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12:00 AM, September 24, 2020 / LAST MODIFIED: 02:03 AM, September 24, 2020 Contracts signed with Japanese firms for Matarbari port project Star Business Report Bangladesh yesterday signed two agreements with the joint ventures led by two Japanese firms to appoint consultants for the engineering and consultancy services for the Matarbari Port Development Project.    Nippon Koei Joint Venture of Japan has been selected as the top-ranked consulting firm to render engineering-related services with a negotiated contract price of Tk 234 crore. A joint venture of Oriental Consultants Global Co Ltd, DDC Ltd and BCL Ltd has been selected as the consulting firm to render services related to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD)'s component of the project with a negotiated contract price of Tk 466 crore. The Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) inked the deal with the Nippon Koei JV and the RHD struck the other agreement with the JV of Oriental Consultants Global at a programme at the Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka, the shipping ministry said in a press release. While attending the ceremony virtually, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, state minister for shipping, appreciated the findings of a study that placed the Matarbari deep seaport on the same channel developed by the ultra-supercritical coal-based power plant project with a little modification. He said this could be a lesson on how to maximise the benefit of investment and value for money strategy. The port would broaden the country's rights in the Bay of Bengal, said Planning Minister MA Mannan. Yuho Hayakawa, chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency in Bangladesh, said the Jica is happy that the contract for the consultancy services of the project was signed. The Jica's mission has been working closely with the shipping ministry, the CPA and the RHD from the inception of the project and is ready to work until its completion, he said. The Matarbari project in Cox's Bazar is expected to complete by 2026. Once officially launched, ships that can ply in the sea waters as deep as 18.5 metres and carry about 8,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit of containers would anchor at the port. This would bring down the transport cost by about 15 per cent. The project would cost Tk 17,777 crore. The Jica would provide Tk 12,892 crore in loans, the CPA Tk 2,213 crore and the government Tk 2,671 crore. Shipping Secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury and Japanese Ambassador Hiroyuki Yamaya were present.    https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/contracts-signed-japanese-firms-matarbari-port-project-1966497

12:00 AM, September 24, 2020 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:00 AM, September 24, 2020 M’singh solar power plant ready to roll Set to add 50MW to nat’l grid from next month Our Correspondent, Mymensingh The country’s largest solar-based powerplant in Mymensingh’s Sutiakhali area is set to start operation in the first week of October. The 50-megawatt plant was established to meet the government’s target of using renewable energy to produce10 percent of the country’s total electricity by 2021. PHOTO: COLLECTED A 50-megawatt solar power plant in Mymensingh's Sutiakhali area, the largest of its kind, is ready to start operations by the first week of October. The construction work of the megaproject has been finished following all the government rules and regulations, said Group Captain (Rtd) Sheikh Md Shafiqul Islam,director of HDFC Sinpower Ltd. "It is the largest solar-based power plant among all the projects ongoing in the country and we are hopeful to go into production by the first week of the next month," he said. HDFC Sinpower Ltd, a joint venture of three companies from Bangladesh, Singapore and Malaysia, implemented the project. The power plant would help meeting the government's target of generating 10 percent of the country's total electricity using renewable energy by 2021. The power plant was established on a 144-acre land with an estimated cost of Tk 800 crore. The project started in 2017 and was scheduled to finish by July this year. It was, however, delayed due to coronavirus pandemic. "A portion of the Chinese staffers, including engineers, went to their country to celebrate New Year but could not return on time due to the pandemic, causing delay to the project," Shafiqul Islam said. Indrajit Debnath, the project director and an executive director of Power Development Board (PDB) in Mymensingh, said solar plates were set up in 1 square-kilometre area for the power plant. Connection of 10 transmission boxes, construction of 132-KV Transmission Tower, installation of four-kilometre underground cables to add the electricity to the national power grid at city's Kewatkhali power grid, and lining of one kilometer over-head transmission line were done, he said. Earlier, barbed wire was set up around the plant and solar pillars and dredging in the necessary rivers was completed, said the project director. Currently, the project is on a testing phase, he added. The government has targeted generation of 24,000MW of electricity by 2021. Of the electricity, 2,000MW of power would come from renewable sources, according to sources. Primarily, the production cost will be between Tk 10 and Tk 13 per unit, but gradually the cost will come down, added the director. Besides, the project has opened a horizon of work facilities for hundreds of people in the region, he said.   https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/news/msingh-solar-power-plant-ready-roll-1966381

Walton says demand for its ACs rising globally Business Desk | Published: 22:20, Sep 20,2020 Bangladeshi electronics brand Walton is registering remarkable success in expanding the export market of its locally produced inverter technology’s air conditioner, said a press release issued by the brand. Walton AC executive director and chief executive officer Md Tanvir Rahman said that the Made in Bangladesh’ labelled and Walton produced Inverter ACs were luring buyers in exporting countries and the export demand for Walton ACs was rising. With the resumption of import-export activities after lifting of lockdowns in different countries following the Covid-19 outbreak, he said that Walton had shipped out several consignments of AC exports to Yemen, East Timor, Nepal and India. Walton is manufacturing air conditioners in the names of renowned electronics brands of different countries in accordance with their requirements under the Original Equipment Manufacturer system. Walton Group IBU president Edward Kim said that Walton saw a promising international market as it had great competitiveness in terms of products’ technology, global standard and price compared to other global brands. He also said that as many global players were recently trying to shift their sourcing place from China to other countries, Walton in Bangladesh had significantly emerged as a very important and sustainable business partner for them in Bangladesh.  Every air conditioner produced by Walton is released on the market after obtaining quality control certification from international standard testing lab NUSDAT-Universal Testing Lab, the company said.   https://www.newagebd.net/article/116828/walton-says-demand-for-its-acs-rising-globally