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“Business Related

News & It’s Impact on

our Society”
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“Bashundhara Group introduces CRM software

aiming to make easier customer services”

Source: Bangladesh Pratidin-25/2/2018

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technology for

managing all company’s relationships and interactions with customers

and potential customers. It helps manage many of the following business

processes: customer data, customer interaction, automate sales,

access business information, marketing, knowledge & training,

support vendor / partner relationships.

The goal is simple: Improve business relationships and help companies

stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve

profitability by increasing efficiency & cost reduction.

Bashundhara Group Vice Chairman Safwan Sobhan said the company

introduced the software to make customer easier & help the company

lead the competitive market. The Bashundhara Tissue at present holds

about 90 percent of the total market share. After launching of the

software, the brand will be able to raise it market share to 95 percent.

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The CRM software has some special features, like enabling a customer

to make trouble-free orders and high officials of the company to receive

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feedback from the field level

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CRM software is designed to help businesses meet the overall goals of

customer relationship management Today's CRM software is highly

scalable and customizable, allowing businesses to gain actionable

customer insights with a back-end analytical engine, for their business.

“Govt Encourages Private Sector Investment in Blue

Biotech”
Source: Dhaka Tribune-25/02/2018
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It is no secret that Bangladesh possess enormous water body

with the blessings of Bay of Bengal situated at southern part of

Bangladesh. Bangladesh has huge reserves of natural gas and coal; and

many international oil companies are involved in production and

exploration activities in the Bay of Bengal which can significantly

contribute to the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.

Biotechnology

The concept of Blue Economy has opened a new horizon for

economic development of the coastal countries through utilizing sea and

marine resources at national and international level. The concept has

become a buzzword for sustainable development particularly in drafting

the post-2015 development goals. Estimates suggest some 30 million

Bangladeshi directly depend on oceanic economic activities like

fisheries and commercial transportation. Coastal and Island developing

countries have remained at the forefront of this Blue Economy

advocacy, recognizing that the oceans have a major role to play in

humanity's future.
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One area where marine biotech may make a critical contribution is the

development of new antibiotics. The potential scope is enormous, by

2006 more than 14,000 novel chemicals had been identified by marine

bioprospecting and 300 patents registered on marine natural products.

The unexplored and understudied nature of much of the underwater

world means that the capacity of marine organisms other than fish and

shellfish to provide inputs to the blue economy is only just beginning to

be appreciated, partly through new gene sequencing technologies for

living organisms. There have already been successes. The anti-viral

drugs Zovirax and Acyclovir were obtained from nucleosides isolated

from Caribbean sponges. YONDELIS, developed from small soft-

bodied marine animals was the first drug of marine origin to fight

cancer.

“Why Blue Biotech has the Potential to Rival the

Garment Industry”

The global market for marine biotechnology products and processes is

currently estimated at US $ 2.8 billion & projected to grow to around

US$ 4.6 billion by 2017. Marine biotech has the potential to address a
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suite of global challenges such as sustainable food supplies, human

health, energy security and environmental remediation.

Importance of Biotechnology

 Biotechnology is expected to be “The Engine of Global Economy”

during the 21st century.
 The growing Biotech industry & its sectors considered the new
directions for “Long-term economic growth”
 Rapid advance in Genome science are opening up a multitude if new
business opportunities in the life science-related industries.
 To accompany this growth, Manpower proper trained and educated in
Biotechnology is certainly needed.
 In 2011 there were over 36 marine derived drugs in clinical
development, including 15 for the treatment of cancer
 YONDELIS, developed from small soft-bodied marine animals was
the first drug of marine origin to fight cancer.
“Leather goods: Bangladesh’s Next Cash Cow”

Source: Daily Star-25/02/2018

As Bangladesh prepares to advance to the next level of

economic development, our policymakers have to start thinking about

how to remain internationally competitive as well as ensure greater

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economic activity — more jobs, greater output and higher average

incomes. In order to achieve that, Bangladesh desperately needs to

upgrade and expand its export sector, from our export composition to

value, volume, and range.

The success of our readymade garments (RMG) industry provided a

much-needed momentum over the past three decades, as the global

experience shows that successful garment manufacturing countries tend

to find it easier to develop specialization in leather products and

footwear. The global LLGs market expanded from $75bn in 2000 to

$175bn in 2017 – indicating growing demand around the world and,

thus, lucrative prospects for our country.

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Nevertheless, for a country our size, we are far behind from most of our

Asian competitors. With a population of 160 million, Bangladesh’s

current export volume of $35 billion is rather small in comparison with

countries like Vietnam ($170bn in exports and a population of 91

million), Indonesia ($220bn in exports and a population of 258 million).

Also, Bangladesh’s LLG exports are highly concentrated in a few

markets. It exports 44 leather products to 84 destinations. In comparison,

Vietnam exports 59 items to 122 markets and China sends 65 products

to 209 foreign markets.

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“Why more and more people are leaning towards

superstores”

Source: Dhaka Tribune-24/02/2018

The popularity of superstore chains among the general public has

increased significantly since the last 16 years, more than 120 superstore

outlets have been set up in Bangladesh by around 40 companies. The

three major supermarket chains here are: Agora, Shwapno, and Meena

Bazar.

“Reason Behind the enormous popularity of superstores”

 Self-serving model:

makes shopping much more comfortable and convenient for

customers as it allows them to take their time and examine as many

items as they like without feeling pressured to buy them.

 Hassle-free environment:

Superstores also provide a safe and “hassle-free environment for

women, who otherwise feel uncomfortable shopping in crowded

markets,”

 Neat & tidy atmosphere:

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customers dislike traditional markets for their untidy atmosphere, lack

of hygiene, insufficient space to move, bargaining process,

inconsistent prices, all of which cause unnecessary stress for

customers.

 Syndicate and dominate in Traditional Market:

Shopkeepers in traditional markets form one kind of syndicate and

dominate the market like a monopoly would. As a result, consumers

turn to modern and well-decorated superstores with better facilities,

friendly staff, and a pleasant atmosphere.

Need for expansion

Bangladesh Supermarket Owners Association (BSOA)

General Secretary Zakir Hossain said the local supermarket industry
could potentially grow much faster than other South Asia and South-
East Asian countries if it gets cooperation from the concerned
government agencies such as regulators and tax authorities. The
BSOA has requested the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to ensure
a uniform value added tax (VAT) rate for all stores by allowing them
to pay VAT at a square foot-based package rate.
“Bad Loans Crippling the Banking Sector”
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Source: Daily Star-28/02/2018

The persistent increase in bad loans has crippled our banking sector,

mostly affecting the state-owned banks. According to the latest report

of Bangladesh Bank, as of December last year, the commercial banks

disbursed Tk798,195 crore as loans. Of the amount, default loans

amounted to Tk74,303 crore or 9.31%.

Economists and bankers said the major reason behind default loan is

the distribution of credit on political consideration, which made it

quite difficult to recover the credits. Besides political affiliation,

experts also blamed the culture of impunity, abuse of power in loan

disbursement, weakness of existing laws and lack of technical

expertise that help defaulters swindle money from banks and t in most

of the default loan-hit banks, the chairmen, MDs and directors were

found abusing their power in distributing loan

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In order to improve this situation Bangladesh can

follow India`s example as India is planning to make loan defaulting a

criminal offence and “Bangladesh’s Rin Adalat Artha Ain (Financial

Loan Court Act) needs to be upgraded so that no one can take

advantage of procrastination and escape unharmed. Also the most

important thing is “Political consideration in loan disbursement has to

be stopped as 85% of the defaulted loans were distributed based on

political consideration.”

“Nepal's growing market for Bangladeshi goods”

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Source: Dhaka Tribune-25/02/2018

Nepal an import dependent neighbor has risen as successful

export destination for Bangladeshi products like- pharmaceuticals,

consumers goods, and electronic items.

 Export and Import data:

According to EPB, export income is $47.4m in fiscal year

2016-2017 which has increased up to 165% from the income $17.88m in

the last fiscal year. At the same time import from Nepal is nearly 10

million in the same period. Nepal ministry of commerce shows us that

Bangladesh being a close neighbor it was in 22nd position in the list of

import country in the year of 2017 which is far behind the countries like

south Africa, Australia.

 Exporting goods by Bangladesh:

Bangladesh is mainly exporting goods like- Vegetables,

fruits, electrical and electronics equipment, motorcycle, woven, knit

garments, plastic goods, pharmaceuticals, furniture, juice, consumers

goods etc.

 Opportunities of Bangladesh as an exporter:

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Nepal is an import-oriented country, where India is dominating in

Nepali market. As Nepal faced problem while importing goods from

India they are trying to replace Indian goods with something alternative

to it. So as a neighbor country Bangladesh can take this chance to

become a successful exporter and also profitable.

 Walton company in Nepali market:

Demand of Walton appliances in Nepal is growing and it is also

exporting international standard home appliances. It is also planning to

export locally made laptops, desktop computer, monitors and other

accessories to Nepal. Though it was very tough to make people

understand about the Bangladeshi product at the very beginning, now

they have built faith and trust in Bangladeshi products which are being

sold in Nepali market. Even a company who mainly distributes the

Walton products in Nepal said that they have 200 agents all over the

country and sold 3500 refrigerators last year.

 Medicine:
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Bangladesh got a good opportunity for exporting medicine to

Nepal as the doctors, mainly who studies at the medical colleges of

Bangladesh prescribe Bangladeshi medicines to the patients in there. By

exporting pharmaceuticals to Nepal Bangladesh earned $2.22 million in

the last year.

 How we can boost our export:

Though we are seeing that Bangladesh is doing good in exporting

in respect of Nepali market, it must be boosted to contribute more in our

economy. There are some ways which can be adopted to do so:

 Removal of excess tax burden.

 Simplification of export process.

 An agreement to enjoy duty free access to market.

 Policy supports including making customs easier.

 Simplification of shipment process.

 Making customers more familiar with Bangladeshi products and

services, so that they become more encouraged in buying Bangladeshi

goods.
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“Graduation from LDC: Bangladesh to face tougher

export challenges”

Source: Dhaka Tribune-25/02/2018

Bangladesh’s export sector will face tougher competition

in the global market after losing duty-free market access and preferential

trade benefits when it graduates from LDC status and officially joins the

ranks of developing countries. On March 16 Bangladesh’s eligibility for

the developing country category was announced as it has met the three

criteria in terms of (National Income per Capita, Human Assets

Index, and Economic Vulnerability Index)

But the country will have to pass two more reviews in 2021 and 2024 to

get rid of the Least Developed Country (LDC) tag. Upon its promotion,

Bangladesh will get three more years’ grace period after which it will

lose the trade facilities it enjoys as an LDC.

After graduation, Bangladeshi exporters will have to pay an additional

6.7% tariff & Probable new tariffs for EU 8.7%, non-EU 3.9% Canada

are 7.3%, respectively. Bangladesh may face an export decline between

5.5% and 7.5%.

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“Additional Tariff after Graduation from LDC”

Ways Forward

 Bangladesh can overcome the challenges with New trade agreements

and diversification of products and market.
 Since Bangladesh’s export earnings are highly dominated by the
RMG sector, focus should be given on intra-RMG diversification as
well as on quality and value-added products.
 Bangladesh needs to renew efforts towards the supply-side capacity
building, increasing export competitiveness and reducing production
costs to compensate for preference erosion and phasing out of
international support.
 Preferential trade benefits erosion is crucial for Bangladesh, but the
country can enjoy trade benefits by availing GSP Plus, a standard
scheme for the developing country to provide trade benefits.