The government has decided in principle to offload its remaining 26 per cent shares of the Rupali Bank. The advisory council committee on economic affairs, at a meeting on February 5 endorsed the proposal from the Privatisation Commission for selling off the 26 per cent shares through the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB). The shares will be sold through the share market.

The countrys export earnings increased by about 26 percent to $ 6,220 million during the first half of the current fiscal year,200607. The export figure was also 3.6 percent higher than the target of $ 6,006 million set for the period (JulyDecember 06), according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). The December 2006 exports rose to $ 1,175 million exceeding the target of $ 1,056 million.

The Advisers Committee on Economic Affairs approved the 3yearly ImportExport Policy of Bangladesh on February 5. According to the new policy, importlimit,without Letters of Credit (LC), would be raised to $35,000 from the current limit of $25,000 while readymade garment exporters would also be able to import 0.3 per cent of sample textiles instead of the current limit of 0.2 per cent.

The Council of Advisers on Monday, February 5, decided that Bangladesh would sign the UN Convention on AntiCorruption. At its regular weekly meeting with the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, in the chair, the council directed the foreign ministry to immediately initiate necessary measures for signing the United Nations Convention on Prevention of Corruption.

Bangladesh achieved striking growth in export of readymade garments and other textile products in 2006 as earning by the countrys prime industrial sectors grew by more than $2 billion, to $9.2 billion last year. The RMG sector increased its production capacity in the quotafree postMFA regime, and the very competitive prices of Bangladeshi apparels ensured robust growth in export.

The US government on February, 2 signaled a sharp escalation in its trade frictions with China by filing a WTO action against the fast-growing Asian economy over illegal industrial subsidies. The case is important because they are seeking to level the playing field to allow US manufacturers to compete fairly with Chinese firms.

The government on February, 1 announced that Indias Gross Domestic Product for 200506 stands revised up to 9 per cent (from the previous estimates of 8.4 per cent) against 7.5 per cent during 200405. The revision has had an effect on the growth in the agriculture sector, which is now shown at 6 per cent for 200506 against the previous estimates of just 3.9 per cent. Manufacturing is shown a shade better at 9.1 per cent as against the previous figure of 9 per cent.

New Delhi will invest US $ 130 million to develop Myanmars Sittwe port that will give Indias landlocked northeast access to a new trade route to South East Asia.

The total imports by informal trade from India are estimated at around $500 million, about 42 per cent of Bangladeshs recorded imports from the neighbouring country. According to very approximate estimates based on recent surveys, total informal exports—bootleg plus technical—from India to Bangladesh is about 30 per cent of total imports, recorded plus smuggled.

Central Bank of the country (Bangladesh Bank) could not disburse any money to projects approved for its equity and entrepreneurship fund as the finance ministry did not release the allocated amount though half of the fiscal year has already elapsed. Bangladesh Bank, which operates the fund, said it immediately needed at least Tk 280 crore to finance about 200 ventures in the agrobased and information technology sectors.

The market capitalisation on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) reached its record high last week mainly on the back of debut of BRAC Bank. The market indicator increased by Tk 824 crore throughout last week to stand at all time high of Tk 37,931 crore on February, 1 up from the previous weeks close of Tk 37,107 crore. BRAC Bank that debuted on the bourse on January, 31contributed significantly to the rise in the market capitalization.

The council of advisers to the caretaker government on February, 3 approved the draft by laws required to turn the nationalised commercial banks (NCBs)Sonali, Janata and Agraniinto public limited companies. An advisory council meeting at the Chief Advisers Office gave the seal of approval to the draft Memorandum and Articles of Association, meaning autonomous boards of directors instead of the finance ministry would run the three banks.

A meeting of the World Islamic Economic Forums (WIEF) International Advisory Panel will take place in Kuala Lumpur on May 28-29, 2007. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Chair of OIC and Patron of WIEF, Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has consented to officiate as the chief guest at the inaugural function of the third WIEF.

Singapores unemployment rate eased to 2.7 per cent last year from 3.1 per cent in 2005 as a strong economy created a record number of jobs. The rate was also lower than the 3.4 per cent recorded in 2004 and the 4.0 per cent during an economic downturn in 2003. For the fourth quarter to December 2006, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 2.6 per cent, down from 2.7 per cent in September and 2.8 per cent in June.

Myanmars military government has opened its latest auction of jade and gems, attracting hundreds of buyers seeking to tap into the countrys natural wealth. The auction opened yesterday with 308 lots of gems and 943 lots of jade up for sale both through bidding and through direct negotiation, the official New Light of Myanmar said. More than 550 merchants were registered at the fourday event, including 162 foreigners, the paper added.

South Korea is actively considering forging a free trade agreement with six Gulf nations. The council groups Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. South Korea has already signed FTAs with Chile and Singapore.

Genevabased World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) warned that counterfeiting and piracy costs the global economy at least 100 billion dollars (77 billion euros) each year. The caution came as business leaders and government officials met in the Swiss financial city for the third global congress on combating counterfeiting and piracy. Attendees included the heads of Interpol and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The government has decided to sell out 26pc shares of the bank for $128 million against the backdrop of increased government borrowing from banks amid a fund crisis for Annual Development Programme (ADP) implementation.

Growing racial divides are undermining Malaysia and the government must act or face severe social and financial consequences, an anti-corruption watchdog warned on January, 29. Transparency International Malaysia president, Ramon Navaratnam, said racial polarisation coupled with weak institutions, rising corruption and poor governance were deterring investors and weakening competitiveness.

Top business leaders in Thailand said on January, 29 that the government’s proposed changes to foreign investment rules were politically motivated and left foreign firms mired in uncertainty. The government earlier this month proposed closing a loophole that many international companies have used to support their operations here, prompting widespread concern among foreign investors about the direction of Thai policy.