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https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/coxs-bazar-economic-game-changer-making-269590#.YN9JCbdMkoY.facebook Abul Kashem 02 July, 2021, 10:55 pm Cox’s Bazar: An economic game-changer in the making The work of a mega plan to develop the coastal slope by the Bay of Bengal like a Singapore or Hong Kong city is going on in full swing despite the nationwide strict lockdown When the entire nation is placed under strict stay-at-home order, machines keep whirring round the clock at least 77 project sites in Bangladesh's south-eastern district Cox's Bazar under a mega plan to develop the coastal slope by the Bay of Bengal like a Singapore or Hong Kong city. The investments are also hefty – more than Tk3 lakh crore, which is equal to 1.5 times of an annual development programme, has been allocated in a single fiscal year. The plan aims at a massive change to the landscape of the district that now only supplies salt, rubber and fish, making it a hub for tourism, trade and connectivity, better coupling the South Asian region to the Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia and the Philippines. Viewed from the air, the Cox's Bazar international airport – its modernisation now near completion – will look like an oyster shell and its runway will stick right out into the blue sea waters, making a flight take-off even more exciting. Work on connecting the land of natural beauty to Dhaka, Chattogram and other districts through rail lines is also going on to turn its enormous prospects of tourism and deep-sea port-based trade to account. The rail connectivity is expected to launch in a year or so, which will ease the commute to the tourist city. Not just communication infrastructure, the Matarbari port, the country's first-ever deep-sea port at Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar, will also be the gamechanger for the country's economy. A deep-sea port – in the fashion of Japan's Kashima port – will play a significant role in enhancing trade connectivity with Bangladesh's main import destinations China and ASEAN countries. The government is also establishing island-based ecotourism parks along with a modern international airport and economic zones and a power generation hub in the district. Cox's Bazar, a strategically important place in South Asia, has been neglected since independence despite its huge potential for tourism and investment. The people in the coastal district were destined to survive by fighting natural disasters. Against this backdrop, the government has been implementing the master plan since 2009 to harness the tourism and investment potential of the district. During a visit this June, it was found that all the projects were running at top gear overcoming the pandemic-led slowdown. Among the ongoing megaprojects, the modern airport, the rail line, the 1200MW power plant, the Single Point Mooring (SPM) with a double pipeline, Sabrang Tourism Park and an economic zone will open gradually by 2023, triggering a change in the landscape of the district. With the launch of the Matarbari deep-sea port, the Maheshkhali economic zone will become an island-based commercial hub. The region has already become a centre of attraction for many countries, such as Japan, China and India, with so many infrastructure development activities going on. Work is underway to set up three ecotourism parks at Sabrang, Naf and Sonadia to attract foreign investment to Cox's Bazar and ensure various facilities as per the demand of foreign tourists. Paban Chowdhury, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza), told The Business Standard that it is safe to say that the ongoing projects centring Cox's Bazar, if implemented, will completely change the entire region from Sabrang to Matarbari in the next five years with modern tourism and a large investment. Beza has a special economic zone covering 4,000 acres at Dhalghata in Maheshkhali. TK Group has already jointly developed 250 acres of land with a foreign company to set up a petrochemical industry and an LPG terminal there. Next to it will be a deep-sea port. As a result, several companies from different countries, including Thailand, have applied for land in the economic zone, he added. But, Paban said it would take two to three years for all those to be ready. When Maheshkhali is connected to the mainland by the under-construction highway, the 1200MW Matarbari power plant comes into generation, domestic and foreign industries will start investing. For this, the Maheshkhali-Matarbari Integrated Infrastructure Development Initiative (MIDI) project is going on. Abu Morshed Chowdhury Khuka, president of Cox's Bazar Chamber of Commerce and Industries, told TBS that the megaprojects being implemented in Cox's Bazar will make the region one of the biggest economic hubs in South Asia in the next five to six years. Once the Rohingya problem with Myanmar is resolved, it will be easier to connect with the Asian highway. Work on Cox's Bazar international airport is nearing completion. There will be huge investments in the deep-sea port, LNG terminal, modern tourist centres, and economic zones, most of which will come from big domestic and foreign companies. In order to involve local businesses in this development journey, the government has to take initiative now to build a backward linkage, he said. If there is a huge investment in Maheshkhali and Teknaf in the next five-six years, skilled manpower will also be needed. But the government is yet to give an account of how many skilled workforces will be required. If this information is available in advance, local educated youths can take the necessary training to develop their skills from now on, he added. Flights will run for 24/7 There is now no alternative round-the-clock communication system to go to Cox's Bazar except by road. Flight operations at the Cox's Bazar airport, which was built during British rule, now become impossible when daylight goes off. To keep the flight operation at the airport on for 24 hours, work on all necessary installation has been completed. Once it is commissioned officially, planes will be able to take off and land there 24/7. The oyster-shaped terminal complex of Cox’s Bazar airport has made over 40% progress. Photo: Abul Kashem/TBS Work on the modernisation of the airport at a cost of over Tk1193 crore is now nearing completion. In 2015, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the work to turn the airport into the international one, sources said. The airport will allow tourists, traders and investors from different countries to directly reach Cox's Bazar. Airlines operating on international routes will land here to take fuel as it will also be used as a refuelling hub. It will work as a transit point for passengers from different countries. According to the engineers involved in the implementation of the airport project, the construction of an international terminal building equipped with all modern facilities as part of the airport's development has made over 40% progress. The work will be completed by next December. Besides, a new separate internal terminal building will also be set up. The runway at Cox's Bazar Airport has been stretched to 9,000 feet from 6,775 feet. Its width runway has been expanded to 146 feet from 125 feet. In addition, the construction of an apron for parking aircraft is also in the final stage. The government is implementing another project to increase the length of the runway from 9,000 feet to 10,700 feet to convert it into an international standard airport. As part of this, a part of the Bay of Bengal has been filled in the Matarbari part. A 1700-foot runway will be built over the sea, which can be extended later as per necessity. Once this section is completed, Cox's Bazar airport will be able to operate all types of international flights. Chattogram-Cox's Bazar rail line to be launched in 2022 A 101km railway line is being constructed from Dohazari in Chattogram to Cox's Bazar and a 29km railway line from Ramu to Ghumdhum on the Myanmar border to ensure a comfortable, safe, affordable and environment-friendly journey for tourists and locals by ensuring rail connectivity with Cox's Bazar from Chattogram and Dhaka. A partial view of the under-construction Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar rail line. Photo: Abul Kashem/TBS More than half of the overall project has so far been completed. The Dohazari-Cox's Bazar section has made more progress, and in some areas, fish plates have been installed. The project work, which was initially delayed owing to the pandemic and complexities of land acquisition, has now gained momentum. According to the target, if this line is launched in December next year, locally produced dried fish, salt, rubber and fish can be transported across the country at a low cost. The government decided to set up the railway line in 2009, but the project's field-level work started in 2018. The project was taken up, aiming at making a connection with the Trans-Asian Railway corridor and bringing Cox's Bazar under rail connectivity. Construction of the iconic station in Cox's Bazar has started under the project. Besides, Work on the infrastructure of nine stations, 39 bridges, 145 culverts, and 96 level crossings of different classes is nearing completion. Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan laid the foundation stone of the railway station building on 14 January this year under the project. The state-of-the-art station in the country has residential hotels, food courts, children's play zones. The six-storey oyster-shaped station will have three platforms and 400 car parking facilities. Deep-sea port to reduce export-import costs by 15% With imports for Bangladesh, most of the mother vessels dock at Singapore, Colombo, Hong Kong or Malaysia, and smaller lighterage vessels carry the cargo to Chattogram port. Bigger ships will be able to moor at Matarbari directly once the deep-sea port project is completed. Then smaller vessels will carry the cargo from Matarbari to Chattogram port or Chattogram Port Bay Terminal. This will save both time and money for Bangladesh in international shipping. An artificial channel with a 16-metre draft has already been dug. A 100-metre extension of the already-dug channel will connect the deep-sea port that will be able to host a mother vessel with 1.15 lakh tonne cargo. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the Matarbari deep-sea port project in March last year. The construction site – in between Matarbari and Dhalghat – previously was a salt farming field. World's fourth largest dredger Cassiopeia-V has dug the salt field into the artificial channel. Stone blocks have been dumped at the opening side of the channel in the Bay to prevent siltation and to guide the rough sea. Currently a ship in a single voyage can carry 1,878 containers to Chattogram port. Container carriers four times bigger than the current capacity will be able to berth at Matarbari – which will reduce the import-export cost by 15%. The first phase deep-sea port plan consists of constructing two terminals for mother vessels and container carriers. The first phase construction, including the port and connecting roads, has been estimated at Tk17,777 crore with the deadline of 2026. In the second phase, three more container terminals will be built. Matarbari to be an electricity hub Machines whir round the clock at remote Maheshkhali upazila to build four power plants on salt fields with a total capacity of 3,600MW. Work on the 1200MW Matarbari Power Plant goes on in full swing. Photo: Abul Kashem/TBS Two ultra-super critical coal-fired power generation units, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), with a total capacity of 1200MW will be commissioned in 2023. The Jica's funding in the project is so far the largest among the Agency's other worldwide operations. The project engineers said they already have constructed a jetty for the power plant, and Indonesian ship Vanessa Triumph anchored there for the first time in December last year with construction equipment. The construction of a separate jetty for the oil-carrying mother vessel is almost complete, which will be launched this month. As part of the jetty construction, a 14.3km channel has been excavated. The engineers said they are now working on the main power units and setting up the boiler. Chinmoy Das, sub-divisional engineer of the Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL), said the channel also benefits the Matarbari deep-sea port project for transporting construction materials. CPGCBL and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation have jointly acquired land on Kohelia river bank at Matarbari to set up another 1,200MW coal-fired power plant. Besides, land development and infrastructures constructions have started for the Bangladesh-Singapore 700MW coal-fired power plant. State Minister for power Nasrul Hamid last week announced scrapping construction of ten coal-fired power plants, two of which are at Matarbari. But, the two 1,900MW power plants may be turned into LNG or diesel-run production units, said officials. SPM to launch June next year Oil carrying mother vessels can come to Kutubdia island as they cannot dock at Chattogram port due to low navigability in the River Karnaphuli. Smaller oil tankers carry fuels from Kutubdia to Chattogram, and thus 1 lakh lakh tonne oil takes 11 days to arrive at the port. The 30,000-tonne diesel carrying vessels also have to stop at the island, and unload the consignment to smaller carriers to be reached at Chattogram. To replace the typical process which is slow, costly and risky, the government took up "Installation of Single Mooring (SPM) with Double Pipeline" project, and Dhaka signed a deal with Beijing in 2016 in this regard. The Tk6,567 crore SPM project will be completed in June next year. Construction of three high-speed diesel and three crude oil storages has almost finished. Oil from mother vessels at deep sea will come to the storages, and then go to Eastern Refinery depots in Chattogram's Anwara, The Anwara depots will be connected with the terminal storages with two 220 km pipelines. Once the project is completed, 1.2 lakh tonne oil will take only 48 hours from the mother vessel to the depot – saving Tk8,000 crore annually. "The project will end within the deadline," Tolgay Mizzak, consulting engineer of the project, told The Business Standard. With 1.36 lakh cubic metre LNG, Belgian flag carrier Excellence anchored at Matarbari in 2018. Since then, Bangladesh has been heavily dependent on imported liquefied natural gas. Around 60 crore cubic feet LNG is being supplied from two floating terminals to the national grid per day. Summit has launched a floating terminal at Maheshkhali channel. The government has decided to set up a permanent land-based LNG terminal at Matarbari as the demand is growing. Two consultation firms were appointed in December last year for the project. According to government estimation, the permanent terminal will go into operation in 2025. Posh tourism centres at Sabrang, Naf and Sonadia Around 60-70 lakh tourists come to Cox's Bazar per year. But the number of foreign tourists is still too low. Sabrang, Naf and Sonadia island are being turned into tourism hotspots to attract the foreign visitors. The Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) is readying the areas as island tourism hubs. At Sabrang, BEZA has already constructed a five kilometre dam, and land development is now going on there. The country’s first-ever tourism park at Sabrang is expected to attract foreign investment in Cox’s Bazar and ensure various facilities as per the demand of foreign tourists. Photo: Abul Kashem/TBS The Sabrang Tourism Park will have many tourist attractions such as a five-star hotel, ecotourism, marine aquarium, sea cruise, special designated area for foreigners, Saint Martin's travel arrangements, floating jetties, park, eco-cottages, under water and floating restaurants. The BEZA has signed deals with Singapore-based Inter Asia Group Private Ltd and local Sunset Bay for constructing the accommodation facilities. Three companies who have taken plots at Sabrang are already building hotels. One the facilities are set up, the spot will be able to accommodate 39,000 tourists at a time and also generate 11,000 jobs. Besides, construction of Naf Tourism Park is going on. It will have the Maldives or Thailand-like eco-cottage, live entertainment theatre, shopping mall, cinema, golf club and water sports beach. There will be camping arrangements at night. The tourism park will have cable cars, and hanging bridges. The Naf tourism project will be implemented at public-private partnership. After the project ends in 2023, around 12,000 people will be employed here. "Sabrang will be a tremendous place within the next one year," said Paban Chowdhury. He also said there will be rehabilitation packages for people who donated their lands for the ecotourism projects. Naf and Sabrang have a potable water crisis, said Chowdhury. "We have identified two freshwater sources in Ukhia and consultants have been appointed to bring water from there" He also said they have rainwater harvesting and desalination plans too.

Bangladesh’s economy to overtake Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore in 2024 In 2024, Bangladesh will rank as the 30th largest economy in the world, overtaking Malaysia’s rank of 32nd that year Bangladesh is set to become the world's 26th largest economy within the next decade, says a report published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research. In a surprising note, the report predicts that in 2024, Bangladesh will rank as the 30th largest economy in the world, overtaking Malaysia's rank of 32nd that year. Bangladesh's economy ranked 40th largest in 2020, while Malaysia ranked 34th. In 2024, Bangladesh's economy will overtake heavyweights such as Hong Kong (37th), Singapore (38th), Denmark (40th) and Norway (36th). Hong Kong's economy is currently ranked 35th, Singapore 37th, Denmark 39th and Norway 30th. Meanwhile, India is predicted to become the 3rd largest economy in 2034, behind China – which will dominate the global economy, and the USA – which will slip to second position. The London based think tank published The World Economic League Table 2020 on December 26 last year, ranking the world's largest economies. Bangladesh has moved up one notch from its position last year, and has been persistently maintaining its rank as the 2nd largest economy in South Asia, just one-step behind neighbouring India. In 2034, Bangladesh is predicted to have the 25th largest economy in the world. Fueled by a consistent economic growth over the last five years, Bangladesh has leapt from having the 57th largest economy in 2014 to 41st in 2019. The country's average economic growth has been 7.39 percent in the last five fiscal years. Bangladesh even hit a record growth of 8.15 percent in the last fiscal year. Three rapidly growing Asian economies – Philippines, Bangladesh and Malaysia – have been listed as the fastest risers in the table amongst the larger economies. The Philippines rose from 38th place in 2019 to 36th place in 2020, and Malaysia from 35th to 34th during that same period. In 2029, India is predicted to remain the largest economy in South Asia followed by Bangladesh and Pakistan. Whereas, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan will remain at the bottom of the table. With a Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) adjusted GDP per capita of $5,028 in 2019, Bangladesh is a lower middle-income country. The economy of the country performed well in 2019, expanding by an impressive 7.8 percent. This, however, is below the 7.9 percent GDP growth recorded in 2018, said the report. The population has risen at a rate of just 1 percent per year since 2014. This means that per capita incomes have grown considerably in recent years. Government debt as a share of GDP rose to 34.6 percent in 2019. This is up from 34 percent in 2018. Despite this increase, the public sector finances remain in good shape. The relatively low debt burden has provided the government with the fiscal headroom to operate a budget deficit of 4.8 percent in 2019. Speaking to The Business Standard, Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, associate professor of Dhaka University's economics department, said, "Every country goes through a phase where its GDP peaks. Bangladesh is currently going through this phase." Dr Bidisha also serves as a research fellow in the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling. The Centre for Economics and Business Research has been delivering independent economic forecasting and analysis for decades. The centre also publishes the World Economic League Table, which tracks the size of different economies across the globe and projects changes over the next 15 years, up to 2034. In September 2018, the HSBC – in a report on 75 countries titled "The World in 2030" – also projected that Bangladesh will be the 26th largest economy in the world by 2030.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi2GiErUgNo

Can't agree more dear.

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/bangladeshs-promising-bourse-cash-flush-americans-can-now-invest-easily-2122849 12:00 AM, July 03, 2021 Bangladesh’s Promising Bourse: Cash-flush Americans can now invest easily Zina Tasreen A hidden gem is what British banking giant HSBC dubbed Bangladesh's bourse earlier last month. But the problem is, access to this market is rather difficult for global investors who are flush with cash but not lucrative investment options. Foreign investors need to open a special cash account with a custodian bank as well as a foreign currency account for remittances inside and outside the country and a beneficiary owner's account -- steps not very straightforward for someone not residing in Bangladesh. But Bangladesh's stock market could do with the liquidity for vibrancy, further development and most importantly, for economic growth. Many profitable investments require a long-term commitment of capital, but investors are often unwilling to give up control of their savings for long periods. Liquid stock markets make investments less risky and more attractive because they allow savers to acquire an asset in the form of stock (equity) and to sell it promptly and reasonably if they need access to their savings or want to alter their portfolios. At the same time, companies enjoy constant access to capital through equity rights issues. By facilitating longer-term and more profitable investments, liquid stock markets improve the allocation of scarce resources, that is capital, and the promotion of production of goods and services as well as employment and therefore enhance prospects for long-term economic growth. Additionally, by lowering enterprise risks and increasing profitability, stock market liquidity can direct more investment and contribute to increased prosperity. Empirical studies have established that stock market liquidity affects economic growth by and large, and there is a diminishing return to liquidity as a country progresses toward development. In other words, Bangladesh is in the right stage of development to benefit from a liquid stock market. But Bangladesh's capital market is rather illiquid compared with its peers. For instance, the daily trading value, a metric for liquidity, is around $81 million in contrast to Vietnam's $714 million. And solving the problem is Dawn Global, a London-based boutique investment firm. Last month, it launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that provided easy entry to global investors, particularly American ones, to the bourses of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam -- five large and fast-growing but historically difficult-to-access markets. An ETF is a basket of securities that tracks an index, sector, commodity or other assets, but which can be purchased or sold on a stock exchange the same as a regular stock. Investors who purchase shares of an ETF can gain exposure to a basket of equities and limit company-specific risk associated with single stocks. Called the Asian Growth Cubs ETF, Dawn Global's investment vehicle is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By way of the Cubs ETF, American investors, for the first time, can get a slice of Bangladesh's stock market -- which yielded the highest return of 21.3 percent amongst its Asian peers in 2020 -- without going through the hassle needed to invest directly. As much as 17 percent of the Cubs ETF is dedicated to Bangladesh. At present, the Cubs ETF has positions in eight Bangladeshi stocks: Brac Bank, Grameenphone, Square Pharmaceuticals, Renata Pharmaceuticals, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Summit Power, Marico and Beacon Pharmaceuticals. Over the past year, save for Grameenphone the stock prices of all posted gains upwards of 25 percent, with Beximco and Beacon's stock prices more than doubling in value. "Bangladesh is a remarkable long-term economic success story and yet this story is hard to access for foreign investors given the lack of ETF or ADR [American Depository Receipts] coverage in Bangladesh," said Maurits Pots, founder and chief executive officer of Dawn Global. ADRs offer US investors a means to gain investment exposure to non-US stocks without the complexities of dealing in foreign stock markets. "Through the Cubs ETF I am hoping I can make this unique Bangladeshi story more accessible to foreign investors," said Pots, who is being advised by Nihad Kabir, president of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The five economies have individually grown GDP faster than 6 percent a year since 2000, while Bangladesh and Vietnam have compounded GDP for 40 consecutive years including 2020, according to Dawn Global. Most emerging market investors focus on China and India among Asian countries and yet there is a compelling long-term secular growth story in five Asian countries with a combined population of more than 860 million, which is expected to grow to one billion by 2035 and with attractive demographics, Pots said. The average age is 28 in the markets with a burgeoning middle-class and accelerating digital adoption, he added. And Dawn Global's launch of the ETF could not be more opportune: partly as a result of monetary and fiscal stimulus for the US economy, more money than ever has flowed into the financial system. The glut of cash is looking for a home in a dwindling supply of positive-yielding places as US markets flirt with negative interest rates.

The upcoming FY2020-21 is months away. What are your expectation from the Finance Ministry as far as the defence and public security budgets are concerned? Areas of interest: Infrastructure (Military bases, cantonments, defence related facilities) Manpower (Welfare, training) Equipment (Weapons, aircraft, warships) Defence industry (Military industrial factories, shipyards, dockyards, MRO facilities)

'Girls in Bangladesh have more opportunities than in India' Tribune Desk Published at 01:51 pm March 1st, 2020 During his address at the program, he spoke at length on the condition of women and referred to their vulnerabilities during times of strife Eminent economist Amartya Sen has drawn comparison with Bangladesh while referring to problems Indian girls face, and said Bangladeshi girls dealt with the issues less frequently. He was talking to the media after delivering a lecture on the problems faced by girls and women in India, at the closing ceremony of a two-day discussion on "Bharater Meyera: Ajker Chalchitra, Ajker Karanio," organized by Pratichi Trust, at Santiniketan in India on February 29, reports Telegraph India. He questioned as to why India could not do several things that its eastern neighbour had done. “Why has Bangladesh been able to do so many things that we have not been able to. The spread of education among girls in Bangladesh is far higher than both in Bengal and India. They (girls in Bangladesh) have more access to health care. Their life expectancy is higher than girls in India. It is also true that they (in Bangladesh) have more educational opportunities in school. Why do these differences exist? We are both Bangali (people). We need to think about this,” Amartya said. During his address at the program, he spoke at length on the condition of women and referred to their vulnerabilities during times of strife. “When a country is burning all across, as is happening in Delhi now… in such situations, the minority community may get beaten. Alongside, members of the majority community, who are amongst this environment of hooliganism, may also get beaten. But in whichever families these incidents occur, in those families the worst affected are always the girls,” he said. Amartya continued: “So we can say that this is a kind of problem (for them), because amidst such a terrible environment, they (girls) may face more violence than usual…. Often, violence and oppression will be directed more frequently at them. And in several ways, their lives may be made to be unbearable.” According to him, the other problems for a girl child are daily discrimination like lower availability of health care, and nutritious food in comparison with a boy child in the family and the chances of being kidnapped.

Moody’s latest report reflects Bangladesh’s economic strength The review highlights how Bangladesh balances robust growth prospects against very low per capita income and economic competitiveness Moody's Investors Service has just completed its periodic review of a group of issuers – including Bangladesh. Bangladesh's credit profile reflects the country's economic strength – which balances robust growth prospects against very low per capita income and economic competitiveness. It also shows the country's vulnerability to climate change risks – given its low-lying nature with large coastal areas prone to flooding and the influence of seasonal monsoon rains on rural incomes and consumption. The review of the strength of institutions and governance takes into account weaknesses in the government's effectiveness, corruption control and low credibility in its legal structures – although macroeconomic policies are effective and conducive to macroeconomic stability. It assessed the fiscal strength of Bangladesh's government – which balances the government's low debt burden against weak debt affordability because of its narrow revenue base. The review also covers susceptibility to domestic political risk – incorporating a high-probability, low-impact scenario involving protests motivated by issues ranging from wages to road safety – that threatens to slow economic activity and raise perceptions of risks in the country. Meanwhile, banking sector risk remains elevated given the persistent weakness of state-owned banks.

Pakistan can be an ally no doubt, I actually want Bangladesh to take a softer approach to Pakistan and Imran khan is the guy we needed in Islamabad. He's got the Indians under pressure. Bangladesh can't keep India in check by itself and our economic clout can only take us so far, we need a friend whose nearby, it's even better that friend has the same enemy as us; Akhand Bharat. Regardless of what clueless Yahoos say India under BJP is the greatest threat to Bangali way of life since 71.

Bangladeshi firm holds steady among world's largest 5,000 Asia accounts for 43 percent of the world's top firms by revenue and is the only region whose representation has risen over the past ten years A Bangladeshi company has held its rank among the world's largest 5,000 firms, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute. The American management consultancy firm published the report "Corporate Asia: A Capital Paradox" in January this year. In a previous report of the McKinsey published in July last year, the total revenue generated by the company was $1 billion, based on data from 2017. The report did not explicitly state the Bangladeshi company's name. But there are speculations in the local market that the firm could be the Summit Group, a large conglomerate involved in sectors such as communication, trading, shipping, energy and power. Incorporated in Singapore, the Summit Power International is a leading infrastructure developer and operator in South Asia. Setting up Bangladesh's first independent power plant in 1997, the Summit Power International went on to become the country's largest Independent Power Producer, reflecting 21 percent of Bangladesh's total private installed capacity and 9 percent of total installed capacity in 2017. In October 2019, Japan's largest energy company Jera acquired a 22 percent stake in the Summit Power International for $330 million. Asia: A force to reckon with Asia captured $1 of every $2 in new investments in the past decade, and this investment has helped the region scale rapidly. Asian companies have the largest share in the G5000 – the world's largest 5,000 firms by revenue. Asia accounts for 43 percent of the world's top 5,000 firms by revenue and is the only region whose representation has risen over the past ten years, the report said. Chinese companies doubled their share of the G5000, in the decade, to over 900 firms and India's representation also doubled from a lower base of 85 to 142, the seventh-highest share. Although Asian firms outperform on growth in invested capital, they have underperformed when turning it into economic profit, added the report. During 2005-07 and 2015-17, economic profit dropped from $726 billion to an economic loss of $34 billion and half of that drop happened in Asia. The report mentioned that three things led to this drop – the cyclicality of returns in the energy and materials sector, Europe's underperforming financial sector and China's allocation of capital to value-destroying sectors. One-third of all investments happened in China and 80 percent of that had been in value-destroying sectors. In the past decade, the energy and materials sectors turned from being a large contributor to economic profit to the largest reason for lost economic profit, accounting for $500 billion of the slump. However, value is still being added in some pockets. And information technology globally has been a value-creator. The McKinsey said, "We see pockets in Japan – the capital goods sector which means investments, heavy manufacturing, automotive and chemicals. That has been value-creating. We see that tech investments into Japan, Korea and China have been creating value. "The coming decade will perhaps reap the benefits of these investments. They have been put in place, so we now hope to start seeing the returns on some of these over time." In Asia, the "Troubled 200" – 200 largest companies that destroyed more economic profit than others – need to be turned around. Similarly, the "Terrific 200" – companies that created a disproportionate amount of value – should get disproportionate investments to reverse global economic profit destruction.

Women earn more per hour than men in Bangladesh Bangladesh also has the least gender monthly pay gap, which means that women earn only 2.2 per cent less than men per month Bangladesh is the only country among 64 selected economies where women earn more wages per hour than men, according to a United Nations report. The estimation was made considering factor weighted average based on education, age, part-time/full-time work, public/private work, and so on. Additionally, Bangladesh has the least gender monthly pay gap, which means that women earn only 2.2 per cent less than men per month. It is the only economy in the study to have achieved this minimum level of the gender pay gap. Gender wage gap is the difference between the average earnings of women relative to the average earnings of men. Meanwhile, wage is a fixed regular payment earned for work or services, typically paid on an hourly or monthly basis. When considering hourly wages, women in Bangladesh make 4.7 per cent more than their male counterparts, beating high-income economies such as the USA, UK, Canada, Sweden and the Netherlands. The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2020, published on January 16, 2020, is an annual UN flagship publication on the state of the world economy, viewed through the lens of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Among the 17 SDG goals, "Gender Equality" at number 5 focuses on achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. The annual report brings up the mean gender pay gap as measured hourly and monthly for 64 selected economies. This estimate is based on the 2018-19 report of the International Labour Organisation's Global Wage Report. Pay Gap In Monthly Earnings Narrows According to the 2018-19 ILO report, women were earning 5.5 per cent more than men in terms of mean hourly wages, but considering monthly earnings, women were earning 7.2 per cent less. The latest report by the UN shows that the pay gap has been reduced by 5 percentage points, an indication that Bangladesh has made a big improvement in this regard within just a year. Global Picture Not So Good Globally, women's average hourly income is 18.8 per cent less compared to men. The situation is worse in terms of mean monthly wages, where women earn 21.2 per cent less than men. In comparison, the 2018-19ILO report pointed out that globally, women were earning 15.6 per cent less than men hourly and 20.5 per cent less monthly. This clearly indicates that the mean gender pay gap has increased globally within one year. Gap Wider In Upper Middle-Income Countries In terms of equal pay to women, 17 upper-middle-income countries have fared the worst in the UN report. The 30 high-income countries selected for the survey have the least monthly pay gap in terms of economic groups. Shockingly enough, a selected five low-income countries performed well enough in mitigating the monthly gender pay gap to rank just below the high-income countries. The hourly gender pay gap is also the lowest in the selected five low-income countries. In high-income countries, the hourly gender pay gap is 15.5 per cent and the monthly gender pay gap is 18.3 per cent. In low-income countries, the hourly pay scene is better than that of high-income countries. The hourly gender pay gap is 12.6 per cent and the monthly gender pay gap is 20.2 per cent. Pakistan Performs The Worst In terms of both hourly and monthly wages, the most noticeable gender pay gap exists in Pakistan. The country's women are paid 36.3% less than men hourly. The monthly income of men in Pakistan is almost double compared to what women are earning in similar jobs. The monthly gender pay gap in Pakistan currently stands at 43.8 per cent. The second worst performer is the Republic of South Africa, where women are paid 28.5 per cent less than men hourly and 31.1 per cent less monthly. The Republic of Korea is in the high-income country group, but in case of the gender pay gap, the country is in the third-worst position. Mean gender pay gap is 26.2 per cent and 28.3 per cent respectively for hourly and monthly wages. South Asia Along with Bangladesh and Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal are also in the selected economies. India has not made it to the list. Sri Lanka has shown a high gender pay gap, while Nepal is showing a relatively moderate gender pay gap compared to other South Asian countries. However, the percentage is higher than the world average in all South Asian countries, excluding Bangladesh. About Estimations According to the ILO definition, pay refers to total gross remuneration, which includes regular wages, bonuses and gifts during the time of working and time of not working, such as paid annual leave or paid sick leave.