Contents TIMES
08 From the Editor
Word of Mouth
10 State of Affairs 14 Banking Corner 108 Happening 16 Colum by M. Rokonuzzaman (PhD) 18 Column by Shamsul Huq Zahid 94 Ask the Expert: Ikram Mayeen Choudhury, Managing Director, Forethought PR
Contents TIMES
Interviews
26 Ambassador Farooq Sobhan President and CEO, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute 30 Lutfey Siddiqi Governor and Professor-in-Practice, London School of Economics 34 Salim Rahman Managing Director, KDS Group 39 Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen Chairman, Chittagong Stock Exchange 42 Mohammad Abdullah Zaber Deputy Managing Director, Noman Group of Industries Limited 46 Graham Moore Certified Master, The Leadership Challenge 52 Mominul Islam Managing Director and CEO, IPDC Finance Limited 56 Shafqat Islam Co-Founder and CEO, NewsCred 76 Khwaja Shariar Acting Managing Director, LankaBangla Finance Limited 80 Niaz Morshed Elite Managing Director, Borotakia Group
Contents TIMES
a global business magazine from bangladesh
TIMES
Vol. 7 No. 8 | April 2017
Publisher & Editor Director, International Publications Executive Director Managing Editor Assistant Editor Staff Feature Writer Designer Business Development Finance & Accounts Sales & Distribution
TIMES
Salim Rahman
april 2017
Dr. AK Abdul Momen
Abul Khair Zeenat Chowdhury Nawshin Khair Tawhidur Rashid Irad Mustafa Asaduzzaman Sk. Yeahhia Md. Nizam Uddin Forhad Mohammad Imran Md. Abdul Alim Md. Nazrul Islam Md. Rubel Khan
HOW CIOs ARE TAKING COMPANIES TO NEW HEIGHTS
a global business magazine from bangladesh
TK. 100 | www.ibtbd.net
: : : : : : : : : : : :
IN DEPTH ANALYSIS ON UNIVERSITYINDUSTRY LINKAGE GAP
AMBASSADOR FAROOQ SOBHAN’S TAKE ON ENERGY COOPERATION FOR THE FUTURE
Md. Abdullah Zaber
Lutfey Siddiqi
Khwaja Shahriar
Mominul Islam
LEADING THE LEGACY
This issue’s Photographs by Din M Shibly Kazi Mukul Mohammad Samiul Wares
Editorial & Marketing Queries tawhidur.rashid@ibtbd.net or send us a note at www.facebook.com/icebusinesstimes www.twitter.com/BusinessTimesBD
Be sure to visit our website www.ibtbd.net
Features 24 37 49 62 84 86 88 92 96 100 104 106 118
Integrating the Information Officer Fintech: Reaching out to the Masses Star Boy or Star Board Special Report: Changing for the Future PayPal: The Financial Friend Preparations for Global Participations Standing Above the Ceiling Special Event: Bangladesh Brand Forum Seminar 2017 The Battle for Their Futures The Frightening Five Beyond the Business Deconstructing the Post-PC Myth Capital Market Update
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: 3rd Floor, House: 4, Block: B, Road: 23 A, Banani, Dhaka 1213 Advertising, Sales, Subscription and Distribution: 01812656961, 01715732425, 01759391168, 01850824294, 01611227676 Tel: 02 55035336-8, 09666773313
* Not all the views expressed in the columns and interviews are the views of the magazine.
FROM THE EDITOR As the founder of contemporary Leadership studies, Warren Bennis, stated, “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.� Now with the reality of the world rapidly progressing towards the age of information and big data, and drastically changing political climates, do these leaders become inclusive of the circumstance or treat their governing bodies like sovereign entities? With the accessibility to every curiosity at a touch of a fingerprint, the necessity to keep one’s organization transparent has become paramount. Leaders cannot simply focus on the profit and growth of the company, they must harvest a culture that is both desirable and resonates with their core audience. It's not simply a matter of numbers and figures as organizational culture, impact, and ethics are just as great in the list of priorities. In short, they must cultivate the identity of their company. Given these changing perspectives, the duty of a leader has increased tenfold; they are required to be the sculptors of the paradigms that they would like their organizations to become. Furthermore, the changing times also bring into concern the manifestation of backup plans in order to support the company towards trying times. As Bennis postulated, leaders are self-aware and see the bigger picture; their ability to better themselves as they bring their organizations to greater heights is what sets them apart and will continue to set them apart.
S TAT E O F A F FA I R S
Word of mouth Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attending the Opening Ceremony of 20th Anniversary of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) at Assembly Hall 3, JCC, Indonesia
Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attending the discussion meeting of the historic 7th March 1971 Speech of Bangabandhu organized by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust at KBI
The Honorable Prime Minister attending the discussion meeting on Victory Day organized by Bangladesh AL at KBI
Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina distributing Swhadinota Padok 2017 at Osmani Memorial Auditorium
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Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina meeting the State Minister for Foreign affairs of Japan, H.E. NobuoKishi at Bilateral meeting rooms, Lower Lobby Floor, JCC, Indonesia
Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attending a session on “Adoption and Signing of the Outcome Document of the Summit� at Assembly Hall, Jakarta Convention Center, Indonesia
The Honorable Prime Minister attending the opening session of Sheikh Hasina Water Treatment Plant at Boat Club, Chittagong
Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was received by H. E. Joko Widodo, Indonesian president at Jakarta Convention Center during her visit to Indonesia
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BANKING CORNER
Word of mouth BRAC Bank Limited is took part in “Banker-SME Women Entrepreneur Gathering & Product Fair-2017” on the eve of International Women’s Day
The “Foundation Course for the First Executive Officers & Junior Officers (General)” (2nd Batch) of National Bank Limited was held at the Training Institute of the Bank recently where a total number of 39 officers participated
Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing Director and CEO of Dhaka Bank Ltd. and Swapan Kumar Roy, General Manager, SMESPD, Bangladesh Bank signed a Participating Financial Institutions (PFI) Agreement under JICA assisted Urban Building Safety Project (UBSP) at the Bangladesh Bank Head Office
Recently, at the Prime Minister’s Office a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed among NRB Commercial Bank, Bangladesh Polli Biddutaiyon Board (BREB) and Access to Information (a2i-II)
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www.ibtbd.net
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Column
POLICIES FOR LEADERSHIP
Guiding Progress M. Rokonuzzaman (PhD)
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ith almost 50% unemployment among graduates, Bangladesh faces new challenges as well as opportunities. Despite the improvement in critical areas, like electric power and access to finance, private investment has yet to pick up. The growth of individual firms and the country as a whole proceeds through a number of stages; it begins with access to raw materials, including forest, fisheries stock, minerals, and fertile land. The next phase of growth emerges from the expansion of the supply of labor force. Due to the possession of very limited natural resources and the highest population density in the world, Bangladesh has suffered from chronic economic health for decades. Through the liberalization of global policies supporting the movement of labor and manufacturing facilities across the borders, Bangladesh has been enjoying the sustained economic growth of 6% annually and it has now increased to 7%. Such growth has enabled Bangladesh to attain the status of a lower middle-income country, with per capita income of more than $1,000. However, Bangladesh’s economic expansion through labor has been reaching its saturation
point. According to different studies, including the report published by the Economist Intelligence, although there is full employment among those who did not go to college, there appears to be almost 50% unemployment among university graduates. As a result, Bangladesh is not only facing the risk of suffering from premature growth saturation, but also the challenge of addressing high unemployment among the educated youths has been growing. Due to a very weak natural resource base, and extremely low earning rate of unskilled labor, Bangladesh’s capital accumulation is not sufficient enough to enjoy capital centric expansion through its economic activities. The fourth option for Bangladesh is to engage the mental capacity of a growing number of graduates, particularly Science and Engineering ones, into economic growth. There is a necessity for opportunities to be created to engage these
graduates to assimilate state-of-the-art technologies and develop them further; and innovate solutions around them to enable local production activities to produce higher quality products at lower cost, causing less harm to the environment. The attainment of such productive capability is crucial for Bangladesh to expand local consumption and the export simultaneously. Progression along this line will also create high-paying jobs for university graduates—offering them intellectually stimulating contribution and reward opportunity. To unlock growth opportunities through technology and innovation (T&I), a number of policy reforms should be undertaken. Often time, we have perceived that increasing the finance for research and development (R&D) is the only issue to exploit the growth from T&I. But, it has been found that a number of interdependent policy issues should be addressed. For example, to address growing cost of labor, what should the policy options for the government be? Should the government provide incentives to producers by lowering corporate tax, or increasing R&D finance to innovate? Similarly, should the government proceed with the policy of buying readily available defense
Leadership in creating coalitions in favor of change, while neutralizing opponents of change and winning over indifference, is a crucial requirement to benefit from technology and innovation.
According to different studies, including the report published by the Economist Intelligence, although there is full employment among those who did not go to college, there appears to be almost 50% unemployment among university graduates. equipment from foreign countries, or start investing in developing the local capability for upgrading existing equipment and innovating new ones? Special interest groups would give an easy argument that the purchasing of finished products from foreign sources at a competitive price is the way to go. Through innovation, the possibility of increasing both consumer and producer surpluses could be exploited - maximizing the long-term interest of the nation, and also of firms. But in absence of a thorough trade-off analysis, the persuasion of special interest groups take the upper hand. As a result, instead of the maximization of consumer surplus, policymaking, and regulatory practices end up with the exercise to maximize the benefit for special interest groups. It has also been found that often time a bit of intellectual exercise, whatever is being performed, is done to generate knowledge to make an argument in favor of special interest groups stronger--making it more complicated for policymakers to decide objectively to maximize benefit for the nation. Bringing policy changes, particularly at a cost of short-term interest of special interest groups, has been a major challenge. A new form of leadership often termed as policy entrepreneurs, is needed. Having sound technical analysis to support policy changes in favor of developing local technology and innovation capacity is not sufficient enough. Leadership in creating coalitions in favor of change, while neutralizing opponents of change and winning over indifference, is a crucial requirement to benefit from technology and innovation. Such leadership should be supported with an ongoing identification of the policy changes and range of options to be considered, locating all “actors” who have any interest in the policy outcome, gathering information on the interests and preferences of those actors, and forming a coalition with them. At the opportune moment, arguments should be propelled in the discussion and decision-making circles to influence the decision in favor of the needed change. Technology and innovation policy leadership faces formidable challenge—as promoted paths are
often long and uncertain. It has been a daunting intellectual challenge to succeed in the journey of technology and innovation to create new wealth in the competitive open market economy. The technology and policy dynamics coupled with the competition forces, in the form of imitation, innovation, and substitution, makes the journey of turning investment--in taking ideas to market--to profitable return a daunting task. The success depends on the merit of a series of rational decisions to be taken by individuals, families, firms and the nation as a whole in midst of uncertainty, over a prolonged period, to turn potentials to rewards. For this reason, sharing views on the dynamic interplay between technology, innovation, and policy with stakeholders is a crucial requirement to derive benefit from promoted policy changes. To ensure positive returns from promoted changes, policy reform entrepreneurs should form long-term engagement in stakeholder communication which will lead to improving rational decision-making capacity of all four economic agents to turn technology and innovation potentials, created through policy reforms, into wealth. In absence of such engagement, there is a strong possibility that a technically sound policy change may lead to non-productive outputs—creating a barrier to further reforms. To maximize benefits from technology and innovation, policy entrepreneurs should focus on nurturing a culture of interpreting the dynamics of technology, innovation, and policy issues affecting the wealth creation opportunities in the country. There should be ongoing communication among coalition members to interpret the past and the present to detect patterns which could be useful to predict the unfolding
dynamics of the future. Such exercise is the key to supporting rational decisions in investing time and money (whether for education, jobs, research, innovation, entrepreneurship, career, policy reform, and development programs) to take the advantage of emerging opportunities and to pursue policy changes to facilitate the transformation of those opportunities into wealth. Leadership in policy reform to enable technology and innovation as a driver of economic growth has been a daunting task. The challenge is not only limited to creating an intellectually sound argument in favor of policy reform and forming a coalition with change agents. The more important challenge is to empower economic agents whether individuals, families, firms and the government to take advantage of those reforms by taking a series of rational decisions in making an investment in the midst of uncertainty to turn latent potentials into wealth. Such policy leadership may even take the institutional shape in the form of Think Tanks having commitment, intellectual capability, and resources to pursue long-term campaigns to empower all stakeholders to drive policy reforms for taking the advantage of technology and innovation and to turn the created opportunity into wealth through a series of rational decisions. Despite this daunting challenge, in the absence of such policy reforms and stakeholders empowering leadership, Bangladesh runs the risk of failing to reach its potential economic status.
The writer is an academic, researcher and activist. He currently works as a Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at North South University. He can be reached at zaman.rokon.bd@gmail.com.
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Column
The Economics of ‘Pohela Boishakh’ FESTIVAL FINANCES
Shamsul Huq Zahid
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he celebration of the Bangla Noboborsho (New Year) is only days away. Undeniably, the celebration, marked by unprecedented festivity and fanfare, has assumed great importance in national life in recent years. Honestly speaking, the celebration of ‘Pohela Boishakh’ (the first day of the Bangla New Year) was not the same in this part of the world even during pre-independence days. During those days, the festivity was present, but not as high-pitched as it is now. People used to enjoy the occasion, but not by bringing out colorful processions like the one called, ‘Mongol Shovajatra’. There is no denying the celebration of the Bangla New Year has gone through a transformation over the years. It is almost certain that the celebration will become more intense and festive in the coming years. The act of celebration, it seems, has something to do with the nation’s economic affluence level. Four or five decades back, this part of the world used to be poorer compared to its present-day economic scenario. Most of the population, during that time, could hardly afford lavish and colorful celebrations.
Moreover, the level of education that enables people to know and celebrate their own homegrown festivals in a proper manner was at a very low level then. However, the people who have witnessed both past and present celebrations of Pohela Boishakh do notice a stark difference between the two. These days, more and more people, in one way or other, are involved in the celebration of the great occasion that represents the solar calendar year the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar introduced to facilitate his revenue collection in synchronization with the harvesting of the crop. Thus, the occasion of the Pohela Boishakh does not represent a cultural tradition only. It does carry some economic
significance. ‘Chaitra Sankranti’, the last day of the Bangla Calendar year, has more to do with business transactions. On that day, traders clear their dues and on the first day of the New Year open new accounts, which is locally known as ‘Halkatha’, and they are treated with sweetmeats. The tradition of Halkatha opening is now in the process of dying. The tradition is found to be observed by the business communities on a limited scale in mufassil areas and the old part of Dhaka city. The observance of Pohela Boishakh, these days, has become more of a money-spinning occasion for some part-time and full-time businesses. The textile industry, in particular, is a major beneficiary. Men and women in cities and towns
Four or five decades back, this part of the world used to be poorer compared to its present-day economic scenario. Most of the population, during that time, could hardly afford lavish and colorful celebrations.
With the celebration of the Pohela Boishakh assuming far greater importance in national life, the state could hardly resist its involvement, financial or otherwise. where new and colorful sarees and other matching attires on the day of festivity. Flower growers and vendors do also brisk business as young women decorate themselves with flowers on the occasion. Restaurants and food joints do also reap the benefits of the occasion. Makeshift shops opened at places adjacent to major celebration points do also make good business. In rural areas and in some urban centers, melas (open air fair) are organized where local hand-made goods are usually sold and indigenous games organized. Children are the main visitors of these melas. With the celebration of the Pohela Boishakh assuming far greater importance in national life, the state could hardly resist its involvement, financial or otherwise. In the latest pay scale announced in 2015, the government made provisions of Pohela Boishakh allowance for the public servants. The new provision is costing the national coffer a substantial sum. There are other costs as well. The government is required to spend an additional amount on the maintenance of security arrangement for people who come out on the streets in
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thousands to celebrate the day. It is hard to figure out the actual amount of money people spend on the celebration of Pahela Baishak. It, surely, will be a big amount. The money spent on the occasion can no way be termed as wastage. In fact, the benefits received out of such spending cannot be measured in monetary terms. The celebration gives the nation immense joy and merriment. Hundreds of families go out of their houses, join the colorful rallies and programs arranged by various cultural bodies, take foods of their choices and have fun throughout the day. The day offers a break to city residents from their daily routines and monotonous life. Many people wait eagerly for this day of celebration and merriment. People do usually ignore hot and sultry weather while attending the Bangla New Year celebration programs. A couple of years back, one ugly incident in Dhaka on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh had soured the occasion for the people. The police have nabbed a few suspects. Since then, the law enforcers also have been taking adequate preparation. Hopefully, such events involving women
participants of the celebration would not recur in the future. The fiscal necessity reportedly prompted Emperor Akbar to introduce the Bangla New Year. With the Gregorian calendar year celebration embracing festivity of all sorts across the world, the observance of the Bangla New Year has also not lagged behind. Bengalis, around the world, celebrate this day with pomp and grandeur. Emperor Akbar’s fiscal objective is no more relevant to the onset of the Bangla New Year. But different types of economic activities are now very much intertwined with the celebration of the New Year’s Day. The same is expected to grow in numbers as the mode of celebrations changes gears.
The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at zahidmar10@gmail.com
Ask the Expert
FORETHOUGHT PR
The Architects of Reputation I
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n a world where competition between businesses is more intense than ever before, and in a time when people are bombarded with a constant flow of noise, building up a credible and lasting reputation is a great challenge indeed. People hardly believe anything a brand has to say unless its credibility has been recognized by a source they
rely upon. This is why, for a brand, maintaining a visible, credible, and favorable reputation has become essential because it is only then when its target customers will pay attention to what it has to say. But how would a brand effectively build and maintain a strong enough public image to start with? Public Relations or PR in short - the professional
practice of maintaining a favorable image or reputation of an entity in the public eye - offers the answer. Widely adopted by businesses in the developed world, local businesses in Bangladesh have only recently recognized the immense potential of this strategic communication instrument. And among the organizations which have been driving this revolutionary change, Forethought PR, the PR wing of Asiatic 360 and currently one of the leading PR agencies in Bangladesh, stands a class apart. "The roles of public relations and traditional advertising are often confused by businesses, and in Bangladesh, the misconception is still very evident. The fact is that, while traditional
“The roles of public relations and traditional advertising are often confused by businesses, and in Bangladesh, the misconception is still very evident.
advertising depends on purchasing space in the media to create visibility of a brand and its offerings, public relations or PR activities strive to earn a space in the media by being involved in positive news. While one aims to highlight what a brand has to offer, the other aims to establish the credibility of that offer by maintaining a positive image of the brand to the public," says Ikram Mayeen Choudhury, Managing Director of Forethought PR. A brand may communicate all sorts of messages to its target customers through various marketing maneuvers, but customers will believe the message only when they trust the brand. Public relations precisely works to maintain that relationship of trust between the parties. But the same question stands – how does PR help to establish and sustain the credibility of a brand? "People would believe in a brand when they have a certain degree of respect for it, and that respect comes only through trust. PR professionals facilitate the process of building that mutual trust between brands and the people," Mayeen points out. How do PR professionals do it, then? For a start, they can envisage what others can’t, and they can express what they foresee and strategically act on it, unlike others. Brands often fail to ensure
that the message they have to communicate reaches its target customers. These are not traditional messages on what products or services they have to offer, but these are messages on what values they are creating for the people and society at large. PR professionals help them develop these stories. Often, brands do not know how to explain their positions when they face a public crisis. PR professionals help them express their positions in those trying times. While developing the message, they keep in mind the interests of the organization, the media, and the public. They then convey these messages to the public through the print, electronic, and social media. It is hardly contestable that the media still holds its status as the most credible source of information for the people – starting from the common man to the policy makers. People still read news on print media and watch the news on electronic media. The meteoric rise of social media has introduced a new means of people getting instant information from their smartphones and is growing in prominence with time. But what qualities must a PR professional have to excel in the field? At Forethought PR, the four most important qualities they look for are: i. Communication skills that would enable the pitching of a story or the convincing a stakeholder. ii. An eye for detail that allows identification of a potential news angle or a potential recipe for crisis, iii. The perseverance that facilitates multitasking under pressure, iv. The common sense that allows efficient and effective responses to any situation.
People would believe in a brand when they have a certain degree of respect for it, and that respect comes only through trust.”
With highly competent professionals equipped with these skills, Forethought PR has grown to become one of the most sought after PR consultants in the local industry within less than a decade of starting operations. Till date, the firm has served many Fortune 500 companies, and currently boasts industry-leading clients from various industries including telecommunication, ICT, food and beverage, insurance, education, etc. The excellence in service that Forethought PR has displayed till now resonates with the drive for excellence instilled by Aly Zaker, Chairman of Asiatic 360 and a pioneer in the marketing and communication sector of Bangladesh. Indeed, all of Asiatic 360’s wings are held in great esteem by organizations across various industries. As more businesses are becoming aware of the importance of public relations, the industry is growing steadily in the local scene. With companies like Forethought PR relentlessly driving for positive changes, it's only a matter of time before the industry reaches its pinnacle like it has in Bangladesh's developed counterparts. www.ibtbd.net
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Corporate
Integrating the Information Officer By Taposh Ghosh
Technology has been revolutionizing the way companies do business for more than 20 years now. With the progression of time and change in technological dependency, there was an inevitable need for technological leadership in businesses. This would become apparent as traditional CEOs and COOs who were responsible for leading technology-related decisions in the business, started to become incapable of harboring the capacities the role demanded. This brought about the need for a new ‘C’ in the executive suite, the CIO, which itself has come a long way from playing roles as chief of information to integration to innovation.
MODIFYING THE MODEL
ADAPTING TO AUTOMATION
CRAFTING THE CIO
LEAD CHANGE
Traditionally CIOs were tasked with delivering technology solutions to the business. But as time progresses, there happens to be a strained relationship between this technology which is spanning over every single aspect of a modern company, and the business itself. Moreover, the CIO needs to be the connecting bridge. Businesses are transforming fast, and technology is no longer being perceived as a cost of running a business. Instead, it is acting as an enabler, a differentiator, and a tool to introduce innovation in the organization. This creates additional roles for the CIO that can be challenging to deliver at times. Some businesses are also breaking down and defining the multiple roles into that of a CIO and CTO, with the former leading the application of technology in the business and the latter expertizing in delivering the technology.
Businesses that realize the growing importance of technology in operations tend to share a few overlapping characteristics. The first is that technology is generally be embedded deeply into these businesses rather than simply being viewed as a standalone function. The second likely trait is that the company will have outsourced much of its technology infrastructure and require someone at the top to manage the portfolio of services, whether they are delivered by a third party or in-house. The third attribute is that the organization may well be going through a period of business transformation, process standardization, and change for which technology will be a catalyst. In all of the cases, the key is to avoid traditional silos with technology and operations being considered as separate departments, instead led by a cross-functional team with the CIO creating a common vision across the independent silos in order deliver process focused goals. At times it can also be seen that such models are being led by CIOs with few or no backgrounds of technology, instead are MBA graduates skilled at managing workforces and identifying which technologies will benefit the business most.
Randy Sloan, CIO of Southwest Airlines, said that the role of CIOs in businesses needs to shift from cost centers to value creators. With growing influence and collaboration, the overall goal for the CIO is now much broader and proactive than “information” or “integration”. But to truly deliver business value there are a number of components that these individuals must consider to achieve those business value creation goals:
Innovative CIOs closely partner with all aspects of the business to maximize the value of technology investments, generate revenue, drive new opportunity, and address challenges and risks. The CIO needs to lead the charge, teaching stakeholders about new technologies and strategizing across functional boundaries about how the business may or may not use technology to improve processes and attain financial benefits.The role of the CIO needs to go beyond their traditional boundaries and lead the team and the individuals who make it happen regardless of which department they belong to.
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THE CIO
INTEGRATE ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS
EMPOWER THE TECHNOLOGY FUNCTION
CHANGING BUSINESS INFLUENCE
LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE
As businesses shift from inefficient hierarchies to self-organizing communities to deliver technologies, the organizational visions are often lost in translation as teams start working independently. In such cases, it is the CIO’s responsibility to ensure that the business and technology are aligned with a multi-year plan that prioritizes the most important investments. The use of integrated cross-functional teams to deliver defined tasks with shared goals become more relevant than ever in such shifting landscapes.
As the lines between client, supplier, and customer are blurred, people have more access to information than ever before. To survive in such a landscape, CIOs need to be prepared for disruptive technologies that they can foresee, and have a plan in place to deal with the unknown while providing an environment that is able to integrate newer technologies. Ensuring predictability of delivery, stability, reliability and security - these challenges are the table stakes of the role, which the CIOs need to master for the benefit of the organization.
Thanks to technology, leadership is no longer about power — it is about influence. Being a leader no longer means bossing someone or telling them what to do, but modeling what needs to be done and explaining the purpose. Modern day businesses and the CIOs themselves need to realize this change and express opinions regarding decisions, which they think will benefit the business more, in comparison to ones taken behind the closed doors of a board meeting. McKinsey states that businesses know from experience that CIOs with a seat at the strategy table have a better understanding of their businesses’ near- and longer-term technology needs. They are also more effective at driving partnerships and shared accountability with the business side. Unfortunately, CIOs don’t play this role of an influential business executive at many organizations.
The CIO’s transition within an organization from their original role as a provider of technology solutions to that of an innovator is not without challenges. Many of these are growing pains that come as a result of the CIO and technology needing to move beyond their familiar roles as businesses become more focused on increasing revenue and others within the C-suite begin taking on new tasks. While there is no guaranteed way for a CIO to prove themselves as an innovator and value creator, those that can demonstrate that they are business leaders, will have the greatest success demonstrating the ever growing valuable role of the CIO.
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Interview
Ambassador Farooq Sobhan
President and CEO, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI)
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ENERGY COOPERATION
Energizing Our Alliances Ambassador Farooq Sobhan is a former Bangladeshi diplomat. He served in various capacities in the Bangladesh Government and Foreign Service. He is currently the President and CEO of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) which is an independent research institute committed to the development of the private sector in Bangladesh and is involved in a variety of research projects. BEI under his leadership has played a leading role in strengthening Corporate Governance in Bangladesh.
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ecently, Ambassador Sobhan spoke at an event at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in India. This was a meeting regarding energy security and energy cooperation from the perspective of India. IBT’s Irad Mustafa met with Ambassador Sobhan at the BEI headquarters to have an enlightening talk regarding the various areas of energy cooperation between Bangladesh and its neighbors which were discussed during his recent visit to India. “I was invited to speak about energy cooperation in the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) region with special reference to Bangladesh's energy profile and long-term energy requirements. So I started off by speaking about vision 2021 and vision 2041. Within the framework of vision 2021, Bangladesh hopes to add roughly another 10,000 megawatts in the next 4 years to our current 14,000 megawatts power generation capacity,” explains Ambassador Sobhan. After reaching this target, Bangladesh hopes to take it from 24,000 megawatts to 60,000 megawatts by 2041. These are fairly ambitious targets but according to Ambassador Sobhan, this long-term scenario can be achieved through a mix of different energy sources. “The government plans to reach these targets through a substantial increase in coal-fired power plants, as well as LNG-fired power plants. Also, by this time, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will be fully operational, so it will be a mix of coal, LNG, nuclear power and renewable energy.” Out of the renewable energy spectrum, Bangladesh has
given priority to solar energy in particular but the next big target is to look into energy imports from our neighboring regions. “As you know, we are already importing 600 megawatts from India. 100 megawatts from Tripura and another 500 from the western grid in West Bengal. One big development in the energy sector has been the grid connectivity to both the Indian North East and the rest of India through West Bengal. We are hoping that the import of power from Tripura will be doubled in the near future and we are also hoping more power will be available from West Bengal during the off-peak hours,” the Ambassador elaborates. ''Currently, we are taking advantage of the fact that their peak demand hours and our peak hours come at different times so we should take further advantage of this in terms of importing additional power''. Regardless of these developments, Ambassador Sobhan is of the opinion that the most significant recent development has been the trilateral agreement between India, Bhutan and Bangladesh, under which Bangladesh will be able to import hydroelectric power from Bhutan. He expounds, “India will permit grid connectivity and allow us to import power from Bhutan. Now in doing so, there are some issues that come into play. At this moment, the power from the ongoing Chuka 2 Hydroelectric Project is fully committed to India. However, we are envisioning that following the completion of this project, the bulk of the power from the next project will be exported to Bangladesh. We can maybe expect a hydroelectric power project generating 1,500 megawatts of power; under this project the power could be shared or divided between India and Bangladesh.” The amount that will be available for export and the role of both Bangladesh and India respectively in this joint venture project will have to be discussed along with several other issues. Perhaps the most of important issue will be the task of mobilizing the financing for the project. Ambassador Sobhan elaborates, “The terms and conditions of the payment for the power we import from Bhutan will need to be negotiated. We can take advantage of the www.ibtbd.net
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fact that we already have previous agreements in place, so working out the mechanics and details for a trilateral agreement should not be difficult.” During his recent visits to India, outside his JNU meeting, he had the opportunity to speak to numerous people who work in this field. He says, “The one question I asked most people was whether India would now be willing to accept external financing for energy projects of this kind and the answer I received was 'yes' ''. This means that India would not object to multilateral financing which can come from sources such as the ADB and/or the World Bank. Also, India would not stand in the way of FDI for such projects. He continued, “In principle, we are seeing both India and Bangladesh moving towards making this energy alliance the centerpiece of the cooperation between our two countries. We will obviously need to mobilize quite a lot of funding because it will be for both power generation as well as grid connectivity. What is now emerging clearly is that, as we are looking at our long term scenario to meet these targets, if we achieve 24,000 megawatts by 2021, we would need to add another 36,000 megawatts in the next twenty years after that. In that profile, it's difficult to say now, but maybe we would be looking at 10-15% of imported power.” This 10-15% of imported power can be acquired from a few potential sources according to the BEI President and CEO. Elaborating on this topic, Ambassador Sobhan started with the issue of Nepal, “Similar to how we have a trilateral understanding with Bhutan, we could also have an agreement for the import of hydroelectric power with Nepal. It has been estimated that the hydroelectric power potential of Nepal is roughly around 83,000 megawatts and at the moment, this potential has hardly been tapped. From what I’ve heard, only around 700 megawatts is currently being produced. So there is a huge potential in the case of Nepal. The country now has the lowest per
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capita consumption of power in the BBIN region.” As the discussion unfolded, he went on to elaborate on other potential sources of power to be imported, “The Indian North East has a lot of hydroelectric power potential. These would be run-of-the-river hydroelectricity projects so there would be very little population displacement. In the past, we used to discuss another subject or source of power, an idea, which is now being revived. This is the idea of a gas pipeline from Myanmar to Bangladesh and on to India. This would be predicated on additional gas being available in Myanmar for export purposes. Of course, we are hoping that in the meantime, we would be able to find new gas fields in Bangladesh, onshore and offshore, and in the process, our reliance on imported coal would decline. A fourth source of generating additional power could come from the TAPI gas pipeline. This is an old project which visualized the export of gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan to India and eventually to Bangladesh. Bangladesh has formally applied to be a member of this project and my understanding is that the TAPI project will soon mature and be ready for implementation.” This transnational pipeline has faced a number of political, technical, financial and security issues but one by one each of these issues are in the process of being resolved and a formal launching of the project will take place soon. So effectively, there could be a gas pipeline running all the way from Myanmar to Turkmenistan and those that have the gas will put it into the pipeline and those who want to buy the gas will import it off the pipeline. Ambassador Sobhan further explains, “This is how it's happening in other parts of the world. No one will then really need to ask if this is Bangladeshi gas or Myanmar gas. It will just be a transaction based on supply and demand, pricing and availability.” The Ambassador is quite hopeful regarding the developments in the area of energy cooperation. Speaking of the
positive signs from the government, he says, “There are multiple initiatives at the inter-governmental level and we are now seeing regular meetings between the energy ministers. We're also seeing regular meetings at the technical and operational levels between governments. There's a lot happening at the g2g level and there's also a lot happening in the private sector level. As you know we are also developing a large energy hub at Matabari which will be funded by the Japanese. They have offered a $6 billion line of credit as a soft loan for the energy hub. We will also have a deep sea port around the two power plants that will be built in Matabari.” Similarly, there are other projects being discussed in the private sector and they are at various stages of progress and development. Several of these projects in the energy sector are joint ventures with India, either in the private sector or with Indian public sector companies. Bangladesh is also looking at some energy projects with China, meaning, we are now exploring multiple sources of cooperation to meet the demand to realize vision 2021 and 2041. As we neared the end of the discussion, the Ambassador outlined the key requirements for Bangladesh for it to reach its long-term targets,“If we are to attain our objective of becoming a middle-income country by 2021 and a high-income country by 2041, we will need to improve power generation, attract large amounts of foreign investment and improve infrastructure. These three are all very closely interlinked. Here, the government will also need to improve its delivery and implementation mechanisms and build up a good pool of technical expertise and know-how. This will be of crucial importance when they will have to negotiate and contract fairly complex agreements with foreign investors and companies.”
Interview
Lutfey Siddiqi
Governor & Professor-in-Practice London School of Economics
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Maintaining the Global Momentum
Lutfey Siddiqi is a Governor at the London School of Economics and an Adjunct Professor at the Risk Management Institute, National University of Singapore. He is also a member of the Global Agenda Council (Financing) at the World Economic Forum and a former board member of CFA Singapore. Previously, he served as the Managing Director and member of the Global Executive Committee of FX, Rates & Credit (FRC) at UBS Investment Bank with responsibility for emerging markets. He was also a member of the UBS Group Sustainability Council, the investment bank innovation board and the cross-divisional panel of opinion leaders. Lutfey obtained his First Class BSc. (hon) in Econometrics from the University of York, MSc. (Econ) from the London School of Economics and the International Baccalaureate diploma from UWC Atlantic College. He was honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2012 and was invited to speak on the official program at Davos consecutively between 2013 and 2016.
GLOBAL BANGLADESHI
Q You recently mentioned that promising rate of Globalization is now being challenged. What factors would you say are contributing to this global deceleration of progress?
Firstly, it is a reaction to at least two decades of hyper-globalization that was characterized by increased trade, cross-border investments, efficiency in production processes and convergence of standards. While this has been unambiguously positive in an aggregate sense - by lifting hundreds of millions of people from poverty into the middle class or by dramatically raising health outcomes in developing countries - it has also resulted in significant dislocation and disparities, especially in the western world. Not enough attention was paid to those adversely affected by globalization. Secondly, we are on the cusp of a "fourth industrial revolution" that threatens to dislocate business models, supply chains, and employment practices even further. A combination of extreme automation and extreme connectivity together with 3-D printing, artificial intelligence and so on will impact livelihoods in uncertain ways. Jobs that were previously off-shored to emerging economies could now be
re-shored back to the west as technology makes them cost-effective. There are other factors - such as the slower growth of import demand from China which has been the principal purchaser of primary commodities for several years - but the two forces of political backlash and technology revolution are the determining ones.
How can we regain this global momentum?
There is a problem of reality and there is a problem of communication. There is no question that the reality of globalization needs to be more inclusive. However, our leaders need to help separate fact from fiction. While the political narrative in the recent US elections has focused on "China stealing our jobs", the fact is, far more jobs were lost to technology. Failure to diagnose the issue and lead an appropriate skills & social innovation response will continue to feed the forces of protectionism. Elements of the fourth industrial revolution - for example, the 'Uberisation' of several industries will challenge some functions of government. We will need alternative modes of income redistribution, monetary policy, and infrastructure provision. So the first need of the hour is more responsible and responsive leadership. At a people-to-people level, we need to continue to engage across boundaries, seek out diversity, seek to understand the views of those outside our echo-chambers, learn to www.ibtbd.net
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There is no question that the reality of globalization needs to be more inclusive. However, our leaders need to help separate fact from fiction.” engage in constructive conflict, learn to separate fake news from real ones and through raising awareness at the grassroots level, become less politically exploitable. This is not necessarily in the domain of finance and economics but it has a direct bearing on attitude towards global trade and capital.
How do you think the appointment of Donald Trump as the President of the United States will affect the country’s relationship with developing nations like Bangladesh?
Generally speaking, the budget for overseas aid in most western countries will be curtailed or constrained going forward. I'm proud of the fact that the UK is still committed to spending 0.7% of its income on overseas aid - one of a very small number of countries with the political courage to do so across party lines - but this will continue to be challenged. Beyond aid, trade might be affected if the Trump administration follows through on some of its protectionist rhetoric. Thirdly, if the US wishes to pull back in a geopolitical sense, countries like Bangladesh will have to court China and others in an increasingly multi-polar world order.
With all this uncertainty on the global stage, how should economies like Bangladesh move forward to reach their growth objectives? Bangladesh needs to raise its rate of growth and diversify its sources of growth. "Demographic dividend" sounds like a cliche but it is a huge comparative advantage to have a median age of 26 years as opposed to 40+ in developed countries. What matters for growth is productivity how much value do we produce every hour and how much more value can we produce in that hour, next year. For this we need infrastructure. It is encouraging to see so much progress already in roads and highways, extremely high coverage of digital connectivity, electricity supply, planned expansion of airports, plans for urban transport, etc. What we also
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need is 'soft infrastructure'. This ranges from the quality of our education and skills training, standards of professionalism in the public and private sector, competitiveness, and predictability of approval processes and efficiency of our finance sector. Bangladesh has a vibrant social enterprise sector. Even a promising start-up sector. It is known for cost-effective innovation and resilience. In the business world, it is moving beyond standardized T-shirts to producing exclusive items for designer brands. There's tremendous promise.
What are your views on the recent positive developments that Bangladesh has had with China and the World Bank?
International diplomacy is as much about courtship and relationship management as it is about protecting national interests. It is good to see positive, professional relationships grow with multiple major powers and multilateral sources of capital. Bangladesh commands respect for its tremendous achievements. On rare occasions, it also receives constructive criticism from well-meaning friends. We should engage and derive determination from both.
You’ve worked in the Banking Sector as a Managing Director of Barclays Capital and UBS Investment Bank. However, now you’re an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore and a Governor and Visiting Professor-in-Practice at the London School of Economics. How did you make this shift in the profession?
It's perhaps a hallmark of our times that we will have multiple professions in our careers! I used to look after the emerging markets business for bonds and currencies globally, reporting directly to the highest governing body of the investment bank. It is an intense, high-energy, fast-paced profession and in recent years, the job was as much about business model transformation as it was about helping
clients with investments and risk management. I've learnt much, hope to learn more with active research and wish to contribute not only in academia but also in regulatory and policy circles. I sit on several advisory boards and international councils. I like to try and explain concepts of finance and economics in everyday language so that important debates on these subjects (which have consequences for society at large) are not confined to specialists.
What sort of system do education providers in developing nations like Bangladesh need to look at so we get the right skill sets in those graduating so they can help with the development of their nations?
Education is not just about memorizing information. It is the ongoing ability to seek out relevant pieces of knowledge, connect and critically evaluate them. To that extent, education should not just be about receiving information in lectures and books and regurgitating them in exams. True education equips us to learn, unlearn and re-learn throughout our lives. This kind of mental agility will be crucial to the economy of the future. Furthermore, we need to value vocational training on a par with university degrees. The good news is that technology makes it inexpensive for virtually anyone to acquire knowledge of all sorts. Several top universities make their lectures available online for free. In that context, education is about knowing how to work with that information, especially in a collaborative, team environment.
Interview
Salim Rahman
Managing Director KDS Group
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KDS GROUP
Perpetuating the Legacy If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less."
S
alim Rahman, Managing Director of KDS Group took this quote of General Shinseki to heart when he started in 1997. He has overseen the growth of a conglomerate in the past two decades which would be the envy of many. KDS Group was founded in 1983 by Al-Haj Khalilur Rahman, the Chairman, and father of Salim. It was established in Chittagong to make their foray into the garment industry in Bangladesh. Today KDS has expanded its operations into Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UK, with plans of expanding into the USA and other countries. KDS exports $350 million worth of garments every year and it is fast becoming the Bangladesh-based multinational that Salim had dreamt of in his 20s. Salim joined the operations of KDS after completing his schooling from the famed St Paul’s Darjeeling in Eastern India and his BBA and MBA
from the USA. His education, away from home and in some of the renowned institutions has equipped him with skills and competencies, from a very young age which have helped him shape KDS into a global conglomerate. With talent and years of hard work, he has been able to leave a prominent imprint in the apparels, textiles, accessories, logistics, shipping, IT, steel, securities, and media sectors. He is involved in various segments of the group’s businesses as the Managing Director of KDS Garment Industries Ltd, KDS Hi-Tech Garments (BD) Ltd, KDS Apparels Ltd, KDS IDR Ltd & KDS Fashion Ltd., KDS Accessories Ltd. and Steel Accessories Ltd. Furthermore, he is the Chairman of KYCR Coil Industries Ltd, the Director of KDS Information Technology Ltd & KDS Textile Mills Ltd and the Director of ATN News Ltd. Salim has been serving the apparel sector as an elected Director of the BGMEA in various capacities. He is also a Director of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber, a member of the Chittagong Club, Bhatiary Golf & Country Club, Chittagong Boat Club and Chittagong Senior’s Club Limited. His vision is to steer the industry towards a prosperous future by incorporating the right corporate culture, adopting world-class technologies and practices and harnessing the human capital for manufacturing outstanding products and marketing them globally thereby contributing towards the economic growth of the country. Over the years, Salim has become a global personality in the business arena. Having been with the organization for around two decades, he has observed and www.ibtbd.net
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During my undergraduate days, I read books on the value of building your human capital, which changed my outlook on doing business.” overseen its growth into a massive business entity. However, it has not been a smooth journey, as he explains, “When I first joined I found our management process quite chaotic. This chaos prevailed in every step of our production and business activities, albeit, it still delivered. Even though we were the second group to become involved in the RMG sector and our growth was quite exceptional; when this growth lacks proper planning numerous issues crop up.” He goes on to explain that the growth amidst the disorder has sustainability issues, which needed to be addressed if the organization had to grow in the manner that he visualized. “It’s a myth that most successful companies exist first and foremost to maximize profits. During my undergraduate days, I read books on the value of building your human capital, which changed my outlook on doing business. I also came across a research regarding large companies and their ability to become sustainable. This research informed me that the successful companies who would be sustainable in the long-run had no mention of making profits in their vision statements. Rather they focused on sustainability by developing their human capital, which automatically made them profitable over the years. Thus, the core ideology of our organization has been, putting profit after people. If you have engaged employees, you will have engaged customers, the rest is maths.” Simply put, first who then what. He thanks his father for having the vision of sending him abroad during his formative years. This move enabled him to gather
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knowledge regarding the best business cultures and practices around the world. “After returning home, my mind was brimming with ideas that could be implemented in the organization. We had a Tk 2.5 crore budget, which we would invest in research and development but people were skeptical regarding this plan. Some even suggested that we should invest in a new factory instead. However, my plan was to be a part of an institution which knows how to be forward thinking and without adequate research and development, we would soon be seen as laggards in this fast moving world.” Salim also knew that it was essential for a business such as KDS to have both forward and backward linkages. He explains, “We were already doing well regarding backward linkages but our movement was still limited to spinning mills and the procurement of raw materials. To move ahead in the race, it is imperative to have strong forward linkages. We are always under pressure from our buyers regarding real value addition and to improve on this aspect you need to make your own designs.” Bangladesh’s target is to reach $50 billion in RMG exports by 2021. However, Salim questions the industry's capability of reaching this target due to capacity issues, “According to our roadmap, we have to double our capacity. Do we have the ability to achieve this feat? Not with the current state of our infrastructure and power supply. Our ports are deemed quite efficient but when a vessel is offloading its cargo, how much time does it take? We need to identify the sources of these delays and address them. The
deep-sea port is not a solution to the problem. What we require is projects like the 'Bay Terminal' urgently to go along with our growth objectives.” Detailing the human and social capital issues in KDS, he mentioned that only their CEO is of Indian origin while the rest of their employees are local. However, he expressed his dissatisfaction at how the youth were being trained for the corporate world in Bangladesh. "Their outlook was quite astonishing. I found it quite disappointing that what is taught in the schools here do not correlate with our requirements. The learning curve for our students needs to be drastically altered for the future betterment of the country’s human capital.” Concluding the session, Salim explained, “It is quite demoralizing that we have failed to evaluate and improve upon our own strengths. This sector makes enormous sociological and economic contributions to our country, we have to recognize this. We have to encourage what is positive and energize others to follow the right path.”
Feature
Reaching Out to the Masses
FINTECH
F
atima is an industrious worker at a garments factory in Dhaka who has a father, mother and two little brothers and sisters back at her home in the village. Her father is a landless peasant and lives on cultivating other people’s lands which is not enough to support his family. So, as the eldest child of the family, it falls on Fatima to contribute to her family every month to keep them running. If it was before 2011, Fatima would have to travel every month back to her village to give her share to the family but now she and 17 million other bKash users can send their money digitally through their mobile phone in 2 minutes. bKash is a mobile wallet based out of Bangladesh serving the unbanked. We call this technology a Fintech innovation. Fintech has been a buzzword lately in all the popular tech conferences around the world. Since Singapore’s central bank’s decision to make Singapore the Fintech hub of Asia and
By Afsana Zarin
the record $4.5 billion investment into financial startups in Asia in the year 2015, the Fintech sector has been on the rise. As per the World Bank, about 2 billion of the world’s population is unbanked and across developing Asia, only 27% of the total population are banked. Fintech has disrupted the monopoly of the traditional banking channels and opened new financial markets in rural areas through a previously ignored demography - cell phone users. It is difficult for poor people to afford traditional banking channels fundamentally because they are expensive. However, Fintech is closing that gap by making financial transactions cheaper and affordable for the poor and typically the transaction fees for mobile wallets are more affordable than banks and even microfinance and cooperatives. Even though Fintech has been a popular category among founders, it wasn’t until 2016 that from governments to big banks, everyone started to pay serious attention to the Fintech scene in Asia. These are the key findings about the Fintech growth and investment in Asia for the year 2016: i. While Alibaba’s financial
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subsidiary scored a huge $4.5 billion investment itself, it also set out its footprints in countries like India and Thailand by investing big in Paytm and Ascend money. ii. From July 2015 to June 2016, China has received a total of $8.8 billion for Fintech investment. iii. Besides Paytm, India has around fifteen other Fintech companies who have secured more than $20 million in funding. iv. Growing economies like Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are coming up with creative solutions (Momo, Ayannah) to serve the 430 million unbanked people in Southeast Asia. v. Omise, a startup from Thailand secured around $20.4 million funding and became one of the most promising Fintech startups in Southeast Asia. vi. Japan is also not behind, as per Google, search interest in the word “Fintech� has increased in Japan greatly in 2016 because of the inflow of Fintech investments of around $99 million in Japanese Fintech companies. vii. The top business models in the Fintech area have been: Payment, Investment tech, alternative lending, big data and integrated financial services. viii. The key Venture Capitals have been: Sequoia Capital, Golden Gate Ventures, Accel Partners, SAIF Partners, East Ventures and 500 Startups. ix. While core technologies like Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Biometric are being watched by business sectors, the number of startups that can focus working on this kind of core techs is still limited. This fact makes those startups more attractive to investors. x. Singapore is still the innovation hub for Fintech in Southeast Asia with the
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constant growth of companies like Fastacash, Tradehero, Calllevels, 2C2P and a hush-hush investment in M-daq from Ant Financials along with 100s of other Fintech startups. In the year 2017, Regtech, Alternative engagement platforms, Big data, block chain technologies and their impact on doing things differently will keep getting attentions from the investors, banks and government bodies.
Fintech in Bangladesh:
bKash has been doing a phenomenal job in serving the unbanked in the country. Starting from 2011, they have now more than 17 million users. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation contributed to bKash initially with grants and then as investors in 2014. bKash is now thinking about expanding their services to loans and other financial services. However, the Bangladesh Bank has given 28 more licenses to other banks to avoid a monopolistic situation in the mobile wallet market. Other than this, the Fintech innovations in Bangladesh are very limited. The time is ripe for the Banking industry to change its course using emerging Fintech technology, especially considering the dominance of millennials and cellphone users around the world. Regulatory bodies should take these changes into account and aid Fintech innovators to make a mark in the financial set up in developing countries like Bangladesh.
The writer can be reached at afsana.nabila@gmail.com.
advicesquad
Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen
Chairman Chittagong Stock Exchange
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CSE
Leading a Checkered Life
Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen has had his fair share of struggles throughout his illustrious career. He made contributions during our Liberation War as an assistant to Dewan Farid Gazi, the Regional Civilian Administrator in 1971 and was arrested and tortured by Pak army. During his various stints at different workplaces, he took Bangladesh’s image to newer heights with his personality. The New York media called him a "People's Ambassador", while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called him the "Ambassador of Consensus". He is the former Bangladesh Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in New York (2009-15) with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Chile and Peru. While at the UN, he was elected as the (1) President of UN High-level Committee of the South-South Cooperation, (2) Vice-President of the UN General Assembly, (3) Acting President of the UN General Assembly, (4) Chair of the Second Committee of the UN, (5) Chair and also Vice-Chair of the Peace Building Commission (PBC), (6) President of the UNICEF Executive Board, (7) Coordinator for NAM Peace Building Caucus, (8) Facilitator for the UN Counter-Terrorism Strategy, (9) Chair of Asia-Pacific Group, and (10) Vice President of ECOSOC. He successfully served as the UN Secretary General's Member of Senior Advisory Group. As LDC Chair and as a Bureau member, he played a critical role at the LDCs Summit in Istanbul. He helped with the inclusion of Bangladesh as a Champion country for "Secretary General's Education First Initiative", "SG's Health and Nutrition Champion", "SG's Public-Private Partnership" and "UN-Women's He For She” programs. Prior to joining the UN, he was the Chairman of the Business Administration and Economics Department at the Framingham State University, Massachusetts. Until Riyadh was rocked by successive bomb blasts in 2003, he was working there as an expert (Economic Adviser) under the Saudi Ministry of Finance and National Economy for five years. He served as a faculty at the Harvard University, Northeastern University, MIT, University of Massachusetts, Merrimack College, Salem State College, Cambridge College and as Junior economist/researcher at the World Bank, HIID, UNDP, etc. for many years (1981-97). While in Saudi Arabia (1998-2003), Dr. Momen received death threats as he spearheaded a movement against the abuse of Bangladeshi expatriates in the Middle East. In the early 1990s, he started a drumbeat to end trafficking of women and children into slave-like servitude and due to his campaigning, the abuse of young boys as ‘camel jockeys’ in the Gulf countries virtually stopped. He even helped with the rehabilitation of some of the victims. His issue received bipartisan support in the US Congress and nearly 132 US lawmakers sent letters to the Gulf governments to end abuse of young boys and also to SAARC leaders. At his request, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina raised this issue at the 10th SAARC Heads of Government Summit in Male and favorable resolutions were adopted with consensus. Dr. Momen has a Ph.D. in Economics and an MBA in Business Administration from the Northeastern University (Boston), and an MPA in Public Administration and Public Policy from the Harvard University, an LLB in Law along with an MA and a BA (Honors) in Economics from the Dhaka University. For our Leadership issue, he stated the following advices that the government and all its associated bodies must listen to.
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Let’s not be complacent about the achievements we have made so far Bangladesh’s phenomenal growth is a paradox for many people around the world but that should not concern us. The question is, if we are going to continue the progress and truth be told, with the current pace of technological upheaval and massive twists and turns in geopolitics, the future holds more challenges than promises. Our target is to become a middle-income country by 2021, reach all the targets of the SDGs by 2030, and to become a developed country by 2041. None of these feats would be easy to attain. We are lucky enough that for the last few years, we have not witnessed any serious flooding or droughts. So we are well advanced in comparison with our neighboring countries in different criteria. We are still at the helm of the LDC (Least Developed Country) list and it’s a point to ponder that graduating from LDC to a developed country usually takes many years. In the case of Malaysia, it took 31 years. To make those quantum leaps to our goals, we have to make foolproof strategies and develop a workforce and system which is quick to evolve and adapt to changes.
young students who are in dire need of this. It is also time-consuming and everybody concerned with it shall be more sincere. To make the workforce engaged in various government and corporate scenarios, I think that every office at least should organize one need-based training session every month, which employees will attend by rotation. Workplaces should develop reward and punishment systems, which will make employees, show more diligence to their work.
Focus on developing Systems should be the intangible pro-people and infrastructure tech-savvy Bangladesh’s phenomenal growth is a paradox for many people around the world but that should not concern us. The question is if we are going to continue the progress and truth be told, with the current pace of technological upheaval and massive twists and turns in geopolitics, the future holds more challenges than promises.
Undoubtedly we need to build infrastructures for the propagation of our industrial journey; that’s one side of the coin. On the other side, we have intangible infrastructures like rules, regulations, law, bylaws and procedures, which are very cumbersome and are in dilapidated conditions. We must not forget that these intangible infrastructures are formidable barriers, in ensuring the progress of other tangible infrastructures to be in place at this stage of development. If we fail to remove these kinds of bureaucratic hassles, we will not get the desired results. Physical development can be achieved through spending money but mindset development is not that easy to achieve. A lot of our initiatives never come to fruition, thanks to the mindset of the decision makers who are unaware of the power of technology and still rely upon their old-fashioned insights on certain issues.
Impetus should be given for ensuring skill-based education
There is no alternative to quality education that offers hands-on training on various skills needed for fueling innovation and project completion. However, developing the skills of a vast youth populace that our country has will be a time-consuming process. This is why we need to plan accordingly to accommodate more and more
Our administrative system is very archaic and anti-people in character. In our bet to become a developed country, that has to change. Having elected bodies to run various systems from the grassroots level to the high-up will help not only in empowering people but also to ensure smooth completions of projects since everyone associated will understand the goals and objectives of the project. Regarding the mindsets, in our country, there is a VIP mentality. If you are a VIP you will get every service and if not you are neglected in every stage and devoid of everything. This mentality has to be abolished.
Turn challenges into opportunities
I have had my fair share of ups and downs in life. I wrote a piece on Military Hegemony in Bangladesh during my Ford Foundation fellowship which landed me in troubled water. The military government didn’t take it lightly and issued an inquiry against me. I was terminated from my government job under PO Order 9. However, instead of losing heart, I decided to stay back in the US and continue my studies. The Bangladeshi Embassy in the US asked for my passport but my university administration suggested that I not hand it in. That audacious move paid off later and I am glad that I didn’t give up hope.
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Interview
Mohammad Abdullah Zaber
Deputy Managing Director Noman Group of Industries Limited
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NOMAN GROUP
Fabrics for the Future Mohammad Abdullah Zaber oversees the operations of Zaber & Zubair Fabrics, a sister concern of Noman Group. A graduate of AIUB, Zaber has incessantly worked towards the growth of the company. He is credited with streamlining business processes and formulating long-term strategic plans at Zaber & Zubair. His cost cutting and energy efficient measures have resulted in the group’s increased production volume and revenue.
Q
Zaber & Zubair has won the national award for being the highest exporter for the 8th consecutive year. What is the significance of this achievement?
First of all, I would like to say that this is a fair judgment on a company which has been working tirelessly since its inception. We are thankful to the government. This is an achievement for all our employees as it would not have been possible without their hard work. This successive export success shows the sustainable performance practices we have implemented for so many years. We are a 'for profit' organization but we maintain our ethics. We never push our people beyond their working capacity, rather we focus on trying to increase their standard working habit through different capacity building programs. This signifies a lot in terms of the clear vision and blueprint laid down by our honorable Chairman. Added to this was the hard work and dedication of our entire workforce which has helped steered Zaber & Zubair year after year to achieving all our targets. Needless to say, all these laurels give us more strength and empowerment to move further ahead with greater zeal in our quest to become one of the biggest textile groups in South Asia.
What do you attribute this success to?
First and foremost, Zaber & Zubair believes and invests in its human resources. As I mentioned previously, capacity building through our labor force is the key to our success. We care about our employees and if you live well, you work well. This is a simple motivational strategy we have followed for everyone. This creates a healthy team which can work well in all sectors of the company. The right people in the right areas of our business is
the key for our growth. On top of this, we also update our machinery from time to time to evolve with the global trend. Innovation, creativity and the elevation of our product range with a greater emphasis on new product development, which is in line with seasonal market trends, have put our company in the club of the best of the woven fabric textile mills thereby creating a niche for ourselves on the international arena.
Enlighten us regarding the journey of Noman Group.
It is one of the oldest businesses in Bangladesh. The group was established 48 years ago in 1968 by my father and Chairman of the group, Nurul Islam. Nowadays, Zaber & Zubair is a globally renowned textile company and we reached this position through our hard work and perseverance. The group has 32 independent business entities, all of which are involved in the textile and apparel industry. This is also one of our key strengths. We have all kinds of manufacturing and supply chain systems, starting from the spinning to weaving to processing to the end product. Around 66,000 people are currently employed through our group. The Zaber & Zubair factory is one of the largest of its kind in South East Asia. We have buyers from all parts of the globe, this includes famous fashion and retail brands.
You are leading Zaber & Zubair, Noman Fashion, and Saad Saan Apparel; so you're working in both the textile and RMG sectors. Can you tell us about the differences between the marketing approaches in the local and global textile and RMG sectors?
This is a vis-à-vis situation. One is for fabric production and another is for concentrating on the end product. Bangladesh is doing well on both sides. Once upon a time, this sector was an order-based business but the scenario has changed. Now you need to understand the market proposition from both the RMG and fabric sides. Nowadays, we are creating designs and innovate new products for European and American markets. Therefore, we must work for sustainable market strategies to meet our challenges, and opportunities. We focus our work in line with the needs of our buyers, sometimes trying to add greater value with this. This value adding is the creative marketing approach where we, Zaber & Zubair and Saadsaan Apparel, always work while staying aligned with what is demanded of us. Yes, of course, we are fighting the global competition from China, Pakistan, Turkey, India and other countries and I think, we are doing well. The textile and RMG sector go hand in hand so the marketing strategies remain somewhat the same. Zaber & Zubair is now one of the largest vertically integrated groups, providing yarn to garment solutions under one roof. New product lines, timely deliveries and effective communication is what matters the most, to sustain and grow the ongoing business. Time and again it has been proven that in terms of labor effectiveness, no other country stands to counter Bangladesh. In spite of competition from countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India and Ethiopia, annual trends have shown that Bangladesh’s export volumes have been consistently growing, almost touching the $30 billion mark. We feel
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that with a focused approach on new product development, greater efficiencies levels and the utilization of our resources to fullest, we can further improve our standing on the global platform.
What are the main challenges that need to be overcome in the RMG sector?
We need to find new markets for sustainable future growth. Also, we need to be more innovative with our products. For this, I think, we should implement frequent in-depth market research, globally. That is the key to understanding, not only the market trend but more importantly, realizing the lifestyle of people around the world so we can cater to their needs. Yes, global brands still happily depend on our garments but the pricing has been deteriorating over the past few years. On the other hand, labor cost is increasing and energy supplies are diminishing. These are the areas that we should concentrate on in a united front. The government can play a vital role by ensuring a sufficient energy supply and by providing the necessary support to find and promote a new market for our RMG sector.
There is an abundance of labor available in our country but the lack of skilled labor is still an issue. What are your thoughts on this and what solutions do you propose? Honestly, I do not completely agree with this sentiment. RMG is the only sector in this country where labor is being naturally skilled and creative. The people's perception is that buyers are coming to our country due to the low labor costs. Yes, this is one face of the coin but you must also give recognition for the part of the labor force who are passionate about this kind of work. Some of these people are born cloth makers and stitchers. What we do is that we train them to use modern machinery and equipment’s, exposing them to corporate disciplines and moreover, helping them lead healthier lives. However, in the textile field, yes, I would say we need more skilled labor. This is a specialized area which involves weaving, processing, spinning, printing, and washing. At Zaber & Zubair, we use routine training programs for our workers to
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always upgrade their understanding about the work we do. I think we can implement several training programs, nationwide, on a regular basis for the interested factory labors. Organizations like the BGMEA, BTMEA, and others alongside the government can take this initiative forward together.
How can Bangladesh go up the value chain in the apparel industry? The value chain represents all the internal activities a firm engages in to produce goods and services. The value chain is formed of primary activities that add value to the final product directly and support activities that add value indirectly. Although primary activities add value directly to the production process, they are not necessarily more important than the support activities. Nowadays, competitive advantages are derived from technological improvements or innovations in business models or processes. Therefore, such support activities such as ‘information systems’, ‘R&D’ or ‘general management’ are usually the most important sources of differentiation or advantages. On the other hand, primary activities are usually the source of cost advantage, where costs can be easily identified for each activity and properly managed. There are many advantages of the value chain, which all result in a company's ability to understand and optimize the activities that lead to its competitive advantage and high-profit levels. The five value chain activities are inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Therefore, Bangladesh's apparel industry should put an emphasis on understanding value chain management to make the industry sustainable.
Noman Group is renowned for its various green initiatives. Can you please tell us about the various programs being implemented by your company to ensure environmental compliance?
From the beginning of Noman Group, our Chairman, Nurul Islam has prioritized labor health and for the environment safety. This has remained a part of the core values of our
business. Therefore, we are happily implementing all environmental compliances marked by our clients. The general people of our country may not be aware of this, but we have one of the largest Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) setups in our factory in Asia. Our ETP is being used to freshen or recycle the water that is being used for the production process. All our factories have been equipped with solar panels and LED lights. Apart from that, we have been maintaining rainwater harvesting, steam recycling, motor inverters or VFD, EGBs (exhaust gas boilers) and CRPs (caustic recovery plants) for our environmental compliance initiative.
There are many universities now in Bangladesh where comprehensive textile education is given to the students. Do you have any suggestions for their curriculums?
I think the main positive here is that the younger generations are focusing their career paths towards the RMG and textile sectors. In most cases, students are aiming for the apparel merchandising but there is a wide range of professions that awaits them in these sectors. We need more dynamic and devoted professionals in the production fields and in the R&D sector. Teachers should inspire students to think more broadly regarding their choices instead of narrowing their own option down to just merchandising.
Would you please share with us your dream or future goal regarding the textile and apparel business future?
It is all about the better livelihood of the people. My father said that whatever the business you are into, at the end it has to be prosperous for human life. I always keep this as a motto in my mind. I want to see Zaber & Zubair leading the textile segment in the world market. We will have a different sub-brand, globally, and more people will involve themselves with this company and live a healthier life. Any designer or brand, across the world, when discussing Bangladesh should have Zaber & Zubair in their mind as one of the best innovative mills in terms, providing quality products with the best after sales services.
Interview
Graham Moore
Certified Master The Leadership Challenge
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LEADERSHIP
Leading By Example Graham Moore is a Certified Master of one of the most widely recognized leadership development programs, The Leadership Challenge®, based on the book of the same name. The ongoing research for The Leadership Challenge® was started by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner nearly 35 years ago. Graham’s responses are based on his work as a Certified Master, and The Leadership Challenge®. Graham was recently in Dhaka to deliver a keynote presentation to the 6th Annual BSHRM Conference. He is based in Dubai.
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Is leadership development something that has to happen on the job? Or is it something that should be instilled in people during their time in universities?
Often people in organizations think that leadership development ‘will just happen’. People who have been identified as having leadership potential, will somehow, once promoted, ‘develop’ as leaders. But leadership development doesn’t ‘just happen’, not easily, anyway. Research has shown (in the US) that the average age that organizations invest in developing leaders is 42. And yet when asked what age they think leadership development should start, the answer is 21. Usually, there’s a focus on developing technical skills…. Get your MBA, your MSc…. So, yes, leadership development should start in universities – and earlier. In addressing this need, Jim
Kouses and Barry Posner, the authors of the book, The Leadership Challenge®, have developed The Student Leadership Challenge® and this program is widely used in colleges in the US. As for learning on the job, the best leaders will tell you that they learn from their people every day. Leadership development is ongoing and it requires deliberate practice. Within organizations which want to be successful, leadership development must be a priority and started as early as possible and continued.
What would you say is more important in an organization? Concentrated leadership or shared leadership?
It’s shortsighted and very limiting for organizations to have a culture where the ‘Leadership’ comes from the ‘C-suites’, CEO, CFO, etc, or the ‘top management’. Leadership is everyone’s business. Where there is a culture of ‘leadership at all levels’, organizations perform more effectively and there is greater commitment and increased engagement.
What leadership styles are the best? How does one identify their own leadership style?
I’m reluctant to identify ‘leadership styles’ as these can become labels that the individual can use as an excuse or that others can incorrectly apply to a ‘leader’. The older ‘style’ I’m sure most of us can relate to, as it’s still widespread today, is 'Control and Command’. Sometimes we refer to this as ‘Power and Fear’. Of course, the ‘leader’ in this case would probably not identify with these labels but those around them would. We know that these ‘styles’ have limited if any www.ibtbd.net
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Leadership is everyone’s business. Where there is a culture of ‘leadership at all levels’, organizations perform more effectively and there is greater commitment and increased engagement.”
relevance today. What’s more important and relevant are the characteristics of leaders. We call these Characteristics of Admired Leaders. Research, globally, shows that the top four are: Honesty, Forward Looking, Inspiring, and Competence. If we’re going to use a label for a style of leadership, let’s focus on the style of ‘transformational leadership’.
Why do Leadership Training and Development programs fail to produce leaders? What can be done to change this?
In my view, leadership training and development can fall short for two main reasons. The first is that in many programs, there is too much focus on theory. Leadership is essentially about behaviors, it's what leaders ‘do’ that makes them leaders. Sometimes there’s a mental block about that person’s capability to take on leadership skills. This may be based on the now debunked myth that ‘leaders are born’. Well, yes, we all were. Leadership is a set of skills and behaviors – and therefore, those skills and behaviors are learned. Getting past the theory and also the myth that “I wasn’t born that way” is a major move forward for the individual. When people realize that becoming a leader is their choice, then there’s a breakthrough in their development. The second reason is that there is often little or no follow-up. Leadership development is ongoing and like any new skill, requires practice. We call it ‘deliberate practice’. This, as an example, can involve a self-coaching approach where the individual commits to focusing on
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a specific behavior for that day. This might be as simple as “today I’m going to focus on building relationships” (because leadership is a relationship). Or “today I’m going to find ways to talk to others about the ‘value’ of the work we do.”
What approach is better for Leadership - top down or bottom up?
In The Leadership Challenge®, we know that leadership is everyone’s business. Yes, it’s important that those ‘at the top’ set the example that others will see and respond to. Many people will say leaders must ’Walk the talk’. As the American writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” It’s also important that leaders have a clear vision. People want to know ‘where are you taking me?” Leaders at the top must have a clear vision which they can articulate to others in the team in a way that they will all be inspired to work together to achieve the vision. Even leaders at lower levels can and should have a vision of where they’re taking their team or those around them. We also know that people perform at their best when they’re challenged, challenged to find solutions, to overcome obstacles themselves. Leaders at the top and at lower levels should always be looking for opportunities to ‘challenge’ others, to ask “Is there a better way?” Leaders also empower others – or ‘enable them to act’. Leaders should ‘give their power away’, rather than clinging on to what they have by withholding information. Leaders should allow
people to solve problems – to do their work - knowing that the leader is there to support them. Leaders must recognize the ‘extra effort’ put in by staff, in a way that connects with their heart, that is ‘meaningful’ and ‘genuine’. And leaders – at all levels - must give their recognition personally. When people are recognized for their contributions, when they know that their efforts are genuinely appreciated, they will perform better, and commitment and engagement improve significantly. When leaders ‘at the top’ frequently demonstrate behaviors I’ve just described, there is a trickle-down effect, as others begin to emulate those behaviors. But it doesn’t have to start at the top. Wherever these behaviors are frequently demonstrated, there is an improvement in productivity, engagement goes up and staff turnover goes down. People will love their work, their leader, and the organization and the outcome of this is reflected in the bottom line.
Feature
LEARNING LEADERSHIP
Star Boy or Star BBoard? By Faiza Chowdhury
Discussing leadership skills and whether or not they can be learned begs an important question: if leadership skills can be taught, should they be taught at universities?
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eadership is a quality that encompasses a wide range of skills. An efficient leader is someone who is personable, insightful, confident and decisive. Today, leadership qualities are among the most desirable skills that employers look for in potential employees. Sadly, not everyone is a natural-born leader with a take-charge attitude – so it is definitely a great advantage that governance is a skill that, to some extent, can be learned. Discussing leadership skills and whether or not they can be learned begs an important question: if leadership skills can be taught, should they be taught at universities? Or is it preferable to learn how to become a leader on the job? This age-old question has been debated upon for quite a while. Those who do not support the notion that leadership can be taught, cite experts who think that leadership is somewhat hereditary, and that biological traits can affect one’s ability to become an effective leader. Thus, the idea that it could be taught has been highly criticized in the past. www.ibtbd.net
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Nevertheless, recent years have seen an overwhelming increase in the teaching of leadership skills, mainly at the undergraduate level. This increase has been primarily due to a realization of the significance of qualities that make a leader and to add to the world’s current worrisome vacuum of able leaders in the fields of finance, economics, science, and politics. Universities at the forefront of education around the globe have acknowledged the fact that possessing qualities such as intellectual acuity, communicative skills, patience, confidence, and transparency are of paramount significance in the leadership game – and that polishing these skills will make it possible to transform seemingly ordinary students into the leaders of tomorrow. Many have already begun focusing large amounts of resources on leadership training and courses to help students unlock their leadership potential.
Preaching Power
The reasons why leadership must be taught at universities are numerous. First and foremost, if leadership is taught from the bottom up, without discrimination of any form, it can be ensured that no student is deprived of the opportunity to become a potential leader. There is no possible way for teachers and employers to know with absolute certainty who will grow up to be a leader, or if someone requires that extra nudge of encouragement and guidance to become one in the future. So it is crucial that everyone is given an equal shot, to ensure that we don’t lose the next Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, or Margaret Thatcher from right under our
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noses. And for that to happen, universities must take up an active initiative to instill important qualities in students that will help them become better leaders of tomorrow. Next, it is often argued that teaching leadership to every student could be considered a waste of time and resources because not everyone goes on to become a successful leader. While it is indeed true that not everyone becomes a pioneer in their respective careers, anyone could still benefit from leadership training, because it would drastically improve one’s own skills. Teaching leadership skills at the university level would instill qualities in students that could prepare them for the real world, giving them a chance to be at the top of their field. Students who have received leadership training or taken courses that involve leadership skills are more likely to receive better jobs and higher salaries. Moreover, it could help them overcome their struggles with low self-esteem and allow them to believe in themselves, which is an important quality, leader or not.
The Drawbacks: Although it is possible to teach students the basics of leadership, management educators and leadership coaches around the globe believe that more than knowledge, leaders require character – something that cannot be taught. Other than that, it is only possible for teachers and mentors to guide students through leadership, and facilitate an environment where leadership can be learned – but ultimately, it is up to the student to put their use their newfound knowledge to proper use. Some education experts argue that teaching leadership skills at undergraduate level takes students away from university education, which may prove to be disastrous for them. Others contend that resources should instead be utilized towards providing a better education before leadership courses are introduced.
Lastly, leadership is a subject that cannot be taught solely within the confines of a classroom. It requires years of prior training, personal experiences, and spontaneity – qualities that university courses cannot provide. Teaching leadership in this manner would be highly ineffective, and would certainly not give birth to prospective leaders. The various drawbacks of teaching leadership skills at universities bring us to the topic of learning leadership skills on the job. Many people who have never had any form of prior leadership training are often forced to become leaders during the course of their career. Organizational leadership is constantly evolving, and therefore employers must be careful to only entrust important responsibilities to able leaders who can quickly adapt to change. Learning leadership on the job, although daunting, has several advantages, some of which have been explored below.
Employing the Emperor
The benefits of learning leadership on the job can be split into two categories – benefits to the employer and benefits to the employees. An employee who learns how to become an effective leader during the course of his job is a vital asset to the workplace. He/she may become a role model for others, and to some extent, an inspiration, encouraging others to work better and maybe even improve their own skills. An employee who acts as a mentor to colleagues puts their best foot forward and remains headstrong in the face of adversity is someone who is likely to increase the company’s efficiency, thus leading it to gradual success. Furthermore, some experts would say that developing leadership skills on the job is not only important, but critical, considering the fact that the skills required for each job differ vastly, and the duties of a leader are constantly changing, depending on the work they do. Developing these essential qualities in the workplace will not only allow employees to become more desirable candidates for job recruitment but will also help them adapt to changes easily and respond to challenges with level-headedness. Surveys have found that leadership
programs which give employees the opportunity to lead their own projects themselves greatly improve employee engagement at work. And if all that weren’t enough, experts seem to have found a strong correlation between having a leader who exercises a healthy amount of control, and happiness among co-workers in the workplace. It has been scientifically and mathematically proven time and time again that a visionary who is responsible for a small part of, or even the entire workplace, can be the potential key to success and happiness for everyone else who works there.
The Drawbacks: The most obvious drawback is the fact that changes around the workplace due to employees developing leadership skills is a long and painstaking process – one that cannot be expected to occur overnight. To achieve such remarkable skills without sufficient time or effort would be nothing short of miraculous. Many people are often seen cracking under the pressure of having to be a “perfect leader,” and are eventually kicked to the sidelines at their place of work. Additionally, learning leadership skills on the job can sometimes prove to be
a difficult task to those who do not possess the same skillset as their peers. Leadership is most effectively learned with careful consideration of one’s strengths and weakness. For example, a person who is multilingual could have valuable communication skills but may need to work on their social skills to become more personable. Therefore, it is important to learn leadership skills specific to one’s own abilities. However, in most cases, it is seen that leadership training programs at workplaces fail to hone in on an individual’s skills, which not only causes programs of the sort to be an immense failure, but also lower’s the person’s self-esteem, convincing them that they are not, nor will they ever be, leadership material. Finally, a leader with too much control and power in the workplace may become overconfident, biting off more than they can chew. This can have devastating consequences for the company, co-workers and for the individual themselves, leading to a communication gap between workers, high levels of bureaucracy and inefficiency. In conclusion, the question of whether leadership should be taught at universities or learned on the job remains highly subjective. Although there are compelling arguments for either case, the answer ultimately depends on the individual, on the type of job they do, and even on the type of education they receive. What can be known for sure is that almost anyone can become a leader if only given the opportunity. Sources 1. “Why We Can – And Should – Teach Leadership” – Forbes www.forbes.com/2007/10/05/ executive-mba-teaching-lead-cx_kb_1005blanchard.html 2. “The benefits of teaching leadership skills from the bottom up” – Financial Times www.ft.com/content/0233fb94-d423 11e6-b06b-680c49b4b4c0 3. “Why Teach Undergraduate Leadership?” – Andrews University www.andrews.edu/services/ulead/ why_teach_leadership/ 4. “Today's Students Need Leadership Training Like Never Before” – The Chronicles of Higher Education www.chronicle.com/article/ Todays-Students-Need/125604/?sid=cc 5. “The Advantages & Disadvantages of a Leadership Development Program With a Company” work.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages -leadership-development-program-company-29408.html 6. “Why Leadership Development Has to Happen on the Job” – Harvard Business Review hbr.org/2016/03/why-leadership-development -has-to-happen-on-the-job 7. “Can Leadership Be Taught? Perspectives From Management Educators” www.researchgate.net/profile/Jonathan_Doh/ publication/274753187_Can_Leadership_Be_Taught _Perspectives_From_Management_Educators/links/ 56955c2408ae820ff074b852.pdf?origin= publication_detail
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Interview
Mominul Islam
Managing Director and CEO IPDC Finance Limited
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I P D C F I N A N C E LT D .
The Growing Portfolio Mominul Islam is the Managing Director & CEO of IPDC Finance Limited. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Managing Director of the Company from 2008 to 2011. He had joined IPDC in 2006 as Head of Operations. During his tenure at IPDC, he has played pivotal role in reshaping the organization through strategic planning, organizational restructuring and automation, process re-engineering, control and compliance, and service quality, and so on.
Q
You’ve spent a portion of your career in commercial banks. What changes did you have to deal with when you moved from a Bank to an NBFI?
In spite of certain similarities, the Nonbank Financial Institutes (NBFIs) fundamentally differ from commercial banks in several aspects. The NBFIs in Bangladesh are largely comprised of development financial institutions, leasing enterprises, investment companies, merchant banks, etc. The financing methods of the NBFIs are long term in nature. The inefficiency of banks in the case of long-term loan management has already led to an enormous volume of outstanding loans in our country. At this instance, in order to ensure the flow of term loans and to meet the credit gap, NBFIs have enormous importance in the economy of our country. From my experience in the context of Bangladesh, I have noticed that commercial banking is yet to reach certain corners in our country to help people with their banking needs. Being the first NBFI of Bangladesh, IPDC Finance Limited had the opportunity to reach consumers in remote parts of the country with its financial solutions. NBFIs offer a wide range of loan products at highly competitive rates. We simplify the whole process of taking a loan, making it easier for customers to approach us rather than approaching a bank. It is also difficult for the commercial banks to conduct its operations in
an innovative business model and expertise on maintaining the relationship with its customers. Over the years IPDC has developed a variety of specialized tools for assisting and counseling our customers. We are highly approachable and also offer personal attention to every customer regarding their financial needs.
What style of leadership do you incorporate in your work throughout IPDC Finance Limited?
I have obtained the Six Sigma Black Belt training and worked on several Six Sigma projects. From my time there, I realized that organizations need to determine an appropriate sigma level for each of their most important processes and strive to achieve them. As a result of this goal, it is obligatory for the management of the organization to prioritize areas of improvement. The term "Six Sigma" comes from statistics and is used in statistical quality control, which evaluates process capability. As the MD and CEO of IPDC Finance Limited, I have always tried to incorporate Six Sigma levels in my style of work. This approach helped us reach some extraordinary feats in our organizational development in the recent times. IPDC has emerged as the fastest growing financial institution of the country in 2016. In the last one year, the company’s asset and deposit portfolios have both grown by more than threefold. The loan portfolio grew from Tk 6,415 million in 2015 to Tk 19,480 million in 2016 and the deposit portfolio grew from Tk 4,745 million to Tk 17,179 million in 2016. The company’s bottom line has witnessed a positive growth of 26% during the year 2016 which has nearly tripled in the last 5 years. Our collective dauntless and decisive effort towards our work has brought about such exceptional growth in the country. The impact of our effort will spur velvet in the years to come.
What are the challenges of operating in the financial industry in our country?
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NBFIs offer a wide range of loan products at highly competitive rates. We simplify the whole process of taking a loan, making it easier for customers to approach us rather than approaching a bank.” likes of other NBFIs and banks are some of the challenges. The asset-liability mismatch is a major cause for concern for NBFIs. The demand for funds to meet the growing lending requirements has increased. NBFIs now have to explore alternative ways of raising funds. Also, the cost of funds for NBFIs are higher than that of banks. Moreover, fierce competition among competitors may also force many NBFIs to reduce the margin of profitability in the business. Unless sufficient risk management competencies are established, the development forecasts of NBFIs would not only be stalled but it might also be misinterpreted.
What is the competitive scenario you’re facing in this industry? How are you steering IPDC through this?
With the launch of new NBFIs, the market share is spread over the competitors. Active participation of regular banks has further elevated the level of competition in the financial industry. Leasing was well-thought-out as a non-bank financing activity until recently as a lot of banks have shown interest in the leasing business and have started to penetrate the market. IPDC Finance Limited has filled the void by supplying financial services to its customers which are not generally provided by the banking sector. In a background of changes in the financial industry, it is important to sustain our resolution and what we stand for. As the most passionate financial brand in the country we have always focused on diversified financial services for the youth, women and underserved areas of our country. Our company is planning to work on youth unemployment which is one of the major challenges at the moment in Bangladesh. By steering our focus on private sectors it will eventually create more sustainable prospects in the society. All these activities will help IPDC stay ahead of its competitors. In 2017 we have plans to open nine more branch offices across the country to
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bring 70% of the total population under our financial services. Apart from our own offices, we have started giving out home loan solutions from ten BRAC offices. To accelerate exponential growth and competitiveness, we are taking onboard key stakeholders and business entities to help provide added facilities to our wide range of clientele. Diversifying the product range is a strategic challenge for IPDC Finance Limited in order to become competitive in the rapidly growing market.
What is IPDC doing in terms of financial innovations for the people of our country?
Keeping in mind the socio-economic challenges and opportunities of Bangladesh in the next ten years, IPDC Finance Limited has revamped its operations and introduced the most innovative financial services for the people of this country. Affordable housing for all families, women empowerment, and employment creation has been the key strategic pillars for the company alongside the existing industrial finance. Innovative ideas have been put into places by forming partnerships with top steel and cement makers along with the leading NGOs in the country to provide affordable home loans to the lower middle-income families in the small cities and suburban areas where home loans were completely absent. IPDC’s team designed and initiated some of the most innovative financial product line-ups in the industry which features women empowerment as the true essence of financial freedom for any lady. Hence, apart from lucrative augmented features like free driving sessions and so, much-privileged loan and deposit interest rates are accommodated especially for women. Factoring finance for the SMEs has been introduced especially in the agricultural and agro-processing sector. There are also plans for new entrepreneurship development programs for the returned immigrant workers in collaboration with BRAC.
How are innovations such as Fintech changing the financial landscape in our economy?
Financial technology or Fintech in the financial industry is composed of techniques that practice new technology and innovations with obtainable resources in order to offer differentiated products and services in the financial marketplace. Financial technologically sound companies consist of both startups and established financial and technology companies trying to replace or enhance the usage of financial services of incumbent companies. According to reports, Bangladesh presently consists of about 800 IT and ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Service) companies with an estimated turnover of around $200 million. Amongst this, Mobile Finance Services (MFS) like bKash, SureCash and others remain the most successful ones. Reports suggest that about 32.2 million registered mobile banking accounts are at large, as of June 2016. Proper education, awareness, and trust in technology can induce more consumers to use Fintech solutions. With the help of solutions like these, cash transactions will be reduced in another five years and mobile money will grow as more and more people will start paying money for private and government services through MFS.
What was the best leadership advice you ever received? My mentor and coworker, Rayhan Ul Ameen, COO, American Express in 2002 once told me “Do not wait for others to appreciate and acknowledge your good work. It is your sense of self accomplishment which should drive you to perform even better for your next generation.” His words till date, remains the best leadership advice for me.
Interview
Shafqat Islam
Co-Founder and CEO NewsCred
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NEWSCRED
The Captain of Content Shafqat Islam is the Co-Founder and CEO of NewsCred, the world’s leading content marketing and syndication platform. As CEO, Shafqat manages the strategic growth of the company, pioneering a new content ecosystem for brands and publishers. Prior to NewsCred, Shafqat was a Vice President at Merrill Lynch, running technology teams in NYC and Geneva.
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Your company has recently integrated with Marketo, why was this partnership beneficial from your perspective? What advice do you have for companies that are hesitant to merge with other companies?
Our product vision is heavily focused on analytics, insights and proving ROI for our customers. In order to do that, we need to integrate with other parts of the marketing stack. Marketing automation systems like Marketo are important parts of that stack and integrating allows our joint customers to directly tie content to revenue. I think it’s important for companies to always have a strong integration strategy. It only helps make the ecosystem stronger and it’s important for customers for their technology investments to talk to each other.
Newscred has grown to a multinational company across seven nations and is functioning in seventy countries. What are the keys to running such a larger conglomerate? For me, it’s all about hiring the best people, which often means hiring individuals who culturally fit our company best. I can only be in so many places at once so it’s really important to hire the right people that are not only trustworthy and intelligent but who also share the same vision and passion for your company and product as you do. In addition to hiring great people, we also ensure that everyone at NewsCred has a clear understanding of what the core company goals are for each quarter. No matter an employee’s position within NewsCred, their individual objectives must be aligned with our top company goals. In fact, we just rolled out a new OKR Management System that allows for 100% transparency so everyone can see and track each other’s individual goals and company goals. Now, there is no excuse for me not to know what everyone is working on...from our team in Bangladesh to our folks in London and New York, I can truly say that the company as a whole is playing on the same team; working towards the same goals and at the end of every quarter we will either hit a homerun or strikeout TOGETHER.
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In addition to hiring great people, we also ensure that everyone at NewsCred has a clear understanding of what the core company goals are for each quarter. No matter an employee’s position within NewsCred, their individual objectives must be aligned with our top company goals.”
Fortune magazine has ranked Newscred as one of the ten best companies to work for. How do you maintain such a flourishing working environment? What are the strengths of your company? Is there any corporation that you emulate?
Our major strengths are the team, culture, and product we have built and continue to build. As mentioned already, you can’t be the leaders in an industry without having a team of rock stars behind you. A unique and authentic culture because it’s one of the hardest things to maintain as the company grows, but it’s what empowers us and keeps us going. Often our culture and values are what brings us our greatest successes and proudest moments. And finally, the product because it’s what differentiates us; our product can never stay stagnant. It must constantly be evolving. With every new feature and idea that we produce, our customers become that much more successful at Content Marketing. And lastly, a few of the companies that I admire, primarily because of their culture, are Netflix and SpaceX.
Content marketing was a very new idea when you first pitched it. Could you detail your journey and provide some advice to those seeking to generate an idea that is not so familiar with the masses? NewsCred was founded by me and two other close friends in 2008. I was working for Merrill Lynch for almost 7 years when I decided to quit and build a startup. It took at least three years until the business started to see any
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movement and even during those years our business model kept pivoting and changing. Despite it all, we persevered and in the years following we raised over $90 million, went from a team of under ten to 200 people that spanned across 5 global offices and significantly increased our revenue and publisher network. My best advice would be to always believe in yourself. Never give up despite the obstacles you will face and the skeptics you will encounter. Each mistake is a lesson so never stop making changes. Hustle, have fun and never let go of the conviction you have for your idea/business - it’s this conviction that could take you on the most amazing, most terrifying and most rewarding journey of your life.
What is the process of finding the correct content for the respective company?
We always start with the why. It’s vital we understand our clients’ needs, target audience, product value and what defines and distinguishes them as a brand from the beginning. We cannot help our customers be successful at Content Marketing if we cannot help them identify their authentic voice or the true stories that connect them with their audience. From there, we develop a strategy and design content that allows them to tell stories in the most compelling way. There is already a ton of noise out there so it’s extremely important that the content coming from our brands is not only authentic, but it takes a unique perspective and is symbolic. Without these qualities, we just add more noise.
We Are Not Just Pro-immigration. We Exist Because of Immigration. NewsCred shared a letter with ICE Business Times which Shafqat Islam had written for all their employees. The letter addressed the recent executive order on the immigration ban in the US.
Team – thank you all for your comments, letters, and debates over the last few days. I treasure all of our conversations. This is a personal note to my wonderful, supportive, brilliant colleagues. I wanted to share my thoughts on the immigration issue in more detail and close the loop. My goal is simply to ensure we all understand each other better and can build common empathy. I am Bangladeshi. I have been fortunate to live in many different countries and have been an immigrant twice. The first time was in Switzerland, where I met my wife and eventually got Swiss citizenship. My second experience as an immigrant was in the U.S., where I chose to come to start this business that I am so lucky to build with all of you. I now have a green card. My parents went through a similar experience. They arrived in London in 1972 with a couple of suitcases and the immigrant dream. My father received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and my mother taught at a public school. They endured many hardships (some which I can’t even write about) in an era fraught with racism and xenophobia. Yes, that was 40 years ago. My cofounder Asif’s parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1974 after fighting in the Revolutionary War in Bangladesh. They both worked at Duane Reade as their first job. After very successful careers, they are incredibly active in their local community (as organizers, counselors, and politicians). My other cofounder Iraj’s parents immigrated to Sweden. Also coming from humble backgrounds, they both eventually became some of the most well-regarded genetic scientists on the planet. All of our parents exhibited a value that
we live by at NewsCred: perseverance. Fiercely courageous, they had the will and tenacity required to endure hardships when the odds were stacked against them. NewsCred was built by immigrants and the children of immigrants. But not just the three of us. We employ dozens of immigrants of all backgrounds and religions. Many of NewsCred’s early employees were immigrants. Kayvan Salmanpour, one of our first hires who built our sales team, currently lives in the U.S. on a green card and is from Iran, one of the seven countries on the list. Together, we all built this company that has hired hundreds of people here in the United States. We are not just pro-immigration. We exist because of immigration. But more than that, we as a company are guided by our values. Our path is illuminated by our morals. And our first value, compassion, is our compass. At NewsCred, we often say “it is sometimes better to be kind than right.” Coincidentally, the word “Shafqat” means “compassion” in Arabic. This week’s executive order was not just an affront to our company’s pro-immigration stance. But it was a direct assault against our values. While protecting our national security is an important issue, broad-based immigration bans and discrimination based on religion is something we cannot tolerate. It was disrespectful to our current employees (immigrants and non-immigrants alike), and it marginalized the impact of our former employees, many of whom can no longer leave the country to see their families. I believe this is not a political issue. This is a moral issue. We have built a wonderful culture of tolerance at NewsCred – we have members of both political parties, of every race, religion, and sexual orientation. Vigorous debate with respect is part of our culture. But as a company we will come down with intensity on anything that directly attacks our values. Even if that order comes from the President of the United States. I have a two-year-old daughter at home, and she is by birth a U.S. citizen. That not only affords her all the rights and privileges of an American passport, but it also means that she can one day become President of this amazing country. In typical Asian dad fashion, I remind her of this every day. But even if she is President, she will still always be the daughter of immigrants. And I hope one day she will be proud of the company and the values we have all built together – every single one of us – regardless of origin. In the immortal words of Dr. King, “we may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
Shafqat Islam
CEO, NewsCred Inc.
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Special Report
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U N I V E R S I T YINDUSTRY LINKAGE
Changing for the Future By Mohammad Kashif Choudhury
Backdrop of the State of University-Industry Synthesis During the year 2019, Asif Chowdhury, a business graduate of a top-15 private university in Bangladesh, like thousands of his batch mates, is on his way to his dream job at one of the premiere conglomerates in Bangladesh, where he will work as a business development manager with multiple roles ranging from products to marketing to project management. He got the job after his university facilitated an internship at the company during his 3rd year. He also received an edge from taking the standardized, mandatory English communications course mandated by the UGC and the elective course CS50 (Introduction to Computer Science, which Harvard University freely distributes and supports) offered from his university on the flipped classroom model.
This story may seem unrealistic, but provided we use the potential, initiative, opportunities and human resources at our disposal, it may indeed come to fruition by the time Asif graduates (remember, it’s still 2017 so him and his friends are still only in their 2nd year so we still have time). As it stands however, we are far from this reality. Even though Bangladesh is steaming ahead at full speed towards middle income status, prosperity and substantially improved standards of living, it is facing a severe shortage of university graduates with the right skills in jobs ranging from management to marketing to finance to product development and project management. This is compelling the country to rely on around 500,000 expatriate white collar workers, costing the country foreign currency outflows of more than $5 billion every year.
and Illustration by > Drawing Jason Sabbir Dhali
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Macro-economy is on the upswing but has to be maintained
Even though the agricultural sector is the largest sector in terms of employment, it is the third biggest component in terms of value generated with a 16% share of GDP.
If the skills gap is left unchecked, this problem will only get worse as the GDP grows at more than 6.5% per annum, crossing $200 billion, exports exceeding $35 billion, remittances at around $15 billion and foreign exchange reserves in excess of $30 billion (more than enough to pay for 9 months’ of import payments). Its growth is projected to be competitive with regional peers, exceeding that of Vietnam, Pakistan and China and close behind India. Even though the peer group has a higher GDP base than Bangladesh, these trends point to a convergence if growth is sustained.
Real GDP Growth Rate ($) - Stacked The industrial engine is firing on all cylinders The engine behind Bangladesh’s growth is comprised of the agricultural, manufacturing and services sectors. Even though the agricultural sector is the largest sector in terms of employment, it is the third biggest component in terms of value generated with a 16% share of GDP. The manufacturing sector comprises 30% and the services sector makes up the remaining 54%.
6.3
6.3
6.2
6.8
6.5
6.7
7.6
7.8
7.8
6.7
6.5
6.3
6.3
4.7
5.2
5.5
5.8
4.0
2015
2016
2017
2018
6.7
6.0
6.1
6.6
7.1
7.2
7.6
7.0
7.3
6.9
4.0
2014
6.0
2019 Source: World Bank
Percentage Share of GDP by Value Sector
Major Components
16% l l
Services
l l l
54%
l
30% l l
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Services
l
Manufacturing
l l
Source: CIA Factbook 2015
l l
l
GDP USD
200 Billion
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l
Agriculture l l
Financial Services Business Services ICT Services Hospitality Services Healthcare Services Education Services RMG & Textiles Pharmaceuticals Power Cement Steel Edible Oil FMCG Backward linkage to staple foods Backward linkage to value added food products Backward linkage to jute Backward linkage to packaged foods and exports
In order for Bangladesh to continue on its growth path, it needs the brains of its youth to fire on all cylinders. As it stands, the demand for skilled manpower far outstrips supply – not in numbers, but in job/skill fit.
However, the engine needs skilled hands to power it In order for Bangladesh to continue on its growth path, it needs the brains of its youth to fire on all cylinders. As it stands, the demand for skilled manpower far outstrips supply – not in numbers, but in job/skill fit. There are 3.2 million students enrolled in tertiary education currently with hundreds of thousands coming into the workforce every year and they are expected to make up the majority of the labor force in the foreseeable future.
Population Age Distribution 65 years Above 55-64 years
5% 5.9%
25-54 years
38%
15-24 years
18.8%
0-14 years
32.3%
59.0
59.2
59.3
59.4
59.5
55.9
56.1
56.2
56.4
56.6
57.7
57.0
56.3
56.4
56.5
81.3
81.6
81.9
82.2
82.5
73.4
73.4
73.5
73.6
73.6
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Source: World Bank
Labor Force Participation Rate (Percentage)
Even though nearly 200,000 people join the labor force each year, the need for human capital remains ever present – stunting economic growth and forcing thousands into underemployment due to lack of skills. As the diagram above shows, Bangladesh’s labor force participation rate has remained strong over the years, but is lower than that of its peer country, Vietnam. Moreover, the tertiary educated students who are joining the workforce are often ill prepared to deal with the realities of life outside the university campus, with below average levels of problem solving ability, subpar learning abilities, lack of confidence and communication skills and an overall lack of analytical sense. The reasons for this are multifaceted and are thoroughly explored below. www.ibtbd.net
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The fundamental reason for the massive gap between academia and industry is a lack of understanding for the needs of the job market by academia.
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Graduates don’t get the jobs they want
University with a moat around separating it from industry
Students have limiteaccess to the outside world
Career Fairs
Companies don’t get the talent they need
Academia
On Campus Recruitments
The University
HR Firms try to bridge the gap
They enter the job market with limited knowledge of what to expect
Universities and companies are trying to bridge the gap Companies don’t collaborate extensively with universities
Leading to lack job misplacement and wasted potential
Business Case Competitions (e.g. Battle of Minds, Bizmaestros)
Industry
Occasional Guest LectureRs from Industry Practitioners
Current Status Quo
While at a university, students are largely “shielded” from the job market until they graduate. This means that even though Bangladesh produces hundreds of thousands of graduates every year, they do not come equipped with the skills that companies look for. A lack of practical experience, exposure to real world problem solving assignments and a lack of willingness from both universities and companies to invest sustained time and money to foster increased communication are compounding the problem. There are limited efforts by academia and industry to foster connection, culminating in business and coding competitions to hire promising graduates. Some big name business competitions include Battle of Minds by British American Tobacco, Bizmaestros by Unilver, Brandwitz by Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University. Additionally, there are occasional career fairs, on campus recruitments, unstructured alumni outreach and occasional guest lectures in the universities. However, all this is proving insufficient to address the wide academia – industry rift that has emerged over the years. Something different is needed. Something radically different.
Unstructured Alumni Outreach
Industry Linkage
The Core Problem The fundamental reason for the massive gap between academia and industry is a lack of understanding for the needs of the job market by academia. Many academics still consider themselves to be purveyors of knowledge first and as a means for jobs second. However, most students and employers view the university as the rite of passage to careers and this creates a mismatch between what industries need and what universities offer and it rears its ugly face once students get to the job market.
The expectations gap between academia and industry can be broken down into 3 components.
of Understanding 01 Lack of Industry Needs by Universities Based VS 02 Knowledge Application Based Learning of Structured 03 Lack Collaboration Approach by Both Sides
Lack of understanding of industry needs by universities Written Communication
Theory Rote Memorization Ability to Learn
Analytical Ability
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Problem Solving
Analytical Ability
Universities provide students with knowledge and skills that are often incompatible with the jobs they apply for. Whereas, companies demand analytical ability, problem solving experience, fluid verbal/non-verbal communication (especially in English), and the ability to learn, universities teach students often outdated theory, test them on written communication and generally teach to the test – skills that are not conducive to real world work situations in most industries.
This is leading to business graduates being unemployed, pharmaceutical graduates working in administrative positions, engineering graduates working in marketing and a whole host of similar misallocations of talent. This, in spite of the fact that industries need talent more than ever, with increasing domestic consumption and international demand for Bangladesh’s exports.
It is regularly seen that top management positions in MNCs as well as local corporates are taken up by foreign talent in the absence of adequate local talent
The most severe crunch is being felt in the following industries:
Sector
RMG & Textile
ICT
Corporates/Business Houses/MNCs
Importance
Problem
RMG is the biggest export earner of Bangladesh by far (80%), which amounted to $25 billion in 2014-15. It is widely acclaimed for being at the core of Bangladesh’s growth story
A lack of skilled managers, textile engineers and technicians are prompting factories to import talent from India, Pakistan and East Asian countries, causing foreign exchange drains, decreasing opportunities for local talent and stunting domestic capacity development
A fast developing sector that the government is hoping to generate more than $1 billion in exports from by 2018. It is widely considered to be the first point of diversification from RMG for the country due to low cost of IT graduates
A lack of English proficiency combined with a dearth of professionalism may be the biggest hindrance to the sector reaching the stated target and successfully moving the country away from overreliance on the RMG sector
As per capita income goes into the $1,500 to $2,000 range, domestic demand for FMCGs, consumer electronics and services will become stronger, pulling this segment up with it
It is regularly seen that top management positions in MNCs as well as local corporates are taken up by foreign talent in absence of adequate local talent
Skill Gap
l l l l
l l l
l
l l l
Management English Communication Skilled Engineers Technical Diplomas
English Communication Business Professionalism Up to Date Technology Knowledge Ability to Rapidly Adapt
Management English Communication Ability to Rapidly Adapt
Knowledge Based VS Application Based Learning “A thousand year old sector that has resisted all attempts at change”. Perhaps this definition of universities is not far from the truth. Once bastions of knowledge, these institutions are facing their biggest challenge yet and may be forced to finally change according to the times. This has been further necessitated by the fact that nowadays, people have all human knowledge freely available to them at their fingertips through the internet. This calls for universities to become centers of knowledge application, rather than knowledge dissemination. As a recent E&Y report on Australian universities stated,
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“Our primary hypothesis is that the dominant university model in Australia — a broad-based teaching and research institution, supported by a large asset base and a large, predominantly in-house back office — will prove unviable in all but a few cases over the next 10-15 years. At a minimum, incumbent universities will need to significantly streamline their operations and asset base, at the same time as incorporating new teaching and learning delivery mechanisms, a diffusion of channels to market, and stakeholder expectations for increased impact.”
Research by Florida State University Professor of Psychology Anders Ericsson (inventor of deliberate practice) shows that practicing a skill over and over again builds myelin sheaths is brain cells that make them fire faster. This also helps them build mental representations of the skill which solidifies learning
However, as it stands, institutions in Bangladesh and in fact throughout the world are continuing in their ways of solution first, problem second pedagogy – which is the complete opposite of what students encounter in the workplace. Neuroscience has recently shown that in order to solve problems effectively, the brain learns best by doing.
Better Learning Outcomes
So universities may try a flipped classroom model, where students watch lectures and take notes at home and solve problems in class to foster learning by doing, increasing retention and developing problem solving abilities among students
Lack of Structured Collaboration Approaches by Both Sides There is a lack of structured and continuous collaboration between universities and industries on the student front. Career fairs, alumni reach outs, business case competitions, guest lectures from practitioners and on campus recruitments are executed on a periodic basis, with one sporadic event not being able to build on another.
Direct
Sporadic
• •
Integrated
Career Fairs On Campus Recruitments
Indirect
Truly integrated approaches that build student capacity and create a supply of
• • •
Business Case Competitions Alumni Reach Out Guest Lectures from Industry
capable graduates for companies in all sectors of the economy are absent
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Overall, a system has to be set up where there’s continuous flow of information and communication between students and prospective employers through a structured regimes
Steps
The Solution to the Mismatch between Graduate Skills and Job Requirements A multifaceted approach has to be implemented in order to close the gap between industry and academia, with initiatives from both segments. Overall, a system has to be set up where there’s continuous flow of information and communication between students and prospective employers through a structured regime of internships, mandatory industry involvement in courses and collaborations with industries to design effective curriculums which will be effective at the workplace. Top universities around the world like the National University of Singapore (NUS), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Stanford and many others have honed their ability to collaborate with industry stakeholders and position themselves as strong and steady sources of talent for the top companies of the world. Some of the steps that have to be implemented in order for Bangladeshi universities to follow suit are as follows.
Academia Centric
Industry Centric
Both
Increase funding for career services departments with strict KPIs of placements and partnerships per semesterand set department wise collaboration KPIs Involve industry in modifying existing curriculum so that graduates’employability is enhanced Administer regular feedback surveys to companies to measure effectiveness of strategies in increasing student employability Make Introduction to Computer Science Mandatory to all graduates to enable dynamism and allow them to perform at a higher level. CS50 by Harvard University can be used for this Overhaul English language communication courses by exposing students to ‘real life ’ professional situations Incorporate flipped classrooms to solidify learning and increase employability Engage enrolled students in product R&D, marketing and operations Setup centers for collaboration where students deal with real world problems and help companies arrive at solutions These steps will fulfill the integrated approach to academia – industry collaboration and allow both students and companies to thrive, driving Bangladesh forward into prosperity.
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*Please check the online version of the article on www.ibtbd.net for: - a link to a sample student evaluation survey for companies - a link to CS50 by Harvard University (Introduction to Computer Science)
Interview
Khwaja Shahriar
Acting Managing Director LankaBangla Finance Limited
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LANKABANGLA
Building from the Core Acting Managing Director of LankaBangla Finance Limited, Khwaja Shahriar has a firm grasp of the finance industry due to his stints at several commercial banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFI). Having worked companies like BRAC Bank, AB Bank Limited, Uttara Bank Limited and GSP Finance Company Limited as well as several others, Shahriar is now set to make a difference in the industry with new and improved banking solutions through LankaBangla Finance Limited.
Q
You’ve spent most of your career in Commercial Banks. What changes did you have to deal with when you moved from a Bank to an NBFI?
After working in commercial banks, working in NBFIs was not much of a challenge for me. Though NBFIs don’t have general banking, however, they have functions similar to commercial banking, such as lending and taking deposits. When I joined here first, the industry as a whole was not in a good shape. We have around 32 NBFIs in Bangladesh, but apart from a few companies most of the companies’ were not performing as was expected of them. At first, with a very enlightened and supportive Board of Directors, we had to reorganize the entire organization in a way which would give us leverage to avail the opportunities in the market. Earlier our focus was geared more towards the capital market but
as a financial institution, our primary goal was to focus on the core competencies such as lending and deposit taking. So we tried to recruit the right kind of people who could appropriately help our company’s growth.
What areas of the market are LankaBangla focusing on currently?
For the last 3-4 years, we’ve been focusing on building our strengths around our core competencies. That has given us the edge that we primarily needed. If one looks at the lending spectrum, we focus on areas like corporate, retail, as well as SMEs. But considering the market, we’re trying to bring our focus more towards SMEs as this particular segment remains the main engine for growth. From the risk management point of view, the SMEs are smaller in size, so that way you can diversify your portfolio and also mitigate the risks to a greater extent.
What style of leadership do you incorporate in your work throughout LankaBangla Finance Limited? The people that we recruited in LankaBangla comprise of young individuals; these people have been the driving force for this organization. The kind of leadership that we’ve been following is very much a participatory one. Apart from our guidance, they are empowered to take decisions on their own. I personally prefer this because most organizations take the top-down approach, we however, go for the bottom-up approach. People of this new generation, believe in new ideas and innovations. At LankaBangla, we’re trying to tap into the minds www.ibtbd.net
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Earlier our focus was geared more towards the capital market but as a financial institution, our primary goal was to focus on the core competencies such as lending and deposit taking.” of our youthful employee pool. If you look outside our company, you’ll see that our economy is also being driven by these people. So as far as where leadership is concerned, we were able to create a platform where these people can excel by unleashing their potential.
What are the challenges of operating in the financial industry in our country?
If you look at the overall economy, you’ll see that it’s in a sound position compared to what it used to be. All we need is the right structure and people to take advantage of the growth potential that are available in the market. The regulators have been really helpful in this regard. This is evident in the private sector as private sector credit growth is on the rise again. You can see it in the entrepreneurial zeal of the people, they are now more interested to avail loans so that they can make meaningful contributions to the economy. I believe that if you have a good understanding of the market, you can overcome any kind of challenges.
What is the competitive scenario you’re facing in this industry? How are you steering LankaBangla through this?
Although we are an NBFI it doesn’t mean that we’re competing with our peers only; banks are also our competitors. The first competition that arises is from the human resource’s side; our people have been an asset for this organization and we are facing challenges in retaining them; there’s also the cut-throat competition in terms of rates. But we believe that we’ve been able to
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build a competitive advantage, where we are still managing to do good business. We follow a ‘differentiation strategy’, which means ensuring more value addition in terms of services and processing. These are the things that paved the way in establishing a positive presence in the market, regardless of the competition.
What is LankaBangla doing in terms of financial inclusion for our country?
As part of the Government and Bangladesh Bank’s initiatives, we are also working towards the financial inclusion. We are trying to focus more on the SME’s. As a result, most of the branches that we’ve opened are outside Dhaka. So SME financing is one of the initiatives that we have taken, in order improve the state of financial inclusion for people in the rural areas. SME’s being the growth engine for the economy, needs financing and that happens to be one of our main focus. On the other hand, our deposit side is trying to mobilize deposits from the far-reached parts of the country, driving the national savings. We’re also complementing the bank’s efforts, especially by introducing our various deposit services. Right at the moment, we have 19 branches. By the end of this year we will hopefully have 30 branches; and most of them will be located outside Dhaka.
What other initiatives has your company taken to help with the development of the marginalized people in our society?
Our LankaBangla Foundation is dedicated to serve the cause of the
marginalized people of our country. The foundation was built to address the CSR issues and for the last few years, it has been very much active. We are providing scholarships to poor but meritorious students. As a part of green banking, we’ve conducted tree plantation programs every year in various upazilas. During winter we try to reach out to the poor people under our blanket distribution program. Furthermore, we’ve also provided bicycles to female students in the rural areas so that they can commute to their schools. We’ve also donated eye equipment to some of the eye hospitals here.
What was the best leadership advice you ever received?
“Leadership is more of actions than a position. You have to think big and always believe in yourself. One has to broaden their mind to make the most of the opportunities, and once you do, you’ll be able to deliver more. This that will position you in a place from where you can lead.”
Interview
Niaz Morshed Elite
Founder President, JCI Chittagong Managing Director, Borotakia Group
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BOROTAKIA GROUP
Working for the Youth of the Nation N
iaz Morshed Elite, as the Founder President of JCI Chittagong, has been focusing on using his resources for the greater good of the younger generation. As a passionate worker and leader, he has been voicing the concerns of the young people tirelessly through diverse forums, concentrated in the field of entrepreneurship. It is his belief that if we don’t tap into the potential of our youth by investing in them and directing them down the business line, they will become a liability for the country in the future. Niaz is also the Managing Director of Borotakia Group, whose activities mainly concern the assembling of two/three wheeler vehicles and supplying port equipment. During his discussion with ICE Business Times, he explains, “The total development of Bangladesh is by default a private sector led phenomenan and I am working to awaken the
potential of the youth of our nation. At the policy level, there are provisions for single-digit loans for women entrepreneurs. However, there are no such provisions for the younger generation who constitute one third of our population. Bangladesh has the vision to become a middle-income country and gradually, a developed country but if we fail to connect to the group in the 19 to 40 age bracket, then we will fail to achieve our targets.” He continued, “The youth have failed to enter the business domain due to shortages in capital, thus, they queue up in the long lines to enter the service industry. Banks are still inclined to provide loans for young entrepreneurs if they have the right experience and collateral, but without it they cannot get the adequate funding.” Niaz explains that these issues are driving his activities. He goes on to express the firm need for a supporting policy regimes which can aid young entrepreneurs in both the micro and macro levels. “We need a large pool of young entrepreneurs to reach our long-term goals so we need to start providing the necessary technical training for these people. We have to bring change in our mindsets and curriculums. The majority of the people are studying for BBAs and MBAs and now there is a new trend of going for Law degrees. This is because the market is over saturated. We need to go for education that supports our market and the market demand for technical people is expanding www.ibtbd.net
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They can be counted as assets when we are helping develop their skills. However, they will be turn into liabilities when the appropriate fields are not created for them.”
every day.” He then spoke of the millennial generation who can be great assets for the country but may also become liabilities if their potential isn’t realized in time. He elaborates, “They can be counted as assets when we are helping develop their skills. However, they will be turn into liabilities when the appropriate fields are not created for them.” He cited many innovative government projects including a2i and Young Bangla but emphasized on the need for more tangible formats in the field of entrepreneurships saying, “One sort of SME loan can be curtailed for the young generation along with some youth centric policies.” Despite the need for their growth, Niaz expressed his dismay regarding the lack of patriotism in our youth. Expanding on this aloofness regarding our cultures and norms he said, “We are adopting the others’ norms very quickly but forgetting our ones which is quite alarming. Our younger generation are not thinking about our culture and are not aligned with our roots. A lot of people are not even properly aware of the history of the Liberation War and the war criminals. Those who were present during the war time are emboldened by our history but the there is a missing link with the current generation.” Moving on to the topic of the port city, Chittagong, Niaz spoke of some key issues, “The development of the port city is required for the sake of the whole country. The geographical location is very important and by default we have
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a natural port. We do not need dredging. Now the growth rate of the Chittagong port is 17% and it will rise in the coming days. For 2020, we need the Bay Terminal, Patenga Terminal and it is imperative that they go into operation otherwise we will be in a big trouble.” He commended the government’s efforts for the SEZ and for maintaining its focus for the development of the city. “To keep pace with global development we need to expand the port and infrastructures like the electricity, gas and other communication modes. In that regard, a coordinated move is a primary requirement.” Regarding his entry into the family business he said, “Our business started in 1989. Since 1989, we have been distributing Tata trucks and buses with Nitol Motors and continued it up to 2002 and then joined with Runner group. I first became involved with the business when I was still a student at North South University in 2003. My father gave me a job as an executive in Borotakia Group and in 2006 I started a new business in Bangladesh which involved a plant for assembling three wheelers. In 2012, I established the Junior Chamber in Chittagong and in 2013, I established the Kulshi Club. Now we have 800 members and we have procured land in Foy’s Lake. I still have a long way to go but it gives me encouragement to see young people and their contributions to these organizations.” Detailing the current stance of their business, he said, “There are 400 people working in my
company now. We are mainly a transport selling company and authorized distributor but two wheelers and three wheelers have been my addition. We have a two wheelers and three wheeler assembling plant. We are working with the Chittagong and Parya ports and also involved in equipment handling and maintenance business in the ports. Next, we are looking to make an assembling plant encompassing 142 acres of land and are in a process of signing contracts with a Chinese company for the transport vehicles in the 1 ton range.”
Feature
PayPal
The Financial Friend By Afsana Zarin
he world has never been the same since the invention of the worldwide web. Around half of the world’s population are connected to the internet. As such, we've been hearing the word “digital” being thrown around a lot lately. Everyone wants to go digital and there has been a significant rise in the number of digital nomads worldwide. Millennials, who will be around 90% of the world’s population by 2020, prefer to live their live carpe diem style. They like flexible working hours, so, there has been a significant rise in the freelance workers worldwide. Many of the young people are taking freelancing as their profession these days. In 2015, Bangladesh had around 5.5 lac registered freelancers and it was ranked the 7th outsourcing destination of the world. Since then there has been a significant increase in the number of freelancers and outsourcing companies. However, even with this significant shift, receiving payment from abroad has always been an issue for this large group of freelancers. To solve this problem, Sonali Bank has come to an agreement with PayPal, the world’s most popular online money transfer service owned by eBay. They signed a draft agreement with PayPal to extend their services in Bangladesh. A source confirmed that a team of PayPal officials recently made their visit to Bangladesh and underwent several meetings with the government and other associated bodies to formulate a viable operating policy for PayPal in Bangladesh. After the discussion, a draft was made and sent to the PayPal HQ at San Jose. The announcement from both parties is due soon. The Bangladesh government has been trying to bring PayPal services in Bangladesh for years. If everything goes right, this lengthy process is soon coming to a happy ending. Freelancers around the country are thrilled with this news of PayPal bringing their services to Bangladesh. Xoom, another PayPal service has been available in Bangladesh since November 2015 and can pick up cash directly from 15 partner local banks. Xoom also offers deposit services in more than 58 banks in Bangladesh. With all this being said, let’s have a look at how PayPal works. There are more than 192 million active PayPal users in the world right now, making PayPal the world’s number 1
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digital currency platform. PayPal works as a middleman for customer and merchant services. Sending money in PayPal is much faster than using cheques and money orders. It has a purchase protection feature which prevents frauds and keeps financial information private and secure. The money is transferred using the Payflow Gateway API and merchants can process debit and credit card payments, PayPal, PayPal Credit®, authorizations, captures, and credit voids through it. There are three kinds of services offered by PayPal: Personal, Premier, and Business. A personal account is for individuals who shop online. A premier account is for individuals who buy and sell online and the business feature is for the merchants who use a company or group name. To open a PayPal account, you need an email address and a credit card. After you have an account, you can send and request money through PayPal. There is an option to add your bank account to the PayPal account which allows you to transfer money to and from your bank and PayPal account. You can also use eBay Merchant tools for free. PayPal coming to Bangladesh will not only smoothen the foreign payment process for the freelancers but around 900 e-commerce stores and 9,900 f-commerce stores will also be benefitted from it. These stores usually use bKash for payments but it has its limitations for sending money and cash out. PayPal might be the solution to replace the cash-on-delivery process on which most of the e-commerce and f-commerce stores rely. PayPal also works for the betterment of the ecosystem. For example, PayPal launched Recharge, a unique six-week program focused on empowering women technologists to get back to work after taking time off to explore their passions, develop interests and strengthen families. The program is a part of PayPal’s commitment towards nurturing a culture of diversity and inclusion in the technology industry. However, not using PayPal according to the guidelines can be detrimental to the whole community. Currently in India, PayPal has stopped the personal payment option for the misuse of the Personal account. We see an enormous potential for PayPal and the outsourcing industry in Bangladesh. But all these are speculations till PayPal and Sonali Bank seal their agreement officially.
The writer can be reached at afsana.nabila@gmail.com.
Feature INTERNATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS
Preparations for Global Participations By Mehrin Karim The National Board of Trade Sweden (also called Kommerskollegium) held its pilot Trade Academy Training for 2016-17 to provide comprehensive knowledge of modern trade and trade regulations as well as skills in analyzing, formulating and implementing trade policy in the beautiful city of Stockholm. The Trade Academy is a training program that extends over two semesters and is part of The National development cooperation. Its main aim is to improve the recipients' ability to participate in international trade and thereby contribute to growth and poverty reduction in recipient countries. The Trade Academy is free of charge. The course consisted of four blocks. Phase 1 (15 June – 26 August 2016, in home country): the participants write a short paper in English, 2-5 pages, describing an example of a current trade policy challenge in his/her home country. Phase 2 (19-30 September 2016, Stockholm): the participants attend the course in Stockholm. Phase 3 (3 October 2016 – 10 February
2017, in home country): the participants work in home country on a paper on a chosen trade policy topic with support from mentors. Phase 4 (13-17 February 2017): the participants attended the course in Stockholm to finalize and discuss their paper written during the phases and learn more about trade policy. This was the first of its type and 2016-17 participants came from nine countries - Bolivia, Ecuador, Georgia, Kenya, Lebanon, Ukraine, the Seychelles, Zambia and last but not the least, Bangladesh. The training consisted of theory interspersed with various interactive features in the form of group discussions, exercises and role playing. Many exercises have had the fictitious country Algabia as a starting point, a country with trade policy challenges to which participants have been asked to solve. On the second phase held in Stockholm in September, lectures were delivered by NBT’s employees and covered important topics such as Rules of Origin (preferential, for FTAs and GSP), Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS), Trade Facilitation (TF) and subsidies. On the final phase held in February, each country chose a topic of their choice and
presented it followed by very active discussions from other member countries and the mentors. Bangladesh presented their paper on Trade Facilitation, Challenges and Recommendations. Various key issues such as the BBIN Initiative, National Single Window system has been highlighted and Bangladesh position in the Global Trade Indicators such as Doing Business Reports and Logistic Performance Reports were also discussed. The participants were not only confined to classes. The Trade Academy arranged a visit to the famous Ericsson studio were the Ericsson officials talked about the importance of ICT for reaching the 2030 agenda and how well the ICT industry is positioned to help achieve, or even accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. On the last day of the training, the Director General of National Board of Trade handed the diplomas to the eleven women and twelve men from nine countries for their efforts in training Trade Academy organized by the Board of Trade. It has been rewarding both for NBT and for the participants who would now use new and innovative approaches to illustrate the importance of trade for development. The participants after the course have received the knowledge of the importance of trade, the link between trade and economic development, and how the various trade policy issues are linked. They also acquired the knowledge of the structures, functions and roles that need to be in order to be able to implement trade policy analysis in practice. The next round will be carried out in September 2017. Anyone working with trade related issues can contact tradeacademy@kommers.se for further information
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Leadership
STANDING ABOVE THE CEILING WOMEN
By Subah Ali
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very year, March 8th marks the International Women's Day where women are celebrated as they make strides towards equality. However, a month is not enough to commemorate the continual success of women who break into sectors that have seldom been explored by their gender. As these women are breaking barriers, they are paving the way for a better everyday for more women. Despite gains in every profession, women remain underrepresented at all levels of leadership. Even with the introduction of ‘female-friendly’ policies such as flexible working hours and maternity leaves, the workplace is still largely male-dominated making it difficult to find too many women in proper positions of power. Hence, we look at a few women can serve as shining examples; who’ve broken past stereotypes and made their way to the top of their respective industries.
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Sheryl Sandberg
Indra Nooyi “Every morning you’ve got to wake up with a healthy fear that the world is changing, and a conviction that, to win, you have to change faster and be more agile than anyone else.” Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo Consistently ranking among the World’s 100 most Powerful Women, and being listed as Time’s Most Influential People, her rise to power has been one of utmost determination and hard work. She realized that when it came to business, women had to work harder than their male counterparts to reach the same level of success. A perfectionist with a slogan of, “Performance with purpose”, Nooyi has been the driving force behind making PepsiCo the second-largest food and beverage business in the world. At a keynote speech, Nooyi broke down her leadership philosophy into 5 C’s: •Competency- The key is to stay ahead and stand out from the rest of the pack. Also, if mistakes are made, embrace the lessons learned from them. •Courage and Confidence The most important part of being a leader is having confidence. A lot of the
times, women do not speak out and voice their opinions, for fear of negative feedback. Nooyi says to establish your knowledge base, and speak out, and demonstrate your leadership. •Communication - To be at the top is one thing, and staying there consistently, is a whole other. Nooyi has learned this lesson in a hard way, when investors tried to get the board to kick her off as CEO. It’s vital to invest in communication with your colleagues and employees, she believes. Employees should feel like their voices are being heard, and a true leader should always be motivating them. •Consistency - Being reliable and steady allows for credibility and a baseline to measure your success. Determination and willpower are key in following through. •Compass - Integrity is critical. Nooyi has been vocal about her beliefs since day one, talking about the importance of health, and calling out the hypocrisy of the standards of health foods in the market.
Sheryl Sandberg stands as one of the most powerful women in business, becoming the first woman on the board of the social media behemoth, Facebook, in 2012. Before joining Facebook as its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Sandberg assisted as Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google. With her beloved media personality, Sandberg is said to be more the face of Facebook, than its
founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Her biggest lesson for being a true leader is to be proactive and deliberate. While most leaders are busy burying their heads in spreadsheets and other metadata, Sandberg believes in taking an energetic role in meetings, outlining her vision and having everyone’s feedback be heard. Many people become too bureaucratic when they come into power, they feel the need to mask their emotions to suit the position. Doing this, they often times lose the authenticity that put them to power in the first place. In order to climb the corporate ladder, Sandberg believes in holding on to one’s authenticity.
“Taking initiative pays off. It is hard to visualize someone as a leader if she is always waiting to be told what to do.” -Sheryl Sandberg Your opinion about yourself defines not only your work, but life. It is important to be your own advocate, and have your voice be heard. Be confident, and unapologetic about who you are and people will appreciate that. www.ibtbd.net
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Mary Barra In January 2014, Mary Barra became the CEO of General Motors, making history as the first female CEO of a major car company. She is also deemed the most powerful woman in the business world, ranking in the top ten of Fortune 500. Her loyalty and hard work are unparalleled, working at GM since she was 18 years old. When we think of corporate CEOs the image of a prima donna immediately comes to mind: flamboyant, lavish, egotistical, and even a bit of a tyrant. However, Barra is the complete opposite. Humble and collaborative, she is quite the team player. She exudes a sense of quiet confidence that demands immediate respect and admiration. “Don't confuse progress with winning. If the world is improving at 10 percent, and you’re improving at 2 percent, you might be improving, but you’re still losing.” It is with this mindset that Ms. Barra has dominated corporate America, a triumph in itself, but more so because of how scarce women are in the corporate world.
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Bibi Russell One of the notable luminaries in Bangladesh is Bibi Russell, the founder of ‘Bibi Productions”, a world-renowned fashion house that showcases Bangladeshi handicrafts. Before opening ‘Bibi Productions’ in 1995, Bibi Russell worked as a model. With a vision to revive the art of crafts, Russell’s fashion line fuses indigenous Bengali culture with modern wear. Other than being one of the most celebrated designers and personalities, she is also a humanitarian and received worldwide praise for her work with UNESCO. When asked about how today’s fast fashion needs can be met by hand-loom pace, she said, “Why limit
yourself to one weaver when there’s an entire village out there? Divide the work, and that way you’re not just uplifting one person, but rather an entire village!” Her infamous slogan of “Fashion for Development” reminds us of how she is using her line to develop her country. Youth, Design, and Connectivity are the forces of the future, Russell believes. The possibilities are endless when these are brought together. Hence, it is critical for today’s youth to get involved from an early age, if they want to make a difference. They have the advantage of having the world at their fingertips, largely through the Internet, so they should follow their passion. When being in a business where you are dependent on artisans for their craft, respect is crucial. In order to gain their trust, and to openly communicate in order to make your ideas come to life, it is important to spend time on understanding how they work. One of the reasons for Russell’s immense success is that she combines the need for profits, and social responsibility perfectly. When entrepreneurs are true to their work, it opens up the possibilities, because consumers respond to humility and passion.
Ivy Huq Russell
A former investment banker, Ivy Huq Russell is the founder of Maya.com.bd, an initiative that is one of a kind in Bangladesh. It is dedicated to empowering women through access to information and a shared community. She came up with the idea for the website in 2011 when she was pregnant. “I soon realized the importance of having access to useful and trusted information at hand to learn more about my body and pregnancy.” Graduating from the University of Warwick in Finance and Economics, Ivy believes her passion was always in helping people. In September 2011, the beta version of the website was launched. The immediate positive response and the attention from the media were overwhelming. However, the hurdles were aplenty. Ivy talks about how the biggest obstacle in Bangladesh is people’s lack of faith in anything risky. She has had to hear the phrase, “it can't be done” repeatedly. Turning a blind ear to the protests, she took solace in the fact that all entrepreneurs had to go through hardships.
Special Event
Building the Right Bridges for the Future Interviews by Rubab Nayeem Khan and Shaikh Ashfaque Zaman Photographs by Kazi Mukul
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angladesh Brand Forum (BBF) organized the 7th Bangladesh Brand Forum Seminar for 2017, presented by AIUB. The theme for the event was “Branding in Digital Age” and aimed at inspiring the CXOs, Heads of Marketing, Brand Managers, Agency Heads, Operation Heads, Digital Marketing Department and Leaders of Bangladesh to be a part of the digital transition that is going to change Bangladesh in for the future. Prof. Dr. Charles C. Villanueva, the Pro Vice Chancellor, AIUB started the event with the welcome note of the day. A special note was presented by
Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO, Dhaka Bank Limited. The opening speech was given by Shariful Islam, the Managing Director & Founder of Bangladesh Brand Forum. The first keynote session was provided by Hermawan Kartajaya, President, World Marketing Association and the Co-founder of Asia Marketing Federation. The next keynote session was from Debabrata Mukherjee, the Vice President Marketing, Coca-Cola India & Southwest Asia. A panel discussion on “Traditional to Digital: The Organizational Perspective” was held on the next segment of the seminar. Later in the day, case studies were presented in participation of Indonesia, Philippines and Bangladesh on the topic of “Future of Marketing: Brands Evolving from Traditional to Digital Landscape”. Dr. Hooi Den Huan, Director of the Nanyang Technopreneurship Center & Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University moderated the session, with participation of Professor Dr. Syed Ferhat Anwar, Professor at IBA-University of Dhaka and Maria Luz E. Javier, the
Secretary General – Asia Marketing Federation (AMF) & Former President – Philippine Marketing Association. The next keynote session was by Nigel Hollis, Executive Vice President & Chief Global Analyst at Kantar Millward Brown on the topic of “Brand Building in the Digital Age”. The last keynote session was by Salvador Lopez Jimenez, Professor at ESADE Business School who is also a renowned rock musician of Spain. The event was powered by Dhaka Bank Limited and Beximco in association with The Daily Star and was supported by Yellow, Bangladesh Edible Oil Limited and Rahimafrooz Solar. The event partner was Le Meridien, Etihad was the Airlines Partner, Shwapno was the Retail Partner, Terracotta was the Branding Partner, MSB was the Strategic Partner, Aamra was the Technology Partner, Masthead PR was the PR Partner and Webable was the Social Media partner. During the event, ICE Business Times got in touch with speakers, Salvador Lopez and Nigel Hollis to get further insight into the topics they discussed during their respective keynote sessions.
cases, we have seen McDonalds’ campaign. They opened a Facebook page with the hopes of telling everyone about their experiences with their product; however it was subjected to a lot of criticism. One of my sessions which I usually teach at my university is about how brands can have a conversation with the market; which is tough because we’re the ones creating the language as there’s no standard language.
You spoke about how emotions are intertwined with music. Can you expand upon how emotions guide the digital space in the marketing platform?
Technology, social network and the digital space as a whole, provokes emotions. For example, when you hold your smartphone, you feel like the entire world is in the palm of your hands. Technology is glamorous and it makes people feel in control and powerful and that’s something that we can use in marketing. When you give audience that value by allowing them to feel more informed or important, it serves as a marketing tool which one can use to reap the benefits.
Technology is glamorous and it makes people feel in control and powerful and that’s something that we can use in marketing.” Salvador Lopez
Professor, ESADE Business School
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“Are you taking advantage of your customer’s new digital behavior?” How far has this question been taken into account in the context of digital media marketing?
This is a new language and organizations or brands need to learn this. They need to know how to talk to the masses and this is difficult. There are best case and worst case scenarios; and among the worst
Social media platforms like Facebook Messenger, Instagram have recently copied the features of Snapchat, which is currently trending. With this increased volume of engagement how do they maintain consistency?
It’s all about saturation of a novelty; when something is an innovation it makes a big difference. Then you can build loyalty, engagement and fan base around that. But when everybody else is doing the same thing, you need to find your new blue ocean. But it won’t affect the users as much; they’ll grow up and renovate themselves. The copying of these trends will create some sort of deception for a while, but you’ll move forward engaging with the next generation.
Can you tell us about a campaign where customer creativity was optimally used?
Aftershave brand, Old Spice launched a TV commercial and unexpectedly it became a conversation. That campaign was so successful that the sales of the company multiplied. That’s because people were putting in a lot of effort and energy into the brand. www.ibtbd.net
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Why are research and big data particularly important in marketing right now?
This is because people are getting lost in the plethora of data. It is as if the data is obscuring the goal instead of being helpful. You have to look for the unspoken notions and the behavioral data that doesn’t necessarily tell you all that you need to know. There is a lot of clutter and you have to make your brand stand out. You have to stand out in the crowd and make your band stand out. You want to make something that people pay attention to.
Could you elaborate upon the 5 R’s of marketing: reach, receptivity, risk, resonance and react?
You have to stand out in the crowd and make your brand stand out. You want to make something that people pay attention to.� Nigel Hollis
Chief Global Analyst, Millward Brown
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What is the concept of a persuasion test? Why is the pre-test of any advertisement important?
A pre-test is important because we cannot guarantee how a target audience is going to respond; even marketers who spend so much time crafting an individual execution. When they craft an execution, they spend so much time with it, they cannot keep track of what people will find interesting, whether they can keep up with what is being shown and said and whether they find the basic idea motivating or not. With these in consideration, one must run a pre-test and have a solid idea of these matters.
Reach - there is no point in limiting your market to a percentage of people. You need to reach as many people as possible. And that will remain true for both digital and traditional media. Receptivity - if you look at the point I was making with generation Z, they are way less receptive to advertising as a concept and practice. Therefore you have to earn their attention and hold on to it when they are actually receptive. Risk - you have to push the boundaries to stay relevant. One of the things that we recommend to our clients is investing 70% of your marketing budget in something that you know is productive, take 20% and invest it in newer stuff that is showing potential and the last 10% in experimenting and pushing those boundaries. Resonance - this asks the question of whether or not the content that you are using is striking a chord, and is it emotional engaging or not. Without that, you can shove an advertisement in front of someone and they will get rid of it as fast as they can. React - a reaction is what we want at the end of the day. We want people to be motivated in some way and take action. This would ideally lead to them buying a product or a service.
You stated that synergy and consistency are necessary for a brand to stay relevant. Could you cite a brand that has done so?
You have to look at the usual suspect, Coca Cola, who is incredibly good at getting content that flows across different channels but is instantly recognizable to the brand. If you think about the end line, the signature tunes and the visual, you know that you are watching a Coca Cola advertisement. Looking at the name advertisement alone, it makes use of the profoundly underused medium for advertising asset the packaging itself. For any package to generate an idea, that in itself is very innovative.
Feature
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
The Battle for Their Futures By Nasirra Ahsan
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he Innocent Justice website is not for the faint-hearted. It talks about the real life accounts of children who have been abused to make child pornography. The website includes data and facts about the current battle against this growing entity and also mentions the tireless effort that’s being put in to end this practice. When a new story about the discovery and subsequent bust of a child prostitution ring breaks, the focus is mainly on the perpetrator. But what impact does this heinous act have on the child? Who are these exploited children and the people committing such acts? The United States Department of Justice defines child pornography as ‘any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (someone under the
In Bangladesh, outdated legislation, poor social services, inadequate policies and insignificant implementation of these policies means children are at a high risk of being abused. age of 18). Visual depiction includes photographs, videos, digital or computer generated images indistinguishable from an actual minor. Electronically stored data that can be converted into a visual image of child pornography is also deemed illegal under Federal law. Furthermore, Federal law prohibits the production, distribution and reception and possession of an image of child pornography.’ (wearethorn.org, 2017). The law further states that the act is punishable by a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. Despite the presence of such laws, Innocent Justice (a US based charitable organization) reports that the USA is the largest producer and consumer of child porn, with 55% of the world child pornography being produced there. The website goes on to mention a study that was done in 2001 which confirmed that: • 99% of the child pornography seized shows sexual abuse of very young children. • 19% of the children photographed were under the age of 3, • 39% had images of children between 3-5 years of age, • 83% consisted of children around 6-12 years old.
While child pornography was always present, the easy availability of the internet has aided in it being converted into a global business. Gopal Balagopalan, a senior advisor with UNICEF stated that the internet helps not only with pornography but also in the exploitation of children through prostitution, sex tourism, and trafficking. Intuitively, this makes sense: pornography, unlike guns and drugs can be copied infinitely. Thus, it can be easily distributed and is able to reach audiences in different parts of the globe. Dr. Mary Pulido, the Executive Director for the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children mentions in her blog that child pornography is distributed in two ways- it’s either commercial child pornography that is distributed for profit, or non-commercial child pornography that is offered free or traded among offenders, like the P2P networks. The blog also cites that this has helped it turn into being one of the fastest growing online businesses with an estimated worth of around $3 billion. And just like any business, many producers have sprung up to meet this endless demand. According to a 2004 UN report, criminal gangs in Russia and Eastern Europe actively recruit children with the intentions of posting them online. Many such websites generated revenues worth $2 million with subscribers from 59 different countries. However, this problem is not limited to the western globe only. Thailand has long been a destination of choice for pedophiles and had been as recently as 2014 been demoted to Tier 3 by the US Department of Sate for failing to combat human trafficking. This isn’t surprising if you look at the basic economic and demographic condition of this country. Thailand has a GDP of $5778, with almost 18% of its population below the age of 14 (World Bank, 2013). The Northern regions of this country have seen very little of the tourist wealth and economic boom has been slow in distributing its
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economic wealth. Combine this with a community which has been hard hit with the addiction to methamphetamines and you have the perfect mesh pot for exploiting children. Other parts of Asia haven’t fared well either. Asian children are more at risk of being the victims of child abuse imagery for a number of reasons ranging from high poverty levels, social acceptance of child labor, lack of birth registration, lack of education for a female child and traditional practices such as early marriage. Take Indonesia for instance - in a report by the UNICEF titled “Children in Indonesia: Sexual Exploitation”, Indonesia is described as not only a major source of human capital for trafficking for forced labor, debt bondage and sexual exploitation but to a lesser extent it is also a destination and transit country for foreign victims from neighboring countries. Internal trafficking across and between provinces and from rural to urban areas is equally pervasive, occurring in two-thirds of all provinces’ (UNICEF, 2010). In many countries, the presence of internet has created a new threat. In the Philippines, individuals are paying parents for sexually exploiting their children and live streaming it online. The real time nature of these incidents with software like Tor allows people to access these websites and not be traced. In Bangladesh, outdated legislation, poor social services, inadequate policies and insignificant implementation of these policies means children are at a high risk of being abused. The above-mentioned data also raise the question of who these individuals behind the monitors are. Clinical psychologist, Dr. Heather Wood posits many reasons behind the viewers of child abuse imageries and videos in her journal titled “Internet Pornography and Pedophilia” (2013). She proposes reasons starting from the high level of sexual stimulation in childhood, being sexually assaulted themselves as a minor, having a quick access to a large amount of content online to struggling with adult intimacy. Dr. Wood also mentions that those who view such
According to a 2004 UN report, criminal gangs in Russia and Eastern Europe actively recruit children with the intentions of posting them online. Many such websites generated revenues worth $2 million with subscribers from 59 different countries. material are also more likely to engage in such acts themselves. But what of the children themselves? The effect on them is physical, psychological and social. Even after the victims have been rescued, they continue to suffer psychological damages in later years. Victims mention feeling shame and anxiety which often intensifies into feeling deeply hopeless and having a low self-esteem. It is also suggested that these individuals also struggle in maintaining a healthy emotional and physical relationship as an adult. Child pornography is a very difficult subject to read about and even harder to write about. Having to read some of the harrowing accounts of the victims online left me speechless but determined to raise awareness on this issue. Bangladesh with its high poverty rates and inadequate policies can quickly turn into a haven for a pedophiles. Steps must be taken to ensure the safety of those who are at risk. Actions such as promoting positive child care practices, recognizing vulnerable households and strengthening the crew of social workers can help alert parents and stop such acts from taking place. We can also petition for the government to update and enforce the laws regarding sex with a minor and the distribution and possession of child pornography. They say it takes a village to raise a child; let's further ensure that these children grow up to be healthy and happy human beings.
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SEAN SPICER
DONALD J TRUMP
International
K E L LYA N N E C O N WAY
STEPHEN BANNON
The Frightening Five
MIKE PENCE
By Sheahan Nasir Bhuiyan
AMERICAN POLITICS
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hen the world goes to, pardon the language, (insert poop emoji), superheroes come together to restore the peace by eliminating the threats. At least that's what the Marvel and DC universe has taught us through numerous hero coalitions like the Avengers, the Justice League, the Guardians of the Galaxy and what not. Ladies and Gentlemen, the world is facing numerous threats but none more potent than the group assembled at the most powerful office in the world. Donald J Trump is the President of the United States of America, and with him, he’s amassing a group who, if left unchecked, can bring about the end of the world as we know it. Now you might say it is harsh to call Mr. Trump a supervillain just because he’s changing the way things were done under the previous boss, but let us take
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a look at some of the things he’s done since he’s assumed the role of the most powerful man on the planet. On the environment front, he’s set in motion moves to scrap the Environmental Protection Agency, and completely changing the terms under which the United States joined the Paris Climate Agreement. He’s signed executive orders, which means the US will not meet the target of cutting carbon emissions by 26% by 2025. Trump’s policies will set back all that’s been done under the previous administration, and we may see the effects of climate change unlike anything seen before. He has also cut development aid. A lot of development organizations the world over, including UNICEF, are reliant on US Federal funding to do the good work that they do. This could lead to a calamity as NGOs pull out of operations, leaving millions of the most vulnerable and marginalized people without any assistance. Furthermore, President Trump issued a global gag order forbidding US-funded agencies from promoting abortion as a means of family planning. This legislation will also cut crucial funds for local and international NGOs around the world working in maternal health, leaving many women in desperate conditions, often pursuing unsafe abortion options. One of the US President's promises during the election campaign was that the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, would be replaced by a plan that provided insurance to every American. The Donald,
along with other Republicans have reneged on their promise and proposed a health bill which would leave 24 million Americans without healthcare, if it passes. These are just a few examples of the things he’s done since he’s been President. There’s so much more. And let’s not forget all the things he’s done before this election. This is a man so evil that the character Biff Tannen from the Back to the Future trilogy was based on him. Remember Biff? The school bully who had no problem forcing himself onto Marty’s mom? Yeah, that’s Donald Trump. Surprised? Not even a little bit. Spot on actually. The scariest part of it all is that it's not just him in power. The cronies he’s assembled to run the administration by his side are just as bad, if not worse than him: Trump’s right-hand person, and America’s backup in case Trump is no longer President, is Vice President Mike Pence. Pence was the Governor of Indiana before being approached by the Trump administration to be Trump’s running mate. Mr. Pence’s resume boasts some truly horrific feats and could put comic book villains to shame. While Governor, Pence signed a bill which restricted Planned Parenthood funding to such levels that it triggered an HIV epidemic in a county in Indiana. He is also skeptical of climate change, against LGBT rights and loathes gun regulations. A seasoned politician, one of Pence’s first acts as VP - elect was to promise $7 million in tax breaks to Carrier in order to save American jobs, which didn’t quite work out (730 jobs were saved while 550 went to Mexico). The deal was so shady, it even prompted Sarah Palin (check Super Villain issues from 2012) to cry “crony capitalism”. A perfect running mate. Supreme Overlord Trump (bet that’s what he forces Siri to call him) has Kellyanne Conway
supporting him as his personal counsel. Conway by name, and very con-ning by nature, Conway has a remarkable ability to squirm out of really tight places, especially during interviews leading many to wonder if her villain costume would resemble a weasel. She is infamous for coining the term “alternative facts” which is essentially a fancy term for lies. She is also known for creating the “Bowling Green Massacre”, an incident where apparently a massacre occurred in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 2011. Some Twitter users from the area reported that four unicorns died on that night. A tragedy indeed. Conway has shown that she has no regard for simple things like facts, choosing instead to go with the rhetoric of the President, which is at most times, full of “alternative facts”. She is one-half of the propaganda machine of this super group and she does her job well. Even though Trump is the leader of this posse, he may not be the www.ibtbd.net
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These five are supported by an entire cabinet of climate change deniers, capitalist cronies, and even Ben Carson, who in all honesty, probably doesn’t even realize what’s going on.”
vilest of the lot. That honor falls squarely with Stephen Bannon. He is the Chief Strategist and a Senior Counsellor to President Trump, a position which did not exist before and was created by the President to accommodate Bannon. He, like the President, is a Washington outsider and never has held any elected office. Bannon was the executive chairman of Breitbart News before joining the administration, a news site widely read but Trump’s voter base, featuring articles with titles like, “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy”, "There's no hiring bias against women in tech, they just suck at interviews” and even “Would you rather your child had feminism or cancer?”. If you’re still able to stomach this, you probably won’t be able to if you keep reading. Bannon has been accused of being anti-semitic not only based on the headlines but by his ex-wife as well after he refused to send their children to a school because of the number of Jewish
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students enrolled there. Bannon was also charged with domestic violence back in 1996, a case which was dropped after his ex-wife did not show up in court. This man is now advising the most powerful man on the planet. Not only that, he has also been elevated to the National Security Council which makes decisions with various agencies on national security issues. If you’re still somehow unconvinced, perhaps this quote from him will change your mind: “Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power. It only helps us when they (liberals) get it wrong. When they're blind to who we are and what we're doing”. Good luck world. Finally, there’s Press Secretary Meliss… sorry, Sean Spicer, the second half of the propaganda machine. Where Conway is a masterful artist of deflecting tough questions, Spicer is the “muscles” of the group and uses shouting and intimidation to address the media. A former Navy commander, Spicer worked under President George W Bush as a trade representative, during which he was also the Easter Bunny for the White House Easter Egg Roll, possibly the scariest one ever. Unfortunately for Mr. Spicer, however, things are not going according to plan. He does not fail to present “alternate facts” at every press briefing and his efforts have spawned countless memes along with a brilliant SNL sketch by Mellissa McCartney. Spicer does not seem to be evil, but more like Wormtail in Lord Voldemort’s service, eager to please his Master but messing up every time. There you have it. The Frightening Five. These five are supported by an entire cabinet of climate change deniers, capitalist cronies, and even Ben Carson, who in all honesty, probably doesn’t even realize what’s going on. If left to their own, who knows what will happen to the world in four years’ time. But fear not ladies and
gentlemen. There are those amongst us who can take them down; those who will hold them accountable and call out every “alternative fact” that’s presented. Those who have made it their job, night after night, week after week, to keep fighting despite the odds against them. There is a Chosen One amongst these heroes, one who can lead the others in a fight against their tyranny. He must come out of retirement for he is our only hope… Arise Jon Stewart and assemble your team…
Stay tuned for month’s issue for the Superheroes!
Beyond the Business
All Work Means More Play By Shaikh Ashfaque Zaman As the commander of your company, you put in the extra hours and sweat to see that the goals are not only being met, they are leading to the progress and proliferation of your company. Therefore, you deserve nothing short of the best. ICE Business Times travels to the most luxurious destinations in the world.
NECKER ISLANDS Located in the British Virgin Islands, this resort was built by Sir Richard Branson. The tropical getaway is far from the reaches of the hustle and bustle, nestled in a cozy nature filled environment. The spas, expert staff and privacy of the resort make it a true beach stroll through nirvana.
AURELIO LECH
LIFE BALL
From a tropical island to a winter wonderland, the resort is located in Lech am Arlberg, Austria. For the adventurous kind, there is a range of snow activities that include tobogganing, heli-skiing and snowshoeing. However, this is balanced with the tranquility of the spas and the meditation centers.
If you’re seeking a party to remember, the Life Ball in Vienna Austria is the stuff of legends. With the motto, "Be provocative. Get emotional. Embrace opulence", it is nothing short of a one-of-a-kind experience. The attractions are notorious for attracting the crème de la crème such as Bill Clinton.
QUEEN MARY 2 The Global cruise line offers sea-faring journeys explore the grand oceans while transporting participants to a host of exotic locations. Nevertheless, the attractions inside this grand vessel include exquisite restaurants, casinos, theaters and much more.
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CHATEAU LE CAMARGUAIS With the old world charm of the Victorian age, the chateau located in Rhone Valley gives one the grandeur of Europe and the serenity of the French countryside. Housed amongst scenic parklands, the interior host all the modern necessities to make one feel right at home. Source: www.businessinsider.com
Tech
Deconstructing the Post-PC Myth PC
A closer look at the absurdity of the ‘post-PC era’ dream
By Abhijit Asad
Like almost everything else ever touted and hyped by the late Steve Jobs, the dream of the fabled ‘post-PC era’, despite being hailed by the media and mushrooming tech blogs alike as a kind of technological singularity that would put an end to desktop computers and laptops, was neither a prophecy, nor was it a vision he came up with, although it was he who made it popular during the launch of the Apple iPad in 2010. While disparate fragments of that vision have come true, it has been established quite firmly that the post-PC era is, for the lack of a more fitting term, not happening, at least not anytime soon. The idea of the post-PC era was that due to advances in technology, people would become less reliant on full-scale computers and become more reliant instead on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, which have ushered in a new age of computing by putting touchscreen input front and center, allowing the user to interface with the device in a more intimate and direct
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While post-PC devices have grown in number immensely, and the Android operating system is on its way to outrun Windows in terms of user numbers worldwide, it does not mean that the era of the PC is over.
fashion. Furthermore, the internet’s increased reliability has made it possible for people to make greater use of cloud storage instead of having to rely on the local (and often limited) storage capacity of their ‘post-PC’ devices. The burgeoning power of the internet would even give rise to entire cloud-based software suites (even operating systems like Chrome OS) than can be run on a browser. All of these things have come true. Our computing habits have changed substantially, with our phones and tablets now being capable of doing many things for which we would have previously needed a full-sized desktop or laptop computer. Any photos I take with my phone automatically get synchronized over the cloud to the servers of Google Photos. I spend almost as much time staring at my phone as I do staring at my computer. Even this article is being typed on the cloud-based Google Docs word processor in Mozilla Firefox instead of Microsoft Word, largely because I don’t see the need to fire up another program for basic word processing while my web browser is running. But given all that, how can I detract it all and say that the post-PC era is a sham? Because, despite all their positive traits and advantages, the so-called post-PC devices have not managed to supplant the humble PC. If we take a closer look at the reasons behind this, the first issue comes down to the interface. While the touchscreen seems like a magical innovation, allowing the user to seemingly touch and manipulate the components of the software UI (user interface) directly, it has its limitations. Mobile phones and tablets, no matter how good, are limited by their screen size, which makes them unsuitable for anything other than handheld use, and since they require to be operated by touch, they cannot be used if they are out of arm’s reach anyway. Touchscreens, given their nature, are ideal for media consumption on a very up-close-and-personal scale, alongside minimal interactions (mostly consisting of basic tapping, swiping and dragging gestures of some sort), but as soon as someone attempts to do something a bit more intricate, such as typing on a virtual keyboard, it instantly devolves into a nightmare. Not only is the lack of tactile feedback from the virtual keys very disorientating for the brain (let’s face it, vibration-based haptic feedback, no matter
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how well-implemented, is a joke compared to the snappy, springy response one gets from a proper mechanical keyboard, or even a cheap membrane keyboard at that), but it also results in countless errors, even when assisted by autocorrect. Some tablet users have attempted to remedy this by sticking their iPads into cases with built-in Bluetooth keyboards and essentially reinvented the laptop, albeit in a mediocre and crippled form. Lastly, touchscreens are not even exclusive to post-PC devices nowadays. Many of the laptop computers on the market nowadays come equipped with touchscreens, and many manufacturers are building giant touchscreen monitors for PCs. In fact, Microsoft’s new flagship desktop computer, the Surface Studio, has received a great deal of praise for the remarkable design, versatile nature and smooth operation of the giant touchscreen that is the face of the device. The next factor that stands in the way of post-PC domination is that of processing power. No matter how much miniaturization technology advances over the years, the same technology that is used to cram more powerful microprocessors and other components into increasingly slimmer smartphone frames is also being used to cram more and rawer processing powers into the larger form factors of desktop computers and laptop computers. And no matter how powerful a smartphone or tablet is, it cannot match the power and instant multitasking abilities of a proper computer. For casual prototyping and doodling, a post-PC device is okay, perhaps even great. But for any kind of serious work, there is no alternative to a PC (for the record, even though Apple has tried to distance its desktop and laptop computers away from the PC dimension by calling them ‘Macs’, they are also personal computers in reality). The final challenge being faced by the post-PC devices is that of cannibalization. When the iPad first came around, tablets became all the rage, but when Samsung took the bold step of launching the then-huge Galaxy Note smartphone, it spurred forth a rapid increase in the screen sizes of smartphones, and eventually, many users realized that when you have a phone with a 5.5” display, it negates the purpose of carrying a separate tablet for most purposes. Tablet sales have dwindled over the years as the trend toward building larger phones has kept growing at the same time. While post-PC devices have grown in number immensely, and the Android operating system is on its way to outrun Windows in terms of user numbers worldwide, it does not mean that the era of the PC is over. The gap between the two dimensions remains a firm reality, and no more can a sleek tablet take the place of a powerful desktop workstation than a full-sized laptop can invade your shirt pocket to replace that nifty smartphone.
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HAPPENING
Word of mouth The Grameenphone Accelerator has unveiled the new batch of startups beginning their 4-month long acceleration journey at GPHouse. Finance Minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhit was present at the event along with Grameenphone CEO Petter-B Furberg, Grameenphone Head of Transformation, Kazi Mahboob Hossain; Minhaz Anwar, the Head of GP Accelerator; and Mustafizur R Khan, founder and CEO of SD ASIA. The Top 5 plus 1 startups are: Crowdware, JolPi Electronics, Doctorkoi.com, Bankcomparebd, Microtech and Barikoi For the third time Bangladesh is going to be part of the NASA Space Apps Challenge. This global event is going to be organized by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) as the host organizer for the event in Bangladesh
Ace Autos has recently unveiled Test Drive models of Haval SUV brand, the no 1 SUV brand of China. Azharul Islam, CEO of Ace launched three different models, namely H2, H6 Coupe and H9
Epyllion Group celebrated the “International Women’s Day” to show gratitude and honor to womanhood. On this day, all women officials of Epyllion were showered with grand evening program and musical night with the theme "Be bold for change".
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For the second year, Le Méridien Dhaka and the Embassy of France in Dhaka came together to celebrate French gastronomy during ‘Gout De France’. The celebration was inaugurated by the France Ambassador to Bangladesh, H.E. Mrs. Sophie Aubert
Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) organized the 25th month-long "Chittagong International Trade Fair-2017" (CITF-2017). Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu was present as the chief guest. CCCI president Mahbubul Alam presided over the function Four Points by Sheraton Dhaka is set to splash all the colors in this Pohela Boishakh, the Bangla New Year – 1424. Four Points by Sheraton Dhaka will welcome the New Year by hosting Boishakhi fair on April 14, 2017 in traditional Bengali style at “Wrapped” & “OASIS LOUNGE”. All day long the fair will be featuring chotpoti - fuchka corner, live pitha corner, traditional Bangladeshi deserts, local entertainments and many more. This fair will surely put an impression on your mind and you will feel connected with the root of “Authentic Bangla Fair”
Assure Development & Design Ltd achieved ISO 9001-2015 QMS Certificate from UKAS Local agent DAS Certification
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Recently JCI Dhaka West arranged Green Dialogue Series: Sustainable Environment for Developing World under ‘Go Green Bangladesh’ project. The keynote speaker of the
program was GreenMan Matthias Gelber. Before his speech Participants took part on a case study session run by six facilitators of Sustainable World Development Project. 2017 Local President of JCI Dhaka West Md Ziaul Haque and CEO of Maks Group Nessar Mahmud Khan also provided speeches. Sustainable World Development Project, Esperer Bangladesh, Greentech Foundation Bangladesh were the supporting partners of the program. Sponsor of the program was EMK Center & Media Partner was ‘ICE Business Times’.
JCI Dhaka West has successfully organized the second intervention of “Go Green Bangladesh” ‘Sea Shore Cleaning & Awareness Creation Campaign’ on March 26, 2017 at Cox’s Bazar. The mantra was
“Let’s make a promise on this independence day, to provide independence to all our tourism spots from the tyranny of garbage.” Earlier JCI Dhaka West had arranged a ‘Green Dialogue’ on March 23, 2017 in Dhaka. JCI Dhaka West thought that it’s their responsibility to create awareness among the tourists, increase usage of dustbins & keep the seashore clean so that the environment stays healthy. It was a half day event and more than 15 volunteers joined the event and cleaned the famous Laboni Point. Media partner of this event was ‘ICE Business Times’. JCI Dhaka West has an interest to run this cleaning campaign in all the main tourist spots around the country and will launch more initiatives very soon under the project ‘Go Green Bangladesh’.
JCI Dhaka West Organizes Green Dialogue
‘Sea Shore Cleaning & Awareness Creation Campaign’ organized by JCI Dhaka West on Independence Day in Cox’s Bazar
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BBS Cables Launches Fire Resistant FR Skin Coated Cables
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BS Cables Ltd, a leading pre-engineered steel building, cables, ware and conductor manufacturing company, has brought environment-friendly and fire resistant FR skin coated cables for the first time in Bangladesh in order to effectively protect public life and property. According to the authorities, fire resistant FR skin coated cables are pure PVC insulated color coated and fire resistant non-seeded single core cables. It is suitable for using in different sensitive areas like high apartments, commercial buildings, hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, airports, tunnels and rail stations. Managing Director of BBS Cables Ltd, Engineer Abu Noman Hawlader inaugurated the new product
through a program held in Gulshan, Dhaka. Directors of the company, Engineer Md. Badrul Hasan, Engineer Hasan Morshed Chowdhury, Engineer Md Ruhul Mojid and Md Ashraf Ali Khan along with Senior General Manager of Sales and Marketing Department, Omar Faruk and Brand Manager, Rabiul Kamal were also present. According to sources, after fire incidents, general PVC incorporated cable emits poisonous black smoke with harmful hydrochloric acid. It is one of the main reasons for fatalities during accidents. Hydrochloric acid also causes eyesight problem and disturbs rescue operations. On the other hand, PVC skin coated cables have high insulation resistance facilities that help keep the oxygen index over 29%. There is also a lower chance to leak
electricity. Besides, it emits less smoke and cannot spread the fire. As a result, fire servicemen can work easily. According to BBS Cables officials, with the progress and prosperity of the country, the use of cables has rapidly increased in residential, governmental and commercial buildings. If the fire and safety equipment is not perfect, it will lead to irreparable damage in the case of fires. From this contest, BBS Cables Ltd. has brought environment-friendly and fire resistant FR skin coated cables in the country. They also hoped that the use of FR skin coated cables would significantly reduce fire incident cases and damage caused by fires. BBS Cables Ltd.’s journey started in 2009. At the beginning, it used to manufacture pre-engineered steel building and cables and now it has become well-known for manufacturing high-quality cables.
CEMS Global’s 12th Dhaka Motor Show
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our exhibitions, including the '12th Dhaka Motor Show 2017'; '3rd Dhaka Bike Show 2017'; '2nd Dhaka Auto Parts Show 2017' and 'Dhaka Commercial Automotive Show 2017' kicked off to showcase the latest developments and emerging
technology of automobile industry during March. Renowned and leading car and motorcycle distributors and dealers along with lubricant companies, CNG conversion companies and importers from Japan, Korea, China, USA, Italy, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, India and Bangladesh are showcasing their products in over 300 booths across four halls. The program was organized by CEMS Global - Conference and Exhibition Management Services.
Capital Market BOURSE UPDATE
Fortnightly Report of DSE, 16th February To 28th February 2017 Top 10 securities by turnover value in Tk. Sl. No.
Name of securities
Category
Total Turnover in shares
Total Turnover Tk. in mn
% of Total Turnover Tk.
1 2
LankaBangla Finance Ltd. Baraka Power Limited
A A
64,589,317 72,415,603
3,869.10 3,678.75
3.95 3.75
3
Active Fine Chemicals Ltd.
A
49,306,562
2,438.90
2.49
4
Bangladesh Export Import Company Ltd.
A
70,970,347
2,402.54
2.45
5
Islami Bank Bd Ltd
A
52,570,473
2,295.07
2.34
6
IDLC Finance Limited
A
28,965,704
2,093.60
2.14
7
IFAD Autos Limited
A
15,565,515
2,048.78
2.09
8
Titas Gas Trans. & Dist. Co. Ltd.
A
36,062,980
2,010.63
2.05
9
Appollo Ispat Complex Limited
A
80,091,634
1,946.88
1.99
10
Central Pharmaceuticals Limited
A
52,702,763
1,728.01
1.76
Top 10 securities by turnover in shares Sl. No.
Name of securities
Category
Total Turnover Tk. in mn
Total Turnover in shares
% of Total Turnover shares
1
Keya Cosmetics Ltd.
A
1,460.66
92,482,776
3.56
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Appollo Ispat Complex Limited Generation Next Fashions Limited Baraka Power Limited Bangladesh Export Import Company Ltd. LankaBangla Finance Ltd. CMC Kamal Textile Mills Ltd. Central Pharmaceuticals Limited Islami Bank Bd Ltd Active Fine Chemicals Ltd.
A A A A A A A A A
1,946.88 870.69 3,678.75 2,402.54 3,869.10 1,646.49 1,728.01 2,295.07 2,438.90
80,091,634 76,517,033 72,415,603 70,970,347 64,589,317 60,558,005 52,702,763 52,570,473 49,306,562
3.08 2.94 2.79 2.73 2.49 2.33 2.03 2.02 1.90
Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sl. No.
Top 10 gainer securities (based on closing price) Current last Fortnight Fortnight change Name of securities Category Closing Closing % Price Price IPDC Finance Limited A 53.90 44.90 20.04 Salvo Chemical Industry Limited B 21.90 18.30 19.67 LankaBangla Finance Ltd. A 63.50 53.10 19.59 Al-Haj Textile Mills Limited A 109.70 92.90 18.08 GSP Finance Company (Bangladesh) A 32.70 27.70 18.05 Limited Active Fine Chemicals Ltd. A 53.00 45.20 17.26 AFC Agro Biotech Ltd. A 63.70 54.80 16.24 CMC Kamal Textile Mills Ltd. A 28.10 24.50 14.69 Premier Leasing & Finance Limited. B 15.30 13.40 14.18 Matin Spinning Mills Ltd. A 42.80 38.20 12.04
Name of securities
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
ICB AMCL 1st NRB Mutual Fund Zeal Bangla Sugar Mills Ltd. ICB Islamic Bank Limited Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd. Rahima Food Corporation Ltd. H.R. Textile Ltd. Kay & Que Ltd. SEML IBBL Shariah Fund
9 10
R.N. Spinning Mills Ltd. Dulamia Cotton Spinning Mills Ltd (DCSML)
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Top 10 loser securities (based on closing price) Current last Fortnight Fortnight change Category Closing Closing % Price Price A 21.00 23.80 (11.76) Z 30.20 33.90 (10.91) Z 5.00 5.60 (10.71) A 108.00 119.70 (9.77) Z 122.50 135.20 (9.39) A 35.50 38.90 (8.74) Z 38.30 41.80 (8.37) A 10.10 11.00 (8.18) Z Z
29.70 8.00
32.30 8.60
(8.05) (6.98)
Turnover Tk. in mn
Daily Avg. Turnover Tk.in mn
922.93 915.20 3,869.10 615.30 773.45
115.37 114.40 483.64 76.91 96.68
2,438.90 1,723.65 1,646.49 331.04 204.32
304.86 215.46 205.81 41.38 25.54
Turnover Tk. in mn
Daily Avg. Turnover Tk.in mn
12.41 4.77 27.24 64.46 18.25 71.09 0.91 2.40
1.55 0.60 3.40 8.06 2.28 8.89 0.11 0.30
551.96 0.35
69.00 0.04
Disclaimer: Dhaka Stock Exchange does not hold any responsibility for these date.
Fortnightly Report of DSE, 1st March To 15th March 2017 Top 10 securities by turnover value in Tk. Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Name of securities LankaBangla Finance Ltd. Bangladesh Export Import Company Ltd. Baraka Power Limited Ratanpur Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited Islami Bank Bd Ltd Far Chemical Industries Ltd. GPH Ispat Ltd. Active Fine Chemicals Ltd. Keya Cosmetics Ltd. Bd.Thai Aluminium Ltd.
Category A A A A A A A A A A
Total Turnover in shares
Total Turnover Tk. in mn
79,625,102 102,178,135 52,488,099 29,445,196 52,079,073 80,701,414 45,653,053 41,110,092 128,962,789 62,413,861
% of Total Turnover Tk.
4,968.67 3,606.59 2,653.17 2,506.60 2,278.76 2,205.41 2,196.61 2,110.96 2,100.81 2,010.25
4.36 3.17 2.33 2.20 2.00 1.94 1.93 1.85 1.84 1.77
Top 10 securities by turnover in shares Sl. No.
Name of securities
Category
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Keya Cosmetics Ltd. Bangladesh Export Import Company Ltd. Far Chemical Industries Ltd. LankaBangla Finance Ltd. National Bank Ltd. Premier Leasing & Finance Limited. First Security Islami Bank Ltd. Mercantile Bank Ltd. Appollo Ispat Complex Limited Bd.Thai Aluminium Ltd.
A A A A A B A A A A
Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Total Turnover Tk. in mn
Total Turnover in shares
2,100.81 3,606.59 2,205.41 4,968.67 1,011.50 1,195.53 1,073.94 1,292.37 1,546.18 2,010.25
128,962,789 102,178,135 80,701,414 79,625,102 70,600,733 70,091,457 68,409,235 65,277,182 63,958,624 62,413,861
Top 10 gainer securities (based on closing price) Current last Fortnight Fortnight change Name of securities Category Closing Closing % Price Price Continental Insurance Ltd. A 25.60 21.50 19.07 Premier Leasing & Finance Limited. B 17.90 15.30 16.99 Islamic Finance & Investment Ltd. A 26.30 22.60 16.37 Northern Jute Manufacturing Co. Ltd. B 302.90 260.90 16.10 Standard Ceramic Industries Ltd. A 64.80 56.00 15.71 Salvo Chemical Industry Limited B 25.10 21.90 14.61 ICB AMCL 1st NRB Mutual Fund A 23.80 21.00 13.33 Tosrifa Industries Limited A 25.90 23.20 11.64 Pragati Insurance Ltd. A 35.30 31.70 11.36 GSP Finance Company (Bangladesh) A 36.40 32.70 11.31 Limited Top 10 loser securities (based on closing price) Current last Fortnight Fortnight Name of securities Category Closing Closing Price Price Republic Insurance Company Ltd. A 30.60 34.70 Zeal Bangla Sugar Mills Ltd. Z 26.90 30.20 Rahima Food Corporation Ltd. Z 110.20 122.50 IPDC Finance Limited A 48.60 53.90 Gemini Sea Food Ltd. A 615.30 674.60 Meghna Condensed Milk Ind. Ltd. Z 9.00 9.80 Meghna Pet Industries Ltd. Z 9.10 9.90 LankaBangla Finance Ltd. A 58.50 63.50 Fortune Shoes Limited N 58.00 62.90 Subordinated 25% Convertible Bonds of A 1,025.50 1,110.00 BRAC Bank Ltd
Source: Dhaka Stock Exchange
% of Total Turnover shares
change % (11.82) (10.93) (10.04) (9.83) (8.79) (8.16) (8.08) (7.87) (7.79) (7.61)
3.83 3.03 2.39 2.36 2.09 2.08 2.03 1.94 1.90 1.85
Turnover Tk. in mn
Daily Avg. Turnover Tk.in mn
73.36 1,195.53 1,199.33 28.32 26.19 1,123.24 36.93 254.77 13.07 778.58
Turnover Tk. in mn
6.67 108.68 109.03 2.57 2.38 102.11 3.36 23.16 1.19 70.78
Daily Avg. Turnover Tk.in mn
11.12 598.33 1,005.40 0.59 30.80 52.16 14.45 1.83 603.70 367.12
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1.01 54.39 91.40 0.05 2.80 4.74 1.31 0.17 54.88 33.37
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