Chittagong customs house operation is going to be divided into two divisions from 1st of July for handling the cargo import and export separately in a bid to gear up the customs formalities. Earlier steps were taken several times to implement the plan in bifurcation of Chittagong customs house, but red tapism and other complications in providing logistic supports, manpower and development of infrastructures delayed the move. Officials said move for bifurcation of the CCH was taken by the National Board of Revenue in line with the budget proposal made in the year 2004.

The Board of Investment has asked the military-backed interim government to take quick decisions on foreign direct investment proposals in the pipeline saying that the move could change the downward investment situation. The foreign investment proposals, pending with the BOI, include a 3.0 billion US dollar one from Indian business conglomerate Tata group, 2.5 billion dollar from the UK-based Asia Energy, 1.6 billion dollar from the US-based Vulcan Energy, 1.5 billion dollar from South Korean Luxon Global and around 1.0 billion dollar from Saudi Arabian Kingdom group.

China and Pakistan will create a Pakistan-China joint investment company in July, according to a joint statement issued on April 21. Working links will also be established between the China Investment Promotion Agency and the Pakistan Board of Investment, the statement said.

India has emerged as the fastest growing nation in the global services trade and contrary to popular belief, the country’s import growth in commercial services has outpaced exports in 2006, a WTO report said. Against the world average of 10 percent, India’s services imports grew by a hefty 40 percent in 2006 while exports jumped by 34 percent, thus emerging as the most dynamic country in services trade.

Any cash transaction of more than Tk five lakh per day through banks, financial institutions or non-banking financial institutions will now come under the central bank’s intelligence monitoring to detect corrupt businessmen and clue to any terror financing. Banks, insurance and leasing companies, courier services, the post office, non-government organisations, microfinance institutions, and cooperatives will come under the BB monitoring following detection of huge tax evasions and incidents of corruption in recent times.

Economies in East Asia will grow 5.7 percent in 2007 with China spearheading the region despite slowing growth in the United States, a major market for Asian exports, a regional think-tank said on April 18. Overall growth in the Asia Pacific region is tipped at 4.3 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2008, still down from 5.0 percent last year, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) said in a report based on its forecasts for 19 economies.

India has decided to put the process of bringing down duties on edible oil on the fast track to reach an early agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) for a free trade agreement (FTA). Every year the duties will be brought down by 2-3 percent. This will see duties on crude palm oil coming down to 50 percent from 80 percent and refined palm oil to 60 percent from 90 percent. The reduction will now be achieved by 2018 instead of 2022 as was originally proposed.

The government will lift import restrictions on salt in January 2009 to comply with World Trade Organisation rules, despite opposition from domestic salt producers who fear the impact on the local industry. The decision was taken in an inter-ministerial meeting held at the commerce ministry recently.

The government on April 17 approved a proposal to privatise 17 state-owned enterprises, 12 of them operating in the textiles and jute industries, aiming to complete the process in four months. The government will go for open tenders after assessing the assets and liabilities of the enterprises.

A conclave of global executive search firms on April16 said India’s booming services and software industries need more than two million professionals by 2010 and many could come from overseas. Tom Fuller, managing director of the US-based Espen Fuller consultancy firm, said India’s outsourcing industry needed 1.4 million professionals alone, while its burgeoning information technology sector would need an additional 800,000 skilled workers in the next three years.

Foreign investors have started exploring investment potentials in the country following the recent improvement in political situation. China recently expressed its desire to invest US$ 15 million in the composite textile sector in Bangladesh. An eight-member Chinese business delegation on April 16 met the Board of investment (BoI) to discuss investment in the country.

With recent surges in exports, China looks set to replace Bangladesh as number one supplier of woven shirts to the American market, shows a report of the US trade department. Exporters and trade analysts viewed the news as a serious concern for Bangladesh’s apparel industry, which earned worldwide fame for ‘Made in Bangladesh’ shirts and shares a significant portion of the country’s export revenues.

South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, are likely to halve the incidence of poverty by 2015 as set out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), says a new World Bank report. “The share of people living in extreme poverty in the South Asia region is expected to fall to 18 per cent by 2015, well below the targetted 21.5 per cent,” according to the Global Monitoring Report 2007.

The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) has urged the government to formulate policies in the next budget for creating jobs in the country. In an editorial comment in the latest issue of its monthly publication, Chamber News, the MCCI also suggested continuation of fiscal and tariff incentives like tax holiday facility.

Bangladesh had experienced a very difficult time both economically and politically during 2006. It had to face serious challenges man-made and otherwise. Political dilemma, erratic power supply, increasing prices of essentials, inflation, deteriorated law and order situation and governance problems pushed the country into a political brinkmanship which led to the Declaration of State of Emergency, according to the Editorial of the current News Bulletin of International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICCB) released today.

Customs authorities on April 11 opened another green channel styled ‘Wage Earners Channel’ for Bangladeshi expatriates at the arrival hall of Zia International Airport in the city. Commissioner of Dhaka Customs House Firoz Shah Alam formally inaugurated the channel. A customs official told that the new green channel has been opened so that wage-earning Bangladeshi expatriates could pass through the customs arrival hall hassle-free. But the passengers must fill in ‘Baggage Declaration Form’ before passing through the channel.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a 6.6 per cent growth in Bangladesh’s real gross domestic product (GDP) for fiscal 2007 and 6.5 per cent for fiscal 2008. In its World Economic Outlook (WEO) released on April 11, the IMF also projected a lower inflationary trend for Bangladesh based on the consumer prices. It said that the country’s consumer prices would rise by 6.4 per cent in 2007 against 6.3 per cent in 2006. It will record lower at 5.4 per cent in 2008.

The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Canada grew by 28 per cent in the past year as both sides saw sound growths in their exports over the year. An up-to-date data provided by the Industry Canada – a Canadian source of market intelligence – shows that Bangladesh’s overall exports to Canada in 2006 grew by more 18 per cent to 479 million dollars while Canada’s exports to Bangladesh raised over 82 per cent to 145 million US dollars.

The interim government has undertaken a programme of massive reforms of the nationalised commercial banks to infuse them with dynamism and make them more attractive to local and foreign buyers. Under the planned programme, the finance ministry decided last week to appoint managing directors at Sonali, Janata and Agrani banks from the private sector soon with attractive salaries following a pressure from the World Bank.

‘Risks to the global economy have lessened compared to six months ago but their nature has changed,’ International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato said on April 9. In a speech Rato also said that rapid progress on reform of IMF members voting rights was unlikely to come at this weekend’s annual spring meeting of the Fund and the World Bank.