January 2015 Tk. 100 Job Prospects Bright But Preparations Poor Processed Food Industry Packaging Dreams INFUSING CORPORATE CULTURE 'Aggressive diplomacy required to bring overseas business' Prof. MA Taslim January - 2015 CONTENTS 6 from the editor 7 letters to editor 8 short takes 13 cover story infusing corporate culture 24 interview of the month prof. ma taslim 54 photo feature salt industry 95 essay corporate hunters 44 academia breaking barriers January 2015 Tk. 100 Job Prospects Bright But Preparations Poor Processed Food Industry Packaging Dreams INFUSING CORPORATE CULTURE 'Aggressive diplomacy required to bring overseas business' Prof. MA Taslim Cover Photo : Titu Zakaria 84 tourism cox’s bazaar 52 gsr more than csr 21 academia bridging gaps 35 share market year review 28 10 sector focus packaged food industry column creating opportunities 40 62 global economy global trade and economy promotion food and visa 66 63 tech national hackathon 2014 corporate grooming expensive perfumes 38 32 money matters russian economy regional focus asean and saarc 88 blue economy kutubdia 68 January - 2015 70 gadget xiaomi redmi note 4g review CONTENTS innovation creativity in uncertainty 64 startup innovation xtreme 72 movies sony’s post-hack image 74 different perspective uber’s pr dilemma 60 dining tarka 76 leadership presence 78 growth not worth it 80 career right time to quit 82 aviation new supersonic jet 90 word of mouth FROM THE EDITOR Glimpse of a few pieces from our January 2015 issue A Another year is gone and it’s a matter of enthusiasm that the New Year, 2015, has arrived, offering a lot of expectation of positive changes to our life and business. Of course a new year will do nothing unless we try to change our fate and that is where the importance of entrepreneurship, or taking initiative lies. As done earlier, ICE Business Times, in the outgoing year, tied to cover consistently diverse issues of investment, industries, trade, development, technology and many more to meet interests and some helpful information for the stakeholders. In the current issue, we have come up with the lead story on ‘Infusing Corporate Culture’ to take a stock of the state of corporatisation, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and relevant regulatory affairs. In an exclusive interview with ICE Business Times, reputed economist and head of Dhaka University’s Department of Economics, Prof. MA Taslim pressed hard on taking necessary steps to upgrade skills and productivity of the workforce. As a former CEO of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute, he is anxious about the persistent downturn in economic activity. But he is hopeful that as our labour-intensive products such as apparel and footwear is less expensive, Bangladesh should be able to gradually move out of the bracket of Least-Developed Country (LDC) and march forward. According to the University Grants Commission (UGC), around 400,000 graduates are coming to the job market every year, but another London-based report, The Economist Intelligence Unit, said 47% of the graduate workforce remained unemployed in Bangladesh. Lack of skills or whichever, should be addressed and rectified, for the betterment of our succeeding generations. As shown by British American Tobacco Bangladesh’s annual Battle of Minds competition, rigorous tertiary education remains the cornerstone to a bright professional career. In our sector focus, we looked into how Bangladeshi agricultural goods are making their way into the superstores of major cities. Local producers have observed that there is a market for higher-end imported processed food in Bangladesh. From there, they have realised that there is a market that can be served with locally produced items. But in terms of quality, have our products reached a status in world stage? Packaging machineries are also increasingly being produced locally, which do not offer the longevity of international machinery, but produce packaging of similar quality. Quality of raw materials both for products and for packaging is dictating the quality of ultimate output in this industry. Simply put, higher quality raw materials would produce better quality product. Finally, we would like to wish all our readers, patrons and well-wishers happy holidays and a very happy New Year. We hope that the New Year would be a new beginning in the quest of solidifying Bangladesh’s growing economy and bring long-awaited confidence back into businesses. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Gazipur is indeed the next industrial hub of the country. In fact, it can also be considered to be one even now. But is it really favourable to shift or switch pressures away from Gazipur? This will eventually change the way business is looked at or planned. It’s not just cheap labour oriented slums that makes Gazipur the better location, but there are also other factors like transportationa and tax policies or other regulations regarding opening industries. Of course I am in support of the switch, because I should love every other district of the country having equal benefit from such industrial hubs, as mentioned in that article. Write to us at [email protected], or send us a note at www.facebook.com/icebusinesstimes www.twitter.com/BusinessTimesBD Be sure to visit our website for online viewing at www.icebusinesstimes.net December 2014 Tk. 100 INTEGRATING RURAL BANGLADESH How villages and remote areas get connected to the market TA Shakawat Salim, Chittagomg The article about individualism and the collective is well-comprehended, I can relate to my personal experience and believe that every entrepreneurs should look fromt the writer’s perspective. Current business organisations fails to understand this aspect and causes unbalanced or sometimes senseless expectations. Also, I loved the article on disasters. It really makes us hopeful of our future and the nation. The rise of Gazipur industrial Hub Binayak Sen finds elevation in RMG workers’ status ‘200 TCF gas offshore can solve energy crisis’, says ex – BoI chief Faruq Sobhan Marzia Farha, Bashundhara Vol. 5 No. 5 Could you make a story on traditional games? I have seen earlier someone recommending an idea, and then you covered a story. I think traditional games could be a good topic! Hi, it’s been so long since you have covered topics on strategy. Those articles are really helpful for young people in profession. I hope you would come up with more in the future. COMMENTS Publisher & Editor Executive Director Managing Editor Executive Editor Editorial Assistant : : : : : Designer : Head of Marketing : Assistant Manager Marketing : Executive, Marketing : Finance & Accounts : Sales & Distribution : January 2015 Abul Khair Nawshin Khair Nobonita Chowdhury Khawaza Main Uddin Wafiur Rahman Ahmed Noushad Sk. Yeahhia Lucky Begum Farha Tani Farhan Nair Md. Abdul Alim Md. Manik Mollah Md. Raju Hossain Published by Abul Khair on behalf of ICE Media Limited, Kushal Centre, Plot 29, Sector 3, Uttara C/A, Dhaka- 1230 and printed at M.K. Printers,189/1, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208 Editorial and Commercial office: Bengal Centre, Plot-2,Civil Aviation. New Airport Road, Khilkhet, Dhaka 1229. Editorial Queries: [email protected], [email protected] Advertising, Sales, Subscription and Distribution: 01711339587, 01819412035, 01920335953, 01716783698, 01675736760 Tel: 880-2-8901132, 8901135, 880-2-8901202 Fax: 88-02-8901205 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] SHORT TAKES Low pay, zero-hour contracts rise in UK Hackers target corporate documents The year 2014 saw a series of data breaches at US corporations that sought customer credit card numbers, user passwords, internal documents and emails.Hackers broke into Sony’s network and exposed employment and salary records,and embarrassing private emails between Hollywood executives. Home Depot said 56 million payment cards had been stolen and 53 million email addresses pilfered. A data breach at JPMorgan altered 76 million households and 7 million email businesses. Hackers took customers’ personal information affecting up to 154 million active users. Target’s US sales were ‘meaningfully weaker’ after a late 2013 data theft carried The government plans to provide numerous tax into benefits in the proposed five economic zones to attract 2014. both foreign and domestic investments. Land developers and unit investors would be offered competitive packages. Incentives include tax holiday and duty-free import of vehicles. The investors may not need to pay income tax for their employees for 10 years. Economic zones are the newest version of export processing zones; the government will provide land and utility, while investing companies will develop infrastructures. The five zones will be developed on 8,827.99 acres of land and they are expected to create jobs for 1.5 crore people by 2021. New figures have revealed the dramatic spread of low-paid, insecure and casual work across the British economy since the financial crash of 2008. Then, one in 20 men and one in 16 women worked in the casualised labour market. Today, one in 12 of both men and women are in precarious employment, which includes zero-hours contracts, agency work, variable hours and fixed-term contracts, according to new TUC data. The number of men engaged in casualised labour market rose to 1.06 million from 655,000 in 2008 and that of women increased to 1.08 million in 2014 from 795,000 in 2008. Incentives to sweeten economic zone deals S China leading the world in innovation? Chinese firms filed roughly the same number of applications for “invention” patents as their counterparts in Japan and America. By 2013 the Chinese figure had nearly doubled even as the rates in the other two countries held steady. The growth has been attributed to the out growth driven by the 12th Five-Year Plan and the associated Chinese National Patent Development Strategy. Of the desired 2m filings, many will be for “utility” or “design” patents, which are said to be less substantial than “invention” patents. Almost all filings over the past three years have come from local firms, not from the Chinese divisions of multinationals. India, a bright spot in Asia-Pacific There is a sharp turnaround about India’s image as an investment destination among overseas analysts. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has called India the only bright spot in the Asia Pacific region in an otherwise shaky finish to year 2014 with all other economies losing momentum. The reason for its sunny outlook for India was PM Narendra Modi’s government that, the agency said, has picked up the pace of reform after a “modest” start. The agency said that while China’s economy continues to slow, Japan is in “technical recession” and trade-dependent economies continue to suffer from lack of external demand. SHORT TAKES Myanmar incentivising energy investors State-owned energy firms in Myanmar will seek foreign partnerships to improve operations and open up downstream energy operations to investment. So, the energy industry, an important component of Myanmar’s economy, is likely to prove an attractive prospect for overseas investors.In addition to the privatisation proposals, the energy agency would offer nine new offshore blocks for exploration, in a further bid to bolster Myanmar’s reserves and help meet rising domestic demand in the long-term.In October, the World Bank upgraded its forecast of GDP growth to 8.5 % for the fiscal year, from 7.8% previously, thanks to rising domestic demand and increased FDI inflows. Mangroves’ economic potentials not yet fully tapped A lack of carbon finance mechanisms, appropriate policy interventions, and rapid mangrove deforestation are responsible for failure to tape economic and social benefits of mangroves, says a UN report.Ninety percent of mangroves are found in developing countries and many are under threat. UNEP estimates the cost of the destruction of carbon-rich RMG mangroves, which are being cleared 3–5 times sector faster than terrestrial forests, at $42 billion in targets economic damages annually.The management of coastal wetlands is a $50b exports, no-regrets approach, with many leather $5b additional ecosystem service The country’s garment benefits such as fisheries industry is expected to fetch production and shoreline US$50 billion foreign exchange by protection, which promote 2021. The target was set at the adaptation in coastal recently held Dhaka Apparel Summit. communities. Garment manufacturers and exporters, leading global brands, investors, experts and policymakers drew a roadmap to help increase earning from RMG exports. Bangladesh may also churn $5 billion from exporting leather, leather goods and footwear in four years. Leather exporters expressed the hope at the third global social responsibility conference, organised by BGCCI and GIZ at a city hotel in Dhaka. Most banks in Cambodia underperforming Majority of Cambodian banks are underperforming, providing poor returns on their shareholder investment. Average return on equity last year for 39 banks was just 6%, according to a report by investment firm Mekong Strategic Partners (MSP). Only four other big banks – Acleda, Canadia, Cambodia Public Bank and ANZ Royal – are said to be in a state of conform. Some banks who have been in the market for 20 years are not earning enough revenue to cover their costs.Given Cambodia’s risk profile, a 15% return on equity is an acceptable level for banks to target. But only five banks posted 15%return. Regional connectivity on tourism emphasised South Asian countries can integrate their tour packages to lure more tourists for visiting attractive spots. Such a call came from the third Asian Tourism Fair held in Dhaka recently that recommended promotion of inter-regional tourism. Nepal has Mount Everest and Bangladesh has Cox's Bazar and CHT that can feature an ideal tourist package. As tourists often make plans to visit multiple destinations, the SAARC countries can offer an ideally suitable common package at affordable rates. The SAARC region is one of the most diverse regions, which has been blessed with scenic beauty, historic and cultural heritage sites, foods and hospitality. CREATING OPPORTUNITIES Strategising on regional connectivity may be one of major growth drivers By Hossain Zillur Rahman* How connectivity could be utilised as a key factor to attain higher economic growth with maximum welfare gains for Bangladesh remains a critical question to be dealt with, by all stakeholders. The blue economy is the latest development jargon for us, which needs to be translated into reality if we are really serious to use regional connectivity as a tool for development. Already, the country enjoys a strategic geographical advantage of being in the neighbourhood of three dynamic growth centres of the global economy – India, China and ASEAN. Exploiting this advantage can be a critical contributor to the desired growth acceleration of the Bangladesh economy. 10 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes CREATING OPPORTUNITIES The opportunities in this area, as we have shown in an earlier study, are twofold: (a) Bangladesh may emerge as a connectivity hub for these three growth centres, and (b) the three growth centres may become major export destinations for Bangladeshi products. Besides, opportunities in the form of marine fisheries, exploration of hydrocarbon, increasing external trade and bridge between major economic powers are available for Bangladesh, provided required policies and initiatives are undertaken to exploit them. We have also listed a number of strategic challenges such as Chittagong port governance, initiating steps on the long-term agenda of a deep-sea port, facilitating expanded use of Mongla port, Padma Bridge, Dhaka-Chittagong growth corridor, Integrated Multi-Modal Transport Policy, mass rapid transit for Dhaka and Chittagong, and upgrading investment in railway and road maintenance funds. Bangladesh is pursuing the goal of achieving the middle income country status and still a development status with around US$1,000 may mean that problems of poverty would still be substantially with us. Clearly there is a need to sharpen our middle income ambition towards the high end of the range. We have already called for adopting the goal of transforming Bangladesh into the 30th largest economy by 2030, from the currently level of mid-40s worldwide. This is in no way for an outside dream. What we will need is, as research shows, an acceleration in current growth rates by 2-3% to a medium-high annual rate of 8% and sustaining the same for two decades can bring the scaled up middle income ambition of 30th largest economy by 2030 within reach. Strategising on regional connectivity is one of seven priorities we have identified as having the most strategic promise for accelerating such a growth process. They are Overcoming the Infrastructure Deficit, New Sectors, New Markets, Engaging on Skills, Re-Positioning Agriculture for Growth, ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Urban Strategy, Strategizing on Regional Connectivity and Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change. We believe five important considerations define the pursuit of our high-end middle income goal and they are: high growth, employment focus (inclusive of self-employment), productivity increase, economic diversification, and environmental sustainability. I think we need to study the current situation in which major powers have renewed their interests in the Bay of Bengal region where we are not only located but also our major economic strengths lie. If we can’t hand the challenges, our strategic advantage may turn into trap and we may miss the opportunities. So, it is useful to maintain an awareness of possible risks which could derail our desired growth trajectory and afflict us with the miss-the-bus syndrome which has characterised some erstwhile economies rated as potential but subsequently becoming off-course. The Philippines is a case in point here, rated as the Asian country most likely to succeed in 1960 but currently nowhere near fulfilling this potential. We need to ask ourselves about our strategic strengths and weaknesses and assess trends and situation in our immediate neighbourhood and on regional and global scene. Such exercise is important for setting strategic priorities targeting maximisation of our national interests, especially economic and developmental interests. We also need to hold public debates and carry out substantial research for supporting Bangladesh’s interests in regional connectivity or in exploiting the potentials of the blue economy. *Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman is a former Adviser to the Caretaker Government and Executive Chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC). 11 COVER STORY INFUSING CORPORATE CULTURE Corporatisation still at nascent stage despite a consensus on corporate governance; Business entities have enormous scope to benefit from By Rezvi Newaz ‘The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed.’ This is a quote from Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy, often used by Dr AB Mirza Md. Azizul Islam, a former finance and planning adviser to the caretaker government, to depict a backward state of corporate culture. ‘Individuals, say as businessmen, may not be willing to disclose what s/he does for making profit. Photos: Din M Shibly Special Thanks: BAT Bangladesh COVER STORY But introduction of corporate governance in business entities can ensure transparency, accountability and fairness in business practice and serve interests of stakeholders,’ he said detailing his idea of corporate culture. Mirza Aziz, who once headed the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), regretted the delay in ensuring demutualisation in stock market but expressed the hope that businesses would get rid of greed of any individual if and when corporate governance proper is there in running the affairs of companies and business organisations and corporate culture is part and parcel of business practices. As a developing country with a nascent market economy, Bangladesh’s corporate world is mostly dominated by the first-generation businessmen and family-run companies. Of course, there are efforts to introduce corporate culture in business entities. However the central issue of it is good corporate governance. There are confusing perceptions about the state of corporate government or about the issue itself, among citizens, pressure groups, 14 international agencies and even investors themselves. In fact, Bangladesh lags behind neighbouring countries, especially India, let alone a global standard in corporate governance. One reason is that most companies are family-oriented. Motivation to disclose information and improve governance practices by companies is not there as well. Companies and individual businessmen receive hardly any appreciation or perceptively tangible benefits from corporate governance practices. The current system does not provide sufficient legal, institutional and economic motivation for stakeholders to encourage and enforce corporate governance practices. Failure in most of the constituencies of corporate governance is widespread. Poor bankruptcy laws, no push from international investor community and limited or no disclosure regarding related party(ies) are also responsible for the situation. Still, there is a silver lining of late – the management and boards have come to the conclusion that proper governance processes can protect corporate reputation, brand image and shareholder value. According to Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ recent Annual Global CEO Survey, 50% of retail industry CEOs believes, there is a strong relationship among all elements of GRC (governance, risk and compliance) and effective governance can be a value driver and a benefit versus a cost, to their companies. The Board's general approach is to act as a self-declared leader-with the 'my company' or 'my governance' attitude is the root cause of poor corporate governance practice, as identified by Farhad Ahmed, executive director of BSEC. Accordingly, the Board wants to stay above accountability and performs its duty in whatever way it likes. But under corporate governance, the Board is a corporate leader being accountable to the shareholders having fiduciary responsibilities to them. ‘The Board sometimes emphasises keeping the management under their control with policy and procedures instead of making the Board members accountable with any written policy and reporting framework,’ he said. ‘Thus the tiers of corporate responsibility and accountability do not work well, which is not a good sign for the corporate governance and sustainable development.’ January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes COVER STORY CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AS BUSINESS AS USUAL To get an insight into how Bangladeshi corporate bosses perceive corporate culture we have talked to entrepreneurs of the first generation and even fourth generation. And irrespective of their age, each and every entrepreneur has agreed that practicing corporate culture is a must to ensure good business in Bangladesh today. Latifur Rahman, Chairman of Transcom Group, thinks there is a growing recognition among Bangladeshi businesspeople that corporate culture is required if businesses are to be made sustainable. The need to adopt corporate style management will be inevitable as business enterprises become bigger in size and scale. ‘This would require bringing in professional management alongside the current entrepreneur/family management,’ said Mr. Rahman, an ‘Oslo Business for Peace’ prize winner of 2012, and expressed his conviction that Bangladeshi businesses have no other option but to comply with best business practices. Hossain Khaled, president of Dhaka ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), is blessed with ‘feel good’ as he is currently leading one of the oldest business conglomerates in the country, Anwar Group of Industries, which, he says, follows the best corporate practices. Established way back in 1834 by late Lakku Mia, Anwar Group remained a family-owned business concern. But, thanks to the prudence of Mr Anwar Hossain, the chairman of the group, who happens to be father of Khaled, brought in professionals from outside of the family circle. ‘As one generation passed the management responsibility on to the next one, it transferred the experience and wisdom achieved during its tenure of business operations. This knowledge is rightly used by each new generation to make their mark and take the Group to new heights,’ Hossain Khaled told. Overtime, he added, their business entity grew to become an industrial giant and succeeded in creating a national and international network. Anwar Group currently employs over 12,000 people, described as the backbone of all the success. ‘None of our family members are the owners, they are paid employees only. This tradition Photo: Stock is the best example of practicing corporate culture,’ he said. Another entrepreneur is Asif Ibrahim, Vice Chairman of Newage Group of Industries, who came up with another kind of thought in this regard. ‘Corporate culture is something that is still not widely understood by the Bangladeshi business houses,’ he said adding that as many second generation, foreign educated business entrepreneurs have joined the private corporate houses by this time and more are joining, the concept is increasingly gaining momentum. Modern management concepts highlight corporate culture as an essential tool for any company to grow and expand their businesses. Delegation of authority through several departments and introduction of report-based management are necessary in Bangladesh context. 15 COVER STORY CORPORATE CULTURE: STILL A LIP SERVICE? Despite increase in the share of industry in the gross domestic product, there are not many catalysts who can be considered role models in various industries for the young entrepreneurs. Companies, too, are yet to establish a proper structure which can provide each of them from the hassles of running them haphazardly or only by using individual talents and efforts at the same time, incentive to reveal information and improve governance is also missing to some extent. Weak legal framework is one problem in this regard while the society is in an interface between informal sector and formal businesses. So, a major weakness in ensuring corporate governance is the virtual absence of any pressure group. Shareholders, investor associations, 16 institutional investors and the financial press can play significant role in this regard. Also they are either not aware of their rights and responsibilities or not organised under a common platform to demand corporate governance. Under the circumstances, some business leaders, who are a bit frustrated at the slow pace of corporatisation, reckon corporate culture to be a lip service. However, Latifur Rahman, who is also a former president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), does not agree with that. He thinks the challenge for companies in adopting corporate culture is not only employing professional managers but also empowering them with real and meaningful authority. This, he believes, is the ‘difficult inflection point’ as companies might hire professional managers but entrepreneurs could still be worried about handing over real authority to them. ‘To reap the fruits, professional managers have to be compensated competitively, empowered with real authority and be treated with respect and dignity.’ Asif Ibrahim, also an ex-president at DCCI, and Waii-ul-Maroof Matin, CEO of and Chittagong Stock Exchange, echoed the same sentiment about the state of corporate culture. They feel the businesses need to hold more seminars and workshops to make this concept popular amongst the private sector entities. Adequate training is also required. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes COVER STORY ANY STANDARD DEFINITION Bangladesh is lagging behind in implementing good corporate practice in comparison to its neighbours ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 There is no single global corporate culture and the concept varies widely from one country to another – from Japan to America, Europe to the Middle East, said Waii-ul-Maroof Matin. His idea is that as the companies are in general going bigger and going public, ‘the best practices’ are expected to be targeted to ensure stakeholders’ interests. ‘Also things are changing very fast and of course for betterment,’ he said referring to the regulatory provision to use checklist to take stock of the corporate governance status of a company. ‘The entrepreneur families are also realising that good corporate governance adds life to their companies,’ he added. IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT The World Bank, in a study, has drawn attention to the problems of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) Office, internal audit, public accounts, parliamentary oversight, and public enterprises. It also contains a section on private sector accountants and auditors, which is of primary concern to corporate governance. The report found a number of flaws in the accounting process. The Asian Development Bank has financed a project on capacity building of BSEC and selected capital market institutions. In its project completion report, the ADB mentioned that Bangladesh is lagging behind in implementing good corporate practice in comparison to its neighbours, such as India and Sri Lanka. 17 Photo: Stock COVER STORY THE ROLE OF CAPITAL MARKET The capital market has a weak link with the movement for strengthening corporate governance. The stock market scandals in 1996 and 2009-10 have seriously damaged instead the investors’ confidence in the stock market. Moreover, there are no bonds practically that could enforce corporate governance principles. Financing by banks is still regarded the better instrument by most of the companies since domestic banks hardly cared about good accounting or other disclosure, whereas foreign banks are less interested in long term industrial financing. Just about 250 securities are traded in organised capital markets in Bangladesh and the total value of 18 these securities is worth only a few billion US dollars. Dr Mohammad Musa, a professor at School of Business and Economics, United International University, explained why the capital market has not yet played a strong role in the betterment of companies and also in the economy. ‘The set of rules and regulations governing corporate behaviour determines how corporations are governed. Therefore, investor protection and corporate governance are linked,’ he said. ‘In places where corporate governance is weak, outside investors are vulnerable to insider expropriation. In places where corporate governance is strong, outside investors are fully protected. Insiders cannot expropriate them (outside investors).’ If the capital market of a country is not fully developed, investors are deprived of opportunities to invest in securities that offer better return for acceptable risk. Corporations, too, are deprived of external funds at cheaper cost to finance new projects. Therefore, investor protection, corporate governance and capital market development must go hand in hand. ‘Good corporate governance leads to better investor protection and better investor protection helps capital markets to develop better,’ the expert pointed out. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes Photo: Stock COVER STORY Board members are required to understand the whole gamut of business. While they must not interfere in day-to-day affairs, it is important they have full knowledge of the business process and financial control ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 CHALLENGES AND WAY-OUTS To make corporate governance popular the biggest challenge is to change the mindset of the owners, said Hossain Khaled citing the example of BATA. ‘Customers are using BATA shoes all over the world without knowing who are running the business. If BATA can make money globally complying with laws of the land, why then is a Hall-Mark story in Bangladesh?’ he asked. Farhad Ahmed of BSEC feels that the corporate bosses should be made responsible for the failure of big companies. He emphasises avoiding ‘one man show’ in a company. ‘Other than quick profit, the owners should think about long term profit.’ If Standard Chartered or HSBC can make profit with a limited number of branches why all state-owned banks are losing concern is not understandable to him. ‘We need more of ‘SQUARE’ – like success stories, not a ‘Hall-Mark’ scandal,’ the official said. CSE’s CEO Waii-ul-Maroof Matin underlined the need for education and training for the board members to raise their capacity and efficiency to manage efficiently. Board members are required to understand the whole gamut of business. While they must not interfere in day-to-day affairs, it is important they have full knowledge of the business process and financial control,’ he said. He observed that while the entrepreneurs are held responsible for corporate governance, ‘we often forget that the minority shareholders have their responsibilities too’. And the independent directors appointed by the families need to be ready to shoulder more responsibility. Asif Ibrahim thinks the main challenge is in the mindset of the private companies, majority of which are still being run by the owners. There is still a lack of trust amongst them to delegate their authorities to professional executives. Underlining the importance of adopting corporate management culture, senior business leader Latifur Rahman said it would have to be done by the business enterprises themselves. ‘Outside agencies or bodies cannot have any role in this process,’ he opined. As the primary regulator, BSEC would be more visible, its ED Farhad Ahmed said adding that they are now looking after listed companies and that soon under an amended law non-listed companies would be brought under the coverage. 19 COVER STORY CONCLUSION The need for strengthening corporate governance is now a demand of time in line with the global reality for a sound and transparent corporate world system. Given the globalisation of business and improvement in monitoring of corporate entities, investors are willing to invest in companies where there is demonstrated good governance practice. Therefore, the guidelines to improve general quality of corporate governance practices are a timely initiative by the policymakers. In an emerging market like Bangladesh, the BSEC can provide conditions to have independent directors on the board and audit committee. The independent directors must work with integrity and should keep board decisions confidential. Corporate governance provides an effective means of good corporate behavioural process, which ensures accountability of those who matter most in the process and maximises the value for the shareholders in a fully transparent manner. Unfortunately, some companies listed with the stock market pay inadequate attention to the ‘rules of businesses’ and full disclosure of information, demonstrating a lack of corporate norms and responsibility. On the other hand, there were hardly any rewards for the companies that instituted corporate governance practices, neither were there any penalties for failing to do so. Dhaka Stock Exchange is going to incorporate corporate governance principles into the list to ensure a competitive atmosphere in the capital market. BSEC has notified certain further conditions for the public sector companies listed with any stock exchange, to improve corporate governance in the interest of investors. However, the government cannot legislate the personal integrity of key players and no amount of legislation can substitute trust, faith 20 and confidence necessary for good corporate governance practice. As the lead regulatory body overseeing corporate accounting and reporting, the BSEC has a critical role to ensure that public company boards are properly structured and organised and have the resources to accomplish the objectives of adding value to shareholders, minimise risk of key shareholders and hold management responsible for corporate results. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes MANPOWER JOB PROSPECTS BRIGHT, BUT PREPARATIONS POOR Rate of unemployment still confusing; new survey would show rising under-employment By Rabiul Islam ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Having either no specific goal or no goal at all, the majority of both educated and less educated youths in Bangladesh look for jobs in a traditional manner, rather than equipping themselves with necessary arms to meet requirements of diversified labour market. There is no policy or arrangement either to facilitate job-seekers to seize future opportunities. 21 MANPOWER Over the past three decades, the economy sees significant growth, per capita income increases and the people’s choice has become diversified and industrialisation is taking place gradually. With the rapid urbanisation, a large segment of the population would live in the city, so establishments of hotels, motels and restaurants would see robust growth. A bulk of employment opportunities would be created in the services sector, and it is necessary to create skilled manpower to tap the opportunity or in other words to meet the requirements of the employers. This imperative is of course well-known to all, especially policymakers but the jobseekers are yet to be made ready. ‘I will do whatever job I get’, Anisur Rahman said instantly when asked what kind of job he was looking for. He has just completed MA in political science from Chittagong Government College. Rahman, who hails from Cox’s Bazar and has come to Dhaka city in search of employment opportunity, dreams of a job only for his survival; he has no choice but embrace any whenever and whatever he is offered one. Shajib Raha is a BBA student of 9th semester at East West University, who dreams of a job at a multinational company or a bank. Raha, who is yet to face the harsh reality of the job market, is still optimistic about getting the job of his choice. According to the labour survey report 2010 of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the total number of employed people in the country is 5.41crore. Of them, 2.57crorepeople are engaged in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. 67 lakh in manufacturing, 84 lakh in trade, hotel and restaurant, 40 lakh in transport, storage and communications, 34 lakh in community and personal services, 26 lakh in construction and 23 lakh 22 Photo: Stock O people in health, education, public administration and defense. And the rest of the people are engaged in other sectors. BBS report showed only 26 lakh people to remain unemployed. However, the public agency would launch the latest report the next month. The officials, who are preparing the report, said the rate of under-employment is increasing. According to the latest (unpublished) survey report, approximately 25,80,000 people are currently unemployed in the country. Officials consider the figure to be positive as the unemployment rate falls although the population increased. When a Master’s degree holder does the work of an office assistant, it is considered as underemployment. When a person works for only two or three hours a day, that is underemployment too. Officially, underemployment means when a graduate is doing some work, he or she is not supposed to do. London-based The Economist Intelligence Unit reported that 47% graduates are unemployed in Bangladesh. That report titled ‘High University Enrollment, Low Graduate Employment’ found increased participation in the higher education. According to the University Grants Commission (UGC), the regulatory body of the tertiary educational institutions, around 4,00,000 graduates are coming to the job market every year. Apart from graduates, around 5,00,000 students either fail or obtain poor GPA in Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations and they cannot go for higher education. They are considered dropped out students. Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) director (training) Khalilur Rahman admitted to this author that there are no facilities to train up such a huge pool of dropped out students. He said that these youths could be given two years’ training course in various trades including electrical, automobile, refrigeration, wielding and civil construction. ‘If they are given training, they would get job. Many private companies seriously January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes MANPOWER lack this type of skilled manpower.’ The official also felt that a Skills Development Board should be established. Besides, a directorate for skills development could be formed to support the young workforce. The Philippines created Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in 1995. Former President of Bangladesh Employers’ Federation and a leading industrialist Md Fazlul Hoque said around 2,00,000 people from lower level to higher level are required in the manufacturing sector. ‘We the investors are disappointed at the quality of the education,’ Hoque told this writer. ‘When we raised the issue, the authorities concerned criticize us instead of understanding the issue,’ he pointed out. ‘We don’t get skilled manpower.’ Hoque observed, ‘We as a nation have no preparations to tap the future opportunities’. Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) President Shamim Hasan said 7,50,000 people would be required ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 by 2018. The required manpower includes online application, e-commerce and graphic design. ‘We have so far a good preparation to supply the requirement,’ Hasan claimed. A joint secretary at the labour ministry said that there were huge job opportunities in various sectors including RMG, leather, pharmaceuticals, ship building, and plastic industry. ‘We have no policy, no preparation to seize the opportunity. We are busy making money,’ regretted the official who preferred anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. Managing Director of Bengal Tour Masud Hossain noted that there are job opportunities in tourism sector. ‘But we do not have skilled manpower to meet the requirement’. He mentioned that several thousands of skilled manpower is required in hospitals, hotels, motels and restaurants. At the moment, 30,000 to 40,000 trained people are needed in Dhaka. Unfortunately this requirement is not fulfilled. ‘We have no such institution so that we can produce housekeepers, waiters and front desk people,’ Masud added. Without the government’s support and involvement, this sector would never flourish, he observed. Asked about future requirement, he said it is difficult to provide statistics as there is no survey in this regard. Bangladesh is one of the largest labour sending countries and around 8 million people are working abroad, mostly in the Middle East countries. However, there is no accurate data. The country receives around $14 billion as remittance annually and around 4,00,000 jobseekers go abroad seeking jobs every year. Talking to officials concerned, it is found that the government has no long term plan to tap the future opportunities. ‘We had no long term plan but now we are collecting information through our embassies to prepare such a plan in future,’ expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry joint secretary Nurul Islam told this author. According to BMET statistics, between 2010 and 2014, a total of 23,54,113 migrants went abroad for jobs. From 2005 to 2009, a total of 28,17,160 migrants had gone abroad for jobs and such number between 2000 and 2004 was 11,64,055. In this regard, the ministry officials said the overseas job markets witnessed fluctuations in recent times. Around 15,00,000 workers went to Malaysia in 2007 and 2008, they mentioned, saying the figure shoot up between 2005 and 2009. In the wake of shrinking job market in recent years, the private recruiters view that new labour markets have to be explored. Senior vice president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) Ali Haider Chowdhury said population is decreasing in many countries, especially developed ones, where the number of aged people is rising, who actually need care givers. ‘As we have huge number of youths, we can train them and send as care givers,’ Chowdhury said. Experts view that there are huge gap between generating skilled manpower and to supply to the labour market. They mentioned that there is huge demand of various types of skilled people in RMG. But supply does not match, they added. As a result large number of people from Sri Lanka and India are working in Bangladesh. They suggested streamlining vocational education to generate skilled manpower. Centre for Policy Dialogue Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman echoed the same voice as he said available manpower does not match the requirement of the industry. ‘We have given emphasis on the 7th five-year plan to create skilled manpower so that they meet the requirement,’ the economist said. He cautioned that the plan has to be implemented in a concerted manner. 23 INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH AGGRESSIVE DIPLOMACY REQUIRED TO BRING OVERSEAS BUSINESS Prof. MA Taslim emphasises substantial improvement in investment climate for higher growth By Khawaza Main Uddin INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH ----------------------------------------------------------------• Business outlook not very bright • Uncertain politics engender negative expectations • Apparel and footwear should carry the economy forward • Aggressive salesmanship may help Dhaka achieve East Asian momentum • Increase in investment in education is needed to build manpower • Entrepreneurs are born, not created, so they need nurturing • Civil society voice important in society ----------------------------------------------------------------- I 24 It is extremely important to take urgent steps to upgrade skills and productivity of the workforce to stay competitive in the global market, says economist Mohammad Ali Taslim, as Bangladesh is set to graduate out of the league of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in a decade or so and lose duty-free access to advanced countries. He feels that the sorry state of infrastructure and serious governance related problems, makes business investments expensive and hence unattractive. ‘Investment depends both on the cost of investment and business expectations about the future state of the economy,’ Prof. MA Taslim, former chairman of Tariff Commission and currently the chairman of Economics department at Dhaka University, told ICE Business Times in an exclusive interview. He blamed the domestic political uncertainties for deterring investments. Also a former Chief Executive Officer at Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute, the economist expressed his views that those who represent the country must be able to project an image of Bangladesh that encourages overseas business to source merchandise and invest here. He mentioned that the country’s education, which is ‘in shambles’, cannot supply a competitive workforce for world class enterprises. Asked about how to support entrepreneurs, Prof. Taslim said the government could perhaps ensure that entrepreneurs are nurtured by means of business-friendly policies. ‘Successful entrepreneurs and trade bodies could initiate programmes to incubate entrepreneurship and sustain fledgling entrepreneurs.’ January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH How do you look at the current trends of business in Bangladesh? The downturn in economic activity seems to be persisting. The private sector has not picked up. The private sector credit growth has suffered some reduction on both year-on-year basis and during July-October period. Banks are beleaguered by ever increasing non-performing loans. Export is almost stagnant (July-November) and there is minimal growth in imports (July-October) suggesting weak industrial growth. Agricultural output is also likely to be stagnant. Business outlook does not look very bright. What would you suggest to bring improvement in investment climate? Investment depends both on the cost of investment and business expectations about the future state of the economy. The sorry state of infrastructure and serious governance related problems makes business investments expensive and hence unattractive. The uncertainties regarding the domestic political situation and the general break-down in law and order engender negative expectations about the future of business and deters investment. Substantial improvement is needed to attract large volume of investment. Where are, in your views, the country’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of external trade? A vibrant private sector producing relatively less expensive labour-intensive products such as apparel and footwear should carry the economy forward during the next decade or so. Generous trade preferences (GSP) granted by most developed countries are an important factor in making our 26 products competitive in the external market. However, these may become a handicap in the future unless urgent steps are taken to upgrade skills and productivity of the workforce. This is extremely important in view of the fact that Bangladesh will graduate out of the LDC league in about a decade or so, and consequently lose its duty-free status. How would you define the role of economic diplomacy in promoting trade and attracting investment? Economic diplomacy is another name for salesmanship. Those who represent the country must be able to project an image of Bangladesh that encourages overseas business to source merchandise and invest here. Bangladesh is yet to achieve the momentum of the East Asian countries in their formative years. Aggressive salesmanship to project the strengths of the country will help to build that momentum. What is your assessment of the state of regional cooperation, especially the connectivity, for promotion of national interests? How do you evaluate Bangladesh’s geo-strategic location in building bridge between SAARC and ASEAN and between economic powerhouses? Just about every country regards itself as having a geo-strategic importance, and each country has the capacity to build itself as an important partner of other countries. But this requires internal strength which can be derived from having a strong thriving economy and a stable political and macroeconomic environment. The real danger is always within. How do you see the current education for making Bangladesh a strong player in the international arena? What are your thoughts in this regard? Our education is in shambles. It cannot supply a competitive workforce for world class enterprises. Uncalled for political interferences in educational institutions must cease. Appropriate policies must be deployed to select, employ and retain the right kind of teachers and trainers. Students must have the right incentives to work hard to do well. These will require a large increase in investment in education and a sincere political will. Given the background of our politicians and elite, they have not yet woken up to the need for proper education. They have the illusion that grades and certificates are true measures of education. Would you please share your thoughts of entrepreneurship and how youths could be promoted for taking up business initiatives? It is said that entrepreneurs are born, not made. The government could perhaps ensure that entrepreneurs are nurtured by means of business-friendly policies. Successful entrepreneurs and trade bodies could initiate programmes to incubate entrepreneurship and sustain fledgling entrepreneurs. What are the sectors or groups outside of the government and business community that could play important role in bringing changes in business environment for ensuring maximum welfare gains? The civil society could forcefully voice public demand in order to prevent excesses by either group. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes SECTOR FOCUS EATING FORWARD Processed Food Industry of Bangladesh Beckons High Export By Ahmed Sharif Sharika Sandil is newly married. Her husband works for a multinational company, while she is engaged with her MBA. Like many other young couples living in Dhaka, they have less time for everything. Looking for convenience, she looks towards superstores near her home. And that’s where she got introduced to a variety of products, especially food products. ‘Products are not visible at normal retail stores. If a new product comes out, how would I know that they have it in their store? Superstores display all products in front of me, and I can spend a long time looking at 28 products and can compare them,’ she said. She also said that after discovering new products at superstores, she again looked for those at other typical stores. Superstores have introduced a new level of convenience to these busy consumers of today. And various marketers have taken the opportunity to come up with convenience products that go with this new lifestyle. Some of the biggest participants in this new marketing game are processed food companies. Starting from packaged groceries and spices to frozen food items, snacks and dairy products, this is one of the most vibrant marketing areas in this growing economy. The glitz and glitters The posh end of Bangladeshi agriculture goods can be seen at superstores Dhaka and some other big cities. Shelves are being filled with food products coming out of the production lines of local factories, utilizing agro-products produced locally or at least processed locally. New products are being added every other day. ‘Just three years back, when our store started, there were only three brands in the market; today there January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes SECTOR FOCUS are seven,’ said Habib, Floor-in-Charge at Carre Family, a superstore at Mohammadpur area of Dhaka City, referring to frozen food items. ‘We had to add and expand a completely new section to accommodate the huge number of (frozen food) items,’ he added. There was a time when foreign brands used to dominate here. Being of high price, they mostly attracted local elites. But things have changed dramatically over the last decade or so. ‘Local producers have observed that there is a market for higher-end imported processed food in Bangladesh. From there, they have realized that there is a market that can be served with locally produced items,’ said Md Iktekar Hossain Sohag, Sr Executive, Brand at Romania Food & Beverage Ltd. He also attributed the rise in local demand to big population and higher purchase capacity. He thinks that higher purchase capacity has pushed consumers to look for better quality food items, and that packaged food is now being more and more associated with better quality. Sharika Sandil agrees that packaging has a role to play to gain her confidence. ‘I bought some sausages a few days back after being impressed by the posh look of the packaging,’ she said. Though she failed to remember the brand name, she thinks that reputed brands come up with better packaging that goes a long way to gain her confidence. And it now seems that frozen food companies like Golden Harvest, Harvest Rich, Pran, CP, BRAC, Aftab, Saint Martin Group, Bengal Meat, Kazi Farms and others are listening. Md Kamrul Islam Chowdhury, Brand Manager at Six Seasons Food & Beverage thinks, ‘Packaging in very important for brand aware consumers. A lucrative packaging is usually associated with good brands. People’s perception says that good looks are a prerequisite of good quality.’ The hard reality of crossing the border But in terms of quality, have our ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 products reached a status in world stage? Not necessarily. Industry people think that we are still some distance away from equaling technology standards prevailing in the Western world. ‘We have compared our products with that of Europe and Latin America. Their products differ a great deal from ours in terms of taste because of difference in quality of machinery. Their packaging is also of much better quality. We had designed a pack and printed it locally as well as in Europe. It was quite obvious that their printing quality was a great deal better than ours,’ said Kamrul Islam Chowdhury of Six Seasons. Quality is also related to the willingness of the consumers to pay, said Iktekar Hossain Sohag of Romania. He thinks that only the local producers with a certain level of quality are able to export their products. Producers are willing to invest behind higher quality food that would be sold at a higher price abroad. ‘There are many international brands competing for each market. To survive there, we have no other way but to invest behind quality,’ he said. To upgrade quality of products for international market, raw materials are being acquired more selectively and packaging materials are also being selected prioritizing quality. But because of the development of some food processing machinery in Bangladesh, it is increasingly becoming possible for local food producers to offer products of certain quality to local consumers. Packaging machineries are also increasingly being produced locally, which do not offer the longevity of international machinery, but produce packaging of similar quality. Quality of raw materials both for products and for packaging is dictating the quality of ultimate output in this industry. Simply put, higher quality raw materials would produce better quality product. The quality game One of the big challenges in making our agro-products internationally competitive is ensuring the quality of raw materials. Industry concerned think that high usage of agro-chemicals, lack of sanitary facilities in rural areas and proximity of some agricultural areas to cities where pollution level is high are some of the major areas that need to be worked on to ensure better inputs for this industry. ‘Vegetables produced at Savar and North Bengal may look similar in freshness. But the ones produced at Savar contain much higher level of toxic lead because of proximity to Dhaka,’ said Iktekar Hossain Sohag of Romania. He mentioned that his exposure to a training organized by Asian Productivity Organization (APO) has opened his eyes to the many facets of quality maintenance in agro-food processing. A lot of the companies are also going for international certification to explore foreign markets. A recent venture to upgrade Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) food testing laboratory with Indian help under the Line of Credit (LoC) agreement to standardize BSTI certification can potentially go a long way to help Bangladeshi food products become more competitive in Indian markets. Currently, attaining clearance certificates from Indian authorities kill enough time at the border to discourage processed food export to India. News of upcoming BSTI upgrade encourages industry people, but some are still apprehensive regarding the serving (or the lack there of) mentality of the BSTI people. Put it in a package Although processed food items have a good market abroad, the local market is still the focus of attention for most producers. An estimated growth rate of 15-20% over the last one decade made this one of the most lucrative markets to invest in. And one of those big investment areas is packaged grocery – mainly atta, flour (maida), semolina (suji). Within just a few years, a large portion of the un-organized market for these items had been replaced by packaged items produced by large companies with big investments. To prove that this market is still a 29 SECTOR FOCUS growth hub, one of the giants of the Bangladesh business scene, Bashundhara Group, just hit the market with a Tk 2,000 crore 1,000 ton-per-day capacity plant on the banks of the River Buriganga to produce atta, flour and suji. Existing companies like City Group (Teer brand), Meghna Group (Fresh brand), TK Group (Pusti brand), ACI (Pure brand), Ifad and others are likely to take note of this to be more competitive. Consumers may get benefited from the resulting competition, provided that the government keeps the whip ready for any kind of price manipulation. Similar changes took place in packaged spices. Square Group (Radhuni brand), Pran, BD Foods, ACI (Pure brand), Partex Group (Danish and Rani brands), Aftab, Arku, Meghna Group (Fresh brand), and many others have brought convenience to the consumers, especially the urban busy consumers. Convenience-seeking consumers like Sharika Sandil think, ‘Some of the older generation may still be relying on their own spice grinding process. But their next generation would certainly move to the packaged spices.’ Convenience-seekers gave birth to a market for mixed spices. ‘It may not have the taste of spices that my mother used to prepare on special occasions spending a lot of time. But this does the job for me considering the time it saves,’ she said. All types of mixed spices found their way into consumer hands Biriani masala, tandoori masala, kabab masala, fish masala, meat masala, halim mix, khir mix, and what not. Though negative publicity in recent times regarding packaged spices did much harm, industry concerned think that it is not likely to make consumers leave the whole category. Showing production processes in TV advertisements are having some positive effects, they say. Shift in food habit It is not just convenience-seeking, some industry people think that a shift in food habit among consumers have helped to establish 30 some food products. Snacks items filled the afternoon-evening gap. ‘There was a time when people were only depending on rice. But now there is a need for more diverse and new kind of food,’ said Kamrul Islam Chowdhury of Six Seasons. Chanachur, biscuits, chips, daal bhaja, peas, mango bar, chutney, and many other products are coming up on a regular basis. This highly competitive market has Bombay Sweets, Pran, Partex Group (Danish), Bengal Group (Romania), Quasem Food (Sun), Ifad, Square Group (Ruchi), Six Seasons, Haque, BD Foods, Olympic, Goldmark, and many other players. Noodle is another product that elbows into this segment, though it has more diversity in its consumption. Nestle (Maggi), Pran (Mr Noodles), Colola, Shejan, Ifad, Mama and many others have made this a happening market. New Zealand Dairy was the latest entrant in this market in October 2014 with their ‘Doodles’ and ‘Poppers’ brands. Some frozen food items have taken a very important place in this happening segment. Busy consumers like Sharika Sandil find convenience in this, ‘Some of the frozen items are very effective as evening snacks. Samosa, singara, rolls, French fries, and many other frozen products are now available, which make entertaining guests very easy.’ Chicken and meat products sneak in here to compete with other mostly vegetarian products. And do not forget to add the taste items like tomato sauce, chili sauce, garlic sauce, and others. Pickles would also find their way somewhere around here. The diversity of products in this market segment is evidence of the market’s maturity. People are no longer happy with basic products, and producers are always trying to discover areas of differentiation with new products, flavours, advertising, packaging, promotional campaigns and other marketing tricks. Dairy products – waiting for something? The one area of processed food that has not yet seen an explosion is the dairy sector. Unlike the Indian market, Bangladeshi market is heavily dependent on imported milk powder. Local milk producers have not flourished like other processed food. Milk Vita, BRAC (Aarong), Pran, Akij (Farm Fresh), Abdul Monem (Amo Milk), RD Milk, and some others keeping this sector going. But considering the dominance of imported milk powders in the market, it can be said that the sector needs a lot more than just increase in production to make its position strong. The agricultural revolution in Bangladesh over the last two to three decades has ushered a new era of opportunities for the country. A stable economic growth has created a dynamic local market that has built the base for competing in the international stage. There are many areas that still need to be improved. But looking back at the journey, we can find inspiration for the upcoming battle. Industry concerned think that the way this industry is currently progressing, Bangladeshi processed food would attain a strong position in the international market within a decade. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes REGIONAL FOCUS ASEAN AND SAARC IN INTRA-REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY By Ashik Chowdhury The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is heading for forming an Economic Community by 2015. In its immediate neighbourhood, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is struggling for making headway towards greater cooperation. While ASEAN is marching forward with economic development and regional integration, the SAARC nations are yet to break the mental barriers to establishing connectivity among themselves. Before looking into the comparative facts and figure of the two groups in furthering regional connectivity and integration, the charter of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) needs rereading. Established in 1985, SAARC in its charter included that the objectives of the Association shall be: 1. Promoting the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life; 2. Accelerating economic growth, social progress and cultural 32 development in the region and providing all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and realising their full potentials; 3. Promoting and strengthening collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia; 4. Contributing to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems; 5. Promoting active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields; 6. Strengthening cooperation with other developing countries; 7. Strengthening cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interests; and 8. Cooperating with international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes. The eight major objectives of the currently eight-nation (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan) regional group do not have any direct reference to the objective that relates to establishing, maintaining and improving cooperation covering the area of intra-regional trade and connectivity. However, it is obvious that some way or other the specific one is implied among the eight major objectives. In other words, the ultimate goal of the SAARC charter is to establish a regional connectivity to shore up trade, businesses and investment among the member countries. The connectivity through road, rivers and railways is perceived as an economic necessity and constitutes a part of the service industry during the days of globalisation. The size of the economy of SAARC group is the 3rd largest in the world in terms of GDP (gross domestic product) in the scale of PPP (purchasing power parity) after the United States and China and the 8th largest in terms of nominal GDP. SAARC nations comprise 3% of the world’s area and in contrast have January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes REGIONAL FOCUS 21% (around 1.7 billion) of global population. Now, the question arises about the achievement of the SAARC in its near three decades of existence. There are some noticeable progresses in establishing the belief among the member states that stronger connectivity is crucial for this region’s robust economic growth and therefore achieving political stability. There is also visible headway in steering a solid initiative to establish new and upgrade the existing physical connectivity among the Southeast Asian nations. In particular, Bangladesh has long been trying to have a road connection with Nepal and Bhutan through Indian Territory and eventually with Kabul through Pakistan. But the initiative got headwind from Pakistan at the 16th SAARC Summit at Thimpu, Bhutan when the country refused endorsement of the Motor Vehicles Agreement, which would provide connectivity between Dhaka and Kabul crisscrossing the region. ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Beyond SAARC, Bangladesh is also collaborating with an initiative establish an economic corridor to have land connectivity with China, India and Myanmar. The idea was mooted by a group of economists in Dhaka in 1999, which is known as ‘Kunming Initiative’. Since then, the idea has been moving forward though at a snail’s pace. The most recent update of the initiative is the first meeting of the joint survey team of the four nations, which was held in December in Cox’s Bazar. The team assessed that there would be need for an investment of around of $22 billion for establishing the economic corridor. The corridor would also strengthen the connectivity among the SAARC group. Apart from these initiatives and some signs of achievement, the success of SAARC falls far behind the achievement of another regional group - Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It was established in 1967 as a five-nation group of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Later it became a 10-nation group with inclusion of Brunei, Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar and Viet Nam. As far as connectivity is concerned, ASEAN made significant progress in its nearly 50 years of journey. With effective initiative of ASEAN leaders, the group has succeeded in establishing an intra-state and regional connectivity with a combination of roads and air networks. Currently, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are connected through the North South expressway. There is a similar link road to connect Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia. Most of the capitals of the ASEAN states are also connected with each-other by direct flights. Unlike ASEAN group, SAARC has so far established very limited indirect land routes in operation between India and Pakistan or India and Sri Lanka. Single transit routes connect Petrapole, India to Benapole, Bangladesh. Bhutan and Bangladesh are connected through Phuentsholing, Bhutan, Jaigaon and Changrabandha, India and Burimari, Bangladesh. Nepal and India are linked by border towns of Birgunj and Raxaul. The Kabul-Pakistan highway connects Pakistan and Afghanistan. Direct flight connectivity in SAARC is also minimal. For instance, there is no direct flight between Dhaka and the destinations including Colombo, Male and Kabul. The comparison clearly displays a large disparity between the Cross Border Integration (CBI) of SAARC and ASEAN. Experts believe that ASEAN advanced more than SAARC in CBI mainly because of its massive intra regional trade, which drove its members to soothe out their trade barriers by the existing zero tariff regimes among most of its members including the original five members and Brunei. Some effective initiatives such as the ASEAN Transport Action Plan 2005-2010 also facilitated its members to establish new roads and air 33 REGIONAL FOCUS networks and upgrade the existing ones. Resultantly, the group is advancing at comfortable pace to fulfill the ambition of forming an Economic Community by 2015. SAARC leaders in different summits recommended addressing the CBI and the regional multimodal transport to link its member states through various corridors, but the progress towards achieving the target was so far slower than it should be. The major hindrances to making progress include inadequate rules and regulations for crossing the borders, lack of formal transit agreement at regional level or bilateral level, lack of better political trust and understanding and skepticism about benefits of the regional link like transit. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a loan for the SAARC corridors under the Asian Highway Network project, but the pace of progress to implement the project was incredibly slow. The intra-SAARC trade is still remained at low, which was among the major causes of low intra-regional connectivity. Some recent steps of 34 SAARC members, however, raise the hope of better regional integration in the near future. For instance, Bangladesh is trying to sell seaport services to Bhutan, India and Nepal, which would not only generate more income for the country, but would also be immensely helpful for expediting regional trade, business and investment. The $1 billion soft loan from India to Bangladesh was also a significant gesture to improve transport infrastructure of Bangladesh, which would eventually create a favourable condition to boost economic relations among SAARC members. The SAARC leaders at the 14th summit in New Delhi, India declared 2010-2020 as the ‘Decade for Intra-regional Connectivity in South Asia’. The 17th summit in Addu, the Maldives called for ‘Building Bridges’, and the latest 18th summit in Kathmandu, Nepal was themed on ‘Connectivity for Shared Prosperity’. At the Nepal summit, SAARC leaders reiterated that better connectivity including highways, bridges, communications, power grids, information ways, greater exchanges and improved visa regimes and most important mental connectivity are prerequisites to stronger regional integration for sustainable growth. Despite the realisation and the efforts to some extent, South Asia still remains the least integrated region in the world. For establishing greater connectivity in SAARC region, experts suggested on many occasions that the member countries should solve their bilateral issues, promote intra-regional trade and make efficient use of private resources available. An action plan with a realistic timeframe for completion of CBI should also be set to speed up the connectivity process. Besides, the SAARC leaders should think about the prospect and the benefit of better connectivity to take the regional connectivity to the level that former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh once thought of: ‘I dream of a day … one can have breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Lahore and dinner in Kabul.’ It was not only Dr Manmohan, over 100 years ago Lord Curzon too dreamt of a route connecting Bangladesh with Myanmar and China. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes SHARE MARKET INVESTORS’ CONFIDENCE YET TO BE RESTORED 30 companies raised over Tk. 4000 crore in the past year By Munir Hossain S ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Some 30 companies raised funds amounting to Tk. 4031 crore in 2014, out of which 21 companies took Tk. 2708 crore through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and 9 companies took Tk. 1323 crore by acquiring rights shares. All of it came from the general (small) investors, who could not reap any benefits out of it. The investors had expected an active secondary bond market, but that failed in all aspects. Most of the indexes in the market were much below the potential. Even though the demutualisation process at the stock exchange was complete, the Financial Reporting Act has not been enacted yet. Investors have not responded well to the Tk. 900 crore financing scheme. Experts say the incentives and initiatives that were planned by the regulatory body have not fared well among the investors. But they have forewarned Bangladesh Securities and Exchanges Commission (BSEC) for tackling any future share manipulations. Supply in Shares Out of the Tk. 4023 crore taken from IPOs and rights shares, premium was worth Tk. 1944 crore. But in 2013 an aggregate amount of Tk. 4986 crore was raised from the investors. This means a drop in issuance of share in value by Tk. 963 crore. 35 SHARE MARKET Rights Share Nine companies took Tk. 1323 crore through rights shares in 2014. Premium consisted of Tk. 717 crore and the remaining Tk. 606 crore came from the share market. The annual revenue from the share market in 2013 was Tk. 1337 crore, up by Tk. 14 crore. IPO Thirty companies raised over Tk. 4031 crore in 2014, out of which 21 companies took Tk. 2708 crore through Initial Public Offerings (IPO). Premium included was Tk. 1227 crore and remaining Tk. 1480 crore from the market. In 2013, eight companies issued rights shares worth Tk. 180 crore, meaning an increase of Tk. 2508 crore in the outgoing year. Foreign Investment Foreigners invested Tk. 5,600 crore in the share market in 2014, out of which Tk. 3996 crore was used only for purchasing shares and selling involved Tk. 1604 crore. In 2013 they had invested about Tk. 3361 crore in the market, so, foreign investment here showed a rise. Bank Loan Repayment The newly enlisted companies repaid most of their bank loans in 2014, but had also placed the rest of the burden on the general investors. Allegations of Price Manipulation Even though company shares soared during their initial period, they dipped soon afterwards. A class of investors, as alleged, systematically took money from such IPOs. A newly-enlisted company witnessed their share price rates skyrocketing, but the rate dropped by the second and third day. The prime objective of this class is to pocket the investors’ money. Financial Reporting Act Even though it was approved at the cabinet meeting, the financial reporting act has not yet been rubberstamped by parliament. The proposed law is aimed at checking fraudulent practice in preparing balance sheet of companies and ensuring transparency in auditing. Demutualisation Capital Market Demutualisation was an initiative taken to remove ownership from stock exchange management. A 13-member board has already been formed, out of which 7 independent directors have been selected. 40% of those directors are in management level. Index Refinancing As of December 24, the market capitalisation in Dhaka Stock Exchange stood at Tk. 3.25 trillion, compared to Tk. 2.64 trillion in 2013. But if 2014’s new addition shares are removed, the market capitalisation would go down further. The DSE Index stood at 4930 points at the end of the year, but it was 4266 points as of December 30 2013, indicating a rise. But if new companies enlisted in 2014 are removed, the market index would show a decline even more than the 2013 level. 36 The investors had expected an active secondary bond market, but that failed in all aspects. Most of the indexes in the market were much below the potential Bangladesh Bank had approved of arranging a 3-year-long refinancing scheme for those affected by the share market slumps and crashes. Though Tk. 600 crore has already been raised through two installments, investors’ reaction to this has not been favourable so far. Experts’ Views AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former finance adviser to the Caretaker Government, said that most of the indexes in 2014 had been low, and DSE had been static. ‘Due to the lack of investors’ confidence, the market regeneration has not been possible,’ he said. He advised the BSEC to play a more active role in this regard. Investors must be convinced that price manipulation will not ruin their investment prospects. Prof. Abu Ahmed, a market expert, blamed the political environment for this inertia. Dr. Baki Khalily echoed similar sentiments and also expressed concern over a timeframe for recovery in investors’ confidence. Translated from Bangla by Wafiur Rahman January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes MONEY MATTERS FLASHPOINT Russia: Facing economic fallouts of political actions An IBT Desk Report F Freefall is the word that the international media have widely used to report the latest Russian currency crisis which saw Rouble plunging more than a quarter to a new low of 80 per US dollar, a new all-time low against the greenback. The crisis has been attributed to the Western sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine issue and drastic fall in the price of oil, major source of revenue earning of Moscow. The country’s central bank reportedly increased interest rates sharply, but instead of calming the market the hike was seen as a sign of desperation. It reckons that GDP could fall by 5% in 2015. Inflation is currently at 10% but is expected to accelerate rapidly. Russians are panic-buying; banks are running out of dollars. 38 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes MONEY MATTERS The meltdown of the ruble is said to be endangering the mantra of stability around which President Vladimir Putin has based his rule. While his approval rating is near an all-time high on the back of his stance over Ukraine, the currency crisis risks eroding it and undermining his authority. The head of Russia’s central bank has warned Russians that they should get used to a new way of life, as the country’s embattled currency continued to plummet. ‘We have to learn to live in a different zone, to orient ourselves more towards our own sources of financing, and to give a chance to import substitution,’ said Elvira Nabiullina, the chair of the central bank. She said the interest rate decision had been taken to stem the negative effects of the falling Rouble. However, the higher interest rate will crush lending to households ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 and businesses and deepen Russia’s looming recession, according to Neil Shearing, chief emerging-markets economist at London-based Capital Economics Ltd. London-based The Economist has tried to explain the reasons of the Russian currency crisis. ‘The problems were long in the making. Russia is highly dependent on oil revenues (hydrocarbons contribute over half the federal budget and two-thirds of exports) and over the past decade it has failed to diversify its economy. It is horribly corrupt, has weak institutions and no real property rights. The Kremlin distributes oil money via state banks to firms and projects which it selects on the basis of their political importance and their pro-Putin stance, rather than trusting the market to allocate capital to the most efficient firms.’ Putin took over Russian presidency from an ailing Boris Yeltsin in 1999 with pledges to banish the chaos that characterised his nation’s post-communist transition, including the government’s 1998 devaluation and default. While he oversaw economic growth and wage increases in all but one of his years as leader, the collapse in oil prices coupled with US and European sanctions present him with the biggest challenge of his presidency. An opinionated piece, carried by Reuters, said the year ahead could see the outbreak of the third Chechen war, which, in turn, could be the death knell of the Russian Federation in its current borders.By proclaiming ethnicity and religion as the basis for Russian statehood and aggression against its neighbors, Putin is inadvertently stoking the forces of secessionism in those parts of Russia that are historically and culturally Islamic. 39 GLOBAL ECONOMY GLOBAL TRADE AND ECONOMY Oil price plunge, growth on divergent path– uncertainties loom in 2015, projecting mega trends, and short-term cautionary notes also galore An IBT Desk Report The drastic fall in oil price at the later part of 2014 has jerked the entire global business landscape given the varying impacts of petroleum products on trade and economic activities on different countries.The price of a barrel of Brent crude has almost halved from $115 in the summer to around $60till writing of this report.The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that the demand for oil next year would be lower than expected in view of global social instability and potential for financial defaults in producers such as Russia. 40 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes GLOBAL ECONOMY However, the falling oil price may be a boon for the emerging Asian economies and result in tax cut which is likely to boost global consumption and profits for the export-oriented manufacturers. The decrease in oil price transfers to consumer pockets: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that every 10% drop in the price of oil potentially results in a 0.2% boost to global GDP. Another way of looking at it: A $40 fall in oil prices represents a shift of approximately $1.3 trillion, 2% of world gross output, from oil producers to global consumers.China, India, South Korea and Taiwan account for more than 55% of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. In the coming year, writes Mohammed El-Erian, ‘divergence’ will be a major global economic theme, applying to economic trends, policies, and performance. As the year progresses, these divergences will become increasingly difficult to reconcile, leaving policymakers with a choice: overcome the obstacles that have so far impeded effective action, or risk allowing their economies to be destabilised. The multi-speed global economy is expected to be dominated by four groups of countries. The first, led by the United States, will experience continued improvement in economic performance. The second one, led by China, will stabilise at lower growth rates than recent historical averages, while continuing to mature structurally. The third group, led by Europe, will struggle, as continued economic stagnation fuels social and political disenchantment in some countries and complicates regional policy decisions. The final group comprises the “wild card” countries, whose size and connectivity have important systemic implications. The most notable example is Russia. Brazil is the other notable wild card. Meanwhile, the current global supply chain provides one possible explanation to a puzzle that is troubling policymakers: why ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 international trade has been growing no faster than global GDP in the past few years. Having soared from 40% of the world’s GDP in 1990 to a peak of 61% in 2011, trade has fallen back slightly to 60%, the same level as in 2008. Cristina Constantinescu and Michele Ruta of the IMF and Aaditya Mattoo of the World Bank argue that the slowdown in trade relative to GDP reflects the end of a rapid evolution of supply chains that yielded big gains in productivity. This was made possible by the removal of trade barriers that followed the completion of the Uruguay Round in 1994 and the creation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), plus the integration into the world economy of China and the former Soviet bloc. In the absence of further trade deals or more big countries opening up, the evolution has slowed, causing a lasting slowdown in trade. Global mega trends Price Water House has come up with projections of a few mega-trends following survey among stakeholders. On current trends, the aggregate purchasing power of the ‘E7’ emerging economies – Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and Turkey – will overtake that of the G7 by 2030. By 2015, Asia Pacific will have a larger middle class than Europe and North America combined. And the global emerging middle class will represent an annual market of some US$6 trillion by 2021. Such trends and tipping-points mean the traditional way of classifying economies is becoming increasingly irrelevant. PricewaterhouseCoopers believes four features will become more prominent in the global economy. They are: Emerging markets will challenge developed economies in the production of high-end consumer durables. Today’s ‘F7’ frontier markets – Bangladesh, Colombia, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines and Vietnam – will become tomorrow’s growth markets. An expanding pool of highly skilled talent will fuel this emergence, with people from emerging markets increasingly leading global multinationals. Developed countries will benefit from ‘re-shoring’ as wage differentials close. By 2025, the global population will increase another billion to reach about 8 billion, with the over-65s the fastest-growing group. But there will be sharp regional variations: Africa’s population is projected to double by 2050, while Europe’s is expected to shrink.While these demographic changes bring risks for businesses that fail to respond adequately, they also bring big opportunities for forward-looking organisations. And with women in the G7 countries already controlling two thirds of the household budget, the wage gap with men narrowing, and an estimated 865 million women set to enter the economic mainstream in the coming decade, women’s purchasing power will continue to rise. Technology is one of the biggest disrupting forces in their organisations. One aspect is that the time it takes to go from breakthrough technology to mass-market application is collapsing. In the US, it took the telephone 76 years to reach half the population. The smartphone did it in under10 years.The price of new technologies is falling equally rapidly: since 2001, the cost of DNA sequencing per genome has plunged from US$96m to less than US$6,000. The global rise of cities has been unprecedented. In 1800, 2% of the world’s population lived in cities. Now it’s 50%. Every week, some 1.5 million people join the urban population, through a combination of migration and childbirth.Inevitably, this rapid expansion is putting cities’ infrastructure, environment and 41 GLOBAL ECONOMY social fabric under pressure. Cities occupy 0.5% of the world’s surface, but consume 75% of its resources. Rapid urbanisation brings major implications for businesses as they refocus their offerings, marketing and distribution towards an increasingly urban customer base with distinct needs and consumption habits. And they must be alert to new opportunities arising from lifestyles shaped by rising population density and readier access to resources. The worst-case scenarios in 2015 There are risks and concerns around the world. Based on reactions from foreign policy analysts, military experts, economists and investors,Bloomberg has prepared a list of the worst-case scenarios, which it called ‘A Pessimist’s Guide to the World in 2015’ as can be summed up in the following paragraphs: * Violence from Syria spills over into Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and beyond after Islamic State and 42 the Assad regime defeat the last vestiges of the moderate opposition. * A third Palestinian uprising against Israel breaks out after the March elections. It turns into a violent struggle involving increasingly fundamentalist Palestinian and Israeli fringes. Militants from neighboring countries flock to the fray. * Iran, failing to reach agreement with world powers on limiting its nuclear program, pushes through with development of a nuclear weapon. Israel moves to stop Iran’s efforts, setting off a regional war. * Putin-backed rebels, supported by Russian forces, drive further west in Ukraine to create a land corridor to join up with Crimea. That triggers deeper economic sanctions from the U.S. and the European Union and forces them to accelerate military support to the government. * Confrontations break out between Chinese navy vessels and fishermen in South China Sea; Chinese and Japanese fighter jets engage in a dogfight over the disputed Senkaku/Daioyu Islands. The escalation brings in allies, inflaming nationalistic tensions. * Taliban militants in the mountainous Pashtun-dominated regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan link up with Islamic State. They make progress in their quest to take power in Kabul and Islamabad as the U.S. reduces its troop presence. * A terrorist attack occurs on the scale of Mumbai in 2008, when luxury hotels and a train station were attacked by a Pakistan-based militant group. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is pressured into a harsh response, triggering a crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbors. * Islamic State militants ignite a full-blown sectarian war, pitting the Shiite Muslim majority against the Sunni minority. This disrupts the country’s oil production and draws U.S. and regional powers into the conflict. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes ACADEMIA BREAKING BARRIERS Not only are academic/experience gaps filled in Battle of Minds, but moreover it is a platform for developing future leaders of tomorrow By Wafiur Rahman Photo Titu Zakaria W 44 What started off with a road-show last October in Dhaka University’s prestigious Institute of Business Administration, concluded with a grand finale on December 8 that befitted the grandeur of this year’s Battle of Minds, British American Tobacco Bangladesh’s flagship talent recruitment programme. Holding road-shows at 8 universities, BAT Bangladesh brought out their Managing Director, Head of HR, Head of Supply Chain and BAT Bangladesh managers who were respective university alumni (and BoM alumni in some cases) and had them tell their stories about their career in BAT Bangladesh so far. Motivation level for the audience sky-rocketed, as had been the case in all the universities they had visited. ‘I want to take part in this year’s Battle of Minds,’ said an undergraduate student of IBA, ‘Most of my senior classmates, especially the talented ones, have participated in the competition in the previous years,’ he added. ‘I want to prove my mettle and stand beside them as one of the successful participants; I know I have what it takes to win.’ January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes ACADEMIA BoM 2014 Exposition Proud BUETians won first runners’ up Team IUT impressed as always, winning second runners’ up ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 And so began the journey of this year’s Battle of Minds. What made the experience unique this time was not merely one reason, but multiple. ‘Battle of Minds has crossed unique heights this year, with over 2200 applications,’ said Adrita Datta, Talent Manager at BAT Bangladesh. ‘What makes Battle of Minds unique is that it recruits future leaders, as the best of the best in Bangladesh encounter real life business challenges and delve into plausible solutions for overcoming them,’ she said, ‘but this year, we thought of organising road shows, where we would have our department and top management heads speak their minds in front of the ambitious students. And the response have been tremendous.’ This emotion was echoed by Rumana Rahman, Head of HR, in her opening speech of the Grand Finale. ‘Battle of Minds has not only evolved, but it has evolved in terms of its magnitude,’ she said, ‘It is not only a competition for graduates, but a platform for showcasing their talents and letting them have a taste of real life work experience. It is because of our effort that not only business students are applying for Battle of Minds, but also students from the engineering background. This year we have had over 2200 applications, which show how students feel about this competition. Here at BAT Bangladesh we not only develop people through coaching and training, but make them go into the real depth of working at different roles inside the company. This competition brings out the best of mind and might,’ she added. 45 ACADEMIA The Main Event The judges had a tough task in their hands, and they did not falter 46 The judges for this year were S.M. Khaled, Head of Supply Chain, Rumana Rahman, Head of HR and Shahed Zubair, Head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs. They were given the arduous task of disseminating business plans that the teams had chalked up in order to give George’s Café a lifestyle brand makeover. From marketing strategies, financial expenditure to SWOT analyses, the contestants had to figure out ways on how to boost revenues and brand exposure for American expatriate chef George Smith’s beloved creation. The teams were in sync with their respective team member, which was deduced through their immaculate presentation patterns. They were in unison regarding their concept, given January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes ACADEMIA the manner in which they presented and defended in front of the judges. The judges, given the task of dissecting any and every questionable intrinsic details, had a field day in taking the teams to the extent of their knowledge bases. Various ideas were pitched in front of the judges. From changing the entire theme and concept of George’s Café, to possible expansion plans and modification of target group identification, they pitched every possible concept and gave it their all into the ideas. The passion and zeal with which they spoke were awe-inspiring, and more importantly, the majority of the ideas were practical. There were no audacious or non-feasible ideas brought to the table. That is testament to the quality benchmark that BAT Bangladesh maintained while selecting the BoM finalists, something not found in other business competitions. What I surmised from their presentations is that they were aware about the implications of the changes they were pitching . They were aware that they could not go overboard with their finances, as drastic changes are neither practical nor desirable in their given scenario. That is why I believe they played to each of their strengths and had their bases covered with what they were good at. Amitabh Roy, one of the finalists from IBA, said that they had every detail scrutinised before they were sure about them. ‘Since we had not worked together as a team before, we were unsure about our ability to perform as a unit. But as soon as we started working, we critically analysed each other’s points and supported each other whenever it was necessary,’ he said. ‘I was really impressed with these students today,’ said George Smith, chef and owner of his namesake café. ‘Some of their ideas were not what I would call feasible, but some of them were really worthy of trying. This competition will help them to understand how to develop and improve upon established business institutions and also to work with challenges that they must learn to overcome under any given circumstances. That is something that there is no running away from.’ Memorable experiences on a memorable night, everyone went home happy ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 47 ACADEMIA Rumana Rahman, Head of HR at BAT Bangladesh, gave an exposition on the greatness of Battle of Minds Every contestant tried their best to be objective and immaculate in their presentation Take-Home from BoM Shehzad Munim, Managing Director of BAT Bangladesh, dished out valuable life and professional advice to the contestants 48 But as the presentations came to a closure, the students were engulfed with a sense of sadness, as their experience of working in a business competition, that too in a reputed multinational company, came to an end. ‘Battle of Minds is easily one of the best business competitions that I have been a part of,’ said Nahian Rochi, another proud IBA finalist, ‘every single task of the competition challenged my capabilities and analytical strength.’ ‘Every round had its own surprise factor,’ said Farhan Khaled, another member of team IBA. ‘From the focus group discussion round to the final presentation round, each experience was memorable. But the most enjoyable part was the preparation time for the final round. We got the opportunity to meet the managers of BAT Bangladesh, who were kind enough to groom us for the final round. I believe a secondary objective of this was to provide us with an insight of the corporate world. In the end, I would mostly remember Battle of Minds for the warmth and affection that I received from the people at BAT Bangladesh, which helped me to focus on my competition objectives.’ January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes ACADEMIA The Grand Awaiting! Once the presentations were complete, the judges were given time to accumulate the marks they had given to each team and add them up with the marks given for the report plans each of the team had created. The chairman of BAT Bangladesh, Golam Mainuddin and the Board of Directors were present in the occasion – namely Industries secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, former Defense secretary Kamrul Hasan, former Liberation War Affairs secretary K.H. Masud Suddiqui and Managing Director of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh M Fayekuzzaman. This gave way for some more inspirational speeches for those in the audience and the student body present in the finale. ‘It had been a refreshing privilege to watch the students present their cases before the judges,’ said Golam Mainuddin. It is true. They had given it their best shots, and more. ‘Their enthusiasm brought life into the competition, it was a real delight. All the finalists have performed well. As with any other competition, judges will declare the ultimate winners – but it is the experience that will make all of them winners in their respective lives in future. As Battle of Minds is BAT Bangladesh’s flagship talent recruitment programme, it is a classic business competition at heart - it bridges academic teachings with corporate exposure. It is made different with real life business challenges. I am proud to be part of such a pioneering endeavour by BAT Bangladesh, which stepped in its 11th year.’ Shehzad Munim, Managing Director at BAT Bangladesh, had equally inspiring words of wisdom and appraisal for both Battle of Minds and its contestants. ‘BAT Bangladesh is way ahead in the game in terms of talent recruitment,’ he said, ‘Our managers go on to have international careers, which tells us that we as Bangladeshis have to capability to take on the global stage. Similarly, Battle of Minds grew significantly in 11 years. From a humble beginning, it is now the largest talent platform, with everybody supporting us. I would ask the students and the future leaders to be confident in their abilities, as well as their team working abilities, as it is the key to success. You must learn to face the future with an open mind, otherwise the world will just run past you, without waiting for you to get on track,’ he advised. ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Conviction was something all the contestants worked on, in order to impress the judges BAT Bangladesh’s Board of Directors along with Rumana Rahman, about to read out the names of this year’s victors Golam Mainuddin, Chairman of BAT Bangladesh, had words of praise and wisdom for those present in the audience 49 ACADEMIA Moment of Truth ‘I am proud to be part of such a pioneering endeavour by BAT Bangladesh, which stepped in its 11th year’ Golam Mainuddin Chairman, BAT Bangladesh ‘Our boys have shown that they have what it takes to be with the best of the lot and fight it out’ Dr. Md. Shahid Ullah Professor and Head of EEE Department at IUT As the name of the winning team was in the offing, there was no doubt in the audience’s mind that this was a close contest. Islamic University of Technology (IUT) was announced second runners’ up and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was declared runner’s up for this year’s competition. As the long pauses were deafened by pulsating heart beats (as sound effects,) the suspense was more than excruciating for the audience to endure. It all came to an end when Golam Mainuddin announced IBA as the victors of this year’s Battle of Minds. The team from IBA had shown that possessing a clear concept and immaculate preparation had taken them miles ahead of the pack, hence their accolade and getting the distinction of first prize winners. Team IBA with their coveted first prize trophy 50 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes ACADEMIA ‘Battle of Minds provided us the grandest stage to show our potential and it required us to use every bit of practical knowledge we had acquired all these years to win the competition’ Reactions Galore After IBA was declared the winners, it occurred to me that this was not only their success, but also reflected on the hard work of their esteemed faculties. ‘I was secretly hoping that our team would win,’ said Prof. Iqbal Ahmad, Professor and Director at IBA, ‘but more importantly, I was also hoping that they would be objective, concise and prudent in their business plan and presentation, to show that they were subjected to an extensive knowledge-based curriculum.’ ‘I am proud of my students and congratulate them on winning this year’s Battle of Minds,’ said Homayara Latifa Ahmed, Assistant Professor and Chairperson of IBA’s Career Center. ‘They have successfully and effectively bridged the gap between academic and practical knowledge/business acumen, proving that they are our future leaders. They have what it takes to sustain in the real world of business.’ The relentless team behind the scenes that made this year’s Battle of Minds successful ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Dr. Md. Shahid Ullah, Professor and Head of EEE Department at IUT, was all praises for his team. ‘Our boys have shown that they have what it takes to be with the best of the lot and fight it out,’ he said. ‘Teams from IUT have performed exceptionally well every year, and this year was no different. We are slowly filling the gaps that our engineering students feel when facing business dilemmas.’ Keys to Success ‘Battle of Minds provided us the grandest stage to show our potential and it required us to use every bit of practical knowledge we had acquired all these years to win the competition,’ said Amitabh Roy, another member of IBA’s winning team. ‘We were given a real life café to brand and we could literally visualize our solutions and ideas. The competition was a great experience for us not only because of the competition itself, but also for the courtesy and hospitality of the organisers. Throughout the five days, we never felt like just the participants of a competition, we were blessed with the warmth and cooperation of the BAT Bangladesh managers. Battle of Minds would always therefore have a place in my heart for the exciting journey it had provided us.’ ‘Stress and competition helps people to rise to the occasion, which we realised on our journey to success,’ said Wahida Mashrura Shukh, another winning member. ‘I take back with me the practical lessons of life. I learned to work under pressure, relentlessly, in uncertainty and to work with a team for a team. Winning was certainly a most pleasant aspect but the battle before it, was the real takeaway,’ she said. This year’s Battle of Minds was a journey that none of the final contestants will ever forget. 51 GSR EXTENSION OF CSR, GLOBALISATION OF BUSINESS GSR Dhaka conference annotates on shareholders’ value and social responsibility By Ahmed Noushad B 52 Businesses have hardly any scope for focussing only on its own set priorities at the age of globalisation. Corporate social responsibility (CSR), the catchword of recent business pursuits, is set to embrace wider meanings and application. As businesses grow and go international, their responsibility alongside opportunities and challenges increases. So, Global Social Responsibility is the term that Bangladeshi businesses need to work on, in the days to come. Bangladesh has experienced economic progress with a growth of approximately 6% or so, thanks to the rise in investments in various industrial sectors and relatively low labour cost for industrial activities. Textiles, agro-businesses, construction, and service sectors are amongst the few that were impacted by the development. But there are other challenges that need addressing, like energy shortage, water contamination. waste and social protection issues. These factors could possibly undermine the growth and even cause social and environmental harms. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes Recent tragedies in the sector have made it a lot harder to do business, and compliance issues are weighing hard. Even then, this sector has been growing, slowly though In order to respond to these challenges, Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI), in collaboration with others, organised the 3rd Global Social Responsibility Conference in Dhaka on December 11. It aimed at fostering a better understanding of social responsibility among the participants. The conference highlighted the benefits of addressing environmental and social impacts with innovative and responsible solutions. Bangladesh’s leather industry and readymade garment sector were the main subjects of discussion. The country’s leather industry is projected to export $5 billion worth of finished leather goods in a span of four years; this is subject to diversification of products and value addition. It recorded an export worth $1.3 billion in the fiscal year 2013-2014 with a set target of $1.5 billion in the year 2014-15. Once these improvements and the mindset to revolutionise the industry is incorporated, an estimate of 200,000 jobs is expected to be available. The projection of $5 billion is based on the assumption that China’s Cost of Doing Business rose. Bangladesh’s leather industry has the potential to meet certain portion of the global demand, owing to its vast source of raw-hides, competitive cost base, massive workforce, duty-free access, growing middle class, and most importantly the shift of businesses from China to Bangladesh. Despite the potentials, there are environmental and social issues that need attention. Processing of leather requires immense water and use of toxic chemicals, which are and unfortunately has to be dumped at rivers and other water bodies due to lack of proper waste disposal systems. Adequate training of workers handling these chemicals is also at disarray. Besides these, current tax policies and regulations regarding import of raw-materials essential for processing leather are devolving for the industry. Concerning the RMG sector, an earlier target of $50 billion worth of RMG export is not impossible, also thanks to the shift in some business from China to Bangladesh. However, the challenges of this industry still needs addressing, and with effective measures. Recent tragedies in the sector have made it a lot harder to do business, and compliance issues are weighing hard. Even then, this sector has been growing, slowly though. The compliance issues and a dream of making the RMG a $50 billion industry by 2021 was a key recommendation. Besides workers’ general safety issues and retirement plans for the workers at RMG related industries were also put to attention. In organising the conference, BGCCI was joined by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, which works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the German Embassy and TUV Rhineland. PHOTO FEATURE ZING IN TASTE, BUT LOW ON EXPOSURE Bangladesh’s salt industry needs a financial boost for an economic zing Photos by Din M Shibly Text by Wafiur Rahman 54 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes PHOTO FEATURE Salt industry is an industry for producing salt from saline water of the sea in the coastal areas of Bangladesh especially in Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar areas. Salt is produced seasonally from December to mid-May. Recently salt cultivation has also begun in the coastal belts of Khulna and Satkhira. Traditionally, salt was manufactured by vaporizing seawater by fire heat or sunlight. From 2000-2001 salt was produced in a different way known popularly called polythene process, in which salt production per acre is much higher than old method. In traditional method, per acre production of was 17.25 m ton, while in the new method per acre production of salt has been 21 m ton. and furthermore, production per acre and the quality of salt has been very standard. Moreover the market price of this salt produced in new method is double. Salt production is an ancient industry begun in the coastal zones of Bangladesh. This industry was developed by people traditionally specialized in it and was known as Mulunghee. They used to produce salt by evaporating water by boiling the saltwater. The salt production field has been known as Tofol. During the Mughal period, this sub-sector was administered by two government departments known as Jaigir Mahal and Nimak Ewaz Mahal. There were nearly 39 salt processing and ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 55 PHOTO FEATURE 56 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes PHOTO FEATURE production centres under the three chaklas like Nizampur, Jugdia and Baharchhara. In the 16th century, the salt manufacturing was a source of income for the government. The government had a monopoly control over salt production and trading. The salt traders used to make advances called dadni to salt producers. The salt industry got a new direction when the British East India Company acquired Chittagong in 1760 as one of the three ceded districts from the Nawab. The company made Chittagong a major source of income for itself by monopolising salt production in Chittagong. The mulunghees, who were independent producers before, were now reduced to salt labourers. Salt production as a monopoly of the government continued. After 1947, the salt sector was revitalised, but imposition of heavy custom duty and tax on salt industries in order to give advantage to salt imported from West Pakistan became again a barrier to its normal growth. East Pakistan Small and Cottage Industries Corporation was established in 1957. From its inception, it began salt production with its own manpower since 1960. According to a survey conducted by BSCIC in 1964 there were 16,541 salt growing units over 11,769 acres of land across the coastline of Chittagong, Noakhali, Barisal and Khulna. Annual production of those units engaged 50854 workers generating an annual income of 20 million taka. In 1990, BSCIC with an estimated cost of 377 million taka took up a project named Special Product Development Programme. It included three components of which salt production was one. There was also an allocation of 118.9 million taka for the development of salt sub-project, which aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in salt production, (b) improving quality of salt, and to extend technical knowledge of salt production. The project was implemented between1990 and June 2000 and continued as a revised project from 1990 to 2005. In 2006-2007 the project was included in the revenue budget with its centres at 7 thanas of Cox’s bazar district: Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Chokoria, Pekua, Kutubdia, Teknaf, Maheshkhali, Ramu and Banshkhali thana of Chittagong district. The centres are: ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 57 PHOTO FEATURE Uttar Nolvilla, Gorokgata, Matarbari, Gomatoli, Choufaldandi, Darbeshkata, Dulhazara, Fulchhari, Purba Borogona, Sorol and Teknaf. Under this programme, salt production, market price and information collection including movement, imparting training to salt farmers and research works were done. There are 4 production cum display centres at Lemoshikhali, Choufaldandqi, 58 Matarbari and Baldarchar. The programme plays an important role to keep the price of salt stable and ensures supply as per demand. At present 43,553 cultivators are engaged in 67,751 acres of land in Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong district to produce salt in solar method. Salt is contributing about Tk. 120 million in the national economy every year. One to 1.5 million people of coastal belt depends economically and socially on salt cultivation. Production of salt in solar method depends completely on nature. If the climate is conducive the production target can be achieved. In 2009-10, salt production was 1.7 metric tonnes against the target of 1.33 tones. With the increase of population, cattle heads, and growers of industries, the demand of salt is also rising. To meet the growing January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes PHOTO FEATURE demand of salt and to achieve self-sufficiency in salt production, BSCIC has extended its salt production areas to Khulna and Satkhira through a new project costing over Tk. 13 million. Under the project, four experimental salt training and production centres were established in Madinabad in Kaira upazila of Khulna district, Bet Kashi of Dakop upazila, and Burigoalini of Shyamnagar upazila, ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 and Pratabnagar of Ashasuni Upazila of Satkhira district. Later during the period 1992-2002, the second phase of the Tk. 19 million project was implemented. The implementation of the third phase concluded in 2009 at a cost of over Tk. 28 million. Iodised Salt - the project named as Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorder was taken as a pilot project on 1989 to eradicate the iodine deficiency. The government enacted a law on 11 December 1994 to prevent iodine deficiency diseases. Under this Act, from 31 June 1995 onward fortification of all edible salt with iodine made compulsory and storage and marketing of non-iodine salt were prohibited. With cooperation of UNICEF, 267 iodised salt plants were set up and each of the factory was provided with an iodine mixture machine free of cost. 59 DINING REDEFINING INDIAN CUISINE Tarka brings a breath of fresh air into an oversaturated Indian cuisine scenario By Wafiur Rahman Tarka is the latest addition to the growing food scene in Banani, in Dhaka city. The restaurant, opened on 2 March, is doing quite well. Tarka is an Indian restaurant that has tried its best to bring in all the colours of India. The hand wash area is absolutely striking; the basin and tap both are from copper that gives it a rich Indian look. Once you enter the restaurant, you will find yourself in a low-lit terrace 60 with a few rows of benches. The inside of the restaurant is rather brightly lit and buzzing with foodies. There are antique lanterns hung from the ceiling and beautiful paintings displayed on the wall. On one side stands the long open kitchen. So after you have ordered you can sneak peek to see what is cooking. Now that you have finished appreciating the ambience, it is time to go through the menu. To those who are familiar with Indian cuisine, you will know more or less what the list might contain. But one thing you might not know is that this restaurant is the joint venture of few friends along with their mothers. So when it comes to recipes and cooking skills, be sure that these come from years of experience. Perhaps their supervision adds that little extra thing here. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes DINING All the food here do have a strong Indian flavour. Their ‘naans’ in particular are soft and have great aroma. For Naans I would recommend their garlic Naan, however, they have a Naankulcha which is Paneer stuffed one that is new and exciting. Tarka's Chicken Lajawaab Makhani and Beef Delhi Night are my favourite dishes to accompany Naans. Beef Delhi Nights definitely bring a new flavour and taste to the Indian dining scene in Bangladesh. The dish is a good mix of sweet and savoury flavours with a subtle sour taste which makes the dish stand out loud. Chicken Lajawaab Makhani is a good looking dish with lots of thick gravy to complement the somewhat dry Beef Delhi Night. Tarka has a range of snacks like Dosas and Chaats. Particularly, I would recommend their Paneer Dosa. The size and filling of the Dosa is pretty good and the taste-wise it's delicious. There were really good recommendations of their Hyderabadi Biriyani, however, I haven't tried it yet but seems like a recommended dish by many. I found the Tarka special platter to live up to its name. It has a range of kebabs, a great fish kebab, prawns and beef and chicken kebabs as well. It goes well with Naans and is more than enough for two people. ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 The portions were just right and offered us an insight into how traditional Indian spices and styles of cooking could be kept to make something delicious. At the end of the meal, we did not feel stuffed up or over filled as the food was not too rich or oily (as Indian food can sometimes be). The waiters are friendly and know their menu well. If you ask them about a dish, they can tell you what to expect from it. And perhaps more importantly, their delivery time is about 15 minutes and prices are comparatively reasonable. I could rank it as one of the best Indian restaurants in town. For the desserts, there is the Special Shahi Kulfi and Jafranigulab Jam. Over all, Tarka has selected items of popular dishes from many regions of India. It is truly a journey of flavours. So next time you crave for authentic Indian food, you know where to visit. House # 62, Road # 10, Block # D, Banani, Dhaka Or visit the Facebook page at w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m . t a r k a restaurant 61 PROMOTION THE BIG DEAL Pizza Hut and KFC offers debit and credit card users of VISA By Ahmed Noushad VISA, a name that is more recognized in this part of the world as an Icon of Plastic Money, is getting even bigger with their latest offer, which was hosted by Pizza Hut. VISA is offering discount offers for its card holders at KFC and Pizza Hut, with 15% savings over combo meals. This offer is open to both debit and credit card holders of VISA; ‘VISA credit and debit card users can avail of these great offers on their cards and can get interesting discounts on combo meal at our Pizza Hut & KFC. We thank VISA for making this possible for the 3rd time’ – said Akku 62 Chowdhury, Managing Director and CEO of Transcom Foods Limited, the franchisee of Pizza Hut and KFC in Bangladesh. Under this savings offer Pizza Hut has bundled the Visa offer combo meal with : Risotto, Pasta and Pizza meals for 2 and 4 persons and priced as less as BDT 1090 for Pizza for 2 Any Medium Pan Pizza from Favorites line, BBQ chicken wings and Lemon iced tea/ Pepsi/7up/M dew/Mirinda. On the other hand KFC bundled Visa offer combo meal for 1, 2 and 4 persons and price is as less as BDT 375 for Meal for 1 - 1 Pc Fiery Grill or HC, Snacker, Mixed Rice, Regular Coleslaw, Regular Pepsi. The Visa offer will be available at all 13 KFC and 8 Pizza Hut outlets in Bangladesh till March 24, 2015. Mr Akku Chowdhury mentions that Pizza Hut is hoping for about 10% rise in their annual sales, ‘we are confident that the offer will be a huge success among the Visa cardholders in Bangladesh’. He is also projecting that Pizza Hut would open about four times more franchises and spread them around other districts of the country, in the coming years. For further information, please contact: Transcom Foods Limited 5, Bir Uttam Mir Shawkat Ali Shorok (South Avenue) Gulshan-1 Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes CORPORATE GROOMING EXPENSIVE FOR A REASON Why men should go for high-end perfumes Buying expensive perfumes doesn't necessarily ensure you'll prefer the scent over that of lower-priced fragrances. Some costly perfumes offer exotic ingredients, however. The quality of some expensive perfumes may also be better than that of cheap colognes. The decision of whether to spend a lot of money on Burberry London for Men Creed Aventus These factors may not be relevant to everyone who prefers expensive perfume. Some people buy expensive perfumes simply for the decorative bottles they come in. Buying expensive designer fragrances, or designer clothing and accessories, may be a hobby for some. Some people enjoy collecting expensive perfumes, just as others collect porcelain. For collectors of exotic fragrances, it is worth the price. Very expensive perfume may be packaged in a limited-edition bottle. Many of these expensive perfumes are bottled in delicate crystal. Some manufacturers issue a series of ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Gucci Made To Measure Mont Blanc Emblem collectible bottles. Some bottles may be made with gold plating, making the perfume more desirable for some. Collectors find buying these high-end perfumes to be a worthwhile hobby. Additionally, expensive fragrances may be custom made for the discriminating collector. Some collectors request various custom bottle designs. It is not uncommon for celebrities to request custom designed bottles to reflect their taste. Buying an expensive perfume as a unique gift to present to a special recipient can often be worth the cost. For special Versace Pour Homme Trussardi My land occasions, it may be worth the money to indulge in a bottle of costly perfume. For those who find it impractical to buy very expensive fragrances, there is an alternative. A favorite fragrance may be purchased at a lower cost in a spray cologne, rather than a perfume bottle. The following have been the best-selling perfumes for men over a period of time in Perfume World. Available at 10 branches in Bangladesh, they have been preferred by gentlemen, given their meeting all the attributes for being the essential perfumes to keep. 63 STARTUP THE TRIBUTE GP announces their winner of their entrepreneurship programme ‘innovation xtreme’ By Ahmed Noushad W 64 With over 350 participants attending the event ‘Innovation Xtreme (IX)’, GP premiered a platform where young entrepreneurs and investors collaborate to share ideas and business prospects. The event took place on November 22nd, at Radisson Hotel, which was and perhaps the biggest entrepreneurship and startup event of 2014. The event generated a crowd with investors, experienced entrepreneurs, corporate professionals, students, and both local and international media to telecast the potential of innovators and entrepreneurs birthing in Bangladesh. Billionaire Businessman from Nepal, Nirvana Chaudhary gave the keynote speech and held a workshop on ‘Billionaire Basics’. Zarif Munir, MD of Boston Consulting Group gave a presentation on why now is the best time to invest in Bangladesh. Former CEO of Grameenphone and newly appointed CEO of Uninor, Vivek Sood spoke about Telecommunications’ Impact on Startups and Businesses. Mustafizur R Khan, founder of January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes STARTUP Startup Dhaka, described Innovation Xtreme as a ‘One of a kind event’, he said, ‘Nothing like this has ever been done before and we are very happy to hold a sold out event that validated our vision of technology enabled businesses in Bangladesh’. Fayaz Taher, co founder of Startup Dhaka said ‘ We are here to disrupt the way business is done in Bangladesh. By bringing all stakeholders under the same roof we have done just that. At IX we have showcased the brightest, inspired the early starters, and connected everyone together’. This is a major accomplishment and we hope 2015 will be a different year for startups and tech businesses. Other speakers included representatives from Golden Gate Ventures (VC), Fenox (VC), Boston Consulting Group, Zalora (Fashion E-commerce site from Malaysia), MasterCard, Invest2Innovate (accelerator), International Finance Corporation (IFC), AlleyWatch (Media partner from NYC), Jaago Online School, Augmedix, Solaric, Payza, Bkash, Magnito Digital, Light Castle Partners, Gemroc and Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) among a number of other notable organizations. The central theme of IX 2014 was ‘Innovation in Bangladesh’, highlighting the success stories and the opportunities. The event showcased 4 leading ventures, including 10 handpicked startups (Biponee, Bongo, Bucket Engineers, Dam Com, Kokhon, Lidia May, LightCastle Partners, Paralax-Logic, Sobji-bazar and ZuumZuum) from Bangladesh. These 10 startups presented in front of venture capitalists and judges in a Mock Startup Investment Pitching Round. The main sponsors of the event were Grameenphone as Title Sponsor and The EMK Center as Gold Sponsor. Although this event was soul-sponsored by Grameen Phone, its stability was partnered by Magnito Digital, LightCastle Partners, DES, American Alumni Association, ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Preneurlab, G&R, BASIS and Incogmito. Gift sponsors were Fortuna Bangladesh, IPDC, Ericsson, DIRD Group, Popular Life Insurance and IPDC. Media partners were The Daily Star, Radio Foorti, e27, Innovation is Everywhere, Alley Watch, Bamyan Media, and Techjuice. The three winning startups were: ZuumZuum.com ZuumZuum.com is an eCommerce platform for lifestyle shoppers seeking quality products at competitive prices. They ensure you have the right products of a brand, and in a price that is rightful. ZuumZuum.com is looking forward to officially launch their own website by the first of January 2015. Bongo The team titled Bongo envisioned an even better digital picture of Bangladesh. Their idea was to take the entire media industry of Bangladesh in to an archive, whereby, people around the country could access important telecasted events or programmes or entertainment at any time of a year. The idea started when the founder behind Bongo was looking for a media footage and couldn’t find it. His disappointment has stirred his imagination in to creating this platform, a place where one could find Bangladeshi media online. Bongo plans on archiving all the entertainment shows ever broadcasted, they have even partnered with several media channels for sources. Dam.com.bd This team which is lead by a young Japanese team has even a bigger offer to make for the society, especially in this confusing market with buyers of different sect. They bring forward the most important information a buyer would want, that is the ‘actual prize of a product’. Not only that, they even provide the best purchasing platform at the actual price, just as the name mentions, ‘dam com’ (low price). 65 TECH IDEAS GALORE National Hackathon 2014 promises to deliver socially responsible apps By Wafiur Rahman 66 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes TECH A As many as 1,745 young mobile application developers got together at the National Mobile Hackathon 2014 to find solution to 10 social and national problems. Organised by the Information and Communications Technology Division, the coding fiesta, the biggest of its kind in the country, addressed 10 specific local problems.‘We only see problems in the social communications media,’ State Minister for ICT Division, Zunaid Ahmed Palak told the inaugural ceremony. O The Hackathon Know-how ‘One blames the other. We keep talking about various issues like traffic congestion, question paper leakage, corruption. But what is the solution? Will we only identify the problems or will we provide solutions, too? The young generation will find the solutions to the various problems of city life in the hackathon,’ he said. The Hackathon was organised under the ICT Division’s National Mobile Application Development Awareness and Capacity Building Programme. MCC Ltd, A2I BASIS, Symphony, Grameenphone, Robi, Sol Quest, Google Developer Group, ICE BusinessTimes were divided into 340 teams with each comprising five members inclusive of both coders and designers. Forty nine professional companies also took part in the competition. Thirty veteran IT specialists and programmers evaluated the projects. The winner was awarded with Tk. 20 lakh of innovation fund to materialise their project. BD Ventures Ltd would also provide them with financial support. The winners also received several prizes from Microsoft Mobile, Symphony, Robi and Grameenphone. Better Stories Ltd will help them market their product for a year. The Hackathon started with a workshop on Vision 2021, which was conducted by the state minister. This was followed by a session on design sprint and paper prototype, and then the primary coding. Different technical sessions were held as well. QUBEE provided WiFi support at the event held at Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh, and it was the largest WiFi support for any event in Bangladesh till date. This was a massive undertaking on the part of QUBEE as each auditorium hosted over 400 people who were all simultaneously connected on their devices using the QUBEE WiFi. The event was a thrilling leap to solve local issues and bringing public services to the people’s hand by innovative solutions through young tech professionals. January 2015 Better Stories Ltd, BD Ventures Ltd, HiFi Public, Social Geeky Advantage were also partners at the event. The 10 problems that were selected for addressing were – question paper leakage, corruption, sexual harassment, traffic jam, security on the highways, sanitation, water transport safety, cyclone centre management, reproductive health and personal health. Using technology, more specifically mobile technology, the developers tried to build solutions to these problems. The participants – who include programmers, freelancers, students and mobile application developers – Hackathons are globally recognised as a marathon coding event. It is a gathering where programmers collaboratively code in an extreme manner over a short period of time. Developers, innovators and designers join Hackathon in a team of 5 people generally to build innovative prototype to solve some given problem sets. Hackathon is an ultimate exhibition of skills for developers. Any Mobile App Developer, User Interface Designer and Web Service experts tale part in the event where students, professionals, freelancers are the main participants. 67 GADGET XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 4G REVIEW Another budget smartphone alternative, and it looks good By Saad Mahmud Xiaomi is the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, which quickly rose to fame in the shortest time of its existence in the market. The smartphone manufacturer climbed to take the Number 3 spot in the world with the most number of handsets shipped out of the factory. Finally, it has entered the Bangladeshi smartphone market, facing stiff competition from budget 68 giants such as Walton, Symphony, Oppo and others. The aim was to have the MIUI operating system and a decent smartphone in every hand. And now, the Chinese smartphone giant has gone to another extent by launching the Redmi Note and Redmi Note 4G, which is a 5.5-inch phablet and has a pocket-friendly price tag. We have the Redmi Note for scrutiny and here is what we have to state about the Redmi Note (non-4G variant). The Redmi Note (non-4G) features a 5.5-inch IPS HD display with a 720x1280 pixel resolution. The display is protected with a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, tough enough to resist scratches and scuffs caused due to daily use. Moving ahead, the Redmi Note is powered by a Mediatek MT6592 chipset which features eight processors clocked at 1.7GHz each. Supported by 2GB of RAM and a MALI-450 graphics processor, the Note is a powerful handset for daily work. The internal storage is 8GB and can be expanded using a micro SD card, albeit only to 32GB. The Redmi Note is provided with a 13MP sensor in the rear camera and sports a single LED flash, while the front camera incorporates a 5MP sensor. One the connectivity side, the Redmi Note supports two SIM cards (WCDMA and GSM), 3G, 2G, GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. Lastly, the Redmi Note is powered by Xiaomi’s own MIUI operating system, a custom brewed version of Google’s Android v4.2.2 operating system, and fuelled by a really large 3100 mAh battery. The Redmi Note weighs 199g (4G weighs 185g) and the thickness is 9.45mm. The Redmi Note 4G has an exactly similar look and configuration, except for the chipset. The 4G variant supports LTE 4G data speeds and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset with a quad-core 1.6GHz processor and an Adreno 305 graphics processor. The rest of the configuration is identical to the non-4G variant, except that the internal storage can be expanded up to 64GB as compared to 32GB on the non-4G variant. The Redmi Note looks almost similar to the Redmi 1S in terms of aesthetics, except that it is a little larger and broader than the latter. The Redmi Note sports a dual-tone body with an extremely glossy black front and white rear panel. The front panel has the regular look as found on any of the Xiaomi devices—earpiece on the top with the front camera next to it and January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes GADGET backlit capacitive buttons (back, menu and home) on the lower end. The volume rocker and power buttons reside on the right side of the handset, while the headphone jack and micro USB port take their places on the top and bottom, respectively. The rear panel sports the 13MP camera, towards the top-centre, with an LED flash just below it, while the chrome-plated Mi logo and the speaker grill are placed on the lower end. The rear panel is extremely glossy and can attract scratches in minutes if not handled with care. We suggest, you opt for a silicon back cover or alike to save the device from tarnishing. Xiaomi has a lot of rear panels for the smartphones and you could opt for one of these from the Flipkart website. As for the front panel, since it sports a Gorilla Glass 3, you need not worry about scratches. So even if you don’t install a scratch guard, it would be fine. However, installing a scratch guard or screen protector is a personal preference. We did notice one issue with the rear panel—Xiaomi somehow did not provide a recess to the rear panel to help open it. Instead, you have to rely on the groove of the micro USB slot, on the bottom end, ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 to open the rear panel. Below the rear panel you will find a really large housing for the 3100 mAh battery. You have to remove the battery in order to slide in any of the SIM cards or the micro SD card. The handset is a bit too uncomfortable for regular use. The device is a bit large and not recommended for those with tiny palms. However, is you are looking for a device with a screen for work and fun, the Redmi Note is one piece we can recommend. The device is a good blend for those looking for a smartphone with a little bit of room for a tablet experience. Switch on the Redmi Note and you will find everything familiar, if you have used any of the Xiaomi handsets. In short, there is nothing much to talk about the MIUI operating system unless we see the MIUI V6 making its debut on one of these handsets. Moving on to the camera front, though the camera is good enough with a 13MP sensor, we found the camera capturing images slightly slower than usual. So you may miss out on a few important shots while focussing and grabbing the exact moment, especially when shooting action or fast moving objects. Images shot are also a little above average - the quality is not at par as we assumed it would be similar to the 13MP camera of the Mi3. The images are a tad darker and could do with a little more brightness, though this could be resolved later by a little photo editing, if needed. Also the images are found to be a bit grainy when zoomed in. Lastly, we also did notice that some colours being captured are a little too vibrant and not as natural as it should be. Overall, the performance of the camera is above average, and for the price of the smartphone, we think it is one of the best you can get. Pictures captured in HDR modes were excellent. The camera does a pretty decent job with the exposure levels. On the audio front, the earpiece’s performance is good enough. However, the rear speaker is a bit lower than normal. Though the audio quality is decent, the audio volume is pretty low and since the speaker is on the rear, you would end up cupping the device with your palm for an audible experience. Using a pair of earphones would resolve this issue for now. Hopefully, Xiaomi takes care of these few issues in a software update. Overall, the experience with the Xiaomi Redmi Note was good. The average performance and large build can be ignored, but the large display with an IPS panel and great viewing angles are crisp and clear for a good multimedia experience. The large display also makes it comfortable for the internet and casual typing and chatting. The camera is definitely above-average, albeit a bit sluggish while capturing shots. For a price of Tk. Tk. 15,700, you can obtain it from Gadget Gang 7. Find them out on Facebook.com/gadgetgang7 and make your order today. 69 INNOVATION CREATIVITY AMIDST UNCERTAINTY How to maintain consistent work rate during crucial periods ‘Innovate or die.’ Any astute company has heard this before and heeds the warning. But while there are countless books, articles, and tools available to help you do it, there is one crucial facet that we feel makes or breaks any innovation project. We affectionately call this ‘the grayzone.’ The grayzone is the time we spend in between ‘what we know now’ and ‘where we need to be.’ This territory is a dive into the unknown, often accompanied by optimism, excitement, and joy, as well as deep uncertainty, discomfort, and tension. Entering and making it through this zone are an essential part of the innovation process, and avoiding it lessens the chance of creating anything new. Even for the most seasoned innovators, this can be quite daunting. As a team that travels this territory regularly, we have identified some key activities and mindsets to prepare and help you through your next foray in one piece: 70 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes INNOVATION 1. Pledge To Take The Plunge Decide to do it and hold yourself accountable. If working with others, spend the extra time aligning at the beginning. Foster trust and commitment amongst one another. You are embarking upon a journey into the wilderness together. 2. Keep An Open Mind ‘The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know’ -Einstein It’s essential to have goals and benchmarks, but rigid structures don’t leave room for growth. Pencil in time to adapt, switch course, and embrace the unexpected. Without this, innovation doesn’t happen. One client came to the table with ample devotion, money, and confidence, but we misidentified this confidence as preparedness and willingness to enter and enjoy the grayzone. Much to the contrary, their confidence came from prowess in their specific niches and ability to navigate the status quo. But when faced with the challenges of innovating from scratch, a process entirely foreign to them, their approaches and mental schemas didn’t deliver as expected. This cracked their confidence, created cognitive dissonance, and aroused criticism. Tension escalated quickly, nearly to the point of no return. To mitigate, the team took a break, rebuilt rapport outside the context of the grayzone, and rebuilt confidence with an easy activity before going back in. When innovation happens, it’s hard to predict how large its impact may be; part of the beauty is that it’s regenerative. New ideas beget new ideas, and the ripple effect is endless. Value adds come out of the woodwork in unusual and unfamiliar places. This is part of the fun. 3. Get To Know The Team Understanding culture and personalities of the team you’re working with is of utmost importance. Each new team is like a ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 foreign country—they have a specific culture, or perhaps they’re just beginning to establish it. Nevertheless, ‘citizens’ always have distinct personalities, hierarchies, and tendencies. Even when a team is ready to hit the ground running to meet aggressive timelines, it is crucial to adapt culturally and establish trust. This extra effort at the front end is the very fabric that holds teams together in the grayzone. In one instance, a team’s timeline was so aggressive that this step was skipped. When we hit the grayzone, hierarchies appeared and became problematic. Furthermore, attachment to their status quo crippled trust in another method and with those that supported it. To avoid this, prepare your teams to learn without harming the ego and establish trust and intuitive work flow as teams get acquainted with each person’s strengths. Always spend the time to build or rebuild trust and rapport, and prepare everyone for what the grayzone feels like and its value. 4. Lower The Stakes For Failure Fear of failure can hinder even the most seemingly fertile innovation climate. The team needs to feel safe to put forth and experiment with new ideas and approaches without critical judgment attached. Fostering such a climate lies as much in the hands of leadership as it does with each team member. When a wave of doubt or deadlock strikes trust that it will pass. If no one panics, it always does. The grayzone is, by our definition, leaving the comfort zone. To leave, the status quo must be put aside. It is the ominous storm cloud over your innovation parade. Though hitting milestones and meeting standards is paramount to any successful program, the great balancing act requires adaptability and trust. 5. Bring Tools If you were preparing to go into the jungle, you’d bring survival gear. The grayzone is a similar adventure—it requires preparation and tools to survive. Tools and techniques like centered design methods provide the touchstones for sense making while in the grayzone. Hire an experienced advisor or consulting team to provide these and guide your use of them. Lastly, make your schedule a tool by planning for flexibility. 6. Announce Your Arrival Palpable discomfort is a first symptom—talk about it openly. Communication is key. Align internally beforehand to prepare everyone for what this discomfort will feel like. Make sure everyone is confident in the importance of this stage of innovation. 7. Keep Calm And Continue Enjoy it—you’re doing something different and learning new things, which has inherent value. Focus on the benefits of learning the new process in the present to dull worry or fear surrounding outcomes. 71 MOVIES STILL PRIMITIVE IN VIEWS What Sony’s hack reveals about Hollywood’s struggles with technology 72 The more leaked documents that make their way across the Internet in the wake of the massive hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s computer network, the more we learn about the way Hollywood really works. Which is to say that for those who thought the hyperbolic antics of HBO’s ‘Entourage’ were hyperbolic antics: think again. Most explosive so far is an email spat between Sony’s head of film division, Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin over the disastrous development of Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs biopic. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes MOVIES B ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 But beyond the sensational value of these and other revealed documents, which include code names for stars; the confidential information of Sony employees and talent (including Sylvester Stallone’s social security number); and unreleased movies, such as Annie — the hack illuminates Hollywood’s ongoing struggle to wrap its head around/keep-up with technology. From piracy to streaming to 3-D, it’s never been an easy road for Hollywood to adjust to the fast-paced digital surge that is redefining how we make and consume entertainment. Although there are individuals and companies — such as Disney and DreamWorks Animation — that are taking bold steps when it comes to embracing digital content and platforms, many Hollywood operators remain wary at best of new tech. In part that’s because the recipe for merging traditional and digital media is not entirely clear — for all of the proof that YouTube and Vine are the preferred entertainment hubs for young people — as a story in The New Yorker points out - there is still not a clear and compelling monetisation model. As one cable network executive says in that story: We have a lot of conversations about YouTube. We ask, ‘Is it to us now what cable was to broadcast in 1992?’ The parallels are there—lower production values; smaller, narrower audience — and it’s even cheaper, even more niche, even less profitable today than cable was then. Only ‘—he hesitated, not quite ready to change his frame of reference —’ none of YouTube’s stars have really crossed over and landed a big show on Bravo or MTV. This general ambivalence toward digital that courses through Hollywood — the sense that it is the inevitable future, yet a future that no one quite understands — and Sony has taken the form of denial as of late. According to the Los Angeles Times, when the Dept. of Homeland Security warned the studio that its upcoming release, The Interview, could incite a hostile response from the North Korean government in the form of a cyber attack, the studio looked the other way. Starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, the film is a fictitious account of two journalists who assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — not known for appreciating self-parodies, particularly those forecasting his death. Both Sony and the Dept. of Homeland Security have denied any discussions. Even the leaked emails suggest a naiveté about the unsecure nature of digital communication. Washington officials surely (well, in most cases) know better than to put things down in writing, any form of writing, lest their documents be subpoenaed. Hollywood should behave no differently when discussing some of the most high-profile people on the planet — people upon whom their business depends — via their iPads. At this point it’s unclear what the fallout will be for Sony. There will be the cost — estimated at tens of millions of dollars — of rebuilding its computer network, not to mention fending off possible lawsuits. But of greater consequence is how those who have been harmed (and those who do not want to be harmed in the future) react. Will Angelina Jolie take her next project to Sony? What about other filmmakers? Reputation is a harder thing to repair than a network. If this were an Entourage episode, Ari would hug it out with those he’d defamed and swear off email. It won’t be quite that simple for Sony, though one can assume they will come out of this with a less insular attitude toward technology combined with a new appreciation of that old-school gadget, the telephone. 73 DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE CUTTING THE HEAD FOR CURE? Uber’s PR disaster in India is due to a psychological degeneration, not their services U ber, the smartphone-based service which enables otherwise unlicensed drivers to provide on-demand taxi services in major cities around the world, has been dealt the biggest blow against its image in a year which has brought many others. After a complicated hunt last month, Indian police officers arrested an Uber taxi driver on the charge of raping a woman on an evening. The transport department of New Delhi had subsequently banned the service from operating in the city, one of 10 in India in which Uber has established itself. The unidentified alleged victim, an executive with a global tax and advisory service 74 consultancy in Gurgaon, was seeking passage from a party in south Delhi on that night to her home in Inderlok, north Delhi, when the crime is said to have taken place. She is variously reported as aged 25-27. The woman used the Uber smartphone service to order a cab home, which arrived at 10.20pm. After falling asleep during the journey, the woman claims that she awoke to find the driver with her in the rear seat, assaulting her. CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick released a statement the next day via the California-based company’s blog, describing the incident as ‘horrific’, and pledging the company’s support in bringing the January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE perpetrator of the assault to justice. ‘We will work with the government to establish clear background checks currently absent in their commercial transportation licensing programs. We will also partner closely with the groups who are leading the way on women’s safety here in New Delhi and around the country and invest in technology advances to help make New Delhi a safer city for women’. It is reported that Yadav’s (the accused driver of the incident) application to become an Uber driver in New Delhi was gravely mishandled – that he was accepted for the scheme despite not having undergone police background verification which would have revealed his seven months in jail between 2010-2011 associated with an accusation of rape; that his car lacked the mandatory GPS system that Uber requirements mandate, ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 but that he substituted that functionality with a downloaded smartphone app; and that he lacked a Delhi Transport Authority driving license, encouraged (though not mandatory) for taxi drivers in the capital city. Uber has suspended Yadav in the wake of the allegations, and are cooperating with the Indian police on the matter. The company, which has drawn protests from participants in licensed cab schemes in many parts of the world where it operates, has suffered many PR disasters in 2014, including its controversial surveillance policy, its recent objection to India’s requirement for burdensome two-factor payment authentication and a controversial suggestion that its journalistic critics should themselves be investigated, but the Delhi incident would seem to be the most harmful yet. The rape allegation against the Uber driver could lead to a broader crackdown on Uber’s Indian imitators as well. One of the most vulnerable is Ola Cabs, which runs an Uber-like service with more than 33,000 vehicles operating in 26 cities across the country. Ola recently received a $210 million investment from SoftBank, the Japanese company that is the largest shareholder in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The crackdown on Uber will have an impact on Ola. The Delhi government said it would stop other Web-based service providers from operating until they obtain the required permits. Less than a week before the incident, Kalanick crowed about the company’s growth potential in Asia. Uber’s latest $1.2 billion financing round, Kalanick’s wrote on his blog, ‘will allow Uber to make substantial investments, particularly in the Asia Pacific region’. The same day, Uber announced its launch in Vietnam and celebrated with a lavish party at the Hanoi Opera House, featuring a 16-person orchestra. The future of Uber’s biggest business in Asia has become questionable, at best. The government has since gone a step farther, adding that Uber is not only unwelcome, it will be ‘blacklisted’ in the future. With its Indian business at risk, the company probably didn’t help itself with a statement suggesting that the government, not Uber, bears responsibility because of lax regulation. 75 LEADERSHIP SOLIDIFICATION Simple Acts That Build Your Leadership Presence Discussion about leadership often focuses on big-picture ideas and sweeping gestures. Leaders are people who take charge and make things happen. We think of them as having big jobs, larger-than-life personalities, and expansive vision. But none of us were born with these qualities and achievements. Leadership ability is like a muscle – it gets stronger as you exercise it, says leadership coach Jonathan Gain, founder director of Gain Innovations Ltd. A seasoned veteran at Bangladesh’s multinational companies, he now runs his own firm to inspire people to bringing out their own leadership attributes forward. He says that enhancing your leadership skills and practicing ‘random acts of leadership’ can cumulatively build your leadership acumen and help you excel when the big opportunities to lead come your way. Here are some acts of everyday leadership that can help. 76 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes LEADERSHIP Prepare your mindset When you prepare the conditions for your success, you have a solid platform to support your leadership, says Gain. Such preparation happens in a number of ways. On the most pragmatic level, it means preparing yourself by building the knowledge and experience you need to lead. However, it also means preparing your attitude, mind and body. That includes being aware of how you feel, managing stress, taking care of yourself physically, and keeping your mind clear so that you’re able to solve problems and recognize opportunities when they arise, he says. Leadership is about doing less and being more. The reason you want to do these kinds of practices is that it increases your availability to your task, which is being aware of and solving problems so that other people can do great work. Express you opinion (even if it's unpopular) G Sumdany Don, former FMCG manager turned motivational speaker, says that leaders aren’t afraid to say the thing that needs to be said, even if it’s unpopular. Proposing solutions to do things better or more effectively sounds like a no-brainer, but it can be difficult to create change in some situations. Leaders practice speaking up by looking for opportunities to do so in appropriate ways. Sometimes, this requires a strong, firm approach, and sometimes it requires diplomacy. Either way, saying something when your gut tells you things need to change is the mark of a leader, he says. It is important to have critical thinking and creative skills to be an effective leader because the best solution might not always be the obvious one ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Think About the Big Picture While acts of kindness are designed to make a difference in the life of another person, Gain says that acts of leadership are designed to make a difference in something bigger. That could mean taking a stand against an injustice or taking on a role that needs to be done. Leaders approach every situation looking for what they can contribute and how they can make a difference, he adds. When you’re contributing ideas to meetings, bring them back to how they support the overall goals of the team or organization. Illustrate that you understand factors beyond the most immediate demands. Find Solutions Leaders are good at solving problems. They look for solutions that serve the needs of the greatest number of parties and understand that even effective solutions might not always be popular. It is important to have critical thinking and creative skills to be an effective leader because the best solution might not always be the obvious one. Look around you in your everyday interactions. Are there problems that need to be addressed? Can you approach another colleague and bridge a gap or find a better way to do something together? These are simple ways to show your leadership ability regardless of your position. Be Authentic It’s hard to trust someone who is fake, so effective leaders need to convey that they’re really being true to who they are and what they believe, Gain surmises. Look for ways to connect with others genuinely and don’t veer from your beliefs just because you’re under pressure to do so. ‘One of the ways that we can bring leadership to any situation is by being willing to be real, which includes both being honest about what we’re thinking and what we’re feeling but also being genuine and interested in what others have to say,’ Gain says. 77 GROWTH NOT WORTH IT Why ‘growth at all costs’ is never worth it That old axiom ‘grow or die’ might apply to certain aspects of human development or the natural world, but be very careful how you apply it to your business. The truth is that ‘grow or die’ can be, and often is, devastating. Too many executives are found to have the mentality of a bodybuilder; they've come to accept the idea that growth is synonymous with success. So they rely on the business equivalent of steroids, bulking up the top line with things such as overly aggressive sales tactics, unwarranted price increases, self-destructive discounting, unnecessary mergers and acquisitions, or even a poorly considered IPO. These actions come with their own list of dire side-effects: alienated customers, burned out employees, and disillusioned executives who are left asking one another, ‘Remind me again, why did 78 we think we needed to grow?’ Please avoid the strong arm approach and instead think more like a farmer. Your focus should be on creating an environment where growth can occur, and then letting nature take its course. If that sounds passive or wimpy, consider that the farmer's approach to growth takes greater wisdom, humility, and restraint than the bodybuilder's, and that the rewards are far more attractive--and dependable. At its core, all authentic growth depends on more customers wanting more of what your company offers. Any other drivers--pricing gimmicks, heroic marketing efforts, forced acquisitions--are ultimately destructive. In addition to focusing on customer needs, you should also work to create the healthiest organisation possible, one free of politics and confusion that so often choke off teamwork and innovation. Keep communication lines open to keep employees engaged and committed. And make sure your team is continually reminded of the importance of having everything the company does connect to the needs of customers. There are many ways to communicate with employees. The best example may come from Hayes Drumwright, CEO of Denver-based technology company Trace3. He publishes a book every year outlining his thoughts and vision for the company. If you don't have time for that, holding quarterly off-sites with your leadership team is a great way to address any behavioural dysfunctions that might be sprouting. When you do these kinds of things, growth will occur naturally--but only if it's meant to be. Some companies simply aren't meant to be bigger than they are. They provide products and services that satisfy their customers in a way that pays the bills, produces reasonable profits, and allows them to keep their people employed and fulfilled. And there's nothing whatsoever wrong with that. Yes, some companies are essentially forced to grow by any means necessary, either because impatient investors are demanding an immediate return or because disruptive market consolidation is forcing them to scale or be swallowed by someone else. Be grateful you aren't at one of those companies (and if you are, you deserve sympathy, not envy), because they are anything but role models. When people think about famous CEOs, it's a bodybuilder who comes to mind. But, the best CEOs may be ranked by the nature of how they operate, almost always unknown. They are usually farmers, people running small or medium-sized companies exactly as they should be run, and scaling them at just the right pace. That's healthy growth, sustainable, and worthy of admiration. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes CAREER ENOUGH SAID You no longer have good work-life balance. When you find that you’re spending less time with your family because of work, or you cannot commit the necessary time to your job, you should consider looking elsewhere. When is it the right time to say you quit? You graduated with distinction from a top Bangladeshi university, you joined one of the coveted corporate houses. But things do not go according to plan, as you soon find out that your work life is miserable, you find your job miserable and you want to quit every working day. But when is it the right time for you to actually quit? ‘For some, the time to leave a job can be quite clear — where as for others, it might not be so obvious,’ says Ryan Kader, an HR headhunter. He added that some employees know when they’ve reached a point where it’s time for a change, ‘because they reflect on a regular basis to ensure their job aligns with their long-term goals.’ If the two are not aligned, they often make adjustments to keep things on track, he says. As for others, they don’t realize they’re unhappy with their job until someone points it out to them, or they realize they spend too much time at, or outside of work being unhappy about their position, he adds. ‘It’s the topic that keeps them up at night thinking, what should I do? They consult with friends and family, seeking advice, to validate their reasoning. They know the answer, which always involves change, but the difficult part is making the change itself.’ Here are 14 signs that your job isn’t a good fit for you anymore, and it’s time to consider how you can either improve the issues or think about leaving’. If multiple of these signs apply to your situation, then it’s likely time to leave as soon as possible,’ Ryan says. You Lack Passion. You’re not waking up most mornings with a feeling of excitement towards your job. That feeling you had when you first started working there–thinking about all the 80 Your skills are not being tapped. possibilities and contributions ahead with a sense of glee—is gone. You’re miserable every morning. Quite simply, you dread going into work. Your company is sinking. There’s no need to go down with this ship. Put on your life preserver and get in the water. You really dislike the people you work with and/or your boss. You can try to work out the problems you’re having with colleagues or your manager—but know that sometimes they’re not fixable. You’re consistently stressed, negative, and/or unhappy at work. If you get anxious or unhappy just thinking about work, that’s a good sign that it’s time to move on. Your work-related stress is affecting your physical health. The work, people, or culture is unhealthy, and it has a negative impact on you physically and mentally. The stress is present both inside and outside of work; it’s consuming. Your family and friends are affected by this, too. When work starts affecting your health –physical, mental, or both – it’s time to get out. You don’t fit in with the corporate culture and/or you don’t believe in the company anymore. You feel that there are ethical or moral differences in how the company and you believe the firm should operate; cultural differences; work ethic clashes, and so on. Whatever the issue, you’re morally misaligned with your employer, and it’s an uncomfortable workplace setting. Your work suffering. If performance is you’re no longer productive at work, even though you’re capable of performing the task(s), you might want to start looking for new work. Management doesn’t acknowledge that you have more to offer than what you’ve been contributing for a significant amount of time, you’ve been passed over for promotion, or attempts to take on more challenging assignments have failed. No one has said anything, however, you are no longer getting the plum assignments, you are no longer asked to attend key meetings, or your proposals are met with silence or denial. Your job duties have changed/increased, but the pay hasn’t. Sometimes there’s a good reason for this. When downsizing has moved your team into double time, but certainly nowhere near double compensation, it may be time to move on. That’s especially true if the company is performing well, but it’s not reflected in your salary or other rewards. Your ideas are not being heard. If your ideas are no longer heard or valued; you can’t seem to get time with the ‘powers that be’; or you cannot get approvals or acknowledgment for great work, think about finding a new job. You’re bored and stagnating at your job. If you’re not growing or learning anything new, it might be time to leave. They say when you’ve outgrown the position and there is no opportunity for advancement–or you seem to work the same job day in, day out without any opportunity for growth, even though you crave more–it’s time to get out. You are experiencing verbal abuse, sexual harassment, or are aware of any type of other illegal behavior. If you’re the victim of bullying, sexual harassment or other egregious behavior, you should certainly keep an eye out for other positions, regardless of what corrective measures you’re taking. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes AVIATION I In 2000, Texas billionaire Robert Bass came across a theory of supersonic speed and aircraft wing technology that made him reach for his checkbook. First, he bought five textbooks used in Stanford University aeronautics classes to bone up on the subject. Then as he delved into the physics of planes, he became increasingly convinced that a profitable supersonic business jet was viable. Says Bass, who flew on the Concorde, which took passengers across the Atlantic faster than the speed of sound for 27 years until it was retired in 2003: ‘The more I dug into it, the more interesting it got.’ So he struck a deal with Richard Tracy, whose patented computer model of laminar airflow over wings had inspired him, and assembled a team of a dozen people, including an engineer who once headed Boeing’s high-speed civil transport program, to make the dream a reality. That didn’t happen at supersonic speed, 82 however. Bass’s Aerion spent the next decade—and more than $100 million—working out technical kinks, causing many naysayers to wonder if his high-flying dreams would ever get off the ground. Aerion can no longer be brushed off as a billionaire’s folly. In September the company signed a technology sharing deal with Airbus Group, which agreed to help with the design, construction, and certification of the AS2 business jet. Airbus, itself formed from the companies that built the Concorde, lends credibility to the project, which is still in the design phase and is targeting a first flight in 2019. Allan McArtor, chief executive officer of Airbus’s U.S. unit and former head of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, says his company saw value in Aerion’s technology and predictive tools for airflow. ‘We want to get out ahead of the future,’ he says. ‘We don’t want to get caught by surprise. We don’t want to read about it.’ Aerion projects the AS2 will shave more than 4 hours off the 10 hours and 25 minutes it now takes to fly from San Francisco to Tokyo, fueling demand for 600 such jets over a 20-year period—even at a price of $110 million a pop. ‘On a first-mover basis, there’s a January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes AVIATION RELIVING THE LEGACY OF THE JET PLANES The slow takeoff of Robert Bass’ Supersonic Business jet pretty significant market there,’ McArtor says, noting Aerion’s pioneer advantage: There won’t be room for four supersonic business jet makers. Private aviation will adopt supersonic flight before commercial carriers, McArtor says, because big airlines don’t sell speed; they sell luxury service for business travelers and low-priced seats for tourists in coach. But corporate executives and wealthy entrepreneurs would pay to fly faster than competitors, says Steve Varsano, founder of The Jet Business, in London, which helps customers buy and sell jets. ‘There’s no question that there’s a market for supersonic,’ says Varsano, who says he has five customers who signed letters of intent to purchase the Aerion jet. (It began taking deposits before the 2008-09 ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 recession slowed development, and some deposits were refunded.) The Concorde failed because it had limited range (1,000 miles less than the AS2), was too loud to fly over land, and lacked the comfort that wealthy passengers were accustomed to, says Bass, a member of a storied Texas oil clan, founder of Oak Hill Capital Partners, and head of private equity firm Keystone Group. ‘It was fast class. It was not first class,’ he says. ‘It was a tourist-class seat going very fast.’ The AS2 doesn’t require a change in the U.S. ban on civilian supersonic flight over land, Bass says. It can cruise close to the speed of sound there and then open the throttle to Mach 1.6 once it’s over water—on the international runs where speed matters most. A likely rival is skeptical. Gulfstream Aerospace CEO Larry Flynn says he doesn’t see enough buyers to make a supersonic jet feasible until the sonic boom can be mitigated enough to permit flights over land. ‘That’s going to take some law changes, particularly in the U.S.,’ says Flynn, who keeps a team of engineers working on a solution. Bradley Mottier, a General Electric Aviation vice president for business and general aviation, says an engine design with the right combination of power, noise abatement, and fuel consumption to power the AS2 is technically attainable—at a cost. ‘Can we make an engine for that? Absolutely,’ Mottier says. ‘The challenge with the supersonics is what’s the [sales] volume going to be, and how much investment is justified by the potential volume.’ 83 TOURISM STENCH OF REVENUES Cox’s Bazar’s fledging dried fish industry could boost local tourism and product export By Saad Mahmud Photos by Din M Shibly 84 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes TOURISM T The traditional dried fish market of Bangladesh is shrinking gradually, and the reasons are many, one being lack of proper communication and proper realisation or appreication of dried fish as food itself. With an increasing population, the demand for dried fish is rising on the domestic and international markets every year. However, a fall in production is pushing up the prices of dried fish and traders are depending more on low quality imported dried fish to meet the local demand. Traders said imported dried fish accounts for 70 percent of the local market, a clear sign of falling domestic output. ‘Local dried fish had more than 80 percent share in the domestic market even a decade ago, but the scenario has reversed in the last few years,’ said Faisal Hossain, a trader at Asadganj dried fish market in Chittagong. The sector is mainly dependent on marine fish from deep seas, said Nani Gopal Das, a professor of marine fisheries at Chittagong University. The production of marine fish fell due to various reasons; people are fishing indiscriminately violating rules, Das said. ‘As the mother fishes are destroyed, fish production has decreased, which brings down the volume of dried fish.’ Jahed Hossain, proprietor of Hazi Bajal Ahmad and Sons, a dried fish trading house, said over-fishing in the main fishing zones, pirate attacks on fishermen and low income of the fishermen have led to a reduced fish production. ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 85 TOURISM He also blamed government negligence in preserving the marine fishes. Vigilance by law enforcers to thwart indiscriminate fishing is inadequate, he added. The Asadganj market is a trading hub with around 40 stockists and more than 260 wholesalers. Fishes from all the fish processing areas, especially the coastal areas and islands such as Rangabali, Sonadia, Kutubdia, Talpatti, St Martin’s, Teknaf, Banshkhali, Anwara, Moheshkhali and Cox’s Bazar, come to this market. A portion of the dried fish from this market is exported to the UK, the USA and the Middle East countries as the demand is high among the Bangladeshi expatriates.The Middle East is the largest market for dried fish from Bangladesh, covering 90 percent of the total exports, said 86 Farid Ahmad, general secretary of Asadganj Dried Fish Traders’ Association. According to Department of Fisheries, a total of 1,050 tonnes of dried fish were exported from July 2012 to March 2013. He said production of dried fish takes place only for four months — between early winter and early summer. Only 30% of the total demand of the country is met by local production; the rest is imported from India, Pakistan and Myanmar, he said. Around 739 tonnes of dried fish were imported from these countries from July 2012 to March 2013, said officials of the government department. Around 30 varieties of dried fish are found in the market. The most popular ones are Chinese pomfret (rupchanda), Indian salmon (lakkha), ribbon fish (chhuri), Bombay duck (loitta) and shrimp. The prices depend on quality and size — rupchanda sells at Tk. 4,000 a kilogram, chhuri at Tk. 1,200, loitta at Tk. 400, and shrimp at Tk. 800-1,000. The prices of different types of rangabali and sonadia dried fishes are higher. ‘Last year, I bought rangabali rupchanda shutki at Tk 2,000 a kg, but now the price has almost doubled,’ said Mostafizur Rahman, a customer from Chittagong. If the government takes steps to preserve marine fish, increase production, stop pirate attacks on fishermen and support the traders, the sector will turn into a profitable export oriented industry, said Ahmad of the dried fish traders’ association. Otherwise, the sector would dry up soon, he added. Lieutenant Commander Atiqur Rahman of Bangladesh Coast Guard (east zone) said they face a shortage of manpower and logistics to patrol the vast fishing areas and protect the fishermen from pirate attacks. Pravati Dey, deputy director (quality control and inspection) of Department of Fisheries in Chittagong, said the government has taken some initiatives. ‘We mainly create awareness among the fishermen and train them on dried fish production,’ she said. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes BLUE ECONOMY LIGHTING AN INDUSTRY How Kutubdia could be the next best destination after Cox’s Bazar, albeit temporarily By Saad Mahmud A main thrust of country's economy may be on Cox's Bazar tourism haven. It boasts the longest unbroken sea beach in the world and hosts an array of small and big islands. Some 3 million tourists from home and abroad visit this site during the tourist season alone. But unplanned development of the beach city poses nagging problems for the backpackers. This has made way to raise voice for a new tourist destination, and critics are opting for Kutubdia. Lying in the coastal area of Bangladesh, it stands in the belly of the Bay of Bengal. This Island is the off coast near Chakaria and Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh. It is famous as it habitats the only lighthouse in Bangladesh (which also acts as a helping hand to ships trying to locate Chittagong port,) which was built during the British period. They are also famous for providing salt and dry fish, also a formidable earning source of foreign currency. 88 January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes BLUE ECONOMY Tourism Know-how In Bangladesh only 39% of the population has access to the electricity grid. The cost of running diesel generators for electricity is expensive and beyond the reach of most people living in rural areas, therefore hydrid systems which combine renewable energy and a diesel generator have strong potential. A 1000 kW hybrid wind-diesel power plant in Kutubdia, Bangladesh was found by a recent study to be a cost effective and environmentally friendly way of supplying power to remote areas currently not connected to the grid. Why visit Kutubdia? It was the exact same question I had asked myself when I was on my way to the island. After visiting the place and talking to the local people, I realised that it is your quintessential bucket-list material. Kutubdia is one of many islands off Bangladesh and India affected by increasingly rapid erosion and some of the fastest recorded sea-level rises in the world. These ‘vanishing islands’ are shrinking dramatically. Kutubdia has halved in size in 20 years, to about 100 sq km. Since 1991 six villages on the island of fishermen and salt workers have been swamped and about 40,000 people have fled. The 80,000 people left on Kutubdia all expect to follow suit. ‘The land here used to be 1km out to sea,’ ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 says Mohamed Rashed from the village of Qumira Char. ‘We lost mosques, a school, shops, farms. We are scared of the sea now. Gradually it comes closer to our homes. When we sleep, we are scared. Every year the tide rises more and comes in further. Next year this village may not exist.’ Rashed moved his house on to a new three-metre high concrete embankment in 2008, but the high tides and tidal surges now top the barrier. ‘God knows how long this village will last. If it gets worse I will have to go to the mainland. We know the end is coming,’ says fisherman Jakir Hossain. At the current rate of erosion Kutubdia will be off the map within 30 years, along with dozens of other coastal islands. Sandwip, near Chittagong, covered 600 sq km 50 years ago. It is now a tenth of the size, its area having halved over the past 20 years alone. Further north along the Bay of Bengal, 12 islands – home to 70,000 people – are said by the Bangladeshi government to be ‘immediately threatened’ by the rising seas; 90 others in Indian waters, collectively housing more than 4 million people, are said to be at real risk. Sagar island is expected to lose at least 15% of its area in the next eight years, and may yet suffer the same fate that befell the island of Lohachara, which in December 2006 became the first inhabited island known to be lost to rising sea levels. For the visitors in Kutubdia , it will take approximately 2 hours time to reach to the island by bus, and the fair will be cheap, roughly Tk. 100-120 . But the beach is empty and almost there will be no good facility for fine dining. So I suggest packed foods and dry foods. There are many local bazaars in Kutubdia, so water and sanitation will not be a problem, but there is no good hotel to stay at night there. There is a rest house (daak bungalow) and few small hotels in the island. The rest house is comparatively better in outdoor view. The easiest way to go to Kutubdia Island is to go by Mognama ghat (Mognama jetty). There is direct bus service from Chittagong to Mognama, also you can go to Mognama by CNG taxi from Chokoria. One can go to Chokoria from Chittagong, or from Dhaka by direct bus. It is also possible to go by Dhaka-Coxs Bazar bus and drop at Chokoria Bazar. From Mognama there is boat and speedboat to cross the channel. Speedboat takes only 10/15 minutes and cost 60Taka each pax. From Kutubdia jetty, you can take a rickshaw to go to the far/sea side of the island where there is a rest house. Archaeological heritage of this island are Kalarma Mosque and Tomb of Qutb Awliya which are very popular to its visitors. If you visit and see the actual scenario of livelihood status of the local people of Kutubdia island then you can imagine the real situation. Young locals are sitting in the floating market for their livelihood. This is everywhere at this island which you can find easily. November to March is the right time to Kutubdia Island, without any kind of hassles. 89 WORD OF MOUTH Enjoy Christmas at Amari Dhaka Amari Dhaka, a five star Thai Chain hotel, celebrated Christmas through different decorations to rejoice the Christmas Eve in the hotel. The Bangkok based ONYX Hospitality group recently launched Hotel Amari in Dhaka. Amari is ONYX’s oldest and most established chain of hotels. With a network properties spanning Thailand, Amari embodies a vision of contemporary Asia. Amari Hotels and Resorts is a Thai-based hotel and resort chain operating a network of mid to upscale properties throughout Asia and The Middle East. With tasty food prepared and cooked by the head chef and his team - recognizable, classic dishes as well as a delightful selection of non-spicy and vegetarian options were part of an exotic culinary experience not to be missed. Whether you're looking to throw a private office Christmas party, host a festive dinner or to join in one of their shared Christmas decoration, Amari Dhaka Hotel is the perfect choice for all occasions over the holidays. Get down to business or celebrate one of life’s milestones with Amari Dhaka. They understand that finding the right venue is critical to the success of any event, which is why they offer the best. Let their dedicated team of event professionals take care of the smaller details so that you can focus on the bigger picture. Choose from an exceptional Christmas menu prepared by their highly skilled team of chefs, and enjoy with something for everyone! Quantum Consumer Solutions Ltd celebrates 10th anniversary Quantum Consumer Solutions celebrated their 10th Anniversary at Grand Ball Room of The Westin Dhaka Hotel on 20th November. Quantum, a leading qualitative research agency in the Asia Pacific Region, set up office in Dhaka in a joint venture with the Apex group in 2004. Since then they partnered more than a hundred brands, both global and local, bringing brand stakeholders a better and more robust understanding of the Bangladeshi consumer. Quantum is one of Asia’s leading consumer solutions companies. The parent company, which was established in 1990 in India, pioneered new research methodologies and conceptual frameworks around the sub-continent and introduced research techniques that recognised the needs of Asian brands and companies. Quantum’s work involves understanding consumer behavior, attitude and perceptions against a socio cultural backdrop. Our teams of researchers are trained to be intuitive about and sensitive to consumer motivations and manifestations. The process involves immersive observation, primary data collection, analysis of qualitative and ethnographic data, interpretation, ideation and finally an actionable and strategic output for brands and initiatives. The Chairman, Quantum Group, Dr. Meena Kaushik was present as the chief guest and delivered a welcome speech. Managing Director of Apex footwear, Syed Nasim 90 Manzur spoke about the 10 year association with Quantum. Tirthankar Dash, COO and Ruhina Halim, VP of Quantum made presentations on Aspirants and Ramada1n Consumerism respectively. To conclude the event, a vote of thanks was presented by Rinita Singh, Group Managing Director. Conversations with Quantum’s global leaders took place on Frontiers in Qualitative Research, Quantum 360 - Designing Solutions and Ethnography - Critical in Bangladesh. Chairmen, managing directors, department heads, research and brand managers of multinational and local organizations, advertising agencies and other research firms joined in the celebrations. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes SCB Signs MoU with HungryNaki.com Dhaka Regency unveils Royal Membership Program Dhaka Regency Premier Club unveiled a new Membership program on December 11 named ‘Royal Membership’, a priority Privilege Card with enhanced privileges exclusively designed for the layer of preferred guests to a range of premium services. Also Premier Club members will be enjoying a bag full of stirring privileges at all the Dhaka Regency outlets from December 15, 2014 – January 15, 2015. Shahid Hamid FIH, Executive Director of the Dhaka Regency inaugurated the grand night with his opening speech and expressed his gratitude on behalf of the owners and management to the prestigious Premier Club Members. Dhaka Regency Premier Club is an exclusive privilege program aimed at ensuring guests enjoyment of culinary and lifestyle experience. Around 2000 members are currently active and enjoying exclusive privileges than any other guest or corporate Partners at all the Dhaka Regency outlets covering Dining, Accommodation & Entertainment along with the privileges received from 25 Lifestyle Participating Partners both in home and abroad. Zonta International Club IV holds awareness campaign Members of Zonta International Club IV of Dhaka gathered in front of Gulshan Park on the 1st of December at 3:30 pm to raise awareness and increase actions to end violence against women. The club distributed T-shirts among rickshaw pullers with slogans printed on them to end violence against women and girl child. They also distributed stickers and orange wristbands to show Zonta’s collective commitment and conviction for the campaign. Zonta International Club is observing 16 days of activism campaign, ‘Zonta says NO to violence against women ‘ which started from the 25th of November 2014. This is to let everyone know that we Zontians worldwide take necessary steps to eradicate violence against women once and for all. ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 Standard Chartered Bank, the leading international bank in Bangladesh has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HungryNaki.com, country’s first online food ordering & delivery site. Under this MoU, HungryNaki will offer 10% discount on the food price exclusively to all the Standard Chartered credit or debit cardholders who will pay HungryNaki.com by using their StanChart credit or debit card. HungryNaki.com started their operation in end of 2013 with the goal to facilitate customers to get food without having to spend a sweat. With warm welcome from city’s food lovers this fast growing ecommerce business is currently operating in Dhaka and Sylhet cities partnering with more than 400 restaurants. And now, this arrangement with Standard Chartered bank will make the food enthusiasts even more delightful as their food is to be delivered at the doorstep with a rewarding discount. Westin Dhaka Wins World Luxury Hotel Award 2014 The Westin Dhaka prides itself to announce that it has earned the most prestigious World Luxury Hotel Award 2014 consecutively 4th time in 2014 in the category of Luxury Business Hotel. December 6th marked the eighth annual World Luxury Hotel Awards, and the first time in six years to be celebrated on South African shores. Local and international award winning hospitality super stars shone bright at the gala dinner ceremony hosted at the Bay Hotel’s majestic Rotunda in Camps Bay, Cape Town. General Manager of the Westin Dhaka Daniel Muhor ‘Located in the heart of the capital region, with quick connectivity to perfectly combine both business and pleasure- The Westin Dhaka is an example of the best luxury business hotel. To win this award consecutively 4th time is a humbling and heartening experience for the Westin Dhaka.’ 91 WORD OF MOUTH 2nd annual SEE Awards Honours RMG Industry The 2nd Social and Environmental Excellence (SEE) Award 2014 was held on Tuesday, 9 December 2014 to recognise the best practices in Bangladesh’s ready-made garments (RMG) and textile industries. The SEE Award is an initiative of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, which works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in partnership with the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. First held in 2013, the event is co-organised with Bangladesh Brand Forum, to promote the importance of compliance in the RMG and textiles industries. This is done by showcasing examples of the industries’ best practices to buyers, factories and leading apparel journals. It also engages the industry stakeholders to improve different aspects of social and environmental compliance and inclusive skills development in the long run. The award ceremony was graced by the Chief Guest Honourable Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Engineer Khandker Mosharraf Hossain and the Special Guests Honourable State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam and Honourable State Minister for Labour and Employment Md Mojibul Haque Chunnu. In its second year, the SEE Award handed out twenty-five awards, comprising of 10 platinums, one champion, 10 golds, three honorable mentions and one for best trainer. The winners were selected in four broad categories, namely Social Compliance, Environmental Performance, Inclusive Skills Development, and Building and Fire Safety Excellence; which were further divided into nine sub-categories. In his welcome address Magnus Schmid, Programme Coordinator, Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards in the Industry (PSES), GIZ said, ‘Like any other award, our main objective too was motivation through recognition. Motivation, that is not only for the winners to continue with their best practices but also for others to follow in their footsteps. This gives factories as well as the industry as a whole, the added value to attract enhanced international image and increased clientele to follow.’ The City Bank AmEx signs agreement with Nitol Motors Ltd City Bank recently signed an Agreement with Nitol Motors Limited. Under this agreement, City Bank American Express Cardmembers will now be able to enjoy Tk. 1,99,000 savings on purchase of Tata Nano Twist Car. The discount will apply as soon as a car is booked Tk.100,000 as booking money through Amex Card and the rest amount is paid at a time.. The entire payment can be made by 0% interest Flexibuy method in 3 to 24 monthly installments. Mashrur Arefin, DMD and COO of City Bank and Md. Abdul Marib Ahmed, Vice Chairman, Nitol-Niloy Group signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations. Among others Majharul Islam, Head of Cards, Nazmul Karim, Head of Brand from City Bank and Md. Tanbir Shahid Ratan, CBO, PCBU from Nitol 92 Motors Limited and other senior officials from both the organizations were present. The ceremony ended with discussions on further strategic alliance between the two organizations. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes WORD OF MOUTH Super Star Group launches Pro Lighting Super Star Pro Lighting of SSG (Super Star Group) starts its journey with 360 degree lighting solution, services and maintenance recently. Mohammed Ibrahim, Managing Director and CEO; Aftab Mahmud Khurshid, Group CMO; Engr Md. Saimur Rahman, Head of Professional Lighting and Kazi Mohiuddin Jilany, Manager Lightings Marketing & Business Development were present. Enjoy this holiday season at Westin Dhaka In this Holiday season Guests and locals can let The Westin Dhaka help with their hectic holiday schedules with year’s most attractive room package at Tk. 9999 including couple breakfast and attractive discounts on SPA and food. During their stay guests can have the opportunity for a perfect New Year’s plan for the whole family and holiday special goodies, decors, savories with the perfect tastes and flavor to get their holiday done in the most stress-free way. Experience the exclusive deluxe room package at Tk. 9,999, this package includes all that is needed for a memorable holiday getaway. Take advantage of the complimentary couple buffet breakfast at the Seasonal Tastes and 4pm late checkout. The package also includes a complimentary usage of Westin WORKOUT, Swimming pool, Sauna, Jacuzzi. Enjoy the best holiday getaway with 30% discount on Westin Spa and 10% discount on food ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 only. Also to the occasion of New Year Eve Special dinner will be served at Tk. 5000 from 06:30pm-11:30pm. Start a brand new year on the right foot at the Seasonal Tastes with our selection of delicacies and uplift your soul by getting 10% discount on SPA treatment this New Year. You will run out of time before you run out of good choices at the Westin Dhaka. Also, Guests can cherish the New Year holidays by booking a deluxe room at Tk. 9,999 on December 31 and can enjoy 50% discount on buffet lunch on 1st January, 2015. With the warming aroma delicious foods and hearty roaring log fires surrounded by beautifully decorated Christmas trees, The Westin Dhaka provides the perfect setting to your Christmas and New Year. 93 WORD OF MOUTH SSG marks five years of partnership with Kawamura: NSU YES! Presents Masters of Ideation 2014 NSU Young Entrepreneurs’ Society (YES!) is going to organize its signature event ‘Masters of Ideation’ for the third time this year. The event- which came to life in 2012-comprises of two phases, the intra NSU round and the Nationwide Inter University round. Masters of Ideation is a Business Strategy based, case-solving competition aimed at creating a platform to attract, hone and nurture undergraduate students with talent for solving complex, real-life situations faced in today’s business arena. The teams will be judged by eminent corporate personalities from Bangladesh. This year, the participating teams hail from renowned universities all over Bangladesh. Of the 40- odd teams participating this year, only six teams will go through to the final round for a chance to become ‘Master of Ideation’. This exclusive event is hosted by North South University and organized by YES!, the only business club of North South University. Since its inception in 1994, YES! has strived to develop business students of the nation and prepare them for the professional world through organizing events with far-reaching implications. YES! Has gained prominence in the student community for its signature brands- ‘Ad Maker Bangladesh’, ‘Masters of Ideation’ and ‘NSUers Meet Corporate Icons’. YES! Strives to create, nurture and promote entrepreneurial mindsets among the young generation of Bangladesh. Over the years, they have succeeded in creating sensation in the undergraduate business arena through their multifaceted events. All events hosted by YES! are unique and represent different fields of expertise. ‘Masters of Ideation’ gives students a taste of real-life business scenarios through case analysis and strategy evaluation; Ad Maker Bangladesh exposes undergraduates from all over the nation to the challenges of today’s marketing world; ‘NSUers Meet Corporate Icons’ is aimed at giving the students of North South University a platform to connect with and experience corporate bigwigs from all over the nation. 94 Through a corporate gathering, SSG (Super Star Group) celebrated five years of partnership with Kawamura Electric Inc. Japan. Mohammed Ibrahim, Managing Director and CEO of SSG (Super Star Group) handed over the crests of honor to Ryoichi Arima, President, Aftab Mahmud Khurshid, CMO of Super Star Group along with other Kawamura delegates in presence of corporate clients and high officials of SSG. SCB Wins The Banker Awards 2014 Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh has been awarded the prestigious ‘Bank of the Year’ award at The Banker Awards 2014. The award was handed over to Abrar A Anwar, Head of Corporate & Institutional Clients of Standard Chartered Bangladesh at a grand gala dinner program held recently in London. While receiving the award Anwar said, ‘we are delighted to receive this award in 3 consecutive years which is a testimony of our commitment to serve our clients in this market consistently over so many years and we are proud to be able to make positive contributions in Bangladesh.’ In total the Bank has won this prestigious award 4 times in years 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2010. The Banker is the world's premier banking and finance resource. Read in over 180 countries around the world, The Banker is the key source of data and analysis for the industry. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes ESSAY CORPORATE HUNTERS OR PARTICIPATORY ORGANISATIONS? Navigating into the Future –A Corporate Approach By SM Zakaria Navigation in high seas involves a process of constant and precise determination of the position of a ship in the endless expanse of water. The objective of this exercise is firstly, to get the ship to reach the final destination of the voyage and secondly, to manage the risks– that may emerge out of the conditions surrounding the position of the vessel – in order to ensure a safe passage to the pre-set destination. Two things appear to hold paramount importance in the voyage – (1) reaching the destination; in other words, achieving the pre-set objective, and ICE BusinessTimes January 2015 (2) safety of man and material. In business, corporate bodies are normally expected to operate as going-concerns, meaning the business entity will not die out in the foresee-able future and shall continue operation long enough to utilise all its assets earning profits and benefits. It is only ongoing concern assumption that entrepreneurs embark on certain business. Under this assumption, a business entity is viewed to hold the potential to run for a reasonable time in order for achieving the objectives on which it came into existence. The going-concern assumption warrants every corporate house to undertake plans, strategies and actions that ensure sustainability. What does sustainability mean? Establishment and operation of a business entity requires employment of factors of production: land, labour, capital and organisation – all these elements entail certain expenditures; some are fixed and some are recurrent. The going concern assumption requires that these expenditures be recovered with expected profits over a reasonable period of time. In the event a company is successful in doing so, that becomes sustainable. The pursuit of recovery of deployed funds together with profits calls for constant adjustments in the portfolio of activities executed. In effect, a company or a corporate body navigates into the future from the day it starts performing or sailing. In the contemporary world of highly complex, competitive and transformational trade and commerce, Corporate Navigation is equally volatile and delicate. As in ocean navigation, corporate navigation warrants year-to-year Passage Planning mapping out as to what course the Corporate Ship will follow and how the Corporate 95 ESSAY Voyage will continue. This necessitates Corporate Weather Forecasting and Corporate Positioning at regular intervals. Corporate Weather Forecasting is a daunting job and involves collection of all sorts of information – taking the entity to be a manufacturing establishment: (1) demand of related products, (2) supply of the products, (3) production capacity, (4) marketing and selling capacity, (5) capacity and nature of distribution network, (6) financial capacity and availability of resources and accompanying conditions, (7) availability of raw materials and inputs, (8) availability of spare parts, (9) availability of energy and power, (10) availability of labour, (11) nature and changes in promotional exercises in the market, (12) fluctuation in costs of materials, labour, utilities, (13) fluctuation in administrative and marketing costs, (14) price variations, (15) policy shifts at national and international circles, (16) political trends, (17) changes in tariff and taxes, (18) international atmosphere concerning technological developments, strategic polarisations and threats of sanctions and wars, (19) changes in infrastructural conditions, (20) speculated changes in natural environment, where applicable, and etc. Collection, scrutiny, processing, analysis of these information and then drawing inferences and conclusions viewed against corporate objectives provide the framework of Corporate Weather Forecasting. Once the forecasting function is completed, Corporate Passage Planning can commence. The Passage Plan includes two components: (1) The Plan - laying out specific statements of activities to be undertaken during the plan period substantiated by reasons and objectives, (2) Budget – for execution of the plan. The Passage Planning method includes five components: appraisal, planning, execution, monitoring & 96 evaluation, and adjustments. The appraisal component involves collection, processing and analysis of the above information for the purpose of ascertaining the Corporate Position in the internal and external environments. The planning function deals with preparation of statements mentioning sequential and parallel actions with strategies for execution which represents the Corporate Voyage Plan. Alongside planning activities, an affordable budget is prepared for meeting the financial requirements for execution of the plan. The third part of the planning process is translating the voyage plan into actions. In the fourth stage, as the Corporate Ship cruises through the uncertain and tumultuous oceans of business, constant monitoring and evaluation tasks are carried out to identify and locate fault lines that pose risks of losses to Corporate Vault and Corporate Goodwill. In the fifth stage, corporations take corrective steps and modify the Corporate Voyage Plan and re-position the Corporate Ship for a safe and profitable voyage. Without a definite plan adjusted with changes in business environment posing risks and promising profits from time to time, a corporate house is prone to cruise like radar-less ship in an ocean always pregnant with uncertainties and dangers. Time bound plans are safety valves that suggest changes in the courses of corporations and ensure benefits avoiding risks. The plans make corporate objectives visible to the corporate functionaries, make them liable for working hard to achieve set objectives and revamp a participatory environment in the organisation which puts all of them on a same platform for securing a same goal. Over the last three decades, some corporate houses have been seen to grow in Bangladesh. They owe their birth and lifeline to three major reasons, among others: (1) the millions of poor people, mostly lightweight women who brought about an industrial revolution in the country by offering labour, astoundingly cheaper than the world average, (2) millions of poor people, mostly heavyweight men offering hard labour overseas at cheaper costs than the world average and remitting foreign currency needed to shop for machinery and equipment which moved the industrial revolution, (3) the easy capital gains that ensued as a result of the rise of the garment industry and the exodus in flocks of poor people to foreign countries as odd-job-performers. These corporate groups are largely family firms managed by the founder and his kith and kin. This left little opportunity for scientific and participatory management systems as practiced in western countries, The easy-go phenomenon of the export market - due mainly to the cheap-labour factor and the high-tech factor that discourage the western countries to manufacture garment and textile products –perhaps serves as an incentive for local groups to turn back on systematic planning and budgeting for pursuing business activities. Excepting a very few, our corporate houses are still operated by either a single finger or in concert with the other fingers of the same hand, more in similarity with a primitive hunter who hunted himself using an arrow seeing with his own eyes with no room for other eyes. Most of the Bangladeshi corporate bodies are still observed to be performing as lone Corporate Hunters, NOT as participatory organisations preparing and following plans and budgets through organised collective works. But, the world scenario is transforming fast and putting intensified pressure on the local organisations to adopt modern business tools and techniques; more important than that is the replacement of the old guards by younger Bangladeshis who understand the latest lexicon. January 2015 ICE BusinessTimes
© Copyright 2024