ICE Business Times June 2015

JUNE 2015 TK. 100

Leadership 8 Lessons to Learn from House of Cards

Tech GOOGLE I/O 2015 is All About Attaining Maturity

5 11

icebusinesstimes.net

Insights BUDGET 2015: LET'S BE OPTIMISTIC, ONCE AGAIN Apparel Industry MCKINSEY&COMPANY'S NEW REPORT SHOWS WHY AFRICA IS THE NEW ASIA

June 2015

CONTENTS 06

From the Editor

09

Briefing G7 Talks

10

Apparel Industry Opening a New Chapter

2

14

Bilateral Trade Modi’s Operandi

16

Agriculture Duty on Import of Rice

18

Infographics Peanut Production

19

Insights: Budget 2015

12

Enterprise Doing Business in Bangladesh

26

Digital Empowerment Keep Calm & Code it Away

28

Startup Interview of Ambareen Reza

30

33

Cover Story Social Business: Can it Punch out Poverty?

40

Inside Out Socialprenuers in Seattle

Leadership Frankly Speaking

32

Denim Exposition The Next Big Thing

44

Airlines Emirates on Cloud Nine

48 June 2015

CONTENTS

Business Club Yes! Through the Ages

52

Tech The Ins & Outs of Google I/O 2015

54

Apps of the Month Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow

58

Money Plan 5 Things You Need to Know about Car Loan

60

Corporate Fitness Sheer Stress vs Sheer Strength

62

Tourism Lessons from the Wonder of Asia

64

Travel V for Vietnam

66

Smartphone The Rise of the Selfie

68

On the Bookshelf Four Books on Social Business to Draw Lessons from

70

Word of Mouth

4

FROM THE EDITOR As Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are expiring by the end of this year, taking place are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This declaration from the United Nations, aims at ensuring better collaboration for international development. Among the seventeen proposed goals of the declaration, ending poverty everywhere in all its forms tops the chart. Our achievements in alleviating poverty worldwide are praiseworthy, though so much remains to be done. With MDGs, our target was to cut the 1990 poverty rate in half by 2015. As the most recent estimate suggests, in 2011, 17% of people in the developing world live at or below $1.25 a day, which was 52% and 43% in 1981 and 1990 respectively. If we consider it from the perspective of world population, we can say just over one billion people lived on less than $1.25 a day, compared with 1.91 billion in 1990, and 1.93 billion in 1981. This spells some serious progress.

Nevertheless, the same was not experienced when it comes to higher poverty lines. Besides, poverty has decreased all over the world, though the success rate is uneven; East Asia saw a dramatic 70% reduction in extreme poverty, while South Asia’s decline in extreme poverty was 25%, which was 61% only three decades ago. As the economic center of gravity shifts from the west to the east, countries like China outpaced the USA. Our neighbor India is also considered an emerging super power these days. Over the period, what happened in Bangladesh was also encouraging.

As World Bank reviews suggest, more than 15 million Bangladeshis have moved out of poverty since 1992.

Still we have a long way to go to punch out poverty.

How can we do it? Time has come to ponder over

some extraordinary strategies to fight back the menace. Social business holds a key to success in doing so. It comes in where traditional business models, philanthropy or issues like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fail. The strategy is to reinvest the earned profit: the investors get back their invested amount only, no dividend is given beyond investment money. This issue of ICE Business Times sheds light on the prospects of social business. We have interviewed two companies, success of which is highly encouraging for new entrepreneurs. As you read on, you will find out how these companies, breaking the stereotypes, writing new mantras of success by developing businesses, have social innovation and responsibility imprinted in their DNAs from the beginning.

The issue also deals with the 44th National Budget that was presented on 4th June, 2015 in the National Parliament by Abul Mal Abdul Muhith, the Finance Minister of Government of Bangladesh. As soon as the budget was placed, many ambivalent remarks were made on the crucial aspects of the budget. When some market experts opine that the budget contains big talks but less to show or devoid of directions, almost everyone applauds it as pro-business.

Regardless of the usual criticism and appreciation, what stands out to be extraordinary in this budget is the proposal of child-budget for the first time in the history of Bangladesh. The continuation of gender budget also earned a token of appreciation.

Amidst the constructive criticisms and approbation, let's hope that the government will make headway towards a new fiscal year with refined strategies and successful implementation towards the ultimate goal of achieving middle income country status by 2021.

Vol. 5 No. 11

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June 2015

Abul Khair Zeenat Chowdhury Nawshin Khair Tawhidur Rashid Nisha Sharmeen Ali Toufiqul Alam Lucky Begum Farha Tani Sk. Yeahhia Md. Abdul Alim Md. Manik Mollah Md. Raju Hossain

BRIEFING

G7

talks

Decarbonisation, Climate Change and Women Entrepreneurs take center stage With the motto “Think Ahead. Act Together.” the German g7 Presidency and G7 Summit took place on June 7th and 8th in scenic Schloss Elmau, Krün, Bavaria. Key topics of discussion included the global economy, foreign, security and development policy, as well as empowering self-employed women and women in vocational training, energy security, and the upcoming UN conferences on international climate protection and the post-2015 agenda.

Decarbonisation has become the buzzword since this summit with the G7 assembling behind a long term goal to decarbonize the global economy by the end of this century.

Pointing out the potential of new lucrative markets because of this agreement Jennifer Morgan, Global Director, of Global Climate Program, World Resources Institute stated, “Today, for the first time ever, G7 leaders have rallied behind a long-term goal to decarbonize the global economy. This long-term decarbonisation goal will make evident to corporations and financial markets that the most

lucrative investments will stem from low-carbon technologies. This target must also be a key element of an ambitious international climate agreement."

The leaders have agreed to take measures to ensure that the global average temperature remains below 2 °C of pre-industrial levels. Experts criticized that to achieve such a goal the world must be decarbonized by 2050 rather than the target of 2100.

The leaders agreed to continue in their attempt to provide and mobilize USD 100 bn from public and private sources. They called out to multilateral development banks (MDBs) to assist them in their efforts to deliver climate finance and help countries to transition into low carbon economies.

They also pointed out in their agreements that the private sector capital needs to be mobilized in order to reach the goals of a decarbonized global economy and helping against the effects that climate change brings. According to the agreement, “To overcome existing investment barriers finance models with high

mobilization effects are needed.”

The leaders have also promised to assist the countries susceptible to the ill effects of climate change, particularly the developing countries. They aim to increase the number of people with direct or indirect insurance coverage against the negative impact of climate related hazards up to 400 million by 2020.

The host of the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also announced that G7 governments had signed up to initiatives which aim to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, with a benchmark of reducing the number of people living in hunger and malnutrition by 500 million by 2030 and committed to prevent future outbreaks of epidemics such as the recent Ebola case as well as to refining the state of global responsiveness to such scenarios.

The G7 leaders talked about the importance of women’s entrepreneurship as a driving force for innovation and growth. They acknowledged the existence of the barriers women face all over the world to start their own businesses.

They urged interested countries to join in with their efforts. As stated in the annex “We will address the specific needs of women entrepreneurs, e.g. by promoting their access to finance, markets, skills, leadership opportunities and networks.”

Merkel has further warned that Greece needs to “make proposals and implement reforms” as soon as possible if they want to stay in the Euorozone.

The G7 countries were very firm on the stance against Russia regarding Ukraine informing that they were ready to strengthen sanctions against Moscow if necessary. They also said that they want Russian and Ukraine to comply with ceasefire agreement that was signed in the Belarus capital of Minsk by pro-Moscow rebels and the Kiev government in February.

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09

APPAREL INDUSTRY

Opening a New Chapter

Sourcing opportunity for apparel industry is sliding into East Africa region from predominant Asia

By Sushmita Saha The players of apparel industry reckon Africa to be the next nucleus for sourcing which is currently in strict control of Asia. A growing number of Chief Purchasing Officers (CPO) from Europe and US apparel industry manifest a strong inclination for choosing the Sub-Saharan Arica as a sourcing region.

A study conducted by McKinsey & Company titled as “Sourcing in a Volatile World- the East Africa opportunity” demonstrates a soaring portion of 40% of buyers who regard Sub-Saharan Africa to play a major role in sourcing over the next 5 years whereas it was a meager 17% in 2013.

The study presents the current scenario of global clothing exports demonstrating China to be at the forefront among all other apparel exporting nations with a total value of USD 177 billion. “Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar combined generate less than one-third of China’s export value,” explains McKinsey partner Achim Berg who specializes in advising fashion companies It surveyed a number of 40 CPOs who hail from leading multinational apparels and are collectively responsible for sourcing a volume of USD 70 billion.

One of the intriguing findings of the study is the anticipated increase in their sourcing share in Sub-Saharan Africa from a very low of 0.3% to a mounting 2.8% - almost tenfold.

When asked to rank the top 3 countries as potential future sourcing destinations over the next 5 years, the respondents identified Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar and Ethiopia- the first time name of an African country emerged in this context. Currently, sub-saharan Africa comprises a paltry 0.55% share of the entire global volume of clothing export which equates to USD 2.56 billion.

10

2.8%

One of the intriguing findings of the study is the anticipated increase in their sourcing share in sub-saharan Africa from a very low of 0.3% to a mounting 2.8% - almost tenfold.

177

USD

billion

The study presents the current scenario of global clothing exports demonstrating China to be at the forefront among all other apparel exporting nations with a total value of USD 177 billion.

One of the rationales behind the Sub-Saharan Africa being the popular choice of future sourcing destination is the anticipated long-term growth in the region’s long-term, vigorous working age population which will be on par with China today by 2035. The region, albeit, is perceived to contain extensive potential, it must be scrutinized at a granular level.

Within sub-saharan region, the CPOs particularly look to East Africa- particularly to Kenya and Ethiopia- the two neighboring nations with high potential but considerable differences in their garment industries. According to the survey, the portion expecting to start sourcing in Ethiopia and Kenya stand out to be 28% and 13% respectively, whereas, the portion planning to increase their sourcing share in Ethiopia and Kenya amount to 8% and 5% respectively. “These two countries now have opportunities to boost their share of the global sourcing market.�

Elucidates Berg.As mentioned earlier about the differences in their garment industry, the two neighboring nations have benefits on different aspects- Ethiopia on cost side, labor and energy cost specially and Kenya on productivity side, according to Berg.

However, there are hiccups on their way to prosperity which are common for emerging industries. Dearth of qualified technicians in both Kenya and Ethiopia is deemed as the most crucial business-related challenge identified by the surveyed CPOs. They also rail against the paucity of well-trained middle management and upstream industry in Kenya. Inefficient production and insufficient logistics infrastructure are identified to be the stumbling blocks of Ethiopia to flourish.

CPOs around the world rely on different aspects while estimating sourcing costs (price per piece).

While European CPOs focus on the exchange rate and labor cost, American CPOs consider raw material cost as a crucial factor contributing to sourcing cost. However, they are always on the lookout for new sourcing opportunities to explore and this time they are bent on exploiting the untapped productivity and opportunity in East Africa.

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11

ENTERPRISE

Doing Business

A new report shed lights on entrepreneurial challenges in Bangladesh

By Sharif Nazmus Sakib

The University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh's Center for Enterprise and Society, in collaboration with MRB Bangladesh, has published a comprehensive report on the strategies that entrepreneurs use to overcome the obstacles faced when setting up businesses in Bangladesh. The report was based on the Overcoming Business Challenges Survey (OBCS) and it explores effective strategies leading to positive outcomes in the respective sectors.

The OBCS is a survey of 536 CEOs and Managing Directors from small, medium, and large firms across three established industries – real estate development, information technology (IT), and furniture manufacturing. The study, a joint project of the Center for Enterprise and Society at the University of Liberal Arts and Sirius Marketing and Social Research Ltd. was completed in early 2013. Through the survey, the report explores entrepreneurial responses to four types of challenges: (1) obtaining financing, (2) developing reliable forward and backward linkages, (3) obtaining government permissions and services, and (4) hiring and developing effective human resources. Provided these obstacles, the report focuses on three broad categories of strategies that entrepreneurs might take to overcome the challenges they are faced with. These include

12

Only 7.2% of the entrepreneurs managed the investment from different financial sources.

strengthening the business as an institution, using personal and professional networks, or simply working harder and relying more on one’s entrepreneurial skills.

In Bangladesh the first and foremost obstacle toward business is to manage investment.

93.8% of the entrepreneurs have to start business from their own investment. The investment is almost self-funded. Only 7.2% of the entrepreneurs managed the investment from different financial sources. Self-funding is very difficult when the per capita income is only 1195 USD. Banks are asking for higher interest and financial institutions are not interested in making policies on SME, according to the findings of the report. People have to start and grow their business with a small amount of investment. Large firms cannot be formed at the beginning. Not even in the second year of business. The obstacle to access on financial sources still remains difficult.

Entrepreneurs have to go to the family members or to friends for investment. 17.1 % of the investment comes from this source. After one year of doing business, people still count on their personal investment and the rate is 72.9. The rate is still too high to establish large firms. In the median report of the investment, banks are still asking for a high interest of

around 16-17%--a real obstacle for the entrepreneurs! “Forward and backward linkages� is where entrepreneurs face problem after securing finances. Entrepreneurs have to face difficulties with trustworthiness of their suppliers. The rate of receiving legal support from the court is a poor figure. It is only 2.65 on a scale of 1 to 7. Fortunately only 14.3 % of the respondents reported having a dispute with their primary supplier or client. Moreover firms on average rated the ease of finding trustworthy suppliers and clients at an average 4.58 and 4.52 respectively on a scale of 1 to 7 where 7 was very easy and 1 was very difficult. In spite of the lack of institutional protections, it appears that most business have managed to find reliable firms with whom to work. Professional networks also appear to facilitate transactions, although family and friend networks matter less. About half of the surveyed entrepreneurs reported using professional contacts in obtaining information about or access to primary suppliers and clients. Brand name recognition and reputation appear to offer a particularly important solution, followed by reliance on professional networks and to a lesser extent competitive bidding.

The survey of CES and MRB reveals an enormous concern over instability. On a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 was very concerned and 7 was not at all concerned.

Corruption in government officials is beyond description. Entrepreneurs have to manage them with money or goods.

While there is plenty of evidence documenting that corruption is exceptionally high in Bangladesh, the pervasiveness of corruption as identified by respondents is still shocking. Between 93.8% and 97.7% of respondents who reported seeking any one of 14 permissions or

One potential strategy to overcoming redtape is using personal networks to facilitate approval processes. 20.3% of respondents reported hiring formal intermediaries and 38.4% of respondents used their professional contacts to provide information about government processes or to obtain access.

services reported having a bribe solicited.

Furthermore, corruption appears to be widespread across diverse government agencies, localities, industries, etc.

One potential strategy to overcoming redtape is using personal networks to facilitate approval processes. 20.3% of respondents reported hiring formal intermediaries and 38.4% of respondents used their professional contacts to provide information about government processes or to obtain access. Surprisingly, only 15.4% of the sample reported engaging family members and only 10.2% reported using friends. Entrepreneurs report substantial dissatisfaction with governmental processes and considerable anxiety over political instability.

Human resources: Provided a recognized need to continue to develop Bangladesh’s human resources, the OBCS sought to understand the strategies that businesses are using to attract qualified personnel.

Employers expressed general satisfaction with their employees. On a scalefrom1-7, where 7 was very satisfied, employers on average rated their management team at 5.81 and their rank and file employees at 5.52. The OBCS sought to measure the use of formal human resource management tools and asked entrepreneurs if they had a manager solely responsible for human resource management, an employee with a university degree in human resource management, a written employee handbook, or a formal written procedure for hiring new employees. For any one of these items, less than half of the firms reported in the affirmative.

There was variation across industry and firm size, however. 77.0% of real estate firms had a formal written procedure for hiring new employees compared with only 9.8% of furniture manufacturing firms.

The OBCS sought to measure the use of formal human resource management tools and asked entrepreneurs if they had a manager solely responsible for human resource management, an employee with a university degree in human resource management, a written employee handbook, or a formal written procedure for hiring new employees.

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13

BI-LATERAL TRADE

Modi’s Operandi Vague trade benefits for now but opportunities in future

By Ziad Rohan

Charm and disarm is what in a nutshell can be described as the theme of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent Bangladesh visit. No doubt, he had won the hearts of many, kudos to his compelling rhetoric and the way he handled the media, especially the social one. The question is if those were needed at all?

The gamesmanship, with which Modi wooed Bangladesh, was to persuade political parties and state governments back home so that the long-pending Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) could materialize.

It’s true that India would be a net loser in this case as it would have to give up more land and water resources, but the deals on connectivity and trades simply will outpace that loss.

A total of 22 deals, protocols and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were inked between the countries during Modi’s two-day visit. But none of the two nations revealed any details about it, especially on connectivity, transit or the $2 billion credit line.

Bangladesh granted transit to India, agreed to allow its neighbor to use

14

A total of 22 deals, protocols and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) was inked between the countries during Modi’s two-day visit.

its two sea ports as well as gave the green light for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for Indian investors.

What Bangladesh will gain from these for the time being is not clear.

Will we get fees from the goods carried through our land or on what exact terms are we letting them use the sea ports? That’s not clear yet as nothing is public except the names of the deals. Nevertheless, our foreign minister on the eve of Modi’s visit, however, said that fees have not been fixed but assured that it will be decided “later”.

From a broader perspective, yes, the SEZ will attract FDI from India, which always benefits countries like ours. But was the matter of Bangladeshi investors seeking a similar zone in India discussed during the visit?

On the note of FDI, Reliance Group’s $3 billion deal for the 3,000MW power plant coupled with an Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal is the single largest FDI in Bangladesh; while Adani Group will invest another $2 billion for a 1,600MW coal-fired plant.

No doubt that these two deals will benefit Bangladesh, which is marred

with the issue of power. But once again, remains the question on what terms and conditions,power will be bought from these two companies?

Both countries renewed the Bilateral Trade Agreements, but one of the key issues to reduce the trade imbalance between the countries—dismantling non-tariff barriers, was not discussed.

For what we know that India is supposed to allow Bangladesh surface access to Nepal and Bhutan for trade in return of the deal on coastal shipping allowing direct and regular plying of Indian ships to Bangladeshi ports. But, we are yet to be clear whether that would happen.

Connectivity through Bangladesh is critical for India as it wants to gain easy access to its northeastern states and it’s clear that Modi has hit a homerun on this by renewing the protocol on inland water transit.

Though we are not sure, what would Bangladesh materialize from allowing this access; we can only hope that in the coming days we will get a deal out of it.

An MoU on Blue Economy and Maritime Cooperation between the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean is a good start, but an MoU, nothing concrete.

Modi’s biggest trick in the bag was the $2 billion line of credit for Bangladesh and a master share of which will go to infrastructure development projects.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has told Parliament that the credit was unconditional and can be used in any sector Bangladesh wants.

But an educated guess is the infrastructure developments done by this money would facilitate transit for India. And there’s nothing wrong about it. After all one of the first lessons of Economy 101 is “There’s no such thing called as a free-ride”.

According to ‘The Times of India’ the

Modi’s biggest trick in the bag was the $2 billion line of credit for Bangladesh and a master share of which will go to infrastructure development projects.

line of credit is expected to create 50,000 jobs in India. It further says that the credit will boost several sectors in India like steel and cement as they would be exported to Bangladesh for the projects implemented by that money. Ring a bell?

The Bangladeshi private sector does have one thing to be hopeful about is the treaty between Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BSI) on cooperation over standard and quality control issues.

This will ease one of the key bottlenecks for exporters to tap the Indian market.

Let’s face the reality with a large neighbor like India, which is set to become one of the next economic power houses of the world, it’s tough for Bangladesh to gain much.

The deals do lack comprehensiveness, the desired goals for Bangladesh are not stipulated there and we did not have any plans on trade, tariff and investment before signing those. But in line with what I said in the very beginning of this writing, Modi did manage to remove some of the mistrust and misgivings that had previously thwarted progress between the countries.

Though it is frustrating that the Teesta Water Sharing deal was not inked, but that’s what has now given an upper hand to Bangladesh for bargaining with India. According to Modi’s assurance over the issue, we can very well hope that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should visit New Delhi in the next three to six months to seal that deal.

Meanwhile, what Bangladesh now needs to do is to play tactfully on the negotiation table with India.

The host of MoUs on trade, signed during Modi’s visit, have no doubt opened up avenues for benefits for Bangladesh, only if the right deal can be made out of those.

Until that happens, India’s gains on trade and economic terms are crystal clear from Modi’s visit, Bangladesh’s are rather vague.

The author had covered business and economic issues for newspapers, television channels in Dhaka and now works for an online newspaper.

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15

AGRICULTURE

Import of Rice: Levied a Duty of

10%

A tardy move to protect the interest of local farmers

T 16

By Sushmita Saha

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has finally imposed a duty of 10% on import of foreign rice from zero duty to shield the local market from experiencing a further plummeting of the market price of local varieties. When the decision, seemingly a boon to the local farmers, ought to be welcomed warmly by the local farmers and industry experts; it is actually producing much vexation among them for not taking this measure when the time was ripe.

The current Fiscal Year (FY) witnessed a robust domestic production of rice and the local variety duo aman and aus jointly gifted 15.518 million tonnes in which aman output hit an all-time high of 13.19 million tonnes, up 1.28 percent year-on-year .

(Source : Financial Express)

Ironically, the bumper harvest put the local farmers’ position at stake, let alone serving their interests.

Despite an ample local production, the quantity of import of foreign rice stands out to be a staggering 13.64 lakh tonnes in a time frame of July 1, 2014 to May 12, 2015 which turns out to be a three-fold increase of the last FY’s quantity of 3.7 lakh tonnes.

As a matter of course, the abundant domestic supply and the soaring import have driven the market price of rice much lower which wound up putting many millers and farmers into immense losses. While the government had set a target of one million tonnes of Boro at Tk.32 per kilogram, the cheaper import at Tk.30 kilogram threw cold water on the local rice market.

The Swarna variety’s local milling cost was Tk.27 to 20 per kilogram, where the import cost stood at Tk.20 to 24 per kilogram. Many of the millers had to pull the plug on the operation at the peak season. (Source: Financial Express) Although a duty of 10% is levied on the rice import results in the increasing prices of paddy by Tk.140-150 per maund, farmers are hardly reaping benefit from this hike in prices since a substantial portion of them has already sold out their produce at much lower prices to the millers or whole-sellers or mid-level traders. It is the big millers and traders, who piled up stacks of rice through procurement of the main staple from domestic market and external sources, are making money from it.

In respect of the tardy decision taken by the government, Dr. Khandaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Director, Research of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), opined that the measure is taken to tackle a temporary problem.

Drawing special attention to the interest of local producers and its market players to be kept at priority, Dr. Moazzem emphasized to ensure that no imported rice is a part of the government procurement of rice-paddy.

Identifying the move not enough to tackle the situation alone, the government has decided to icrease the procurement of rice in the current Boro season with a view to increasing the selling price in market.

However, since more than half of the populations of the farmers have already sold out their crop, small portion of the farmers who are currently harvesting Boro will gain from this measure.

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17

INFOGRAPHICS

PEANUT PRODUCTION The next magic crop lories (567 ca 0g) Energy per 10

s me

nt

TANGAIL

Ele

(α - V (8 toc itam g op i pe h n r 1 ero E 00 l) High g) conc entr atio n poly-ph s of enolic antionidants, prima rily “p-coumaric” acid er th nt o an ie l, red o r t ng ra ic i e sv ol Re hen p ly po

Rangpur

Boosts up biological activity

Functions

Combats cancer, heart disease, degenerative nerve disease, Alzheimer's disease & frugal/fungal infections

Areas of cultivation Bhuapur, Kalihati, Sodar & Nagarpur Upazillas of Tangail district

Reduces risk of stomach cancer

Why Peanut Cultivation Production can add a new dimension to 2240 hectares local /5600 acres agriculture /13892 bighas

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Gangachara, Kawnia Upazillas of Rangpur District

Production

10-12 maunds from each bigha

Market Price

Profitability

Currently Tk.

Tk.

of each maund of raw peanut

after deducting cost of production from each bigha of land

2200- 15,0002400 20,000 Statistics of peanut production in 2015

INSIGHTS: Budget 2015

BUDGET

2015 TAILWIND

A condition or situation that accelerates the growth of a particular industry or economy

HEADWIND

A condition or situation that deters the growth of a particular industry or economy

www.icebusinesstimes.net

19

INSIGHTS: Budget 2015

Reduction of corporate tax rate widens the opportunity for profit and this should encourage private sector investment

Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam Former Advisor, Ministry of Finance

How do you like to perceive the recently announced budget?

It is difficult to label a national budget with a specific adjective.

Almost every budget has its share of positive aspects, challenges and perhaps even negatives. As far as the national budget of FY 2015-16 is concerned, I would rather say the budget is unrealistically ambitious.

In a country like Bangladesh, there is a need to have ambition and for that the government expenditure is to be increased in such areas like infrastructure development, provision of energy, health, education, rural development, agriculture, social safety net and the likes. The rationale behind my remark on the budget stems out from the lack of directions of practical implementation of ambitions.

As per the approved budget, The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is accountable to generate tax revenue of 84.61% (Tk. 1,76,370 Cr.) of the total Revenue Collection Target of Tk. 2,08,443 Cr. However, in the last FY 2014-2015, the proposed tax revenue from NBR of Tk. 1,49,720 Cr. had to be revised to Tk. 1,35,000 Cr.

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This is one of the grounds on which I made the remark “unrealistically ambitious”. The FY 2015-16 budget expects an increase of 30% of the revised figure of FY 2014-15. Now, that’s a growth rate which has never been achieved in the history of Bangladesh.I don’t see any revolutionary reform in the administrative competence of NBR which will abruptly accelerate the tax collection of such magnitude. Eventually, the government will have to revise the figure like it has been doing for the past years. That’s where the budget loses the essence of pragmatism.

Additionally, I think problems may arise in mobilizing some other source of financing e.g. external assistance (Tk. 30,134 Cr.) On the other hand, the tax ceiling for individual income has increased and there has been a reduction of corporate tax rate as well. At the same time, the revenue target on NBR is also substantial. To handle this situation efficiently, more taxpayers should be brought in net.

Now, the crucial fact is how well NBR can pull it off with its existing administrative framework.

Are there enough impetuses in the budget to boost up private investment which has been stagnant for quite a long time?

I think there is a move in that direction. Reduction of corporate tax rate, for instance, is a move that widens the opportunity for profit and this should encourage private sector investment. The tax at source for all the export sectors has jumped

‘

In light of the past performance of NBR, do you think the targeted amount for them is nearly attainable?

up to 1 percent from 0.3 percent, which can work as an incentive to private sector investment. Another commendable proposal is setting up a good number of special economic zones and presumably they will make the lands available to the private sector investors. As it is widely known that lack of access to land is the greatest impediment of this sector, the implementation of this initiative will be an impetus to the private investment. Moreover, if the government can complete the big electricity generation projects in time and make electricity available at reasonable price, it will reduce the electricity constraints of private investment.

Unfortunately, the budget does not give any indication on how to reduce the gas constraint despite knowing the fact that gas is much desired by the investment community.

Do you think that the salary hike of public sector will fuel up inflation in the economy?

I don’t think so. The reason is, the increase in demand as a result of higher salary disbursement to the government officials will be of small proportion to the total consumption.

Also, at this point, the food production is commendable, food prices have gone down and as a result the government has imposed an import duty of 10% on rice with the hope the increased domestic price will help the farmers. In the international market, price of most goods are low or falling or stable. Based on the link between the international and domestic market, there will not be much inflationary pressure from the international market on the economy. On balance, I don’t think there will be a notable upward pressure on the inflation.

Zahid Hussain Lead Economist, World Bank Bangladesh

The budget could have been bigger and allocation of sectors could have been more if that took place.

’

According to the opinions of the market experts, some crucial sectors in the 44th National Budget have been deprived. What are the sectors, according to you, could have treated in a better way in the budget announced recently?

To my opinion, balance of allocation between the sectors of the budget is not an issue. When it is said that one particular sector has not been given priority or been neglected, it is measured based on the proportion of the sector as compared to the total budget. However, I think, the overall proportion of the budget are in line with the development of Bangladesh.

It is pretty natural that all the sectors

cannot be given high priority. In the 44th national budget, Infrastructure, transport and energy have been the sectors assigned with high priority and than to human development and others. Then again, it is pretty natural for a field expert to claim for more allocation or priority of the respective field. The prime issue, however, is full utilization of the given fund.

If you look around the world and discern the budget of the other developing countries which have the same per capita income as Bangladesh, you see the budget in proportion to GDP tends to be 21-22% at the same level of economic development as ours where as the current national budget shows the aforesaid proportion to be 17.2%.

So, the budget could have been bigger and allocation of sectors could have been more if that took place.

Bangladesh aims at achieving Middle Income Country status by 2021. For that, the economy needs to have a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 7-8% where it is still in 6% trap. How to tide this difficulty over?

Well, firstly, one has to keep in mind 6% is not a bad figure in international context; in fact, it is higher than the average growth achieved by the Least Developed Countries (LDC) in the last decade. Yes, it is definitely lower when compared to that of countries like China, Malaysia, Singapore, India; however, staying in the 6% growth bracket surely takes a great deal of effort.

The concerning issue is, we are losing time. To get to middle income level of

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INSIGHTS: Budget 2015

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development, it is high time we should leap at 7-8% growth. The more years spent on 6% growth, the higher will be required rate of growth down the road.

There are two valid reasons of getting ‘trapped’ in this 6% growth : demographic dividend and labor productivity.

In the 70’s and 80’s the demographic dividend was greater because of higher population growth rate, fast growth of working age population and rising labor force participation. However, the demographic dividend started to shrink for the last 10 years due to having a downward population growth rate in the early 90’s. However, this shrinking in demographic dividend was compensated by the labor productivity for which we are still in the 6% growth bracket.

To get out of this trap, we need to reinvent the demographic dividend which means breaking the barrier based on gender that prevents women stepping into labor market. . In the case of male labor force, the participation is good but the productivity needs to be enhanced. The current female labor force participation is only 33% which is abysmally low for a country. They have to be brought to not only the informal sectors, but also to the mainstream. For that, the practice of treating women as a “special” group needs to be changed in the first place. Secondly, there are some legal bindings that restrict women to be entitled to some rights, which need to be worked on.

The second source will be labor productivity which is to be enhanced by increasing investment. The current investment-GDP ratio is hovering around at a dissatisfactory level of 29% which is supposed to be at 35-36%.

To get out of this trap, we need to reinvent the demographic dividend which means breaking the barrier based on gender that prevents the women step into labor market.

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How to come out of the stagnant situation of private investment where the economy needs to have a 35-36% Investment-GDP ratio and we are standing still at a much lower level ?

Private Investment, unfortunately, has been stagnant at 22% for the past years.

The main constraint of this sector to flourish is problematic infrastructure.

The private sector investment is much troubled with lack of land, electricity and transportation. The budget talks about reduction of corporate tax rate to encourage the private investment but more than that, for smooth operation of investment, convergence of these three is cardinal and this convergence is evident in the 44th national budget in form of proposal of setting up special economic zones. So far, 30 economics zones are improved and 6 are under building construction. There we have to make headway to prop up the private investment.

Do you think the target of 6.2% is attainable in the next FY ?

The inflation target of 6.2% is very much attainable due to the stable commodity price outlook at international level at present time and bumper domestic production.

What is your insight about the 44th National Budget?

Well, we have to do much better if the goal is achieving middle income status by 2021. If we have a constructive criticism on the 44th National Budget, there is not much to look upon on the reform side. The checklist is long but not many initiatives are there. Take the instance of international declining of oil price. The government did not take any advantage of the reform opportunities when the international oil price is lower, particularly pricing of energy or regulation of energy sector conducted by countries like India, Indonesia and Philippines. Not from two years from now, the oil price globally would be lower.

So, there are missed opportunities which will cost us more down the road.

Interviews by Sushmita Saha

DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT

KEEP CALM & CODE AWAY “Code it, Girls!” is creating a pool of to-be female programmers

By Sushmita Saha

F

emales in our society have long been putting up with asinine social remarks –“Mathematics, Engineering are not women’s cup of tea” which impugn their analytic aptitude. Things have, albeit, taken a positive turn in the course of time; many sectors are still experiencing dearth of women participation. Computer science, for instance, is a substantial field of study with brilliant opportunities; however, the percentage of female participation in this field is considerably low in Bangladesh if compared to that of others.

“Even if they select it as their under graduation discipline, most of them are not likely to set foot in the job field.” says Afreen Hossain, a current employee of the gaming giant EA Sports and one of the co-founders of the online community ‘Code It, Girl!’.

Afreen Hossain came up with a phenomenal idea of creating an online platform for the girls where they can access to easy, free, online Bengali and English tutorials, blogs and books related to programming. The idea took shape when she shared it with her former colleagues and friend-Rezvi B. Islam who is currently a software tester and quality assurance engineer at Vantage Labs and Mirfat Sharmin, a computer science and Engineering graduate from BUET, who is currently working in an IT firm. Henceforth, they have been making headway to build up this online community with the common goal of enlightening a chunk of female population with the nuts and bolts of programming which will eventually land them in the IT industry.

“Code it, Girls!” is a dedicated non-profitable, voluntary group which is bent on creating an appetite for coding in women through online tutorials. Since they target the women from differ

ent corners of Bangladesh, the contents of the tutorials are typically prepared in Bangla.

It is an interactive platform where the learners detects and hone their programming skill, the instructors constantly encourage the learners to discuss their areas of difficulties .

The primary target group of this platform are students in high schools, colleges and universities who are not aware of the programming arena or who take a keen interest in programming but are in dire need of guidance. “The practice of programming requires deep concentration and focus.

Therefore, this language should be learned at an early age to have a firm grip on the topic in question.” Afreen highlights the importance of learning coding at an early age.

Code It, Girl!, in essence, is a complete package that makes the females conversant with the relevant job market and stimulates their desire to achieve expertise on coding by sharing success stories of female coders across the globe with them, besides educating them about programming.

Putting the job market in the picture, Afreen and Mifrat enlightened that there is a good number of software companies in Bangladesh and they are doing brilliant projects, for instance, developing mobile games for official Marvel Avengers (Ironman, Hulk, Thor etc.) for both iOS and Android users. “Moreover, the IT industry is comparatively a lot more flexible than any other field for the facility to work from home and flexible office timing, which makes the field suitable for women, especially mothers.” says Mifrat.

However, it is equally important for a person, be it a he or she, to be adept at coding to bag a good opportunity and that is what “Code It, Girls!” aims to accomplish for the aspirant female program

Girls going places

Bunch of female coders pose after the successful completion of their certificate course on programming organized by “Code-It, Girls!”

mers.

The platform has not only confined its activities to electronic media, but also has arranged two workshops till date. The first one was conducted at the premises of Daffodil International University on January 17 this year. 43 girls from 23 different schools, colleges have participated in the workshop and they were enlightened with the practical knowledge of the use and application of “Python”- a programming language. Alongside, the workshop provided them with the basics of the computer operating system Linux.

The workshop was sponsored by Sir Fazle Hassan Abed in the name of Hafiza Khatun Memorial Trust and arranged and executed by Dimik Computing School. “Creating a programming-educated nation has been my long cherished dream. I observed some ardent girls taking special interest on programming language at the workshop.” says Tamim Shahriar Subeen, the author of the best-seller programming book named ‘Computer Programming-Part I’, the co-founder of Dimik Computing School and a mentor of “Code It, Girl!” since scratch.

Shamsun Nahar Leepi, a student of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at Daffodil International University and an attendant of the workshop, wished she could learn programming at school. The workshop guided her with necessary directions for

her future endeavor to step into the realm of IT industry.

The second workshop was conducted on February 20 this year at the Dhanmondi campus of Eastern University with participation of a group of 42 students coming from 20 different institutions. It was sponsored by an online community “Living on Codes” and focused on web concepts, designing a static website using HTML and CSS and creating a dynamic website using JavaScript. “We all should join our hands together for the group to reach wider mass and inspire many more to become a part of the amazing world of information technology.” says Mozammel Haque, a computer science graduate from University of Windsor, Canada and the instructor of this workshop.

The learners of this online community have different goals of their own. When Leepi wants to be an IT professional; Shahrin Rukaiya, a current student of Department of Physics at Comilla University, learns coding so that she can educate others with the knowledge of coding. Another learner, Shiddika Jahan Bushra who was an H.S.C candidate this year, wants to hone her programming skill and participate at the international programming contests.

As no initiative is devoid of impediments, one of the hindrances of this initiative is the shyness of the girls to ask questions when they stumble. “The participation of the girls has not yet been up to the mark. Parents should motivate their daughters to start learning programming at an early age (i.e. class 6) for them to achieve expertise on the area later on.” explains Subeen.

However, Subeen has a positive view for this initiative since, according to him, it has every potential to fulfill the goal it started with.

In the middle of violence, restiveness and narcissism; such initiatives undertaken by the youth of Bangladesh set the perfect example development, accountability and altruism. So, keep an eye on them. Who knows Bangladesh might get one of the best female coders of the world down the road hailing from this community!

STARTUP ENTREPRENEUR

“

Our customer complaints are resolved within 24 hours and we have a 75% success rate

�

Ambareen Reza from Food Panda shared its recipe for success Interview By Mehrin Mubdi Chowdhury

Ambareen Reza has many feathers in her crown. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Director at food panda, Country Director at Rocket Internet and Senior Business Analyst at Thrifty Car Rental.

She launched Lamudi and Carmudi in Bangladesh. In an exclusive interview with IBT, she shared her recipes for success.

Everjobs and more ventures are coming up. Each venture is headed by a dynamic and a competent team in Bangladesh and thus I do not have to look into their business tactics. Whenever there is a new opportunity or venture by Rocket Internet, I get actively involved dealing with strategic collaborations and related discussions. Other than these times I can solely concentrate on food panda.

Who do you see as your target audience for food panda and how are you reaching them?

How do you manage your time since you are actively involved with both Rocket Internet and food panda?

Rocket internet is a global startup incubator. I brought the company to Bangladesh in 2009. Since then, Rocket Internet Bangladesh has had many ventures like Carmudi, Lamudi, food panda, Kaymu, Daraz,

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Our main customers are students and people from the middle to upper middle income groups who spend most of their time at work. These people may not have the time to prepare food after long hours at the office/college/ university. So the most convenient option is to order online and easily get warm food within half an hour. The most advantageous part for food panda is that the clientele are young and tech savvy and thus reaching them has been quite easy with the customer friendly mobile apps of the company.

All hands on deck Food Pandas busy catering to their clients’ demand s

What was the most difficult part of establishing food panda in Bangladesh?

Definitely logistics was the main issue at the beginning. Our clientele are very smart and food panda was received extremely well by them and as such, the orders came in large amounts. We had a hard time at the beginning to meet all the demands. Back then, food panda had a logistics partner but today in order to improve clientele reach, we have taken over the logistics company and have more than 150 riders to perfectly meet our current client demands.

The second hassle that we faced was educating our business partners, the restaurant owners. When we entered the market, the concept was fairly new plus small restaurants in old town that have been doing traditional business — selling directly to clients for years, naturally, had a hard time understanding what we do. They thought we are a delivery company!

But we got over those days, after seeing what we did and how we did it, they finally understood.

What advantage does food panda have over its competitors?

We have many advantages few of the

Ambareen Reza’s Advice for E-commerce Startups Know what your product is Have a plan and keep on improvising till its perfect Know your target audience well and think of creative ways to address them Prioritize your customers in every way so that they are made to feel special

prominent ones would be: • As a venture, food panda is a global product with a localised team. So our products are of a global standard but our local team knows exactly how to meet the needs of our clientele.

• Our technical functionality is much updated. We have set GPRS printers in our enlisted restaurants. As soon as our call center gets an order, the address is printed out by the GPRS printer with details of the order so that no mistakes are made at any end • We have the maximum number of restaurants enlisted with our brand – food panda, over six hundred and fifty.

• We have introduced an online payment system via IOS app, which is currently all the rage in the online food market.

• We are very much customer oriented and we take pride in our dealings where we prioritise them the most. Our customer complaints are resolved within 24 hours and we have a 75% success rate, which is quite high considering we are a startup.

What are you most excited about at the moment?

It has already been one and a half years since the initiation. We are now ready to take the company from being a startup to an established company by going public at some point. I am super excited with the prospect.

What do you look for when you offer jobs at food panda?

We are always taking in new people for our business growth. Our current team consists of smart, friendly young and ambitious individuals.

At food panda, our motto is to serve customers and look after them and so when we recruit new employees we search for people who are friendly and willing to find solutions swiftly to any problem, in order to keep customers happy.

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LEADERSHIP

FRANKLY SPEAKING

Frank Underwood from the House of Cards has eight leadership lessons for you

By Wahid T. Khan

I

n 2013, House of Cards marked Netflix’s first foray into original programming. At a time when people in Western democracies are increasingly frustrated from political gridlock and the state of the democratic process, it is interesting to see a television show about those very elements capture the attention of so many people. Perhaps this is due to the data-driven choices Netflix made for writer, director and protagonist that helped the show bring together a coruscating mélange of larger-than-life plot, cinematographic techniques and Shakespearean gravitas that had many critics comparing the early seasons of the show to Othello.

House of Cards is compelling for these reasons, and after binge watching the series it is hard to not want to actuate some of the on-screen Machiavellian manipulation in one’s own monotonous life. Perhaps the mature way to deal with those urges is to treat the viewing experience as an Aesop fable for the modern age and glean what lessons you can. Interpretation is subjective, your mileage will vary and you might as well give up and run to the mirror and start working on your soliloquys. This is why we took the liberty of compiling our own list of generic business lessons one can apply from Frank Underwood and company’s experiences in navigating the murky waters of Washington.

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08. Know thy enemy

Granted this is a cliché, but it is as a good place to start as any other. It is important to know concrete facts about what, where or who one’s enemy is: the annoying colleague, an overbearing boss, demanding deadlines, or the dangerously alluring post-lunch drowsiness (pro tip: smaller portions of rice and other starches prevent the carbo-load that induces sleep). As Underwood with Raymond Tusk, you need to stay a step ahead of your competition. You will only be fighting an uphill battle if you start from a paucity of information and an excess of assumptions.

Every Achilles has his heel; it is your responsibility to determine what you do with yours and your enemies’.

07. You can balance work and home lives, provided your spouse understands.

Arguably one of House of Cards’ strongest points is the vivid illustration of Frank and Claire’s relationship and all its associated trials and tribulations. Do not underestimate the scope of your spouse’s influence on your work life.

Recapitulating frustrations at work to your partner will, at least, help cut through the dense strands of thought. It is a two-way street, though: your ambitions are just as important as hers and coming off as self-centered will only hurt the relationship (how sad was it to watch Claire walk away from Frank’s life, the campaign, White House in the end like that!

06. Divide-and-conquer is perhaps not the best long-term strategy.

So much of Underwood’s work seems to be motivated through creating rifts in an existing system of relationships. Whether it was between President Garrett Walker and his confidante Raymond Tusk in the early seasons, the Speaker and

other members of congress later onhis core strategy is not dissimilar from that of the British Empire.

Unfortunately, fiction and reality have shown that such a strategy is unsustainable at the best, so you would be better off to try to find ways to bring parties to work together as opposed to exploit any rifts between them.

05. Inspire loyalty so that your employees will (literally) kill for you.

Douglas Stamper, Underwood’s Chief of Staff, is very much also his protégé. While the series does not have a backstory to explain their meeting, character narratives have shown that Underwood went beyond the traditional boss’s role to keep Stamper out of harm’s way. Stamper has demonstrated through more than a few questionable deeds that he can never repay Underwood enough.

The moral of the story is: taking the time to treat your employees as more than helper monkeys will only pay dividends for you in the future.

04. Keep an eye out for opportunities to do favors for people.

As Majority Whip, Underwood sought support for Walker during the latter’s bid for the Presidency, then suggested Linda Vasquez to Walker for Chief of Staff. In Congress, Underwood kept his eye out to make deals for politicians on both sides of the aisle. All of this was to create bedrock of support that he could leverage when he saw it fit. It is not entirely difficult to do that in one’s workplace.

You could argue it is this opportunism that backfired and set off the series when Walker denied Underwood the office of the Secretary of State. It is also equally arguable that Underwood could not have had his revenge without all that support.

If we never did anything we shouldn’t do, we’d never feel good about doing the things we should.

-Frank Underwood

03. If something can go wrong, it will certainly go wrong. Deal with it.

The mature thing to do in such a situation is to keep your calm. In this case, you would be better off deferring to Claire Underwood and her poise. While Frank goes about the White House with an unhealthy disregard for the furniture (it is taxpayer money, c’mon), Claire will confront stress by gracefully exiting the situation and tackling it the morning after.

02. “Appeal to the heart, not the brain.”

Whether it is justification to leave work early or a meaningful way to connect with client, coworkers and superiors, this is an aphorism that stands the test of time. Underwood’s meteoric rise through Washington’s power ranks is a shining example of this.

01. When it comes to money or power, choose wisely.

Money and power are not mutually exclusive, but one has an expiration date and the other does not.

Underwood chose power and became a lifelong bureaucrat; while a former aide went on to join Washington’s well-oiled, well-heeled lobbying industry. Power engenders privilege, whereas money purchases it. Your career will be marked with such bifurcations where you would be pressed to make a choice between the two. The onus is on you to make a responsible choice.

No pressure.

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DENIM EXPOSITION

The Next Big Thing

Bangladesh’s denim makers eye for a bigger share of the $7 billion market by 2021

Bangladesh’s RMG sector has been a driving force to its economy till date, and the sector can become even more of a boon to the nation’s growth with newly realized export potential in denim-based products.

When the market leader China encountered rising prices, a large chunk of its client base moved on to look for more cost friendly options in south-east Asia. Bangladesh has been one of the key beneficiaries of this and the country’s prospects in denim production look bright.

The total demand for denim products is approximated to be worth $60 billion annually which is

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growing steadily and Bangladesh currently exports $1 billion worth every year. The United States and Europe are the major export destinations for denim based orders and Bangladeshi denim suppliers already cater to major retailers and brands such as H&M, Levi's, Uniqlo, Nike, Tesco, Wrangler, S.Oliver, Hugo Boss, Puma, Primark, JC Penney and C&A with their denim products.

The recently held denim expo in May this year demonstrated an overwhelming opportunity. Over 100 retailers and fashion brands from the US and Europe registered to participate in the two day event held

on May at Hotel Radisson and out of twenty-five, nine booths were by the local makers of denim. Producers from India, China, Pakistan, Germany, Thailand, Turkey, the US, Japan, Spain and Thailand also showcased their denim products at the exhibition.

The total domestic manufacture of denim in Bangladesh, however, is insufficient to meet the high local demand, hence, around 50% denim is being imported from outside.

Currently twenty-five factories are operating to produce 20 million yards every month and five new factories are setting up denim wings.

Although denim has huge opportunities, the local manufacturers allege that due to infrastructural, technical and financial limitations the industry is being unable to reach its full potential. The industry appeals that government ensures uninterrupted gas supply with enough pressure which is an essential component to the manufacturing process. Also the set up of a factory requires high initial investment of around 300 crores but low rate funds are not available to the investors. The problem can be solved by encouraging joint venture investments in the industry.

The key strengths of Bangladesh as a hub for denim exports are its cost advantage and already existing client base of the RMG industry. A Turkish producer Denimco textile announced last month that it will open a Dhaka office in July to directly supply the raw material to local factories. With some necessary government initiatives, this newly realized opportunity can spell further success for Bangladesh’s apparel industry.

COVER STORY

Across the ages, societies have taken care of their most disadvantaged through charity. Be it the various religious orders, the state or philanthropists, they have donated resources to the societies they were a part of selflessly. With the rise of capitalism we see corporations also joining in to play a very large role in giving back to their communities.

The concept of CSR has been gaining momentum for a while now. With the various brands trying to appeal more and more to the modern consumer -one who is ever so increasingly concerned about global and social issues – these brands have been trying to “do good” and “give back” to the community.

However, the idea is fraught with

As the wealth gap widens and the human population increases, existing models of fighting poverty are becoming more and more inadequate. Can social business be the panacea of this universal ailment?

complications. The argument is that the market will reward these good deeds – appealing rhetoric, but it doesn’t line up with the facts.

Consider Indra Nooyi, Pepsi’s charismatic C.E.O. Early in her tenure, she realized that consumers would increasingly demand healthier products. She argued that a shift towards healthier products such as fruit juices and lower calorie soft drinks would be good for society at large as well as for Pepsi’s profits.

Pepsi followed through with the plan acquiring brands such as Tropicana and launching Pepsi Next – a lower calorie version of the flagship product. These feats would win Nooyi a lot of critical acclaim in the short term while investors remained sceptical. During Nooyi’s tenure

By Tom Walker

Can it punch out poverty?

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COVER STORY

Coca-Cola’s stock price doubled while Pepsi languished. This would lead the investors to believe that the socially conscious approach is bad for business and diverts resources from the more successful brands.

Pepsi then went on to announce that it would step back from the “business with a purpose” strategy.

It goes to show that investors do not want their C.E.Os to focus on social impact if it risks profit.

On the other hand, CSRs are the first to go during cost saving measures.

Needless to say that corporate philanthropy typically declines during recessions – when society’s disadvantaged need it the most. The only CSR that seems to survive and succeed are ones that the company is supposed to be doing to enhance profits anyway. For example when General Electric champions investments in clean energy its wind turbine business benefits. In such cases, it is more about business strategy rather than corporate social responsibility.

So how do we come up with a way of harnessing the free market to benefit society? How can we use it to

fight poverty? A recent addition has been Muhammad Yunus’ concept of a Social Business. A cause driven business where the investors can only recoup the money they initially invested but cannot take any dividends beyond that.

The business’ mandate is purely to achieve one or more social objectives through the operation of the business. The business must cover all its costs, make profit and achieve the social objective at the same time such as healthcare for the poor, nutrition for malnourished children, providing potable water etc.

In social business, investors do not have any desire for profit or personal gain beyond the reimbursement of their initial investment. The business as an entity is free to focus its efforts on meeting its objectives.

The profit that is generated stays within the company and is used to meet the social objectives, unlike a traditional corporation where the C.E.O must perform a balancing act of maximizing profit since they have to answer to stakeholders whose desire is to profit above all else.

Traditional corporations use the amount of profit made in a given period as a measure of their success.

Define the strategy road map and identify initiative Get executive support Establish the long term vision

Define an overall business goal

They also find it difficult to measure the impact of their social responsibility efforts as there are few tools to quantify social impact.

However, the success of a social business is measured by the impact of the business on people or environment – the business’ progress in meeting its social objectives.

As the wealth gap widens and the human population increases, existing models of fighting poverty are becoming more and more inadequate. While existing for profit corporations try to help through their various CSR efforts, they are hindered by their primary objective of maximising profit first. Therefore, if we are to help society’s disadvantaged and punch out poverty we must encourage the formation of social businesses with a new mandate – one whose primary objective is to achieve its social objectives. These businesses are not meant to replace existing models of profit corporations but rather to coexist and enter the market as competitors. As more and social businesses enter the market and help those in need, we may finally harness the power of a free market economy to accelerate the eradication of poverty.

Establish governance & guidelines

Secure stuff resources and finding Invest in technology platform that supports the greater vision and objectives

Source: 7 success factors of social business strategy as suggested by Charlene Li & Brian Solis, authors of the eponymous book

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8 Ways to Burn Your Hands in Social Business

By Kazi Rahatul Zannat

03. Staggering plan To succeed in business, it’s crucial to have a great business plan that actually ‘works’. But it isn’t so easy or else almost every business would have been successful, whereas the contrary happens.

04. Are you a sloth?

It is good to be patient. But you should not be too slow and wait too long to make profit. Slow and steady does not always win the race. You are not missing the mark, are you? Be sure to hit the iron while it is hot.

05. Burning out your steam, are you?

01. Strings-Attached Social business initiatives are fueled by passion. The entrepreneur envisages an idea and his urge to turn it into reality drives him to take the entrepreneurial risks. Naturally the entrepreneur shares a strong emotional attachment with the business. Just like too much emotional bias blurs your logical judgment in your romantic relationships, it is no different in this case. And what happens when you are not thinking right and you try to touch the flame? – You burn your hands.

02. Head in the clouds In this market of inflation and recession, it is a common idea that ‘you can’t be rich doing a job’. Since the 90’s, almost every person has thought about doing business at some point of their lives. At first glance, doing a business might seem quite easy and adventurous. One might think that having a great idea is the key and selling it would be a piece of cake. But in reality that is not quite the case. Even if the idea is great, there are still high chances of the business being a failure. Because doing a business requires much deliberation, practical knowledge, technical and strategic skills, foresightedness, etc and only a bright plan is just not enough.

Are you working too hard? Leaving the ‘life’ out of ‘living’? NEVER do that, be it a social business or anything else. It is really important to live your dream. Hard work is too important, but do not run your motor so much that the exhaust suffocates and eventually kills your dream.

06. Taking the wrong approach Some entrepreneurs are really boosted up by their passion but are a newbie in the business world. So they make mistakes, take the wrong approach and eventually their idea ends up being another foiled business plan.

07. You have got your Invisible-Coat on Social business usually works with innovative ideas which are different from mainstream profit-oriented businesses, which makes it unique. But it also means that too many people are not aware of it and awareness is important to reach the target market and consumer group.

Failing to acquire visibility as per requirement might be a major cause of failure.

08. No market for you Social business works with new ideas.

Sometimes the ideas are not quite in harmony with the time and the place, so there is not enough demand for it to succeed. For this too, just be patient!

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COVER STORY

Successful Social Business Initiatives

Since its inception, Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT) has been on a full-fledged mission to enact and enable the many social business ideas to assist in the overcoming of poverty and help bring forth economic sustainability for all those involved. Jayanta Kumer Bosu, Team Leader of Social Business & Support, Abu Mohammed Munayeem, Manager of Communication & Social Business and Nudrat Faria Shreya, Deputy Manager of Social Business & Communications share with IBT about their ideologies and achievements.

Expand upon the inception and essence of GTT. GTT was founded in 2010 by Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus under his chairmanship as the flagship entity of Social Business to be run in supervision of Ms Parveen Mahmud, FCA as the Managing Director. The seven principles of Social Business include notion to overcome social problems while being financially and economically sustainable along with being environmentally conscious and gender sensitive. In addition, it is to be noted that the workforce must be fairly waged.

We also keep in mind that all of this has to be done with joy!

We mainly operate on the basis of various projects that work both with other

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development organizations and with individuals in order to create a prototype that not only is completely sustainable but can also be replicated around the world. It operates in order to fulfil social needs rather than profit maximizing motive and is in a sense the opposite of capitalism.

How does GTT operate?

GTT has three manners of functioning, these include Nobin Udyokta (New Entrepreneur) Program, which is one of the leading programs undertaken by GTT; secondly Social Business Learning and Innovation Fund (SBLIF) which includes the social business projects that GTT is directly engaged in the management and administration and the third program

includes investments in other Grameen companies which are projects that GTT has invested in and do not directly administer and manage.

The investors of the social business projects such as GTT or the other partners get back the exact amount of money that they have invested, which if they choose can invest again in this or another project, thus creating a loop of sustenance. The community involved obviously gets everything that they are owed through participating in these projects in the form of training and mentoring, employment opportunities, competitive wages etc.

It is to be stressed upon that social business by no means extract profit out of the business, rather the profit is re-invested in the incumbent business or used for a new social business. For SBLIF projects, both GTT and development partners pursue social business; however for the Nobin Udyokta Program, it is a social business for the investing company, i.e., GTT but a conventional business for the Nobin Udyokta.

Tell us about some of your projects.

We have numerous projects under the two main wings of programs undertaken by GTT. The highlighted program of Professor Muhammad Yunus that we believe is one of the most important and innovative is Nobin Udyokta Program. The program works with second generation of Grameen Bank borrowers in order to help them create their own jobs, thus turning unemployment into entrepreneurship. We do this by training them in basic functions of business operation like how to keep track of finances and so on. We also make sure that they are on track by getting them to send us an SMS every day of their opening cash at hand and at bank, purchase, sales and closing balances. This helps us monitor their progress and groom their growth.

Another notable wing-SBLIF consists of social business projects like Aroni Mustard Oil Social Business, in conjunction with ESDO which focuses on producing and supplying mustard seed oil throughout the country employing the marginalized indigenous community.

This project has been very successful and is paying off quite well. So are some other projects such as Ashika Mushroom Seed and Spawn Social Business with ASHIKA Manabik Unyayan Kendro, Dairy Foods Social Business producing premium quality sweets, dairy products and ghee with LUSTRE. We currently have eight such projects with two more in the works, including biomass electricity and fly-ash brick; handicraft social business involving rehabilitated women who were victims of smuggling and human-trafficking.

Some of our investments include Grameen Danone which produces Shokti Doi, which aims to help decrease malnutrition in children, Grameen Poshra which aims to provide market access and deliver to the masses handicrafts which have been made by the women of the rural areas.

How do these projects help capture the meaning of Social Business?

As we have said before, all these projects follow the seven principles of social business. Each of these projects has helped the community through its works in all kinds of ways. Ashika Mushroom for example aims to make the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts obtain a sustainable medium to generate income. Aroni Social Business has employed indigenous farmers to cultivate mustard seeds and makes sure that they get the absolute price they deserve down to the cent.

Every single one of our projects has an aim to help relieve poverty from the country.

How do you plan on expanding your operations?

Right now we have three more projects in the works and will be implemented in the very near future. Other than that we have a plan to create something that we have termed as “Social Business Village�. People living in these villages have become successful through Social Business and have the capacity to reinvest their money in new social businesses within their own village. Thus we plan on creating an economic ecosystem that strives on Social Business. We have already started in a village in Gaibandha, which is by the way the first social business village in the world. We are now piloting how that system works. On the basis of this, we will expand in the future and hopefully create an entire network of self-sustaining villages that can solve problems on their own.

So how would you tackle the negative connotations against Social Business?

We believe in letting our work speak for itself, and it truly does.

In the last five years we have created 229 Nobin Udyokta-20 of whom are female, we have the SDRS handicrafts which were so successful in their initial work of just creating Omani Caps which we would export that we scaled up to handicrafts, and now SDRS has further opened up another initiative SDRS Solar Social Business producing LED bulbs and lights, Aroni Social Business whose products will be hitting Dhaka market shelves soon and so on.

We do what we do with passion and joy and we truly believe that we can help build up social businesses in such a way that the people we are helping today will be the ones helping others in the future. This work is rewarding and we do what we do with joy.

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RESOLUTION

Successful Social Business Initiatives Tell us how Living Blue was conceived.

Indigo is our flagship product and quilting is our defining skill. Living Blue in fact started as a project called Nijera Cottage & Village Industries, under CARE Bangladesh back in 2004, the way of earning of communities from Rangpur was agriculture. Over time, Indigo was found by an Indian designer working with CARE . The indigo plant used to be the natural fix and organic fertilizer in that geographical area. It did not require any extra land to cultivate. Only adding one-step in the existing steps of agro production prior to finding the indigo insight, lead the way to this high-end brand.

The quilting techniques were merged with the Japanese form of tie die (shibori) and gave birth to Living Blue – best of Bangladesh.

What makes Living Blue a success story in terms of social Business?

Half of the business is owned by workers who make Living Blue a success story and the rest is by the Social Business wing of CARE. The workers have their own management body running the company. The wages are fair in the company that is democratically managed and the owners have influence over the profit. The profit is used to maintain the wellbeing and sustainability of the community.

The other aspects of a social business is also being practiced while Living Blue is an amazing melting pot for corporate practices blending with development models, making the business a successful social business venture from CARE Bangladesh.

What specific market does the business cater to? If not the local market, why not?

You can never restrict your customers. When it comes to high-end craft, targeting the consumers get a little bit tricky. Our product is without any doubt

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whole of that geographical location.

How does Living Blue operate?

In the simplest manner, CARE would owns the lead share and the community owns the rest. There is a management team formed by the owners who is liable to the board.

The owners have full control over the profit made and the global brand image is maintained.

What are the future plans of Living Blue ?

In onversation with

Michael Aziz Ahmed, Manager of Living Blue, a company owned by CARE Bangladesh has been following the model of a proven social business. high-end collectibles. To make the model sustainable, targeting the right consumers with a passion for hand quilted items and natural dye is important. In most cases, they are collectors with similar interest in the techniques used by our quilters called Lohory and the natural dye from Bangladesh that is considered the best in the world. That being said, most of our consumers are collectors from all over the world.

Delhi loves our products.

Other than being involved in social business, what else is Living Blue doing for the community of Rangpur?

The members of the community are given a sense of ownership rather than just working for the company, where they manage and run the organization and slowly gaining interest towards education. Living Blue contributes to the health and education of the community as a

Living Blue has been a business for last 7-8 years and slowly growing aligning the demand and the production capability. We prefer not going into mass production as it is high value craft and the demand is slowly moving. We are planning to grow organically where our skills and production match the global and local demand.

Working for a social business does not provide financial assurance, as some would like to believe. Is it true at all?

What is your take on this perception of the mass?

In order for someone to work for a social business, the passion is extremely important. Many aspects are intangible here. It may not have crazy high pays like the corporations but the intrinsic value of working for one is amazing. You need to make a choice and find a career that aligns with your interest and value. Finally, the equation of passion vs. money comes into play here.

As an expert, what would you advice the fresh graduates who are starting their career regarding considering social business as a career path?

It is important to get a head start somewhere and gather enough experience to know if you want to come in to the world of social business or not. I would advise the fresh graduates to have a solid work experience that would help define the inner interest and abilities before setting foot into social business.

INSIDE OUT

Socialpreneurs in Seattle

Jolkona’s Project Catalyst takes eight young entrepreneurs to meet some world class enterprises

By Debojit Saha

1. Shazeeb Islam pitching for Social Business Youth Alliance, a social enterprise supporting youth leadership through entrepreneurship training 2. Fiona Khandoker, CEO of TrainedBD, and Debojit Saha, CEO of Shurokka and the author of this article were the winners of Judges and Audience Choice Awards respectively 3. Dr. Neelima Das (center) with Jolkona Board president, Heide Felton (left) and Dan Kranzler (right), Jolkona pitch coach

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One fine morning as I was going through the pile of emails I saw one email which read: Congratulations you have been selected as one of the Catalyst from Bangladesh, we are looking forward to seeing you in Seattle, US. I was ecstatic. Around a month ago, I applied for an accelerator program, Jolkona Catalyst 2015 which was funded by the US State Department. The program called for application in early January, 2015 and after two round of screening process they selected 8 social entrepreneurs from Bangladesh who were scheduled to go to the US in April to attend their three week long program. The entrepreneurs were from a diverse set of backgrounds both in terms of age, education and experience. The projects were a mixture of for-profit as well as not-for-profit but the overall goal of every project was to make a positive difference in the society.

In the next few weeks we were on our toes to wrap up things so as to ensure that day-to-day operation of our organizations are not hampered due to

our absence for three weeks and also we had to make our own preparation. On 16 April 2015 8 entrepreneurs from Bangladesh set out on a journey to US. At Seattle we were welcomed by Katie Rendon, program coordinator of Jolkona Catalyst 2015 and she took us to our office space where we were briefed on how to commute in Seattle, what are the things we can expect over the next three weeks and then we were taken to our host families so that we can take some rest and combat jet lag. The organizers of the program were wise in keeping a day in hand so that we could get over jet lag and have no trouble in attending the program. On our first week at the program we met numerous coach and consultants who guided us on different aspects of our projects, some of them include brainstorming regarding mission and vision of our organisations, setting financial and operational milestones, dispute/conflict resolution, pitch coaching etc. Office hours were long and coaches were highly demanding but what kept us going was the strong motivation and

guidance from our mentors. One of the best things the program did was to attach one mentor to each entrepreneur. The mentors helped us in understanding the context of the lectures given by the coaches and also assisted us in apply their advices from in our project.

The second week was one of the most exciting parts of the tour. We had a number of visits to different corporate houses, factories and non-profit organizations. Some of the places we visited include Google, Microsoft, Boeing, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Code.org. The philosophy behind visiting these organizations was to interact with personnel from these extremely successful organizations and to share our ideas and also to briefly discuss about the projects we are running. I found these engagements particularly helpful because the brief one to one session helped us to think certain avenues of our project which we were overlooking. Also these sessions were a form of

encouragement and appreciation towards the hardship we face in our daily life because we found out that in initial days of these companies, they too had such struggle which in a way was a bit comforting.

The last week was all about getting ready for the demo day. Demo day was the day of the final presentation where all of the eight entrepreneurs presented their ideas to a wide group of audience from Seattle. The audience consisted of people from different US enterprises, Bangladeshi community and entrepreneurs. The audience was awed to hear all the eight ideas from Bangladesh and the projects were appreciated whole heartedly. Even though there were only two awards: Judges Choice Award which was bagged by Fiona Khandaker for her project Trained BD and Audience Choice Award which was bagged by me for Shurokkha. but all of us felt like winners when a senior citizen from the Bangladeshi community said “You guys made me feel proud of being a Bangladeshi”. After the final presentation, there were lots of handshakes and commitments to stay in touch and work together. The next two days the entrepreneurs spent in catching up with the people they have met on the demo day and explored different ways of working together to support their initiatives.

Apart from the scheduled meet ups which were arranged by the program there were numerous meet ups which the entrepreneurs themselves scheduled on their own. For instance I met some NGOs and business houses who are working on products in the same line as my project Shurokkha. Moreover, I had a wonderful time discussing my project with my host parents Heidi Felton and Mathew. They were my in-house mentors. Also I explored some wonderful places with them, namely Chihuly Museum, Pike Place Market, Space Needle, The Pompeii etc. Also all 8 of us scheduled a tour to Boeing Factory which was an amazing factory. We got to see the aircrafts

being built right in front of our eyes and learned a lot about different spacecrafts like Boeing 777, which was once flown from Hong Kong to London along the wrong route so that they could make a record of flying for 22 hours at a stretch. We were awed to see that vision of one entrepreneur around 100 years back has led this company to a height matched only by matched by very few companies in the world. The visit gave us the inspiration to think big and the audacity to continue in our efforts.

But I believe the real benefit of the program is the relations we have built with the people in Seattle, for example in my case I am working with a US based organization called PATH and Spreeha to spread the benefit of my project to a even wider group of people. And as far as I know almost everyone of the 8 entrepreneurs are working with someone whom they have met in US through this program. All in all it was a very rewarding experience and I believe it will help me in shaping the course of my project and has made me better equipped to meet the real life challenges.

Five takeaways from the experience: - Customer development always comes before product development. Learn about your customers first and then develop product.

- Start small and see if you can find 100 customers to pay for your product/service, learn from the experience and then scale unto 1000 customers.

- Learn from your failures; look at them as learning opportunities.

- It’s okay to be doubtful at times but always remember that every great idea sounds lame at the initial stage.

Be shameless: don’t waste time thinking about what others will think about you approaching clients/investors.

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SPONSORED ARTICLE

AIRLINES

Emirates on cloud nine Worldwide plummeting oil prices secure the airline’s 2014 profit

By Sumaiya Mutiatur

‘We never take our foot off the gas pedal’ said the Chairman and CEO of Emirate Airlines Sheikh Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum to Khaleez Times in May 2015 reassuring Emirates’ aggressiveness in the extremely competitive global airlines industry. Also a significant drop in oil price in the second half of 2014 surely added fuel to its uphill battle for lucrative bottom line. As reported in Reuters in May 2015, Mr Maktoum also declared a stunning 40% profit growth with total profit of US $1.5 billion making 2014 the 27th consecutive year of profit for this Dubai-based and UAE government-owned airlines.

With its 23 weekly flights from Bangladesh to various destinations, Emirates Airlines has been awarded for having the best economy class, best in-flight entertainment and being the best cargo carrier in 2014 by a local Aviation Magazine. It has been awarded as the ‘Airline of the Year in 2013’ too based on a survey conducted on 18 million passengers

by Skytrax – a UK based consulting firm on airlines. With a tagline ‘Hello Tomorrow’, Emirates thrives to redefine service on the ground while setting new limits to service up in the air with stand-alone bar, In-flight shower and spa while 107 of total aircrafts have in-flight Wi-Fi! Being one of the largest airlines globally in terms of international passenger carrying, Emirates is also the largest buyer of jaw-dropping number of fuel-efficient aircrafts – specifically Airbus A380 and Boeing 777X.

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Interestingly, as the ambitious kid in the block of the Airlines industry, it didn’t join any International alliances like Oneworld or Starworld and instead treated partnerships differently. For instance, its liaison with Australia-based Qantas Airways has inspired customers from Oceania to fly Emirates. Mr Makhtoum reiterated about this to The National that ‘If we went with the alliances, I don’t think you would see Emirates at the size it is today’.

Truly, the three gulf carriers – Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways – combined are dominating the airlines industry which was once assumed to be monopolized by US and European Airlines: Being profitable in 2014 was very tricky as it was a turbulent & volatile year for the global aviation industry. Airlines had to suffer from operational adjustment to avoid Ebola outbreak, change to longer-distance routes to evade armed conflict in several regions while suspicious disappearance of aircrafts shook customer’s confidence. Middle-eastern airlines also faced 80-day runway stoppage at Dubai Airport, which is the third largest and busiest airport in terms of international passengers.

According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) Emirates alone suffered the opportunity cost of $0.46 billion revenue not earned.

With fluctuation of exchange rate causing an additional cost of $0.40 billion,

the company badly needed a miracle. And it came in the disguise of falling oil price!

Cheaper liquid gold

Oil, termed as ‘Liquid Gold’ for its bright yellow shine and being a key driver of civilization, is the primary component of Jet-fuel required for Airlines and alone consumes 35% of total operational cost of airlines.

Recently, oil price reduced by 43% due to increased supply by Arab and gulf countries in pursuit to retain market share in a low demand scenario. While this imposes a major threat for OPEC countries, the decline is a sigh of relief for airliners. Oil price came to $85/barrel after June 2014 timeline according to Brent Crude indicator.

This means Emirates was able to reduce operational cost by $4 per sitting amounting to $7.8 billion.

Similarly, its rival US-based Delta airlines saved $2 billion.

While steep drop in oil price has monumental effect on 2014 financial performance, it isn’t the sole reason for high profitability. All airlines have enjoyed the lower price to some extent so how come Emirates is on the cockpit? That’s where its policy on forward-buying of Jet fuel came into play.

No gambling with fuel price

Being more focused on earning revenue through service rather than by pricing war, Emirates has a high appetite for calculated risk. After

The Year That Was

40% 49.3

profit growth,

10% growth in revenue million

passengers served

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new destinations in 2014, announcement of two new routes in 2015 Delivery of over 24 new planes Employee growth by over 80 subsidiaries& companies having 168 nationalities

11% facing severe losses due to inappropriate fuel price hedging – which means buying fuel in advance at a fixed rate to avoid downside of price fluctuations – the airlines decided to completely un-hedge its fuel price from 2009. This was opposite to the strategy deployed by fellow gulf carrier Etihad Airways who ended its hedging contracts only in late 2014. Emirates president Tim Clarke told The Gulf in 2012 that ‘Hedging is like a casino, you can’t win at that’. However, most airlines have full or partial hedged contracts valid for considerable time to brace against oil price hike and offer competitive price. Hence, while Emirates enjoyed the benefit of low price immediately, many were bound by existing hedged contracts.

Furthermore, fuel-efficient aircrafts enables the airlines to bring jet fuel’s contribution in operational cost to 35% from 39% thus causing added savings.

Touching the world

In 2014 alone, Emirates introduced five new destinations for passengers – Abuja, Brussels, Budapest, Chicago and Oslo while having 4 new cargo-service destinations.

With higher number of routes, it can draw new passengers onboard with

1st 50 billion

time in airline history, it achieved over Available Tonne Kilometer (ATKM) which

seals Emirates as the largest International Airlines in the world as of today.

A sweeping total brand value of USD

6.6 billion

more choice, connectivity and comfort and thus increase the revenue by at least 7% with its global presence.

Keeping a steady compass

Neil Armstrong once rightly said that flying machines are the closest men can get being a bird. And men’s desire to fly, as evident in Greek myth Icarus, only deepens with economic growth.

Emirates geographic orientation helps it to highlight routes to emerging economies and the possibility of reaching any major distance within 8-hour window places it in the top list of traveller’s. IATA global traffic data 2012 shows that air travel in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Middle-east is growing by respectively 7%, 8%, 10% and staggering 17% per year while US market shows only 1% growth rate.

Also, passenger capacity grew by 11.4% in Middle-east alone.

Such global expansion brought other Airlines in panic mode. United, American and Delta Airlines rebuked the gulf carrier as ‘Having unfair subsidies from Dubai government and breaching open skies agreement’ while European Airlines are skeptical to Emirates offering trans-Atlantic service. In the current fiscal year, Emirates will thus be belting up and fly against the stormy wind of uncertainty caused by currency fluctuations, protectionism in some countries and legal claims filed by its US and European rivals. Amidst these, it aims to perform in full throttle in the international airlines industry where yearly demand grows by 5.5%.

Meanwhile, considering the great fortune caused by low oil price, Emirates has cut down fuel surcharge previously included in the airfare. Judging by its upcoming Ramadan campaign in UAE, it might also charge lower rates in selected regions. Flying was, perhaps, never so easy!

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BUSINESS CLUB

Through The Ages

The YES!ers

T

he business club of North South University is known as NSU YES! The Young Entrepreneur’s Society was a club which started its journey in 1994 to create leaders in this colossal sea of followers through unofficial teachings, trainings, research and public service. The competence of its members helped the club to shine through the later years with numerous activities of competitive events, endorsing leadership and entrepreneurial development programs and instilling, as well as nurturing corporate brilliance, in

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every member of YES! At the beginning, YES! used to carry out duties and responsibilities given by the School of Business, organize field trips and study tours and circulate annual publication of the club, gradually it started to organize competitions and grow into much more than in was initially anticipated. A mere club it was and a mere club it was supposed to be.

YES! was a very ordinary organization until it came up with its very own event that would be considered a benchmark for defining NSU YES! It’s very first event was the NSU Intra Agro Based Business Plan Competition which started around 2007, later it took an initiative to arrange workshops and small scale seminars. Although all of these events were a big hit at the time, it wasn’t yet at the summit of its potential.

Around 2010, the outlook of the club YES! started to change and get even bigger in magnitude. A national event, the first of its kind, was introduced to the universities all over Bangladesh, organized by YES! is known as Ad Maker – The Creative Fight. Unique and inventive in its

Though it is a very small institute to pursue, the level of excellence YES! promises with the added benefit of becoming defined and proficient outshines all other developed establishments of the same sort. design, it endeavors to emphasize the skills of the participants in planning and creating television commercials to a complete 360 degree IMC campaign and exhibit their marketing knowledge on a realistic sense. It is the flagship event of this club where teams from across the country take part in this prestigious competition to prove their creative intelligence. After all these years it has occupied an even bigger platform as one of the prime competitions organized in Bangladesh with major sponsor deals to support the event. Also, a pride for the members of YES! is that they are internationally recognized, teams from outside of the country have expressed enthusiasm to participate if they are given the opportunity and in the future steps would be taken to accommodate them.

NSUers Meet Corporate Icons (NMCI) is another signature event of NSU YES! where a series of seminars are conducted by prominent and successful figures in the country.

The idea for this initiative is to act as a conduit between the students and corporate leaders allowing them to share their experiences, battle scars as well as trophies and knowledge to engage the students in such a way that it enables them to interact with the top entrepreneurs/business heads and discuss how to overcome their hurdles and non motivating factors.

This intra NSU event has become so popular that it extends to several days with outstanding speakers sharing their views on modern business community and many more, taking more than just one session giving somewhat equal opportunity to all students to attend the seminars of those inspired minds.

Another milestone for YES! was the

commencement of one more inter university strategic business competition, a nationwide event, called Masters of Ideation – The Battle for Supremacy. Not having reached its optimum level yet, since it was launched around 2012 – still a novice in this sector, the rapid growth of this event has lead the club to achieve extraordinary upshots. For example, more credible associations with top MNCs in Bangladesh for sponsorships, top media heads for coverage of the proposed events and ultimately an immaculate mark in the business region in this country. Here, the participants have to analyze practical business cases and devise strategies for a simulated episode.

The purpose of this competition is to prepare the students of the non conformist ways of the corporate society and stand out with their brilliance.

All of the above mentioned achievements have only been possible for the incredible caliber of the ingenious member base that NSU YES! has. Not only does it help and support each member’s ability to grow but also enhances such skills as communication, public speaking, leadership abilities and strengthens interpersonal relationships among the members of the club. The rigid bond between each individual of the club acts as a motivating factor to encourage club participation and efficient work environment. Inventive minds of the club come together and construct the ideas on whom the competitions are based on. The club not only supports its members as a family because of their close knit bonding but also facilitates personal growth, structure and discipline through governing them as an institute.

Although it is an institute to encourage leadership, the family in

this established organization nurtures the more personal region much like two sides of the same coin. YES! as an Institute offer Leadership and Member Development Programs for its associates such as organizing workshops on real business cases and participating in other major competitions nationwide as a team from the club. New teams are groomed appropriately before entering competitions and the seniors help them in any queries and confusions they might have, sometimes case studies are solved in the club right away. All of these are done for an augmented analytical ability of particular members who are that bit keen to give an effort.

These qualities are the attractions of NSU YES! and because of the credible talents, heightened leadership abilities and reliable nature of the club, North South University often honors the club by making it the sole or major organizing committee of certain events or affairs, in a pool of various vibrant clubs, regarding School of Business.

Currently governed by Zulfiquer Ali Haider as Faculty Advisor, Mahdee Kabir as President, Mirza Hasin Yamin as Vice President-corporate communications, Syed Sakib Ahmed Puman as Vice President-Logistics and Resources, Arham Rafid as Treasurer, Taskin Matin as Joint Secretary and Rakib Khandakar as General Secretary, the club continues to thrive and surpass the benchmark of the legacy determined by their forerunners. Though it is a very small institute to pursue, the level of excellence YES! promises with the added benefit of becoming defined and proficient outshines all other developed establishments of the same sort.

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AD MAKER 2015

The Whole Of Advertising In Just A Few Hours

T

he workshop for Robi presents Ad Maker Bangladesh 2015 colored by Elite Paints, the biggest advertising competition in the country took place on the 30th of May, 2015 with 372 teams from universities all over Bangladesh attending it. ‘It started off with Farooq Shams’, the Dxecutive director of planning of Bilop Leo Burnelle, interactive session with the audience.

He started by explaining what an ad agency was. Comparing the three main departments of an ad agency to the human body; the creative

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department being the heart, the servicing department being the hands and feet that would physically go and get the work done and the planning department being the brain, deciding and debating on what and how to do, he explained how vast and diverse an advertising agency really is, what they focus on and how they work. In terms of how to market and advertise a product he mentioned that one must always remember that everyone’s opinion counts. He said that a campaign created for advertising a product must be unique but most impor

One must be aware of what kind of a communication will hit a target because not everything can be sold to everyone. Certain people like certain things and so it is not only important to know who one’s target is but also how to get to them in the proper way. tantly, must get to the target audience and attract them. His focus and key point throughout the entire session was the target audience, everything about and surrounding them. To advertise, a communication is designed and it must be designed in such a way that it hits the target audience. One must be aware of what kind of a communication will hit a target because not everything can be sold to everyone.

Certain people like certain things and so it is not only important to know who one’s target is but also how to get to them in the proper way. He concluded his speech with yet again, putting emphasis on the target audience. One must know who the target audience is, their thoughts and the best way to reach them.

Ashfaq Uzzaman Bipul, Director of Half Step Down then introduced us to the smallest details of making a TVC (Television commercial).

According to him, regardless of what the work is, the first and foremost job is to observe. He mentioned that to make a TVC for the product of a client, one must be aware of what they want, what they like and who their target audience is. The best way to do all of the above is to observe. What he put most emphasis on was doing something new and fresh. He believes that there must be freshness in every thing we do. If a script is handed to ten people, all of them would work on it in ten different ways. The only one that would be the best would be the one that would have something fresh about it. He talked about a few of the TVCs he worked on and said that there were things in those that were common and had been done before.

But he didn’t want to change them, he wanted to take a different approach to them. That approach is believed to be what made his TVCs

different. One more thing he talked about was to always work on new things. Because only by doing many different things will we know what we like and what we’re good at. We shouldn’t do what or how our idols did something. Our work must be better or worse than theirs. Why? Because, if it’s better, that’s great but if it’s worse, we’ll learn and get better. The rest of his speech was focused on the physical aspect of making a TVC. Making a storyboard, budgeting, film editing, graphics, working on production, etc. were given a brief idea of. The end to his speech came with him emphasizing on what he talked about from the very start, we must do something new, we must do something fresh and we must do something with a new and different approach.

The last speech of the workshop was given by the Chief Executive Officer of Interspeed, Muntasir Alam. The focus of his speech was how products are marketed. ATL (above the line) and BTL (below the line) advertising techniques were talked about with focus on BTL. About ATL, in short, it could be said that it’s talking to consumers through TV. But the idea of BTL is broader. In short, through BTL, we don’t just talk to consumer, the communication takes place in such a way that the brand speaks for itself through feedbacks of the consumers. BTL gives the idea that we can touch our consumers in various ways and feel

what they want and like through it.

There was a mention of three things a product must give its consumers.

It must empower us, change us and add value. When the advertising or marketing of a product is done, there are three things that must exist.

Educating consumers, giving an option for trial and giving reason and availability to re-purchase it.

Besides talking about having a target audience through demographic surveys and such and reaching them, he talked about budgeting and its importance. After the establishment of a plan comes budgeting after which comes the ways of getting to the audience. The marketing done to attract the target market must be creative and attractive.

First, we must know who our target audience is. Then we must find out where they will be found. Then, in various locations of the target audience’s presence various booths and such, according to the location and group of people, can be created with fun and unique activities and such to attract them. The speech was concluded with an idea of ROI (return on investment) calculation where it was said that the facts of increase of the awareness of the product, whether it’s being referred to and if the number of the consumers is increasing had to be aware of and improved.

The reason behind the success of this workshop is simply the diversion in the speakers. All three speakers were from different fields and so had the ability to educate all those who were present in a pretty wide range. From the basics to the advanced, everything was covered in a matter of just a few hours and in ways that were anything but boring.

And so, Robi presents Ad Maker Bangladesh 2015 colored by Elite Paints has finally begun, promising to be bigger and better.

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TECH

The Ins and Outs of

15

The world watches technology giant Google's latest innovations attain maturity

By Abhijit Asad Google’s annual I/O events have been famous since inception for their amazing expositions of Google’s future hardware and software technologies, and this year’s Google I/O 2015 was no exception.

The announcement of the upcoming Android M upgrade was a fairly unanticipated move, as its predecessor, Lollipop, is not even a year old, and is still receiving updates quite steadily.

The developer preview of the Android M operating system released by Google shows it to be a more refined and polished version of Lollipop, featuring a myriad of optimizations, resulting in superior battery life and hardware compatibility. Android M also promises easier access to Google Now, greatly simplified app permissions, and system-wide integration of Google’s Chrome browser.

Google has also announced a standalone version of its Photos app, which previously used to be bundled with Google Plus. The new app will offer free cloud backup solutions for an unlimited number of photographs, each up to 16 megapixels in size, as well as video clips. While the cloud backup feature

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has existed in Google Plus for quite some time, the lack of a storage cap suddenly makes it massively lucrative for every photographer, from amateurs to professionals.

Google has also made changes to Android Wear, its dedicated operating environment for wearable devices such as smartwatches.

Along with making a slew of ergonomic changes to the software’s user experience components, extra features such as low-power always-on display options and persistent navigation directions.

Not content with simply staying restricted to portable devices and personal computers, Google also has plans to invade your household and turn it into a home of the future with smart door locks, temperature controls and lights that can be operated and programmed by their new ‘Project Brillo’, an offshoot of Android that Google wants to turn into the new standard of home automation systems. Much about this curiously interesting project still remains to be revealed, but we are eager to see more of it.

With Apple Pay swiftly gaining ground in the United States, Google is not sitting idle, and it has already managed to revamp its largely

stagnant Google Wallet service into the form of the much more flexible and simpler-to-use Android Pay, which can be used to make both real-world and app purchases through the use of NFC protocols. It is slated to be compatible with nearly a million store outlets straight out of the starting gates, which shows that Google is certainly not holding anything back in this race.

Easy access to virtual reality-style stereoscopic visuals by means of a simple folded cardboard frame was the foundation of Google’s ambitious but practical Cardboard project (announced last year), and this year, Google has come up with an upgraded design for it, along with the release of a development kit that can be utilized by Android and iOS developers alike.

Instead of blazing through with technological revolutions, this year’s Google I/O was rather focused on perfecting Google’s overall user experience across its massive board of products and services by introducing updates and augmentations on every discernible level. And a bit of polish is a hard thing not to love in the fickle arena of technology.

“I would like to emphasize that a strategic combination of commendable technical ecosystem and rich content could be the game changer to bring about the true Digital Revolution” For the first time, there is an event called Google I/O Extended Dhaka Program.

What intrigued you to organize such an event?

This is not the first time that Google I/O Extended Dhaka is being held in Dhaka, it’s the second. The first Google I/O Extended Dhaka was held at HubDhaka organized by Google Developer Group Dhaka (GDG). I was intrigued by the facts how active different Google Communities are Bangladesh is and this was chance to meet and greet everyone who are all somewhat working towards same goal, exemplifying the prospect of ICT Industry in Bangladesh.

What is the response of developers who participated in the event and enjoyed live streaming of the actual I/O event?

The developers are always the core focus group in the I/Os as they are always ahead of the curve in terms of understanding and adaption in comparison to the consumers towards the latest innovations and technology. A good number of developers stayed back to watch the announcements made at Google I/O San Francisco in a similar fashion as football fanatics watch Fifa Worldcup Finals. They were most excited about the announcement made about Project Ara, a modular smartphone project by Google.

How is Google Bus doing in Dhaka?

Google Bus Bangladesh is one of the most important projects to land in the shores of Bangladesh in this golden time of Digitalization, it is going great.

Ofcourse, apart from a few setbacks due to the political turmoil in the beginning of the year, it has been persistently been

achieving its target of teaching key digital skills to more than half a million students in Bangladesh. I personally think it is a great initiative for first time internet users to familiarize themselves with the possible benefits.

Being an expert in Digital Media marketing, what's your take on the current scenario?

Quazi Shafi Sunny Project Coordinator of Google Bus in Bangladesh shares his insights about the recently held Google I/O 2015

I think we are in a transition period where we are quickly adapting to the uses of internet and smartphones. If you notice, all major advertising agencies in Bangladesh are investing into their digital wings or developing a separate digital agency due to the growing market demands. One of the most popular tools used to reach audiences in Bangladesh remains Facebook with over 11 million users; I realized that its quick bargain largely undermines the possibilities of the Internet in general with 42 million users in the country. I would like to emphasize that a strategic combination of commendable technical ecosystem and rich content could be the game changer to bring about the true Digital Revolution.

What according to you is the most exciting take-away from this year's I/O and why?

The most exciting take-away from this year’s Google I/O Extended Dhaka would be finding out audience’s level of fascination towards the various start-ups and initiatives in Bangladesh and by Bangladeshis globally at the local Key-Note presentations in relationship to Google I/O San Francisco’s Key-Notes.

I plan to set out for an excavation to establish communication with more such revolutionary initiatives to offer the audiences fresh new narratives in the coming years of Google I/O Extended Dhaka.

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APPS OF THE MONTH

Alert today, alive tomorrow!

By Sumaiya Mutiatur What use is a smartphone if it cannot inform you about the nearest earthquake or Tsunami when your life depends on it? With the 7.9 Richter scale devastating tremor that affected Nepal and similar calamities lurking in our part of the world, Smartphones needs to be smarter with earthquake apps. Developers around the world created several Earthquake apps to update you on recent seismic activity, to show directions of tectonic plate movements along with your distance. Whether you use android, iOS or even Blackberry, a suitable earthquake app is there for you.

Earthquake Alert: a handy tool for android

Downloaded by at least 1 million people around the world and with a 4.3 stars (out of 5) average rating from over 17,000 users, this is the most renowned free earthquake apps for android users. With its minuscule 2 MB file size, it virtually takes almost zero space in your device compared to all the music and games you store. The apps shows tremor ranging from 4.3 Richter scale to higher around the world and from 1.0 Richter scale & above in USA. Along with the satellite mapping of different zones, it also has inbuilt earthquake news feed and can illustrate magnitude specifications of any tremor. For users’ convenience, it also has customized loading, basic filtering and alert as well as push notification. Like any good apps, it enables you to share any relevant information into social media or directly report any occurrence in your proximity into United States Geological Survey website. The only disadvantage with this app is the presence of tiny ad scrolls at the bottom. Sadly, it doesn’t have any premium pricing options to remove those ads either. However, apart from that, no doubt that it’s a pretty useful tool.

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Quakes: Earthquake Notification: Catchy apps for IOS

This app enriches your device with similar options like Earthquake Alert does, but it’s more visually attractive interface makes it compatible with stylish Apple products. It has a timeline view which, along with the intensity, shows the distance from the nearest epicenter of seismic activity. The file size is also only 0.9 MB. This app also offers the most recent earthquake data with magnitude of 2.5 Richter scale and accurately positions the tremors which make it a favorite among iOS users.

Meanwhile, Blackberry users have Gempaloka – a similar app designed with a tiny file size. This app provides information on location, magnitude and damaged areas and has been downloaded by over 50,000 users.

Soon, scientists will turn our smartphones and tablets into self-sufficient portable devices to locate any looming danger of earthquake or Tsunami through GPS and other advanced technology. Until that happens, these apps are your best bet to be updated on the safety front.

RESOLUTION

Have a virtual fitness partner

Due to the hectic work or study schedule creating fatigue, along with mouth-watering fast-foods adding up on us like a tab full of lard, we really require a virtual fitness guru.

So, our Smartphones are turning into pocket-sized fitness companion with various Fitness apps. In fact, 2014 was declared by Google as the year of Health and Fitness Apps where Endomondo – a distance-based fitness app rules with terrific figures.

The app is made by Under Armor Connected Fitness – the largest health and fitness community in the world.

Available on Windows Phone, Blackberry and Apple along with 4 other operating systems, it has been downloaded 25 million times, received 4.4/5.0 average rating from 237,583 users in Google play. Despite its 38.4 MB size, this app is available in 21 languages on popular demand.

So, what will you find if you join this vast community through this app?

With a free account, you can easily choose your preferred sport from 50 options including swimming, walking, running, cycling, skating, sailing and even aerobics! You can also get feedback from audio coach, keep full training diary, track your heart rate, get notifications on a friend’s fitness, check calories and challenge yourself! To make exercising fun, you may choose from Beat A Friend, Follow A Route or Beat Yourself workouts and share your status, achievements on social while encouraging others to do the same. There is also provision for in-app purchases and PREMIUM version for other extensive and customized exercises.

Apart from personal fitness, you can also use it for fundraising. Last year, Bangladesh Edible Oil Limited and BDCyclists together introduced the Healthy Heart Cycling Challenge on Endomondo to raise donation worth of BDT 200,000 for National Institution for Cardiovascular Diseases.

Although the app is updated frequently, there is still a need for an offline map feature and options for creating and downloading online customized workout programs. Also, the recent version requires having bugs fixed. Aside from these issues, whether you are joining the BDCyclists team to paddle around the country, heading towards gym to lose extra pounds & to get perfectly toned muscles or gearing up for a national-level swimming competition, Endomondo is there to keep you on track! After all, in the era of Apple watches and Fitbit, how can you ignore this web-connected fitness regime?

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CLEAR apps – Hide anything!

Last year, Bangladesh Edible Oil Limited and BDCyclists together introduced the Healthy Heart Cycling Challenge on Endomondo to raise donation worth of BDT 200,000 for National Institution for Cardiovascular Diseases.

Worried that the silly picture you posted in Instagram during your freshmen years can forever ruin your love-life or that your boss may assume you are unprofessional for a seemingly innocent comment made on Facebook long ago?

Don’t worry. That one single silly Tweet, Facebook post or picture shall no more dictate your life as for all these issues, Ethan Czahor – has an answer. He faced the same trouble when reporters dug out his social media history costing him his dream job in Jeb Bush political campaign.

Turning lemons into lemonades, he made a new apps platform - CLEAR - to save others from threatening social media history. CLEAR is meant to keep people’s private things private and enables the users to forego any embarrassing post, pictures or statuses giving the chance to start on a clean slate.

When users install this app and gives permission to CLEAR to access his/her social media accounts, it digs up Twitter, Facebook and Instagram timeline to find any offensive or damaging posts, pictures and statuses. By providing easy options to delete them with a simple click, it secures the users from any patches. The app looks for some inbuilt keywords to find derogatory issues. It also uses IBM’s supercomputer Watson to flag further negative messages. When one post is deleted from CLEAR, it’s deleted from all associated social media accounts. However, the app still needs to improve marking similar offensive posts and enable to delete similar posts at once to save time.

If any unwanted posts are held in public domain and thus cannot be cleared via CLEAR; awareness of such possibility will act as a referee to make all of us think before we share everything with everyone.

Already sought by over 5000 people during its Beta-testing phase, this apps has been launched on mid-May 2015 selectively and is available for iOS users.

In the future, the apps can be used to filter emails, blogs and search engine results too, hopefully. Let’s be in charge of our reputation.

MONEY PLAN

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Things You Need to Know About Auto Loans

By Eshraq Raihan Ahmed

Auto loans have become one of the most popular bank loans around the world. It is very rare that a person will have the entire capital in hand needed to buy a car at any given moment, especially in our country with car prices being as high as they are. Therefore, it is only natural that a person willing to buy an automobile will seek help from a bank and take the partial or complete amount required to buy a new car as a loan. However, applying for a car loan takes a lot of thought. Below are 5 things to consider before taking on an auto loan.

Go through the terms and clauses of the auto loan agreement repeatedly

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91m Global car sales are rising and expected to exceed 91 million by 2017

1.Understand Your Credit Rating

Before applying for any form of credit, it is important to understand your credit rating. Credit rating is a way for banks to understand whether their customers are acceptable credit risks or not. It is advised to get an early start at fixing your credit rating to make yourself look more attractive to the banks. Avoid doing things that hurt credit rating such as being refused for credit or applying for too loans many within a short period of time. Thus, it is a good idea to not request any other forms of credit in 6 months or a year prior to applying for an auto loan.

2.Understand The Terms Of The Loan

Go through the terms and clauses of the auto loan agreement repeatedly. This means double checking the interest rate, the final amount to be paid to the bank, the loan term, the monthly payment rate, etc. If anything is unclear, ask questions. It is always better to make an informed decision, especially when it comes to such agreements because once it is signed, you must fulfill the particulars of the loan down to the last detail.

3.Compare Different Loans

Usually different financial organizations offer auto loans which differ noticeably as they are usually tailor-made to suit a certain group of people. Some offer different interest rates, time periods for repayment, optional down payment, etc. It is only a matter of finding the correct auto loan agreement that suits you.

4.Monthly Payments

Understanding the amount to be paid every month is crucial in deciding which loan agreement to sign on with as different people are comfortable with different amounts. This amount can be varied by numerous factors such as interest rates, which can be improved by a better credit rating, as well as a larger down payment, as it means the loaner will have paid off a larger amount initially and repaying the rest in smaller installments.

5.Short Term Vs. Long Term

Repaying a loan over a longer length of time may seem beneficial because of the smaller installments; it also means that they will be repaying a larger sum at the end from the interest piling up. It is usually advised to go for a smaller loan term as even though the monthly cost is a bit higher, the total amount spent at the end is smaller. However, those who are uncomfortable with high monthly payments and don’t mind the larger final sum can opt to go for a longer loan term for smaller installments.

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59

CORPORATE FITNESS

Sheer Stress VS Sheer Strength

How not to collapse under pure exhaustion

by Tasnuva F Khan

Tilda Swinton's Oscar winning role as a corporate lawyer in the movie Michael Clayton epitomizes the classic conflict between corporate strength and stress

Corporate life is, to a certain extent, almost synonymous with 'stress'. The following scenario is not unknown: several projects going on at once, different deadlines to meet, far too much going on, little sleep, and virtually no time at all with family. Such a pressing situation is bound to create irritability, fatigue and sheer exhaustion. Collectively, these symptoms may be put down to stress.

Almost everyone is burned out at least a few times throughout his or her lifetime, but that does not mean it is 'all right', since stress usually means a lack of control over your life.

Indeed, while most people would normally blame stress on 'too much work', usually the true source is procrastination rather than a lot going on, since leaving things to the last minute means overworking, and thus, stress.

It is important to know how to take charge of sheer stress and turn the negatives into positives. Compiled below are some invaluable tips: Keep a stress journal: This is when you identify the sources of stress in your life. While the idea of writing something like this down may seem 'a bit too much' on the surface, but sticking with it will provide invaluable insight, since it is all too easy to overlook your own stress-inducing thoughts, feelings and behavior. Look closely at your habits, excuses and definition of stress. Do you think it is temporary, even when you can't remember the last time you took a break? Do you define it as an integral part of life or write it off as 'nervous energy'? Do you blame it on others, or take it out on others?

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The stress journal will act as a daily log, and bring to light some common patterns. For starters, each time you feel stressed out, list down: · What caused it – guess if you are unsure · How you felt, both physically and emotionally · How you acted in response · What you did to feel better This last point will help you identify your coping mechanisms; are they healthy or unhealthy? Things such as smoking, drinking, over or under eating, staring blankly at the TV or computer, using pills, sleeping too much, lashing out or withdrawing from others are unhealthy mechanisms. They may seem to alleviate your troubles temporarily but in the long run, it is more damaging, since these aren't exactly coping mechanisms, they are more of an escape mechanism.

Now that you've identified your stress triggers, it is time to find healthy ways to overcome it. Remember the four A's: avoid the stressor; alter the stressor; adapt to the stressor; and accept the stressor.

Strategy - 1 Avoid the stressor

While not all stress can be avoided learning how to say no at appropriate times can reveal many different ways in which you can avoid biting off more than you can chew. Know your limits and stick to them. If your boss wishes to assign you extra work when you know deep down you will not be able to handle it, politely refuse, and explain your situation. While this might be a risky thing to do if your boss is not very sympathetic, in the long run, it will appease him or her if you can do your current work excellently, rather than doing a lot of things but none of them are up to the mark.

Limit the time you spend with people who stress you out, and if possible, end the relationship entirely. In addition, learn to take control of your environment: if traffic stresses you out, for example, take a longer but less travelled route in order to evade the congestion.

Analyze your schedule and break down your to do list to 'musts' and 'shoulds'. Place the 'shoulds' at the bottom of the list and if not extremely important, eliminate them entirely.

Strategy - 2 Alter the stressor

When it’s not possible to avoid the situation, change the situation and see if it makes things any better. Rather than bottling up your thoughts, express what you feel, but in a respectful manner. Be willing to compromise, since everything cannot go your way.

Accepting that you can bend a little will make you happier in the long run. However, don't take a back seat to your life: say it up front to your chatty coworker that you've got to finish something in an hour, and that you can only talk for five minutes.

Strategy - 3 Adapt to the stressor

Change yourself if you cannot change the situation. Reframe problems: enjoy your time in traffic by listening to the radio or collect your thoughts. Look at the big picture – is the stressor something that big; is it even worth getting stressed over? Will it matter in the long run? Thinking impartially can help avoid stress.

For some people, 'perfect' is the standard they set for themselves and others, however, failure to do so causes unbearable tension and unpleasantness. This is when you should lower your standards and learn to be okay with 'good enough'. It might be difficult to adapt to immediately, but with time, this will improve not only your stress level, but also your relationship with co-workers.

When stress takes you down, sit back and reflect on your strengths and capabilities.

Appreciating yourself will make you feel a lot better and far more confident.

Strategy - 4 Accept the stressor

you cannot change certain stressors, such as the economic recession, as an individual.

Acceptance is perhaps the hardest strategy, since things are absolutely beyond your control. Don't stress over it – focus on things than you can control, such as your own reaction, rather than musing over a partner's behavior. When facing major challenges, think of it as growing up – learn from your mistakes.

As the adage goes, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. Learn to forgive yourself and others, and if all else fails, talk to a trusted friend or a therapist. Sharing your problems in a positive manner can be very cathartic.

Lastly, find a healthy way to relax. Take a walk, call a good friend, workout, write in your journal, play with a pet, take a long bath, listen to music, spend quality time with your family – there is no end to the healthy ways of

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TOURISM

Lessons from the Wonder of Asia Eight things that have worked for tourism in Sri Lanka & what Bangladesh can learn from it

By Abreshmee Adeeba Haque

Tourism can be a major driving force in socioeconomic development and growth of a nation and Sri Lanka is a glowing example of that. A parallel analysis reveals that Bangladesh still has some major steps to take if it wishes to establish itself as a tourism capital like Sri Lanka has done.

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Image from www.thuminditravels.com

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Development of flagship projects The government of Sri Lanka has conducted massive research and handpicked select sites to feature in their brand building campaigns to help capture mind share of target audiences better. Mass communications focus on these flagship projects, whereas below-the-line communications exist for other tourist spots helping reduction in clutter.

Strategic utilization of state owned resources A lot of government land has been streamlined and utilized for tourism purposes in Sri Lanka and a number of large scale infrastructural projects such as highways and bridge construction have been completed with the aid of public private partnership ensuring minimal cost and faster development.

Focus on education A high literacy rate in the country allows it to be more tourist friendly since locals can be more co-operative to visitors due to reduced language barrier and higher knowledge reserves.

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Community inclusive growth initiatives In less developed areas, locals are generally mistrusting towards mainstream government activities and to tackle that, the Sri Lankan authorities have taken steps to reassure the local people through effective communication highlighting gains from tourism for them.

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Creation of better shopping opportunities Taxes on branded products have been removed so that tourists enjoy the experience better and associate Sri Lanka with a shopping destination.

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Nation branding efforts for tourism

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Improvement in investment climate The regulatory environment has been unified to work in favour of tourism and there has been elimination of various tax regimes introduced by provincial councils. Investment approval process has also been simplified by setting up of a “one stop shop� for tourism related investments.

Reduction in operational costs for the tourism industry Reduced electricity costs and corporate taxes in the tourism sector have helped further investments and lowered vacation expenditure for a Sri Lanka visit, helping boost both capacity and demand.

In depth branding efforts have been adopted by Sri Lanka which involve promoting the entire nation and its people as hospitable and beautiful.

Starting from illustrations of people from various walks of life in a modest welcome at the airport to free SIM cards for tourists to help share their amazing experiences on social media platforms and forums, Sri Lanka has ensured that it wins hearts.

All in all, the holistic plan that involves everything from marketing management to structural and operational changes is one that has resulted in phenomenal success. Bangladesh can surely learn from them and with some modification adapt some of the methods to its own tourism industry which is full of potential to be realized.

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TRAVEL

V for Vietnam

By Sohana Nasrin

Travel is not just about visiting, it’s about experiencing. It’s not enough to tick off the sights and charge down the coast between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city. Try to get beneath the skin of the country; it could be a culinary adventure or a walk on the wild side. It could be a cultural encounter or perhaps spiritual enlightenment. It could be you. Here are ten recommended things for the adventurous tourist in you: 1. Count the number of locals crammed on to one motorbike in the countryside 2. Get the measure of a tailor, the only time you want to be stitched up in Vietnam 3. Haggle with a cyclo driver about the price before you enjoy the ride 4. Cross the road like a local in a busy city 5. Meet the minorities, a multicolored mosaic of mountain people 6. Play tram phan tram or bottoms up with the locals in the backstreet bars 7. See the sunrise over the South China sea from a beautiful beach 8. Slurp a steaming bowl of pho at a street stall 9. Take some time out in a temple, the spiritual sanctuary of the Vietnamese 10. Turn down the volume and drift down a river by sampan

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When to go: when it comes to weather, it is a tough call as Vietnam’s weather is so diverse. The weather is dictated by two monsoons- winter monsoon between October and March and summer monsoon from April to October. It gets pretty crowded from November to March and in July and August. Price tends to pick over the Christmas and New Year. So you know when to go!

Cost and Money: The cost of

Top Eat, Top Drinks Vietnamese cuisine is full of sensual flavours, subtle aromas and super-fresh igredients. Bia hoi (beer) is the new tea, but in the mountains it is all about xeo (rice wine), medicine to the minorities.

1. Bia hoi- the world’s cheapest draught beer keeps on flowing 2. Ca phe- caffeine cravers unite, Vietnam’s coffee has a real kick 3. Cao lau- Hoi An’s answer to fried noodles, made with water from a well 4. Nem- spring rolls are the country’s most famous export, friend or fresh 5. Nuoc mam- Fermented fish sauce, the stinky secret of Vietnamese cuisine 6. Pho bo- rice noodle soup with beef, the meal that built a nation 7. Rau moung- just the thing on a glorious morning, with a dash of garlic and chili 8. Thit cho- Dog lover has a whole different meaning in this part of the world 9. 333- Ba ba ba, learn to count with the leading local beer in the south 10. Xeo- The local firewater, particularly potent is the ‘five times a night’ variety

traveling in Vietnam varies from pocket change to the platinum card, depending on taste and comfort. Ascetics could just about get by on $10 a day, while conventional budget travelers can live it up from $20 to $25. At the top end, you can spend about $200. Foreigners are frequently over charged. The official currency is Vietnam dong , but the US dollar is pretty widely accepted.

Must see movies before you travel Vietnam:

Filmmakers have found a rich vein of material in the tales of Vietnamese history and foreign and local directors have tapped it well.

1. Apocalypse Now (1979) by Francis Frod Coppola 2. Born on the fourth of July (1989) by Oliver Stone 3. Cyclo (1995) by Tran Anh Hung 4. The Deer Hunter (1978) by Michael Cimino 5. Heaven and Earth (1993) by Oliver Stone 6. The Lover (1992) by Jean-Jacques Annaud 7. Platoon (1986) by Oliver Stone 8. The Quiet American (2002) by Philip Noyce 9. The scent of Green Papaya (1992) by Tran Anh Hung 10. We Were Soldiers (2002) by Randall Wallace

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SMARTPHONE

The rise of the “selfie”

Samsung Galaxy S6’s take on the selfie trend

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he word “selfie” is said to have first appeared on an Australian internet forum in 2002. About a decade later, this term entered the worldwide vernacular. In November 2013, selfie received accolades as “Word of the Year” by the Oxford English Dictionary.

According to the dictionary’s editors, the usage of the term selfie increased by 17,000% in just one year. The selfie stick even made Time magazine’s Best 25 Inventions of the Year 2014.

Now with over one million selfies uploaded on social media networks every day, from mirror selfies to front facing camera selfies, from wide angle selfies to selfie stick group photos, the end of the selfie revolution is nowhere in sight.

What the selfie really did was

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empower individuals to take their own photos. It brought an end to taking turns with friends when taking group pictures and having to ask strangers to take a souvenir shot, only to get the camera back with blurry photos and closed eyes. The smartphone, with its front-facing camera, is the key enabler, allowing users to see what the camera sees when they snap a selfie.

The popularity of the selfie has created demand for mobile phones that take better photos than ever before, and innovations in technology mean the self-portrait is evolving. It’s no surprise that Samsung placed a heavy emphasis on cameras when designing the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge.

Samsung made sure that the front-facing camera was built to take the best selfie possible.

The Galaxy S6’s front camera has 1/4.1-inch CMOS sensor, which is 1.4 times larger than its predecessor (Galaxy S5) and offers maximum image quality. This 5MP camera also

makes it possible to take wide-angle images with enhanced beauty mode.

Users can access the camera almost instantly (in just 0.7 seconds) by double clicking the home button at any time, making sure they do not miss a single moment.

Leading innovation

Samsung is further boosting image quality with real time HDR capabilities in both cameras.

Fueled by the selfie craze, the Galaxy S6 continues to drive Samsung’s industry-leading camera innovation. Both cameras are equipped with f/1.9 lenses, a significant improvement to the previous Galaxy. Because the aperture is 60 percent wider than the S5, it can take in more light and provide more information for the camera’s image sensor, resulting in much clearer pictures, especially in low light.

Paired with video digital image stabilization (VDIS) in the front camera, which significantly reduces camera shake, the f/1.9 lens can take a clear selfie video even in a dark room.

Samsung is further boosting image quality with real time HDR capabilities in both cameras. And palm selfie mode automatically detects the palm of your hand, then activates a two second timer so you can be sure to strike the perfect pose.

Camera perfection

The image quality of the rear camera is equally stunning and can even compete with professional cameras.

Powered by a range of state-of-the-art technologies, the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge rear cameras include a 16MP sensor, an f/1.9 lens, real-time HDR and an optical image stabilization (OIS) system.

The 0.3-second autofocus (AF) system, which grabbed a lot of attention when it was introduced with the Galaxy S5, makes it possible for anybody to focus the camera quickly on a static or moving subject. The S6 is taking this even further with tracking autofocus, a smartphone first. Never miss a moment, even when life is moving fast. Snap “once in a lifetime” images every day.

These innovations are the result of years of research by a development team totally focused on giving smartphone users the best possible experience. The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are perfect choices for selfie lovers all over the world.

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ON THE BOOKSHELF

4

books on Social Business to Draw Lessons From

By Tasnuva Khan

Creating a World Without Poverty by Dr. Muhammad Yunus

This list is, of course, incomplete without Dr. Yunus’ award winning volume. Creating a World Without Poverty identifies several problems with society as it stands: gender discrimination, social exclusion, lack of access to education and healthcare, environmental degradation, and most important of all, poverty. He presents social business as the solution to these problems because of its focus on non-profit, “giving back” attitude, and greater perceived prestige of entrepreneurship than charity work. Case studies such as that of Grameen Danone (a collaboration between Grameen and a French multinational food company) exemplify currently existing social businesses while models to evolve standing organizations such as World Bank into social businesses are also provided. To address the practical aspects, legal definitions and a tax structure are suggested, along with the concept of a social stock market. While readers may question the idea that social business will solve all of the world’s ills, it is nevertheless a hopeful and positive idea.

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Bright Lights, No City

by Max Alexander

This book makes the list for two reasons: it’s set in remote Ghana, so the model can reliably be applied to extremely remote Bangladesh, and it’s more literary than scholarly, making it very readable and enjoyable. Bright Lights, No City: An African Adventure on Bad Roads With a Brother and Very Weird Business Plan is the story of Max Alexander, a journalist who was convinced by his brother Whit to quit work in Seattle and move to Africa, in order to provide light in Ghana. Whit’s company, Burro, aimed to rent batteries to Ghanaians who have no access to electricity. These batteries were meant to replace shorter lasting, more toxic and individually cheaper Chinese batteries but they ran into many complications – even though Burro batteries were greener and longer lasting, they were far more costly upfront. In addition to faulty batteries the brothers had problems with unreliable workers, missed payments, and most of all, a realization that they had hundreds of thousands but the business required millions in order to work. The book is inspiring and humorous but it is also a reality check for those trying to become involved in social business: a year after their stay in Ghana they could not break even, but new advertising strategies helped them come close to their goal.

How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas

by David Bornstein

David Bornstein’s book is more a chronicle of success stories than anything else.

But what sets this book apart is that it recognizes that social entrepreneurs come from all walks of life and include doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists and even parents. What they have in common is that they are usually not famous people, not politicians (perhaps not self profit motivated??) but those who won’t rest till they address issues of burning importance. Drawing on examples from the United States, Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Hungary and Burkina Faso, it is a balanced compilation of social business initiatives in both the developed and developing world. Two noteworthy case studies are those of Gloria de Souza, who changed the Indian primary education system and Justin Dart of Texas, who furthered disability rights after being denied a teaching certificate due to being confined to a wheelchair.

Screw Business as Usual

by Richard Branson

Richard Branson is the tycoon of Virgin empire and this book is an autobiography that introduces the concept of “Capitalism 24902” – that taking care of people and all 24902 circumferential miles of the earth is at the very core of business. Branson is a namedropper and he loves to project himself as a benevolent billionaire. No wonder – his business practices include initiatives to raise money for charities, and advising for students, amongst others. He speaks about how he went on “business as usual” where the end money was always deemed more important than the process and impacts it left and how he had an epiphany about how morally wrong that is. That, for Branson, was the turning point of his Virgin career, and that is how Capitalism 24902 was born. Moving away from Virgin, he explains how Wal-Mart’s efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 million metric tons in order to reduce environmental degradation actually lowers its operational costs, arguing that social business is not necessarily completely devoid of self interest. This book should give some confidence to existing corporations who are thinking about branching into social business but are afraid that it may not be financially viable.

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WORD OF MOUTH

Standard Chartered Bank & BASIS launched ERQ account 9 June 2015, Dhaka: Standard Chartered Bank in association with BASIS has come up with a unique proposition for the individuals / professionals involved in outsourced service exports with a bundle of a Savings Account and an US Dollar ERQ (Exporter Retention Quota) account. The customer can receive the proceeds of inward remittances as payment against outsourcing services. And maximum 60% of such proceeds can be parked in the ERQ (Exporter Retention Quota) account in foreign currency and the remainder in local currency savings account. To facilitate, BASIS will issue testimonial / certificate to the outsourcing professionals which will help them to avail the offer of the bank.

The product launching was inaugurated on June 8, 2015

by Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Honourable State Minister, Ministry of Posts Telecommunication and Information Technology as the Chief Guest. Aditya Mandloi, Head of Retail Client, Standard Chartered Bangladesh, Shameem Ahsan, President, Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) were also present at the press conference.

In his message Abrar A. Anwar, CEO of Standard

Chartered Bangladesh said “I am delighted that in partnership with BASIS, we will be offering for the first time account opening facility for Bangladeshi outsourcing professionals which will help them to bring in their remittance through a fast, secure and legitimate channel. Standard Chartered Bank is proud to be engaged in the growth and development of Bangladesh throughout our 110 years presence in this country.”

On this occasion BASIS President Shameem Ahsan said “This offer would greatly help the Outsourcing professionals in both inward remittance and international payments. One of the pillars of the “One Bangladesh” Vision for the IT Industry is reaching 1 Billion USD in exports by 2018. To facilitate that we need to simplify the inward remittance and international payment system among others, which this offer will address.”

In his speech Honourable State Minister Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, “It is important to patronize and support the freelancers as well as outsourcing professionals to implement the agenda of Digital Bangladesh. With this launch of Standard Chartered’s proposition partnering with BASIS, we have just moved one step towards it.”

BRAC Bank Limited signed a payroll agreement with Ananta Group Dhaka, Bangladesh – BRAC Bank Limited signed a payroll agreement with Ananta Group. Under the agreement, BRAC Bank will provide payroll related services including salary disbursement, credit card facility etc. to the employees of Ananta Group. Mr. Inamul Haq Khan, Managing Director, Ananta Group, and Mr. Firoz Ahmed Khan, Head of Retail Banking, BRAC Bank, exchanged the agreement documents after signing the agreement on behalf of the respective organizations.

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ETIHAD AIRWAYS’ PERFECT FLIGHT TAKES OFF TO SAVE FUEL AND CUT EMISSIONS As part of its on-going commitment to minimise the environmental impact of its operations, Etihad Airways recently launched an Abu Dhabi Perfect Flight Program by conducting a fuel-optimised ‘Perfect Flight’ between Abu Dhabi and Washington, DC. The airline worked closely with more than 30 stakeholders, including civil aviation authorities, airports, ground service providers and air navigation providers, along the entire flight of over 11,000 kilometres, which took 13 hours and 32 minutes – one of Etihad Airways’ longest routes.

The UAE-based partners include Abu Dhabi Airport, Abu Dhabi Department of Transport (DoT), General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Global Aerospace Logistics – ANS. International partners were Boeing, Eurocontrol, the US Federation Aviation Authority (FAA), Finavia, Irish Aviation Authority, Isavia, Jeppesen, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, NATS and NAV CANADA. This flight, the first of a series of perfect flights, was operated by Etihad Airways’ eco-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliner and used a host of fuel and emission-saving measures in the air and on the ground.

These include optimised ground handling at both ends of the journey and maximising efficiency opportunities in route and altitude selection.

As a result, the airline saved an estimated eight minutes on the route, 4,100 litres of fuel and 10,700 kilograms of carbon emissions, compared to the same aircraft flying a normal flight plan.

Other environmental best practices deployed include reducing the use of the onboard auxiliary power unit (APU), minimising on-ground delays, utilising expedient taxi and preferential runways and conducting unimpeded climb and descent paths. Real-time updates of current weather and wind conditions also allowed the flight crew to optimise their flight path.

Amari Dhaka opened Amaya – a Showcase of Asian flavours Conveniently located in Dhaka's new business district, a modern gateway to Bangladesh's vibrant capital, Amari Dhaka introduces Amaya food gallery, its signature all-day dining buffet restaurant. The restaurant has been launched in May 27 through a press conference for the first time ever in Amari Properties under Onyx hospitality worldwide. Setting a new gourmet scene in Dhaka, Amaya makes its debut with four distinct live kitchens showcasing the finest cuisines from Asia: four-states Japanese cuisine corner, celebrating the finest and most authentic Asian cuisine with a modern table set-up; four-states Chinese cuisine corner, offering the best of Cantonese delights; four-states Thai cuisine corner; and four-states Indian cuisine corner. Amaya is the first restaurant in Dhaka to feature Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Indian dishes under one roof, whilst featuring an interactive experience with various live food stations and tastes at the whim of its excellent chef. Every aspect of Asian flavours has been tailored to the people who will visit Amari’s signature restaurant.

‘Sunrise Summer Camp’ inaugurated 1st time in Bangladesh For the first time in Bangladesh, ‘Sunrise Summer Camp’ has inaugurated on 13th June (Saturday), 2015 at American Standard International School through organizing a Summer Camp for the children with huge response.

The summer camp will take place from 13th June to 15th August, 2015.

Children of age five to twelve years will be experiencing an enriched, creative and educational program which includes origami, kid’s yoga, science experiments, clay modeling, sports, book reading, painting competition, cooking and many such other activities. Children of different reputed schools of Dhaka like Scholastica, BIT, Manarat, Sir John Wilson, DPS, Sea Breeze, Shaheed Anwar School have taken part in the summer camp. Ms. Anisa Haq, Program Head, BRAC University, Institute of Educational Development has formally inaugurated the ‘Sunrise Summer Camp’. Ms. Lori Imdad, Principal of ASIS; Mr. Zia Imran, Miss. Lubaba Kamal, Founder of Sunshine Summer Camp, a large number children and parents with elites of the society was present in inauguration program.

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