day in front of the computer anymore, they spend closer to 1% of a day.

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STARTUP

What is your background?

My background was originally in biomedical engineering and medical devices. Right out of undergrad, I worked at a company called Edwards Life sciences for a good four years in various engineering and business roles. I left industry to go get my MBA at Stanford. This was a really fateful decision for me.

At Stanford, I met my co-founder Pelu and several other folks who ended up coming to work for us here at Augmedix. When I graduated from Stanford back in 2012, I started working in startups. I worked at this very cool wearable company called MC10.

I was really happy and I thought that’s what I was going to do. But a

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googler let me try on a very early prototype of Google Glass. The experience really blew my mind and I saw so many opportunities in the world of healthcare with the glass.

Being that I’ve been in healthcare for so many years that I decided ‘Hey, this is amazing. I got this once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m going to drop everything and leave my job at MC10.’ That’s how I started Augmedix. Soon after Pelu, who I met at Stanford where he was a medical student, decided to join me, we founded Augmedix in late 2012.

How does the app work?

We’re able to take the audio-visual stream from the doctor’s perspective.

From the conversation between a

doctor and a patient, structured data is extracted to populate the electronic health record in real time so the doctor doesn’t have to do it himself. We’re also able to serve the doctor information on demand. So the doctor can say his queries out loud and the information is shown on the heads-up display. He doesn’t have to fetch and distract himself to look that up.

You studied and worked in the US. How come the company set up an office in Bangladesh?

I’m Bangladeshi. I’m actually half Bangladeshi and half Irish-American. I have a whole bunch of family back in Bangladesh.

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STARTUP

I’ve always thought in my career I would be mostly based in the US and coming back to Bangladesh to visit.

I never thought I’d actually be doing business in Bangladesh. But through a series of luck and coincidences, we’re now definitely doing business in Bangladesh.

Almost half of our employees of the nearly 100 employees we have are based in our Dhaka office. Our Dhaka office is growing rapidly. A year from now, we’ll have more people in our Dhaka office than our San Francisco headquarters.

We were established in Dhaka because I had some personal connections.

I knew some developers and some business people in Bangladesh. In the early days of Augmedix, we were

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April 2015

desperately looking for engineering talent to take a risk and join fledgling startup that was yet to be proven. We couldn’t break the bank.

It just so happened that we decided to take an even bigger risk on top of any of the risks we’ve taken and do a big chunk of our R&D and software in Bangladesh and not in San Francisco.

It turned out that the experiment showed wonderful results. We were successful in building an incredible prototype. Ultimately, we decided to invest and see further. Now, the vast majority of our software engineers and tech team are in Bangladesh, not San Francisco. There are all kinds of advantages for our startup to put its tech team in Bangladesh.

Obviously, it’s much cheaper and more affordable for startups and not pay Silicon Valley wages. Also, Silicon Valley is so competitive. With Google, Facebook, Twitter and all the rest, it’s really difficult for startups to compete for talent in Silicon Valley. It’s challenging on some levels. So Bangladesh is super attractive and there are so many talented and energetic people. It’s turned out to be a wonderful competitive advantage for us. And we’re investing even more.

Now it turns out we’re going beyond tech people. We’re also hiring non-tech people: administrative people, finance people, to work at our back office; which is a significant back office. All in all, Bangladesh is a key part of our strategy and our business model.

How did you raise the initial investment money?

Raising money, especially the first money is always difficult. Finding those first believers is a magical thing. You get to prove yourself, especially if you’re a first time entrepreneur like me. I took a

advantage of a lot resources to help get us started. We were part of an incubator called the Stanford Venture Studio and later at another incubator called Rock Health.

These incubators gave us space, resources, a little bit of money and a lot of credibility and that paved the way for us to get more substantial angel investors involved in Augmedix. Some of our Angel Investors are actually based in Bangladesh. After our angels got involved and we showed success, we were able to get institutional venture capital firms to invest in us.

So today, we’re very much funded by two large prestigious Silicon Valley venture capitalists: DCM and Emergence.

And interestingly enough, I know now that these firms are very interested in Bangladesh in general. So their experience in dealing with Augmedix, it’s opening a whole new world of possibilities for them.

How does Augmedix handle the challenges of having two key offices that are situated on opposite sides of the globe?

There are profound challenges. I would say the key ingredient to make it work is sound and sturdy leadership on both sides. People in Bangladesh understand the crazy world of startups, the crazy world of working with western norms. The leadership in Bangladesh needs to be especially focused on documentation, prioritization, planning. More so than the normal case of over communicating in every respect. There needs to be a huge amount of trust on all sides in order to make it work. If these ingredients are not in place, I would not recommend trying to do what Augmedix are doing with dispersed global teams.

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MONEY MATTER

PORTABLE WAGES

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Salary disbursement through mobile banking gains popularity

Disbursement of salaries these days is not as tedious as it used to be till some time ago. Take Rita Begum, a garments worker, for instance.

Earlier she had to stand in a queue for hours to draw her monthly salary. But now, she receives her salary on her mobile phone, which makes life easier for her. ‘This system is so convenient. We can easily send money to our families using the phone, as the salary is deposited in our mobile account.

Earlier, when we received salary in cash, we spent it quickly, but now the money remains in our account and we spend it only when necessary,’ says Rita, echoing thousands of similar such recipients. The system has become popular after it was incorporated as

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Mobile Financial Services (MFS) by Bangladesh Bank. Though the P-to-P (Person To Person) service was once used only to transact money, now it is used to disburse salaries.

Former Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Abdus Salam Murshedy said mobile financial services makes salary disbursement easier, saves time, and reduces the tension of the workers.

The system also reduces companies’ time and money.

He explained that organisations earlier needed several employees for disbursing salaries, but now banks can send money to the employees’ accounts directly. This is a very easy, speedy and safe system, and is growing popular. According to the

Bangladesh Bank’s (BB’s) statistics, the practice of disbursing workers’ salaries using mobile financial service is rising.

Salary disbursement through the B-to-P (Business To Person) system has increased by 18.9% in January 2015 as compared to December 2014.

According to the BB, the volume of salary disbursement using the mobile banking channel was Tk. 76.

93 crore in January 2015, but was Tk. 64.70 crore in December 2014.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chairman Sunil Kanti Bose said mobile banking makes the lives of people easier. ‘It is becoming popular by the day. We encourage innovation, which would make our activities more convenient and save time,’ he added.

According to the central bank, both the numbers of daily average transactions and the number of total transactions have increased in January 2015 compared to December 2014. The number of total registrations was 74,47,355 in December 2014, which reached 82,068,551 in January.

The number of daily average transactions reached 27,35,618, which was 24,82,452 in December 2014.

The BB data also shows that the number of average transactions has increased by 8.15% in January 2015 as compared to December 2014. The average daily transactions were 349.43 crore in December 2014, which reached 377.92 crore in January 2015.

According to the central bank, the flow of inward remittances through mobile phones, however, has decreased by 5 per cent. The country received Tk 2.85 crore remittances through mobile phones in January 2015, which was Tk. 3 crore in December 2014. The number of active accounts has also decreased. The number of active mobile phone was 121.54 lakh in December 2014. It fell to 110.53 lakh in January 2015, which is 9.06 per cent lower.

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REMITTANCE

EXPECTATIONS PAY OFF Flow of remittance likely to increase from next year Remittance inflow into Bangladesh can be expected to receive a significant boost from next year, with the government’s success in convincing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to reopen its labour market to Bangladeshi manpower set to coincide with an uptake in manpower exports to Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia recently agreed to reopen their market for Bangladesh after six years. The kingdom halted its manpower import from Bangladesh in 2008 over anomalies in recruitment process and involvement of workers in illegal activities there. Despite that, it remained the number 1 destination for Bangladeshi migrants abroad, as well as source of remittances.

But expert say primarily the KSA will take female household workers, with little impact on the remittance flow. But they said, it will put a positive impact on the remittance flow if the market is open for male workers and everything happens as per commitment. In 2014 the total remittance was $14942. 57 million while it was $10717.73 million in 2009 and $3177.63 million in 2003, as per the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) information. Bangladesh earns highest remittance from the KSA. In 2013-14 the amount was $3118.8 million and $829.4 million in 2012-13.

Labour and employment minister

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April 2015

Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said that the government would be able to send 200,000 to 250,000 people to KSA this year and the number might be increased in the coming years based on demand. On February 10, the government signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia over sending Bangladeshi workers to the Gulf country under 12 categories. The recruitment agencies will carry all the costs of the labourers.

Moreover, on March 2 after a visit to Qatar, Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said Qatar will recruit 150,000 more workers from Bangladesh this year without migration fee. When contacted, additional director, research of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Khandaker Golam Moazzem said it will be a matter of hope if the workers can go smoothly with lower migration cost. ‘If we are able to send manpower in large volume to Saudi Arabia, the Bangladesh labour market will be established anew. And of course it will have a positive impact on the country’s remittance flow,’ he said.

The workers will able to send money back more quickly as migration cost will be very low as per the

agreement, he said. ‘I think the concerned ministry will look into matter that more people can go with less migration cost,’ he added.

As per BMET information till January 2015, total overseas employment was 9171139. Of it, a total of 4,09253 people went abroad for jobs in 2013 and 607796 people in 2012 and 568062 in 2011.

Founding Chair of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) Tasneem Siddiqui said ‘I think it wouldn’t put any impact on the remittance flow considering the present circumstances as the manpower market of KSA is open only for female Bangladeshi workers. The market for male is yet to open. It will must put a positive impact only when the market is open for the male workers,’ she added.

As per the agreement between KSA and Bangladesh, the KSA will take only household workers primarily and then later they will take worker in 12 categories. The highest 2640538 people went to the KSA from 1976 to January 2015 while 2329555 went to UAE and 955335 to Oman, among other manpower destination.

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MARKETING

grow or Marketing agency Darwinism

By Jamil Ahmed

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MARKETING Truth be told, we live and die by our to-do lists. That may sound like an oxymoron, but it's a representative of the fluid mindset needed to start and grow a successful agency. The moment that you become too rigid or start holding on to one way of thinking is your wake -up call that something needs to shift. You cannot be at the forefront of creative thinking if you are antiquated in your business approach - at least, not for very long.

When defining your value proposition, it's important to be clear on your sweet spot without making that definition so specific that it limits your opportunities as the market shifts and changes. Do you specialize in Social Media, Influencer Engagement or Digital Marketing? The core offering might be the same but the areas where you expand will differ based on how you choose to position your work. Your passion must lie in creating engaging experiences. Because we did not tightly define whom those experiences are for or how they come to life, we've seen our business grow from mainly consumer programs to include B2B and internal campaigns, opening up new business categories. Had we written

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April 2015

that business plan when we started, we might have unwittingly cut ourselves off from these opportunities that have helped fuel our continued growth.

Many agencies keep legacy services or departments simply because they were part of the initial vision. Maybe those services were critical to getting the business off the ground, or won the agency its first accolades.

Certainly no one relishes the idea of letting staff go. But allowing one area of your company to limp along while the rest creates a set of even larger issues can cripple your ability to evolve, including draining resources, lowering morale and taking focus away from the more productive endeavors. These decisions should never be taken lightly, but when the handwriting is on the wall they should be handled humanely and decisively. Honor the opportunities gained and lessons learned, allowing them to inform the next phase.

The best way to ensure evolution is to cultivate a mindset from the beginning that expects and welcomes growth, rather than viewing it as something forced upon you when things aren't working anymore. This means staying connected to the wider world,

looking for ways to motivate and challenge your team, and remaining hungry and curious. One of our favorite ways to stay inspired is inviting people who run larger, non-competitive agencies over for lunch and a chat. We ply them with delicious treats and shamelessly pick their brains on what they have learned during different phases of their business and we ask them for an honest assessment of our challenges and opportunities. We also give equal weight and measure to the perspective of our internal teams. We are blessed with a staff of highly engaged and motivated people who we send on inspirational missions - events, conferences and activations - across the country to gather insights and inspiration to help inform our work.

Growing isn't just about getting bigger, unless that's truly your goal.

It can take a range of forms - from the types of clients you work with to how you build your teams to the way you execute a campaign.

Regardless of how you define it, make growth a part of your mission or risk becoming extinct.

Jamil Ahmed is a marketing guru and currently runs an agency that deals with content marketing

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BRANDING

STATIC Hello Kitty, children’s favourite brand, threatened from Disney’s Frozen

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Middle age is proving to be a little awkward for Hello Kitty. The Japanese cartoon character, an icon of cuteness, is celebrating her 40th birthday with events around the world. Over the decades she has helped owner Sanrio become a global success story, with the Tokyo-based company licensing the image of Kitty-chan’s expressionless face to makers of clothing, toys, and other consumer products. All told, there are now some 50,000 Hello Kitty products worldwide.

Lately, though, Sanrio’s cash kitten has proven no match for Princess Anna and Olaf the Snowman. The popularity of the Walt Disney animated movie Frozen has hit Sanrio, especially in the U.S., where

children who once might have asked their parents for Hello Kitty merchandise are instead favoring products with the Disney characters.

The Frozen effect is one reason Sanrio’s stock price is down 28% this year, compared with a 2% increase for the benchmark Topix index.

The stock may have a lot more room to fall. After the end of trading on the first week of November on the Tokyo stock exchange, Sanrio announced its operating profit for the six months that ended in September was 8.5 billion yen ($76.4 million), down 13.2% from the same period a year earlier and lower than the forecast of 9.1 billion yen. Sales were also disappointing: 35.5 billion yen, compared with a

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BRANDING

THE BACK-TO-SCHOOL SEASON IN THE U.S., THE FIRST SINCE THE DEBUT OF FROZEN, CONTRIBUTED TO THE DISAPPOINTING RESULTS. IT WAS HARD TO RECOVER FROM THE LOST SALES OF HELLO KITTY BACKPACKS, PENCIL CASES, AND LUNCH BAGS.

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forecast of 36.4 billion yen. Sanrio now expects full-year operating profit of 19.3 billion yen, lower than the 22 billion yen it had previously forecasted. The company also lowered its forecast for net earnings to 13.2 billion yen, down from 14.4 billion yen it had been expecting.

The back-to-school season in the U.S., the first since the debut of Frozen, contributed to the disappointing results. It was hard to recover from the lost sales of Hello Kitty backpacks, pencil cases, and lunch bags. Disney’s hit movie ‘likely weighed on sales of Hello Kitty and other of Sanrio’s character merchandise,’ Credit Suisse analyst Masashi Mori wrote in a report published on Oct. 29.

Hello Kitty may have difficulty keeping up with the Disney characters, but she was the star attraction on Oct. 30 in Hollywood, where Hello Kitty Con opened at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

(Museum of Contemporary Art) in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. The show, which will continue until Sunday, is the ‘first ever official Hello Kitty Convention in the world,’ according to Sanrio.

As part of the festivities, Sanrio teamed up with MakerBot, a subsidiary of 3D printer maker Stratasys, to offer 3D-printable Hello Kitty collectibles.

And even if the U.S. market is a challenge, Sanrio continues to find more opportunities to expand in Asia. Consider the new Hello Kitty Rooms at the Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo and Keio Plaza Hotel Tama. The rooms will feature Kitty-chan’s face on the walls, furniture, and amenities, providing to guests ‘lodging in a dream world,’ the hotel announced last month. The decor includes images of the feline going shopping and attending an amusement park.

Sanrio also sees room for growth in China. China Mobile Games and Entertainment Group, the country’s largest publisher of mobile games, announced on Oct. 22 a deal with Sanrio to develop games based on a dozen of the Japanese company’s characters, including Hello Kitty.

The characters ‘are always attractive to Chinese users,’ CMGE Chief Executive Xiao Jian said in a statement.

While the territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea has kept relations between Japan and China frosty, consumers in the mainland as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan seem willing to forgive the most famous Japanese cartoon character. Throughout Greater China ‘the popularity of Kitty-chan is at a high level,’ says Tomoaki Kawasaki, an analyst in Tokyo with Iwai Cosmo Securities.

That popularity may not be enough to help Sanrio turn things around quickly. According to the company, Hello Kitty herself always says, ‘You can never have too many friends.’

Sanrio now needs all of those friends to come through for its star character.

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CREATIVITY We are all for self-improvement. The self-help industry brings in billions of dollars each year from countless books. All that encouraging advice can feel empowering and sensual, offering a simple path to a better life.

But there's a problem with this approach. ‘Reading a self-help book is like buying a lottery ticket,’ writes social psychologist Timothy Wilson in his newest book ‘Redirect’. ‘For a small investment, we get hope in return; the dream that all our problems will soon be solved without any real expectation that they will be.’

While the power of positive thinking—the seeming bread and butter of self-help as we know it—is a nice thought, according to Wilson, there's no evidence that simply thinking positively actually works.

We can't just will ourselves to be happier. ‘Our minds aren’t that stupid,’ says Wilson. ‘It's not like you can just tell your mind, 'Think positively'. You've got to nudge it a little more along.’

In ‘Redirect’, Wilson offers an alternative he calls ‘story editing,’ based on the research of social scientists over the years. This approach operates off the premise that we each have a core narrative or story that we tell ourselves about who we are and what the world around us is like. It's a story that influences our choices and way of experiencing the world. But it's also one we play a major role in shaping for ourselves.

Using specific writing exercises, according to Wilson, we can begin to shift that story and redirect our way of thinking. ‘Writing is an act of creation. You are creating as you go,’ he says. ‘That’s what can make this personally so helpful.’

Write through a challenging problem

We can never simply write painful or difficult events out of our lives, but we can make them far more

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RECLAIMING INSPIRATION Writing exercises scientifically proven to redirect your life

graspable and change our relationship to them, according to research by psychologist James Pennebaker.

Over the years, Pennebaker has developed an approach he calls ‘Writing To Heal,’ that uses writing exercises as a way to help people deal with difficult events in their lives.

To try the Pennebaker writing exercise, think of an event or worry that's been most on your mind recently. Set aside 15 to 20 minutes at the end of the day to write about that specific problem. Do this for four days in a row, setting aside at least 15 minutes at the end of each day to record your thoughts. As you write,

don't pause or second-guess yourself—just write without stopping.

Through his research over the years, Pennebaker found that this simple four-day exercise helped improve people's health, and well-being in various studies. ‘It's how we deal with setbacks that's so important,’ says Wilson, who has worked with Pennebaker over the years. While the writing exercise can be difficult at first, people tend to gain clarity as they continue doing it. ‘Often what they first write is jumbled and unorganized,’ says Wilson. But eventually ‘they view what happened to them in a way that makes more sense.’

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CREATIVITY

Distance yourself from negative experiences

Research has also shown that having some distance from a difficult event allows us to step back and better understand it. There's a writing exercise Wilson calls the ‘step-back-and-ask-why’ approach that allows us to create this distance and understanding in order to reframe negative events.

To do this exercise, close your eyes and bring yourself back to a specific moment or event that was upsetting to you. Then, in your mind, try to take a few steps back from yourself in the moment so that you can see the story unfolding as if it was happening to a distant version of yourself. Write about what that distant version of yourself is thinking and feeling. One way to do this effectively, suggests Wilson, is to write in the third person, rather than the first person, which automatically builds some separation between you and the moment you're writing about.

Don't simply rehash a play-by-play of what happened; instead, try to explain why it happened. ‘Don't recount the event,’ Wilson writes.

‘Take a step back and reconstruct and explain it.’

Determine what your best possible self looks like

There's a reason Saturday Night Live's ‘Daily Affirmations With Stuart Smalley’ was such a hit in the '90s. That focus on self-affirming mantras is practically begging to be made fun of, yet even today, you'll find that same advice is given in total earnest.

But as Wilson points out in his book, rather than telling yourself you're doing the best you can and are the best you can be—a pretty text-book self-help mantra—try actually imagining what the best version of yourself might look like in the future and what you need to do to achieve those goals.

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He calls this writing prompt the ‘Best Possible Selves Exercise.’ Like the Pennebaker prompt, take 15 to 20 minutes a night for four nights in a row to do this exercise. Imagine your life in the future as if you've achieved all your life goals. Write not just what those life goals are, but also how you will be able to achieve them. ‘Focus on the process of achieving an outcome rather than the outcome itself,’ says Wilson.

Life’. For this exercise, think of one of the most important or special events, relationships or accomplishments in your life. Then imagine all the ways in which it might not have happened. Doing this can introduce mystery and excitement back into the experience again.

Imagine all the things that could have gone wrong

These last two exercises aren't so much writing prompts, as they are calls to action. In their studies of what make people feel happiest and most fulfilled, social scientists have found that having a clear sense of purpose is critical. This means reminding yourself of what your most important goals in life are and finding ways to move forward on those goals, says Wilson.

He identifies three ingredients to well-being: hope, meaning, and purpose. Writing exercises that help reframe the way you feel about negative events in the past can help create a sense of hope and meaning, but it's also important to maintain goals that provide a sense of purpose in your life. ‘We all have some choice over what we want to pursue and those of us who are really lucky can get paid to do it, but plenty of people find other ways,’ says Wilson.

Gratitude journals are another self-help go-to, but research has shown they can actually have the reverse effect of making you feel less happy. There's a pleasure to uncertainty—not being able to pin down the specific details of an event were was pleasing.

While reducing our uncertainty about negative events can help us bounce back from them more quickly, reducing uncertainty about positive events can take some of the pleasure out of them. Wilson calls this a pleasure paradox: ‘People want to understand the good things in life so that they can experience them again, but by doing so they reduce the pleasure they get from those events,’ he writes.

For example, research has shown that asking people in a relationship to tell the story of how they met their partner doesn't make them particularly happier. But ask those same people to write about the many ways in which they might not have met their partner or their relationship might not have worked out and they get much more pleasure out of the exercise. ‘People don’t like to do that, but when they do, it makes the relationship look special again, at least for a little while,’ he says.

This translates well into a writing exercise Wilson calls the ‘George Bailey Technique’ named after the protagonist in ‘It's A Wonderful

Maintain a sense of purpose

Do some good in the world

Research has shown that it's not simply having a sense of purpose that contributes to our well-being, but that those who help others are actually happier than those who don't. These people have a greater likelihood of forming bonds with others and having a positive image of themselves.

‘If you want to have a positive outlook and feel like a good person, go out and be a good person,’ says Wilson. ‘The mind is a very good observer of ourselves.’

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DECORUM

SPICING UP WORK

5 ways to make your workspace work for you

If you’re like many office workers, you move into whatever cubicle or workspace you’re provided, perhaps prop up a family photo, and get to work. But productivity expert Carson Tate, author of Work Simply says investing in your work environment can pay huge dividends in increased productivity and happiness. ‘If the space you work in isn’t set up to optimize work flow, you’re going to end up expending a lot more time and energy to get that work done,’ says Tate.

Worse, if your workspace is boring and unfulfilling on a spiritual or emotional level, it can quickly drain your energy and cause you to feel uninspired. Optimizing your workspace requires two components, according to Tate: It must be both functional for the job and emotionally fulfilling. Here are five things to consider to bring both components to your workspace:

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DECORUM what you’re doing in that area.’

Tate says the most effective office setup—the one that maximizes our productivity—is one that mimics the kindergarten model. As a coach, Tate has a zone in her office where she conducts phone consultations.

She's put a comfortable chair in a quiet corner of her office, and placed a high-quality headset away from her computer to avoid being distracted.

‘Space shaping is the cornerstone of working simply,’ she says. ‘It’s making the space fully support the type of work that you do.’

4. Match Your Space To Your Behavior

2. Ask What Your Job Requires Of You 1. Are You Left Or Right-Brained?

Tate says knowing your productivity style can help you find the right organizational tools that work for you. Individuals who are more analytical, structured, and organized tend to excel in environments that have clean, simple lines and are virtually free of visual clutter. One or two family photos are all that are needed for these individuals to feel inspired by their work environment.

Organizational tools and sleek, streamlined furniture that emphasize function over aesthetics make them most productive.

Creative individuals, on the other hand, tend to excel in colorful environments that are adorned with plenty of artwork, personal memorabilia, and casual furniture that is more aesthetically pleasing than functional. They prefer spaces that are designed to appeal to all five senses. They often have music playing in the background, a scented candle, and fun pieces such as a bright green stapler or fluorescent memo pads to keep them inspired all day long.

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Your ideal workspace design will highly depend on the type of work that you do. Tate advises assessing your core accountabilities before making any changes to your workspace.

In my line of work, the core elements of my job involve talking on the phone, typing on my laptop, and doing research.

Tate recommends a space that provides plenty of storage for idea books, magazines, and newspaper clippings, a phone that is accessible and located next to my laptop, and an ergonomic chair that allows me to sit and type for hours on end.

3. Travel Back In Time To Your Kindergarten Classroom

Could it be true that everything we needed to learn about organization we learned in kindergarten? Tate says the kindergarten setup is ideal for most office workers. ‘In kindergarten, we have very distinct activity zones,’ she says.

‘Everything has a place and there are no objects in a zone that don’t belong there. In the dress-up area, there aren’t any books, and in the book area, you’ve got beanbag chairs and books because that’s

The design of your workspace can impact your work behavior. Think about your kitchen. If you decide to go on a diet, then the first thing you will probably do is clean out your kitchen of all temptations. Salty snacks and leftover Halloween candy are replaced by a bowl of apples and oranges to support your new healthy eating habits.

The same concept is at play with workspaces.

Maximizing your productivity means designing an office space that allows for the behaviors you need to exhibit to get the job done.

5. Don’t Accept Your Given Workspace

If you work in a cubicle maze, then it may be hard to imagine you can do anything about your drab surroundings. While you may be restricted by the size of your workspace, Tate argues you can still make this space work for you.

• Bring in a small task light to create a more welcoming ambience • Use noise-reducing headphones when you require a quiet workspace • Tack up inspiring artwork to dress up your cubicle walls • Purchase colorful accessories or organizational tools, such as file boxes, to meet your productivity style Even the smallest change can make a big difference in how you work in your space, and how your workspace works for you.

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ETHICS

FATAL BLOWS

What the Economy has done to the Family It could be a future diorama at New York’s Museum of Natural History: A human male and female who not only got married, but stayed married.

Divorce among 50 -somethings has doubled since 1990. One in five adults have never married, up from one in ten 30 years ago. In all, a majority of American adults are now single, government data show, including the mothers of two out of every five newborns.

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ETHICS These trends are often blamed on feminists or gay rights activists or hippies, who’ve somehow found a way to make Americans reject tradition. But the last several years showed a different powerful force changing families: the economy.

The effects of the Great Recession on families are hard to ignore. Births and marriages have plunged, as millions of millennials skip or delay starting traditional families. The economic uncertainty of the downturn dismantled job security which, in turned, ripped up many wedding plans.

Families that have made unconventional arrangements are the most financially fragile. An Allianz survey of 4,500 Americans included an extra sample of families outside the historical norm, including single parents, same-sex couples and blended families. These ‘modern families’ were less financially secure than traditional families, the study found. They were 50 percent more likely to have unexpectedly lost their main form of income -- and twice as likely to have declared bankruptcy.

Rocky times often rearrange plans and priorities. When women in their early 20’s face an economy with high unemployment, for example, they tend to have fewer children.

The spike in unemployment starting in 2008 should result in 9.2 million young women giving birth to 430,000 fewer babies over their lifetimes, according to a 2014 National Academy of Science study.

Why would more unemployment mean fewer babies? When asked what they’d like in a potential spouse, single men’s top answer is ‘similar ideas about having and raising children,’ a Pew Research survey found in September. But when women were asked, 78 percent said they wanted a spouse with ‘a steady job.’

A man with a steady job is harder to find. Since the 1970s, men have been holding jobs for shorter and shorter periods of time. Women’s

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average job tenure hasn’t fallen, but that’s only because so many more joined the workforce in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Both sexes are working more temporary or contract gigs, have stagnant wages and enjoy fewer company benefits. The number of big companies offering pensions has dropped 57 percent in 10 years. Even good-paying jobs are more demanding and more likely to end in layoffs or buyouts. Meanwhile, the cost of raising a kid is up 24 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1960, the Department of Agriculture estimates, to $245,340.

While single women find it harder to find men they want to marry, existing families feel the strain of what University of Virginia sociologist Allison Pugh calls ‘the age of insecurity’. Job insecurity causes anxiety and depression and, a 2012 study shows, makes fathers less supportive of their kids. Women in areas hardest hit by the recession report more ‘controlling behavior’ by boyfriends and husbands, University of California, Berkeley sociologist Daniel Schneider says.

When most Americans talk about their jobs and families, they sound stressed and frantic, Pugh’s research finds. ‘Job insecurity destabilizes our assumptions about what we owe each other at work and at home,’ she says.

Affluent, college-educated people

can afford to shrug off much of this insecurity. Their jobs aren’t exactly safe, but if they’re laid off they have a good chance of getting a new one.

The jobless rate for college grads is 3.1 percent, about half the overall rate. The attitudes of the affluent best match those of union members with steady jobs, Pugh says. Both groups are full of ‘low-key pragmatism’ about jobs and relationships, not feelings of panic or betrayal.

That explains why families of both union members and college-educated professionals still look pretty traditional.

The 14-year-old daughter of college graduates is actually more likely now than in the 1970s to be living with parents who have remained married to each other.

If economic stress leads to more unconventional relationships, will an economic recovery send more couples down the traditional aisle?

The most recent data suggest the marriage rate stopped its slide as the economy rebounded. Unfortunately, the number of divorces is also on the upswing. A better economy makes it easier to get hitched, but also easier to go through with divorces postponed during the recession.

Wedding venues and divorce lawyers aren’t cheap.

Courtesy: Bloomberg

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DESIGN

REARRANGING CHANCE ENCOUNTERS

6 ways your office design is alienating everyone out Today, the average worker is working in a space with 1960s design and thinking, says Rex Miller, coauthor of the book ‘Change Your Space, Change Your Culture’, because most organizations can’t connect the dots between office design and innovation. In fact, according to a recent Gallup poll, 70% of the workforce is disengaged and a lot of it has to do with the shrinking office space we are working in.

Companies with a highly engaged workforce understand that the office space that you work in reflects the values of the company and helps shape company culture, which in turn is the catalyst for engagement, collaboration, and innovation.

Below are a few clues that the design of your office space may be leading everyone to feel disengaged.

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Stagnant Light Color Temperatures

‘We believe that a space is a working organism and it has to respond to the change in the day, the change in the environment,’ says Stanley Felderman, who runs design studio Felderman Keatinge & Associates with his wife, Nancy Keatinge. In short, as the day changes, so should the color temperature of our lighting.

In the morning, office lighting should be cooler, or retain a more bluish tint, and as the day progresses, lighting should gradually change to a warmer, or more yellowish tint.

According to Stanley, it’s basically in our DNA that we just work better this way. ‘Cooler light reflects the natural daylight, but when we go home, we like our homes to be warm,’ he says. ‘We tend to want to be in a place longer when it’s a warmer [light color] temperature.’

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2

Walls Block Out Natural Light

According to Felderman and Keatinge, drywall needs to come down for lighting benefits to have even distribution. With glass walls, everyone is able to benefit from the changing light colors.

‘It becomes very unproductive and disengaging when there are high panels on the work stations and they don’t have access to [the changing] light,’ says Keatinge. ‘We find that this makes a huge difference in how people interact and engage with one another.’

‘The idea of separation and isolation no longer work in a space, even if the nature of your work is independent,’ says Felderman.

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Fixed Tables In Brainstorming Areas

In areas allotted for brainstorming and collaborative purposes, give people options to change their environment.

What no longer works? ‘The old, grand conference tables in the center of the room that can’t be busted up, can’t be rolled away or folded up or nested,’ says Mark Konchar, chief of enterprise development at infrastructure group Balfour Beatty and coauthor of Change Your Space, Change Your Culture. ‘The room has to be adaptable. The group can start with 10 or 15 people and an hour later, they want to break into two smaller groups. It just makes is easier for teams to be productive.’

These areas need to be adaptable throughout the day because the work that people are doing changes every hour of the day, he says.

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5

Desks In Between Other Desks

What’s the worst seat on an airplane? The middle one, says Konchar, so keep that in mind the next time you’re thinking about office layout. Don’t make employees feel like they’re sitting in the middle seat of an airplane, crushed between other people.

Obviously, it’s almost impossible to never place someone’s desk in between other desks due to square footage constraints, but employers can help create a sense of space by providing bumpers and objects that allow people to break up their spaces.

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Spending The Most Money On Public Spaces

A lot of companies put money in the front, public spaces, either the conference rooms or meeting rooms, but want to save money in the back of their office. Felderman and Keatinge have advice for these companies: Don’t do this or you’ll mess with company culture.

‘We really feel that you have to share wealth, that you have to look at this as a community of equals,’ says Felderman. ‘Different functions, yes, but all is part of a chain link, and if you break part of that link, it doesn’t work anymore.’

Separating Departments

We know stairs are important because they create chance encounters, but there’s another reason why open, interconnected stairs will become more common: closing the separation between departments.

According to Miller, it’s a bad idea for departments to feel secluded from one another. They can be separated on different stories or levels, but open stairs make the floors feel more connected with the rest of the office.

This only ups the chances of serendipitous interactions—and collaboration—with people in different departments.

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HR

Sharon Chang had an enviable career. After working as a brand strategist and creative director in numerous prestigious global agencies, she became a sought-after creative leader in the design and digital marketing industry, leading internationally recognized campaigns for major companies including Ford, Pepsi, Sony, and Universal Music. As the chief creative officer of 19 Entertainment—the company behind So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol, Chang had access to prestigious Hollywood parties, a high salary and an intellectually stimulating career.

Yet, in her mid-thirties, Chang realized she needed to make a change. She left her lucrative position and founded Yoxi, a company that discovers, nurtures, and elevates social entrepreneurs via mass-media, business-focused campaigns. ‘A lot of people ask me why I would give up the position of chief creative officer for American Idol and the answer is very easy: I wasn’t happy,’ says Chang, who now argues your mid-thirties are an ideal time for career reflection.

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MIDDLE AGE BLUES The case for making a career change in your mid-30s

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So, what is it about this age that makes it an ideal time for a career change?

Chang explains:

Your mid-thirties allow you to look sideways rather than straight ahead

‘When you’re young, you’re very idealistic. You can be very ambitious,’ says Chang. ‘You have a vision of where you want to go and you see a very straight line and you just want to get there.’ While Chang says she ran on that linear path for nearly 15 years, by the time she hit her mid-thirties, life changes, including the death of her mother, forced her to look sideways and realize that the path wasn’t necessarily linear, but full of other branches that she simply couldn’t see when she was in her twenties.

For most people, their thirties are filled with many life changes including marriage, children, and the reality of aging. This ability to look sideways and see other paths, Chang argues, only comes after years of work and life experience that we lack in our twenties.

mid-thirties, the experience and maturity we’ve acquired allows us to take the time to slow down. Chang credits her success with her new endeavor with this ability to slow down. ‘Everything around me now happens in slower motion than 10 years ago and because of that, I can see things more clearly,’ she says.

Your mid-thirties is a natural checkpoint

While Chang doesn’t argue a career change is necessary for everyone in their mid-thirties, she does say this time in one’s life is a natural career checkpoint. ‘After about 20 years of learning and experience and wanting to get ahead, you just need to check in,’ she says. Pausing at various stages of life to re-assess career and personal goals is something Chang argues not enough people take the time to do, but can be incredibly rewarding.

You know yourself better when you’re in your mid-thirties

Before deciding to make a career change, Chang went through an intense period of self-reflection. She asked herself three key questions: what do I really want to do, what am I really good at, and are these two things the same? Chang argues this type of self-reflection requires really being in tune with knowing who you are. ‘I think that level of awareness just can’t come when you’re 25,’ she says.

Your mid-thirties gives you the gift to slow down

Chang recalls a scene in the movie The Matrix where Neo moves in slow motion to dodge a bullet. This ability to see things in slow motion is what Chang argues eludes us in youth, but seems to happen naturally when we reach our mid-thirties. While our twenties are spent fixated on the upward trajectory of growing our careers, once we’ve established a certain level of success in our

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FOREIGN TRADE

T

The Philippines-Bangladesh Business Council (PBBC) was launched in Manila on March 21 aiming to boost trade relations between the two friendly countries.

Bangladesh has great potential in the sector of ready-made garments, ceramics, jute products and pharmaceuticals and those could be exported to the Philippines. Rashed Maksud Khan, president of Bangladesh-Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BPCCI), led the team. Participating in the launching ceremony, Bangladesh Ambassador John Gomes invited Philippines businessmen to do direct business with Bangladesh and import garments directly to the Philippines.

He pointed out that many Bangladesh small traders are now bringing ready-made garments to the Philippines on piecemeal basis. Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Department of Trade and Industry and the Bangladesh embassy joined the ceremony in line with the objectives of the Bangladesh-Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BPCCI) which was formed in Dhaka last year.

The idea of PBBC was floated when another delegation of Bangladesh including Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman and Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed visited Manila in May last year.

During the visit, they expressed their hope and belief that there are ample opportunity for enhanced trade relations between Bangladesh and the Philippines.

The potential of increased trade relations between the two, many Filipino workers are going to

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NEW ADDITIONS

Phillipines-Bangladesh launch business council to boost trade tie

Bangladesh to join in textile and RMG sector. Both the countries have similarity in the field of manpower, especially overseas employment, infrastructure, economic and political development etc.

According to Bangladesh Ambassador John Gomes, it has long been his intention to rejuvenate the trade relations between the two friendly countries.

He felt inspired that this could be the beginning of a long drawn trade relationship which will pave the way to a two-way trade between the two countries greatly benefiting both economies. He expressed his happiness on the signing of a MOU on increased trade relations between

the two sides on this occasion. He noted that through its ready-made garments, the textile industry is the number one foreign exchange earner of Bangladesh which has become the world’s leading RMG exporter, after China.

Bangladesh and the Philippines signed a trade agreement in 1980.

The first meeting of a joint trade committee was held in September 1989 and the second meeting was held in Manila in July 1997. Minister for Commerce & Industry Tofail Ahmed led the Bangladesh delegation in that meeting. About eight various trade agreements and MOUs were signed between Bangladesh and the Philippines during the last

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decade, but very little of those were implemented.

Bilateral trades between the two countries, although insignificant, have increased over the years and the balance is more or less in equilibrium.

Many businessmen from the Philippines are now interested to do business in Bangladesh, among whom Ambassador Carlos Chen, chairman of Liwayway Group of Companies, is looking forward to set up a factory in Dhaka for production of his famous brand food product ‘Oishi’. Ambassador John Gomes thinks that the Filipino traders can invest in Bangladesh in the field of textiles, shipbuilding, hotels,

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seaports, land-port facilities and production of solar energy.

Bangladesh is having a sustained economic growth even through the global growth slow-down. Foreign investors are quite happy with the investment policies and the Philippines and for that matter global community is well aware of micro finance development which has been introduced around the world.

Millions of people have been employed in different sectors because of sustained economic growth.

Strong remittance and foreign reserves have contributed to a very stable exchange rate of taka against dollar and this has also contributed

to significant inflow of FDI. Along with Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Minister of Agriculture Begum Matia Chowdhury, and the Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr. Atiur Rahman, on a visit to Manila last year, expressed their hope and belief that there are ample opportunity for enhanced trade relations between Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Bangladesh exports mainly chemical fertilisers, metals, jute and jute goods, leather, pharmaceuticals, ready-made garments, cotton, knitwear, tobacco etc. to the Philippines. It mainly imports condensed milk, scrapped iron or steel, food items, yarn, synthetic fibres, frames & mountings for goggles or spectacles, vegetables, chemicals and plastic from the Philippines.

The Philippines also exports gas oil, motor gasoline and high speed fuel oil to Bangladesh for last couple of years. Both countries are overpopulated and depend on foreign remittance received from their overseas workers. Freedom of speech and democratic and human rights are the basis of the constitution of both countries and women’s empowerment in both countries has seen significant developments in recent times.

The ambassador thanked the Department of Trade and Industry(DTI) of the Philippines and John Paul Inigo, Commercial Counsellor, Philippine embassy, Dhaka, Philippine Ambassador to Bangladesh Vicente Vivencio T. Bandillo and Miguel Varela, chairman of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PCCI) for cordial support from every angle in making the visit successful. He also thanked Rashed Maksud Khan, president of BPCCI and his delegation for coming to the Philippines to explore market and trade opportunities. He expressed optimism that from now on the trade relations between the two countries will gain a new pace toward full exploitation of opportunities from both sides.

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TRIBUTE

ADIEU TO A LEGEND

How Lee Kuan Yew shaped today’s Singapore and its economy

Born when Singapore was a British colony, the young Lee saw the humiliation of the colonial power by Japan and the tough years of Japanese occupation. A brilliant scholar, he thrived in London and Cambridge after the war and came back to Singapore to assume a leading role in the anti-colonial struggle, co-founding the People’s Action Party (PAP), which governs Singapore to this day. Lee was its leader, and Singapore’s prime minister, when it won self-government from Britain in 1959. During his leadership, Singapore merged with Malaysia in 1963, and then parted in 1965, creating the current independent nation.

Lee’s political views, however, were controversial.

Decrying the decadence and welfarism which he thought had sapped the strength of countries such as Britain, he supported tough laws and punishments, making Singapore orderly, clean and disciplined. He was quick to use British-era legislation, including a draconian Internal Security Act, to quell anything that smacked of subversion. Defamation suits were used to tame the press and, on occasion, bankrupt his critics. The current prime minister is his son, Lee Hsien Loong, ensuring continuity of a sort. The elder Lee left the cabinet in 2011, after the PAP’s worst-ever general-election performance. It still won 60% of the vote, but there was growing resentment at the high levels of immigration—a consequence of Singaporean women’s very low fertility rates. After the election, although he retained his seat in parliament, Lee looked visibly frail.

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Not just political

Economic policies are always made within a framework which either explicitly or implicitly incorporates some guiding philosophical principles. It was Lee who provided that basic framework and it was fortunate for Singapore that his instincts were in the right direction. This was evident in a range of issues which eventually came to be hallmarks of the Singapore development experience.

He realised, for instance, that any business environment had to be supportive of large companies as well as small ones, foreign investors as well as domestic ones, and workers as well as businessmen. He took the lead in breaking away from the dirigiste, state-planning policies of his developing country peers in the 1960s to embrace outward-looking policies that enabled the Singapore economic takeoff. At a time when it was not the intellectual fashion to do so, he accepted that allowing businesses to make good profits would be good for the average man.

His instincts were also in the right place when he decided that Singapore should abjure the state-funded welfare policies

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TRIBUTE that many other developing countries had embraced after their independence, insisting instead on creating the culture of self-reliance that has served Singapore so well.

By strengthening the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and placing it under his direct charge, Singapore was able to robustly tackle corruption, creating one of the least corrupt business environments in the world something that clearly contributes to Singapore's super-competitive economic position.

We have to learn from Lee's forceful response each time Singapore faced a severe test. Whether it was the sudden separation from Malaysia in 1965, the equally stunning announcement of the withdrawal of British forces from Singapore in 1968, the two oil shocks of the 1970s or the

recession in the mid-1980s, Lee showed the way by mobilising the full resources of the government to find a solution and push its implementation through. This allowed the economy to rebound from each shock, each time emerging even stronger.

While Lee was averse to the welfare state, he knew he had to ensure that the fruits of growth were fairly distributed. This was evident, for example, in his determination to ensure that every citizen had a stake in the country. This philosophy spun off many initiatives which are now defining features of the Singapore economy such as the extremely high home ownership rate, the use of Central Provident Fund savings to finance mortgages and the constant upgrading of public housing estates to enhance their value.

If there was one contribution that stood out the most, it would be how he kept pushing Singapore to re-invent its economy every now and then. He had the foresight to anticipate economic challenges and opportunities well ahead of time while also coming out with strategies to respond effectively to the same.

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He was well ahead of the game in environmental protection when he pushed for Singapore as a Garden City.

He foresaw the problems with road congestion and pushed for pro-active policies such as the Area Licensing Scheme which was the precursor to the current Electronic Road Pricing scheme: that made Singapore a world leader in using a market tool - pricing road congestion - to control traffic. He was also early in visualising the combination of telecommunications and computers and so pushed for Singapore to move rapidly in computerisation in the 1980s. He used the same uncanny long-range vision he had to raise the issue of ageing and declining fertility in the 1980s when few pundits were talking about it.

One of his signal achievements was the push for financial liberalisation in the late 1990s which led to a surge of growth and created the global financial centre of today.

He was also prescient in encouraging the growth of the Singapore economy's second wing in the late 1980s, when he realised that as the economy matured, it would need to look beyond the confines of its territorial limits to find growth opportunities. In particular, he played a decisive role in encouraging Singaporean companies to invest in China.

His personal involvement in leading delegations to China and in conceiving projects for Singaporeans to transfer knowledge to China helped Singapore establish a foothold in China well beyond what its small size implied.

In short, one of Singapore's great economic strengths is the ability to constantly reinvent itself - Lee was instrumental in inculcating this ability and leading change when needed. Importantly, he combined this capacity for great vision with an unrelenting emphasis on focusing on the long term, so that the benefits of anticipating big changes were not sidetracked by the short-term pain that was sometimes necessary to achieve the bold vision.

Many have remarked how there is a certain ‘Singapore brand’ which helps its economy in many ways. The Singapore economy is seen as standing for certain qualities in a way few other countries are. Abroad, Singapore is seen as tough-minded, effective, honest and straight shooting, all values that Lee inculcated in Singapore. He was Singapore's main marketeer, our main ‘brand ambassador’ - his persona and ideas moulded the ‘Singapore’ brand which brought in the foreign investment which transformed Singapore.

On the whole, however, few would question that Mr Lee's overall contribution to economic development was immense and positive. The mark of truly historic personalities is not in their being able to avoid errors, but in how they ensured that the mistakes were small while the achievements were grand. When the great British architect Christopher Wren was interred in St Paul's Cathedral in 1723, the epithet read: ‘Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you.’ One could say the same for Lee Kuan Yew: if you seek his monument, look around Singapore. As much in its political system as in the economy, no one has left such a strong and indelible imprint of himself in a country as Lee has.

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AVIATION

JINXED

Why Air Disasters Keep Happening in Southeast Asia In the past year, Southeast Asia’s aviation industry has suffered an unprecedented number of tragedies.

Although the odds of any person boarding a flight dying in a plane crash are about 1 in 11 million, three planes—two based in Malaysia, the third an Indonesian affiliate of a Malaysia-based group—have apparently gone down, with no survivors. The latest, AirAsia Flight QZ8501, had been traveling from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore when it vanished over the Java Sea. To some extent, the three Malaysian air disasters are just brutal bad luck.

Still, they point to several disturbing trends that raise the question of whether flying in peninsular Southeast Asia is completely safe.

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The air market in the region has embraced low-cost carriers, leading to a proliferation of flights throughout Southeast Asia, stretching air traffic controllers, and possibly allowing some airlines to expand too rapidly. Indonesian carriers, air traffic controllers, and Indonesian airspace in general have become notorious for weak safety regulations. AirAsia has responded to this crisis much more rapidly than state carrier Malaysian Airline did after the disappearance of Flight MH370 last March, but the opaque, authoritarian politics of Malaysia—which are common in Southeast Asia—will likely make the search and rescue operation, and any inquiry into why the flight crashed, more difficult than necessary.

AirAsia, modeled on carriers such as Ryanair and Southwest Airlines, was the first low-cost airline to prosper in Southeast Asia, which had been dominated by state carriers until open-skies deals broke the market open in the past decade.

AirAsia allowed the growing middle classes in Asia to use air travel for pleasure and business for the first time. The no-frills airline charged for food, bags of any significant size, choosing a specific seat, and many other services, but it also gained a reputation for solid customer service. In the wake of Flight QZ8501’s disappearance, AirAsia has continued to show its responsiveness. Through its website and emergency call centers, the airline has been providing families

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AVIATION with up-to-the-minute and seemingly accurate information about the plane and the nascent search effort, a sharp contrast from Malaysia Airlines, which told families of passengers on MH370 virtually nothing for days after the plane vanished.

AirAsia has expanded rapidly in Indonesia, the most populous nation in Southeast Asia and an archipelago where cheap air travel is incredibly attractive to middle classes. Indonesia-based low-cost carrier Lion Air, meanwhile, placed a massive order in 2013 for 234 new Airbus planes and followed that up with an order last month for 40 more planes. Other low-cost carriers such as Citilink, Tigerair, Valuair, and many others have also built up their route networks across the archipelago.

But while air traffic has grown in the region, and while AirAsia had a mostly solid safety record, the increase in low-cost flights may have resulted in planes being operated by men and women with less experience than in the past.

Southeast Asian airspace still has the same mountains, chaotic weather, and tough approach paths as it always did. The pilot on the AirAsia flight had about 6,000 hours of flight experience on the Airbus plane he was flying, but it is unclear whether he had experience flying at 34,000 feet or higher, where he was trying to take the plane to avoid bad weather. The higher the plane rises, the more difficult it can be to navigate tricky conditions such as thin air and ice crystals. Some low-cost carriers seem particularly strapped trying to find quality staff and allegedly push their pilots and crew to work too many hours in order to run so many flights. Indonesian carrier Lion Air has had at least three of its pilots arrested for crystal methamphetamine use since 2011; crystal meth is a stimulant that can be used to stay awake and alert.

This increase in flights seems to ICE BusinessTimes

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have particularly taxed air traffic controllers, pilots, and mechanics operating in Indonesia. The country has become infamous for poor management of planes in the air and coming in for landings, and for lax enforcement of airlines’ need to maintain planes. Pay for air traffic controllers, mechanics, and regulators of the aviation industry remains low by regional standards, and graft is endemic at all levels of regulatory agencies in Indonesia; the country ranks among the most corrupt in East Asia in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index. Yet the increase in flights into and through the country has required more air traffic controllers, mechanics, and pilots, whether Indonesia is capable of providing trained people to fill these jobs.

There has been little evidence that Indonesian authorities have addressed long-standing concerns about flight safety in and around the archipelago. Lion Air alone has suffered seven accidents in the past decade, a horrendous number. (By contrast, all major U.S. airlines combined, which fly exponentially more flights daily than Lion Air, have suffered a total of three serious crashes in the past decade.) These accidents included a crash near the Indonesian city of Solo that killed 25 people, a 2013 crash where a plane trying to land in Bali in the rain smashed into the ocean short of the runway, and an accident earlier this year where a Lion Air plane coming into Bali landed so poorly it bounced up and down four times on the runway, severely injuring passengers. Meanwhile, Mandala Airlines crashed in Medan, Indonesia, in 2005, killing 105 people; an Adam Air flight in Sulawesi crashed into the sea in 2007, killing 102 people (the worst accident ever involving a Boeing 747-700); and a Garuda flight in 2007 overshot the runway in Yogyakarta and crashed, killing 22 people.

Overall, Indonesia’s airlines have

suffered numerous other deadly crashes in the past 10 years. The European Union has banned virtually all Indonesian airlines from flying in the EU because of safety concerns. Even Indonesian state carrier Garuda Indonesia was, in the 2000s, banned from flying in Europe because of its safety record. The International Air Transport Association has not allowed Lion Air to become a member because of concerns about the airline’s safety.

Although AirAsia is not a state company, it will still have to navigate the opaque bureaucracies of Indonesia’s and Malaysia’s defense, transportation, and other ministries to conduct search and rescue and tell the complete story of what happened to Flight QZ8501.

Malaysia’s semi-authoritarian government demonstrated after the disappearance of MH370 that it resents handing over any information to outsiders, even if that information can help with search-and-rescue efforts. AirAsia is, in a way, as much of an outsider to the Malaysian government as China, Australia, and other countries pushing to find out about MH370 were.

AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes has repeatedly engaged in public spats with Malaysia’s long-ruling governing coalition, including Prime Minister Najib Razak, since Fernandes seems to detest the back-room, statist economic strategies common in Malaysia, which are the opposite of his modern business style.

Indonesia, meanwhile, though a real democracy, also has been reluctant to allow outsiders complete access when working on search-and-rescue missions, perhaps because the government fears exposing the ineptitude of some of the country’s air regulators and controllers. The unwillingness of governments in the region to confront the shortcomings of their aviation systems means that more tragedies are likely to occur.

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GADGET

SYMPHONY XPLORER H20 REVIEW T

The new Xplorer H20 is Symphony’s newest pocket-friendly addition in the market

By Wafiur Rahman

The most popular smartphone brand in Bangladesh has produced a new 5 inch display smartphone named Symphony H 20. With its amazing clarity, users can view the display screen in any angle with precise coloration and brightness.

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Symphony used the state of the art In-plain switching panel which famously known as IPS technology for smooth viewing experience. It can play any movie or picture in stunningly vivid resolution. Users can also play any world famous HD

games like Asphalt or Need for Speed for ultimate thrill of 3D mobile gaming. It also has a 5 MP back and 2 MP front camera with auto-focus feature to capture any moment anywhere. All in all, this smartphone readily gives user an

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GADGET ultimate multimedia entertainment all day. In addition, this smartphone truly is a mixture of many modern elements in terms of design and structure.

This smartphone runs with a powerful 1.3 GHz quad core processor and 1 GB of RAM thus making it easily run several apps one at a time. With Android 4.4.2 OS, it also features 8 GB internal memory which can extend upto 32 GB if preferred so. And for long lasting heavy usage, it is packed with a battery of 2000 mAH power supply.

‘Every Symphony mobile phone is marketed based on the current demand from our customers.’ said Jahidul Islam, Assistant General Manager (Marketing), ‘A smartphone with this big HD screen will surely be useful for sharing all kinds of pictures, movies, songs and games for its users all day long. I believe customers are going to love this smartphone.’

This smartphone also has additional features like recording sound and calls in HQ audio, playing all sorts of audio and video formats and of course FM radio for all those radio heads. WiFi, WLAN, Bluetooth and connecting as Modem are added to this device as well. Customers can head to all mobile outlets around the country and buy it for Tk. 8290 only.

Hands-on approach Symphony Xporer H20 is an wonderful smart-phone in low budget which has some nice features. Its elder brother Symphony Xporer H50 is also an amazing android phone . Symphony is becoming more popular in Bangladesh day by day. We hope that in future days they will bring to us more smartphone with best quality in very reasonable price.

Moreover 1950 mAh Battery will give you enough standby time.

Whenever you will ask me about the Xplorer H20 Performance I should say that it’s a smooth performing mobile. Its operating System is

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Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), Which is a latest operating Android Operating System. Besides It’s 1.3 GHz, Quad Core/MT 6582M processor make your phone perform faster and smoothly. You can play games watch videos and you will fill comfortable with it. Beside this, Symphony Xplorer H20 offers G-sensor, Proximity Sensor, Light Sensor and Accelerometer sensor. And these features of Xplorer H20 give this mobile phone a new dimension.

Xplorer H20 Smartphone offers 1 GB RAM and due to this, this phone can perform faster and you can play high quality games with it and you will never dissatisfy with this phone performance.

This Android Smartphone has 8 GB internal memory and supports upto 32 GB. Which means you can keep huge staffs in your mobile. Another important accessory related to performance is Battery. Xplorer H20 offers 2000 mAh Li-ion Battery. So you will get huge battery support.

Symphony Xplorer H20 Design

Design of Symphony Xplorer H20 is not a significance one but I should say good and satisfactory one. Its Dimension is about 144.2 x 73.2 x 9.3 mm and Weight about 145 grams. So its size is smart and you will fill comfort with it.

Symphony Xplorer H20 Display

Display of Symphony Xplorer H20 is a large one and resolution is good too. The size of display is 5 inch and supports 16M colors. Xplorer H20 offers HD (1280x 720 pixels) resolution and 294 PPI. So you can easily view high definition that is HD movies and can play high resolution games.

Symphony Xplorer H20 Camera:

Xplorer H20 offers 5 MP Primary camera along with flash and auto

focus. Besides it offers 2 MP rear camera with which you can take selfies easily and quality will be good. It supports Up to 4X Zoom and its camera sensor is HI-545.

Specifications

 Camera: 5 Megapixel || Video: Yes; Secondary 2 Megapixel  Operating System: Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)  Processor: 1.3 GHz Quad Core  Internet: GPRS: Yes || EDGE: Yes, 3G, Wi-Fi  FM Radio:Yes  Audio Player: MP3  Video Player: MP4  RAM: 1 GB  ROM: 8 GB  Sensors: G-sensor, Proximity Sensor, Light Sensor, Accelerometer sensor, GPS, AGPS  Memory Card Slot: MicroSD card slot Expandable up to 32GB  Display: 5" IPS Capacitive Full Multi Touch HD(720px * 1280px)  Battery: 2000 mAh Li-ion Battery  Other Features: Dual SIM Dual Standby, Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), 1.3 GHz Quad Core Processor, Mali-400 GPU.

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GAMING

GAMING AND GEARING FOR PERFECTION Local companies tap global mobile gaming market

With the launch of much-talked-about ‘Tap Tap Ants’ game, Bangladesh secured its presence in the world of mobile games. More than 15 million iPhone and iPad users have downloaded the game, leading Tap Tap Ants to secure pole position in a 98-country-wide game download list. Although Bangladesh is not a key player in this sector, some locally developed games have been able to draw the attention of the global market. To develop the industry, the government, along with Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services (BASIS), Google Development Group, and private entrepreneurs, is working to grow the industry.

Although playing video games in an arcade is still not socially acceptable, 53 per cent kids now use their mobile phones for this purpose.

Out of the total apps downloaded on smartphones, almost 70 per cent are mobile gaming applications. This was disclosed by the CEO and founder of Pechas Games Studios Maiaz M Rahman. Globally, there

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are more than 1.2 billion registered players, among them, 0.97 billion are active.

Rise Up Labs had released the original ‘Tap Tap Ants’ in 2009. The company now launches all its games in English. It will start releasing Bengali version of its games, from April. Ershadul Haque, founder of Rise Up Labs told The Independent that Tap Tap Ants received very good review for virtual concepts of ant, sound and graphics, from kotaku.com, a well-known review site. ‘After reading the review on kotaku.com, many players visited Tap Tap Ants and there were between 10,000 and 20,000 downloads, per day, after the review.

It became popular in Europe, Africa and many other countries. Also, many review sites showed interest in the game and wanted to write on it. After that, ‘Tap Tap Ants’ became the top mobile game in 98 countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, Russia, Germany, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia. It became popular among

players below 20 years of age,’ said Ershad.

He added that his company only used to develop games and apps for the iOS platform, now it is also developing android and Windows Mobile compatible versions.

Highway Chase, Bubble Attack and Shoot the Monkey are just few names in Rise Up Labs rapidly expanding portfolio, one of whose latest products is Rooftop Frenzy.

BASIS director, SM Ashraf Abir, told IBT that, in Bangladesh, there are 10 companies only develop mobile games, and there are about 70, which develop games apart from other applications. The mobile gaming industry is flourishing and will grow rapidly, Abir said. BASIS has taken an initiative to introduce a course in the faculty of fine arts of Dhaka University.

Gradually, initiatives will be taken to offer courses in each divisional cities and in universities, he added. The BASIS director told this correspondent that ‘We can earn US$ 100 million, annually, from this industry.’

The Quarterly Global Games Market

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GAMING Update, from Newzoo, pins the total estimated value of mobile games at US$ 25 billion for the year, a huge leap of 42 per cent, from the total value in 2013. That rise, Newzoo said, is not only thanks to the sudden rush of revenues from vast developing markets like India, but also the continuing performance of markets like North America and Asia, which some had predicted to have reached saturation point. Since June 2014, the 'We Make Games' (WMG) programme has been launched in Bangladesh, to train mobile game developers, said SM Mahabub Alam, CEO, MassiveStar Studio Ltd. He said, ‘With the dream of making Bangladesh a leading video game developer nation in the world, we are organising the event, WMG, in 400 select schools and colleges, throughout the country. The programme comprises four phases: (a) Explore the games world and explore the possibilities; (b) Organising idea generation camps; (c) Game development camps; (d) Grooming sessions and nationwide competition. The eligibility criteria of the participating students are: (a) Computer gamers aged above 8 years; (b) Sharp, intelligent, attentive and good at mathematics.

Interestingly, 'Hatirjheel: Dream Begins', developed by MassiveStar, will mark the launch of the first computer game series developed from an organised group in the country, in a joint effort by local engineers and young talent. The first game of this series is Dream Begins, a combination of reality as well as dream. ‘We think Hatirjheel is a prime gift for the new generation and to the people of Bangladesh. We feel that the development of this sector in Bangladesh must be projected to the new generation, who have deep interest in information technology and a dream for a developed Bangladesh in the future,’ added Alam.

Maiaz M. Rahman, CEO and founder

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of Pechas Game Studios, said, ‘'Cricket Career: Big Innings' was our last 3D android game that was released. Many games have been developed for cricket fans, but this is the first role-playing cricket game. A player has to start the game as a bowler, batsman, or pick any other role, to play the game. The game will continue as one is in a real-time match.’

Another developer, TapStar Interactive Software Limited, has developed Ludo Friends, a game in Bangla language, for anroid platform and Facebook. TapStar CEO Masuduzzaman said Ludo Friends begins with the map of Bangladesh and a player picks a place from the map and fights with friends to win the game. One can invite his or her Facebook friends to play the game.

Virtual coins are needed to play the game, which can be earned by inviting friends. ‘It was launched on December 26. It can be played at free of cost. This was the first local game introduced on digital platform, for internet users,’ claimed Masuduzzaman.

Rise Up Labs, ITIW, Pechas Game Studios, Buzz Bangla, Voxy Live Games, Tapfury are developing games in the country, while others, like Quardo Labs, Do Duk, Spring off Studio, Latitude, Dreamer Donkey, Argo Venture, Automix system, and Soft WinTech develop games in

partnership with foreign firms.

Others like TapStar, Team Creative develop games both in partnership and independently.

Tanvir Ahmed, CEO of ITIW, said, ‘'Magic Dragon Village', ‘Dino Zoo’, ‘Monster City’, ‘Zombie Strike’ of TapStar, 'Watch Out Agi' of BasBangla, 'Dear Hunting', 'Greed Puzzle' of Pechas Studio, among the local games that get popularity.

Besides, some firms develop games for foreign companies, but those are not being branded as Bangladeshi games. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the state minister of information and communication technology, said the ground work to develop mobile and video games industry has advanced.

The workshop on developing apps is being arranged, which makes the platform to develop games.

The minister also said it is somehow difficult to develop game. Besides publishers and designers, a team is needed to develop game. It is not possible only for the government to build up the industry. And, so, the government is trying to inspire different organisations to help the sector flourish. The minister also said that training programmes are being arranged to create skilled professionals like programmers, publishers, graphic designers, content developers, and game planners, after setting up training institutes across the country.

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HOLIDAYING REVERIE

TRAVEL

PHOTO: D M SHIBLY

Bangladesh makes it to a Top 20 destination list

Bangladesh has been named 18th in the top 20 among the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destinations in the Global Muslim Travel Index, the most comprehensive research released yesterday on the sector, says a press release. According to MasterCard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2015 Bangladesh is behind Malaysia, Turkey, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Indonesia, Oman, Jordan and Morocco, the release added.

TRAVEL

Bangladesh had a GMTI of 60.2 while Malaysia scored an Index score of 83.8, followed by Turkey in 73.8.

This Muslim travel market is forecasted to grow to 150 million travellers in 2020 and 11 per cent of the entire segment with a value projected to grow to $200 billion. In 2014, Bangladesh alone saw 67,000

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Muslim arrivals into the country which accounts for 19 per cent of the total arrivals.

The study also revealed that in 2014, this segment was worth $145 billion, with 108 million Muslim travellers representing 10 per cent of the entire travel economy.

Singapore topped the list for non-OIC countries which also saw

Thailand, UK, South Africa and France to make the top five. Such thorough insights have been provided for the first time in one of the fastest-growing tourism sectors in the world today, the release added. Creating an overall index and basing on a number of criteria, the GMTI looked at in-depth data covering 100 destinations.

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TRAVEL

The GMTI index will provide travellers, Governments, travel services and investors comprehensive benchmarks across a number of important criteria enabling them to track the health and growth of this travel segment.

‘The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index yesterday set a real precedent for the ICE BusinessTimes

April 2015

tourism industry,’ said Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating and HalalTrip. ‘Not only is it the most in-depth research that we have undertaken so far on the fast-growing Muslim travel market, but has provided all stakeholders with some invaluable insight into how the halal-friendly tourism sector is growing and developing

from a global perspective.’

‘We are pleased to partner with CrescentRating to develop the Global Muslim Travel Index as we see it as an extension of our efforts in giving consumers peace of mind when travelling, through our seamless payment solutions. Travel continues to be a core passion for consumers and we are confident the GMTI will prove to be a trusted resource for this important, fast-growing traveller segment,’ said Matthew Driver, President, Southeast Asia, MasterCard.

Not surprisingly, Saudi Arabia saw the highest number of Muslim arrivals into the country in 2014 with 10.2 million followed by Turkey at 8.1 million. All 100 destinations in the GMTI were scored against a backdrop of criteria which included suitability as a family holiday destination, the level of services and facilities it provides, accommodation options, marketing initiatives as well as visitor arrivals.

Each criterion was then weighted to make up the overall index score.

GMTI40, which will be updated quarterly around the year, will track the average score of the top 20 OIC and non-OIC destinations and will form the key index to monitor the performance of the Muslim travel segment. The overall average score for 40 destinations (GMTI40) currently stands at 56 while the overall average GMTI score for the complete 100 destinations is at 43.8. From a regional perspective, Asia Pacific destinations lead with an average GMTI score of 54.

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WORD OF MOUTH

Alpenliebe Shadhinotar Ronge Rongin

SCB signs InstaBuys agreement with Global Brand Pvt Ltd

Standard Chartered Bank and Global Brand Pvt. Ltd., one of the leading IT products sellers in Bangladesh has recently signed an agreement on 0% InstaBuys facility for Standard Chartered credit cardholders.

Global Brand Pvt. Ltd. will provide EMI facility through 0% InstaBuys for up to 12 months tenor on their selected Asus & Lenevo brand Notepad, Laptop & Pad etc.

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March, the month of Independence for Bangladesh is remembered with respect and emotion across the country with different programs and celebrations.

Independence Day of 26th March is commonly associated with parades, political speeches, fairs, concerts, and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history and traditions of Bangladesh. The main streets are decorated with national flags of red and green. The spirit of Independence is celebrated everywhere with the colours of Independence - people wearing red and green.

Alpenliebe, one of the leading candy brands in the world as well as in Bangladesh has also joined the crowd to celebrate the colours of Independence. Alpenliebe is the only candy brand in the country with a swirl of 2 colours in its fruit flavours. To celebrate the spirit of independence this year, Alpenliebe Mango Candy has transformed itself with a red and green swirl. It has also changed its look in terms of packaging as the product is now available in a new wrapper and a green jar with red cap celebrating our patriotic colours.

Apart from changing in the product and packs, Alpenliebe has also made way for consumers to join in the festivities through a digital campaign called ‘Alpenliebe Shadhinotar Ronge Rongin’. Consumers can participate in the campaign by uploading any image with red and green on www.alpenliebebangladesh.com and win attractive prizes every week in March. The campaign is already being promoted in electronic and print media as well as Alpenliebe Bangladesh Facebook page, and is receiving very good response from all corners of the country.

Alpenliebe is also celebrating the spirit of Independence with a special movie segment on Desh TV, where a popular movie on Independence will be telecast every Saturday of March.

Also in Somoy TV, Alpenliebe will be presenting a special segment on young freedom fighters during prime time news from 18 to 26March.

Alpenliebe – a European brand by origin - is very proud to be present in Bangladesh for the past decade, and to now take an active part in celebrating its Independence through the Colours of Independence.

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WORD OF MOUTH

Tale of a Corporate Brand Re-vamp

The future lies ahead, with all the possibilities of shedding the darkness and marching to the brighter future.

Reaching lives, enlightening the souls and making the world better, are what ignite our drive to move forward.

SSG™ (Super Star Group) is a leading electrical & electronics conglomerate operating for the last two decades. Aftab Mahmud Khurshid, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Super Star Group (SSG) is getting a lot of feedback these days, mostly the positive ones about their recently aired corporate TVC. After joining SSG he planned for a brand facelift of the organization and wanted to portray Super Star Group with a fresh look and contemporary corporate identity and convey a marketing strategy through a disruptive abstract with a touch of futuristic reality.

With this intention of brand re-vamp, Aftab Mahmud intended to craft a 360 degree communication strategy and consulted Outbox Limited to share his approach. Aftab

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briefed Outbox team about SSG’s new logo and positioning and asked for a global communication strategy focusing on a vision aligning with the promise; ‘‘The promise is ‘Future is bright’ through which we want to communicate the message of positivity in all aspect to our current and potential stakeholders’ says Aftab Mahmud.

Outbox Limited, a new age advertising agency, co ventured by industry veterans Rasel Bari and Mostafa Kamal Aru in 2012 is providing creative solutions to local and global companies to create, maintain and strengthen their brands. Its clientele includes Standard Chartered Bank, Super Star Group, Unimart, Singer and many others.

Outbox team started to build the story keeping the global concept in mind. This was a challenging task for the whole Outbox team as communicating the corporate brand is somewhat perplexing than product communications. But the entire team accepted the challenge and crafted a story on which the next steps were scheduled. As the communication was being crafted for a global audience, Outbox thought to work with global people

when it came to filming and music.

After much hard work the storyboard was ready and the client accepted and the production team was ready to shoot.

The production team led by Istiak Mahmud, the young, talented and energetic Director, started for the shooting locations of Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf on the morning of 5th January. Outbox out of its value for fresh works trusted on Istiak Mahmud and his venture BlankBox Films who put up a brilliant show.

Istiak and his whole team consisting of roughly 200 people used the latest technology and tools for shooting this film. For 3 days from dawn till midnight after a fun filled hectic shooting schedule the team came to Dhaka and finished the last part of shooting.

The TVC was launched on 24th of February. The TVC is currently being aired across several TV channels and is creating quite a buzz in social media.

SSG’s Omni-channel promotion is being quite productive in several media from print media to digital media. Rasel Bari, Managing Director of Outbox limited expresses ‘We like to create memories for our valued clients with fresh ideas and innovative approaches.’

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WORD OF MOUTH

MACOMM Becomes the Official Affiliate of Dentsu in Bangladesh

MACOMM, one of the fastest growing marketing communication agencies in the country, has become the Official Affiliate of Dentsu, under Dentsu Aegis Network for the Bangladesh region. Rabeth Khan, Chief Executive Officer of MACOMM, signed on behalf of MACOMM and Steve McNaught signed on behalf of Dentsu Aegis Network.

Under the joint working alliance, MACOMM will assimilate the best international advertising and marketing communication practices from the world’s largest advertising agency brand Dentsu. In addition, MACOMM will service all the Dentsu global and regional Japanese and non-Japanese clients operating in Bangladesh. MACOMM and Dentsu have already undertaken strategic plans to train the team in Bangladesh through on-the-job training and knowledge sessions in India, Thailand and Japan to embrace the Dentsu way of doing business across global markets.

Commenting on this Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network said, ‘We are very pleased to have MACOMM as our Official Affiliate in Bangladesh. Their subsidiary company, MediaAxis already have a relationship with Dentsu Aegis Network through Carat and MACOMM will now be the Official Affiliate of Dentsu in Bangladesh.

Rabeth Khan and his team are really enthusiastic professionals and will take their organization to newer heights’.

Rabeth Khan, Chief Executive Officer, MACOMM said, ‘We are delighted to link up with one of the world’s biggest agency groups, Dentsu Aegis Network, in the Bangladesh region. With our association with Dentsu, we are confident to bring forward a strong unique proposition of international qualitative benchmarks in the local market for both the Dentsu and non-Dentsu Japanese and non-Japanese clients, in Bangladesh, with the continuous guidance and expertise of Dentsu.

This association also underlines the progression of MACOMM as one of the fastest growing marketing communication agencies in Bangladesh and its intention to embrace global standards of advertising communication excellence’.

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SCB and Unique Hotels & Resorts Signs Deal

Standard Chartered Bank and Unique Hotel & Resorts Limited (owner of The Westin Dhaka) signed an agreement on March 9, 2015 to fund UHRL’s ongoing expansion programs into the Hotel sector. Mohd. Noor Ali, the Managing Director of Unique Hotel & Resorts Ltd. signed the agreement on behalf of UHRL. Abrar A Anwar, CEO, Standard Chartered Bangladesh was also present at the occasion.

Unique Hotel & Resorts Ltd. is the owner of The Westin Dhaka - the real 5 star internationally branded chain hotel in Bangladesh. The company has plans to set up two internationally branded 5 star hotels at Gulshan and Banani in Dhaka. Standard Chartered Bank has approved USD 35 million term loan to fund the on-going expansion programs of Unique Hotel & Resorts Ltd. On this occasion, Mohd. Noor Ali, MD of UHRL said, ‘This landmark deal will help Unique Hotel & Resorts Ltd. to lower its funding cost by availing financing in foreign currency and further consolidate its position as leading player in the hospitality sector in Bangladesh.

We are really happy to sign this agreement with Standard Chartered Bank, as they are providing an innovative financial solution that will benefit us and our shareholders immensely.’

Abrar A. Anwar, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh said. ‘We are really pleased to come up with such a solution for Unique Hotel & Resorts Ltd. This agreement is another testimony of our commitment to continuously innovate and provide the best financial solution to our clients and customers and also to bring global best practices to Bangladesh. ‘

April 2015

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WORD OF MOUTH

Mario Hardy, CEO of PATA on his first visit to Bangladesh Mario Hardy, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) came to Dhaka for a four-day official visit in Bangladesh from 23-26 March 2015. This visit was in the view of invitation extended to him by CEO, Bangladesh Tourism Board and Chairman of PATA Bangladesh Chapter. During his visit he made courtesy calls to Minister and Secretary of the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry of Bangladesh. He also met various tourism industry leaders and stakeholders of the county. His program also included visit to PATA Bangladesh Dhaka University Student Chapter and inauguration of the Adventure Club of Bangladesh. This was Mr. Hardy’s first visit to Bangladesh as a CEO where he assessed the need and the role of PATA towards the tourism development of Bangladesh.

Musleh Ahmed Receives Award in UK

For the first time, the prestigious British Bangladeshi Business Award took place in Birmingham, United Kingdom on March 11, 2015 with the aim to honor Bangladeshi Business person residing in United Kingdom. A total of 28 Bangladeshi people in 21 categories including business, media, and social entrepreneurship were awarded who have played an important role for the development of UK economy and Bangladeshi communities.

Musleh Ahmed, the Vice President of Dhaka Regency Hotel & Resort has received the Best NRB Investor award from the honorable British Prime Minister David Cameron who was the chief guest of the ceremony.

ICE BusinessTimes

April 2015

SCB Partners with bKash

Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh has partnered with bKash, a subsidiary of BRAC Bank to launch Straight2Bank Wallet in Bangladesh. With the introduction of the platform, Standard Chartered’s corporate clients in Bangladesh can now make instant, cashless payments to banked and unbanked individuals via the Straight2Bank channel. Beneficiaries will receive the funds electronically in their bKash mobile wallets.

Straight2Bank Wallet replaces onerous and risk-prone cash payments, offering an efficient and secure digital payment scheme for Standard Chartered’s corporate clients. Clients and their beneficiaries also stand to benefit from improved cash flow and visibility with certainty in payment date.

At the launch ceremony, Hussain Shirazie, MD & Head of Transaction Banking of Standard Chartered Bangladesh commented, ‘We are privileged to work with bKash in launching Straight2Bank Wallet – furthering financial inclusion in Bangladesh and making access to banking services effortless for our corporate clients and their beneficiaries. This initiative is a testament to our continued commitment to Bangladesh, and reiterates our brand promise of being ‘Here for good’.’

Mr. Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash Limited said ‘We are happy to partner with Standard Chartered Bank to allow their corporate customers to benefit from bKash’s vast agent network and customised disbursement solution. This generates broader reach for both Standard Chartered and bKash.’

Straight2Bank Wallet is currently also available in Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Tanzania, Pakistan and the Philippines. Standard Chartered will continue to expand its offering to other countries across its footprint of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

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WORD OF MOUTH

Generating Revenue Through Social Media - DigiBuzz SD Asia presents DigiBuzz, a workshop and speaking session on Social and Digital Media focusing on ‘Monetization’, which is generating sales through social media with the help from international and local specialists. DigiBuzz will take place on April 25th at Gardenia, The Grand Hall at Gulshan, Dhaka and will be a unique digital media business event.

The event will bring together the entire digital entrepreneurial ecosystem along with online media enthusiasts – stakeholder’s involved with online business and digital marketing.

Digital marketing in Asia is in its early stages of maturity. In Bangladesh, there is a growing focus on digital and social media marketing as a distribution channel to acquire customers.

Influence of social media in

business is significant now, particularly Facebook as user base is growing every day. There are now over 12+ million Facebook users in Bangladesh. Within this context, SDASIA is arranging whole day workshops and speaking sessions on Social and Digital Media to help businesses and entrepreneurs figure out how to generate sales, understand

social metrics, how to develop good content and which tools to use.

The central theme of DigiBuzz 2015 is ’Monetization of Social Media in Bangladesh’, highlighting the success stories and the opportunities for existing businesses whether online or offline and for aspiring entrepreneurs.

The event will have two parts – the first part will consist with the speaking sessions and the second part will consist of mentoring along with showcasing digital works.

Mustafizur Khan, CEO & Founder of SD ASIA, said ‘Through this one-day annual DigiBuzz event – we will focus on three things – ‘Share how to build a brand in social media and measure success, educate how to reduce trial and error time for online marketing, and help network with Asia’s top social media experts ‘.

‘Employee of the Year – Outstation, Finance’ for his greater contribution beyond his job responsibility.

Another category of award was the ‘Commercial Award’ which was presented to Hanif Zakaria-General Manager Bangladesh on behalf of the Bangladesh Commercial team for achieving the Passenger and Revenue target for the year 2014. The Award

has been presented by President and Chief Executive Officer – James Hogan, Chief Commercial Officer Peter Baumgartner, Chief Financial Officer - James Rigney, Senior Vice President Global Sales – James Mueller and Vice President Global Sales – Daniel Barranger. Commercial Team of Bangladesh was presented during the award event.

Team Bangladesh Win 2 Awards at Etihad Airways Worldwide Staff Conference

Etihad Airways General Manager-Bangladesh, Commercial team, Finance Manager and Airport Manager has attended the Annual Etihad Airways Worldwide Staff Conference at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi during 05March to 08March 2015, where 2 prestigious award has been handed over to Bangladesh team for the contribution in performance during 2014.

The first category of award has been presented to Mr Md. Anis Ullah, Finance Manager Bangladesh as

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April 2015

ICE BusinessTimes