Joel Ahmed

https://futurestartup.com/2021/05/25/how-we-built-swap-with-parvez-hossain/ How We Built SWAP: An interview With Parvez Hossain, Co-founder, and CEO, SWAP By Future Startup | May 25, 2021 Parvez Hossain is the Co-founder and CEO of SWAP, a Dhaka-based fast-growing reCommerce company. Launched in 2020, within just two years, SWAP has become an important player in Dhaka's recommerce space and has experienced excellent growth helping take the nascent industry to the consciousness of the mainstream. It is one of the four Bangladeshi startups that have been selected in the latest cohort of Accelerating Asia. In this wide-ranging interview with Future Startup's Tithi Chowdhury, Mr. Parvez reflects on his journey to what he is doing today, talks about how SWAP came into being and has grown from a small operation to a dominant reCommerce player in Dhaka, the state of SWAP’s business today and ambition going forward, offers insight into the reCommerce industry in Bangladesh, shares his takes on building businesses from scratch, and reflects on the lessons he has learned from his journey so far, and much more. Future Startup: Thank you for agreeing to this interview. I want to start with learning about you, could you please tell us about your background and your journey to entrepreneurship? Parvez Hossain: I was born and brought up in Dhaka. My school was St. Joseph Higher Secondary School and my college was Notre Dame College. After my HSC, I got into the BBA program of IBA of Dhaka University. I graduated from IBA in 2006. In 2007, I joined British American Tobacco and worked there as a territory officer in the marketing and distribution department for one and a half years. Then I joined Rahimafrooz where I worked for six months. I started an electronic gadget business besides my regular job. I had a shop called Livewire. In the beginning, we operated offline, and eventually, we launched an F-commerce operation. Today, we have 15 showrooms. That’s where my journey as an entrepreneur started. Future startup: How did you come up with the idea of SWAP? What was the motivation behind? Parvez Hossain: We saw that we were serving a limited number of people in Dhaka through Livewire. During the last two years, we have been expanding Livewire outside Dhaka. I eventually realized that, if we can provide people with easy access to electronic gadgets then we will be able to serve a larger number of people. That’s when we came up with the idea of SWAP. Nowadays people sell a lot of things besides cell phones and when they want to sell something, they have to go to a showroom or upload a post to an online platform. When you want to sell something online you have to provide your personal information, which is not safe. Besides, there is no guarantee that the person who has shown interest to buy your product does not have any ill intention. Also, there are a lot of people who have unused sellable electronic gadgets that could be useful to another person. As a result, a large amount of e-waste is being generated. Bangladesh generates 500k tons of e-waste annually, which will reach upto 4.5 million tons by 2025. If people could resell their electronic gadgets, this problem could be resolved. To resolve this issue and make selling anything online more convenient, we started working on SWAP in 2019 and eventually launched on February 20, 2020. That’s how SWAP came into being. Future Startup: While building SWAP how did you put together the initial resources i.e capital, people, and other resources? Parvez Hossain: I was running my business for quite a long time before SWAP. I already had some savings which I invested in SWAP. We raised angel investment from Tanvir A Mishuk, the Managing Director of Nagad. We approached him and he agreed to invest. He has helped us in building the infrastructure and network. For hiring the right people, we took support from the HR department of Nagad. As our idea was completely new from Bangladesh’s perspective, it was important for us to have a well-built team for handling the technical aspects of SWAP. We could outsource and get a website developed. But those kinds of websites are not scalable. So we needed to build a good team to handle SWAP’s technical part. With the help of Tanvir bhai and our own funding, we hired the right people and built a great initial team. That’s how we put together our initial resources. Future startup: Could you please walk us through the journey of the early days of SWAP? What are some of the major challenges you faced in the early days of SWAP? Parvez Hossain: Although we were lucky to have good people, the main challenge for us during the early days was to find the right resources. I still remember someone, whom we almost hired. But he did not join when he got a job offer in a big company. We faced these kinds of difficulties a lot in the early days. We started SWAP out of a one-room office where four of us used to work. Then after four months, we rented an office in Banani. Startups are full of uncertainties. You do not know when you will reach break-even. We were in those situations as well. However, we were confident that SWAP would be successful, which motivated us to move forward. We had to rebuild our team several times. It was like a journey where we had to part away some people at a certain stage and hire new people. Because you need to form a team with people with the right mindset and skills to run a startup. Building the right team was the major challenge for us in the early days. While it has improved a lot now, we still face this kind of challenge. It is a continuous journey. Future Startup: Could you give us an overview of SWAP today i.e: services you offer, business model, how your operation works, team size, and size of business? Parvez Hossain: Currently, we are a team of 46. SWAP is a C2B marketplace. In other C2C marketplaces where individuals sell their products to other individuals, there are a lot of safety issues and problems regarding the pricing of the product. Right pricing is a very important factor. SWAP resolves these issues by providing people with the right price of a product based on the options they select. While fixing a price SWAP, analyses the condition of a product and gives a price accordingly. We constantly remain updated about the market price of different products so that we can give the best possible price of a product to both the sellers and the buyers. We have collaborated with other companies such as Samsung, Oppo, Apple, OnePlus, Vivo, Motorola, etc. We have partnered with Pickaboo, Robishop, and Gadget & Gear. We have recently finalized our agreement with Daraz and launched a campaign before Eid. We have also finalized our deal with Symphony, Realme and from next month we will launch a campaign collaborating with them. Currently, we are in talks with Xiaomi and Tecno which will make us the sole exchange partner of all the big OEMs in Bangladesh. We want to make it easier and convenient for people to sell their products. If you want to sell a product, our personnel will go to your address to pick up the products. We have collaborated with other companies to make this process easier. You can also sell your products in the outlets of our partners. If you want to buy another product in exchange for your product through SWAP, you can use a voucher from Daraz or Pickaboo to order the product you want in exchange for your product from their website. This offers people an opportunity to sell their old items and buy new products using them. For many people with limited financial capacities, this solves an important problem and improves access to newer technology. We have also run a furniture exchange campaign with Brothers Furniture. We are planning to partner up with motorcycle companies as well. We postponed the plan due to the pandemic for now. Currently, we are having really good traction. Thousands of people sell their products every month through our platform. We have a GMV of around $1M every month. The numbers are above our expectations in just 14 months. Future Startup: What are some of the strategies that have helped SWAP to come this far? Parvez Hossain: Partnering up with OEM companies has helped us to grow significantly — these collaborations with popular brands like Samsung or Oppo gave us a big exposure. As customers of these brands use SWAP, it brings down our customer acquisition cost. We have partnered with retail stores like Rio International, Sumastech, Gadget & Gear that sell electronic gadgets. Since they already have a customer base, they can tell their customers to sell their old products through our platform. It would cost us a lot if we would try to reach these people. These retailer partners have played an important role in our growth. Recently, we have launched a campaign with Nagad, where if a Nagad user transacts money through Nagad while buying or selling any item through SWAP, s/he will get 5% cashback. All of these collaborations have helped us to reach our potential customers. Another factor that has played an important role in our growth is customer obsession. We have tried our best to give our users the best possible experience. Either our agents go to the sellers to pick up the items they want to sell or they can sell their items in the outlets of our partners. As we fix a price beforehand, it reduces a lot of unnecessary hassle and bargaining for both the seller and the buyer. For digital outreach, we are using social media. We have collaborated with social media influencers who have a large number of followers. Despite not boosting our page, we have around 56k followers on our Facebook page and 145k group members in our Facebook group. We have taken an omnichannel strategy for growth which has helped SWAP achieve consistent growth. Future Startup: What are the challenges now? Parvez Hossain: The pandemic has taken a toll on the overall business. The overall demand has dropped for luxury and technology products which will eventually pick up. Since the outlets of our OEM partners and retailer agents were/are closed due to the pandemic which has taken a toll on our customer interaction. The second challenge is customer education regarding our service. Many people are yet to understand how to use our service to sell and buy products, as it's still a novel idea in Bangladesh. To address the challenge, we have a customer service team to assist our users. When someone needs any assistance they can directly click on the pop-up on our website to ask for help or call our hotline. We need to educate people on why they need to sell their unused items and how that can help another person from the lower tier to afford technology as well as save the environment. We are looking to raise further investments which will help us to go further. Future Startup You have made it to the latest cohort of Accelerating Asia along with three other Bangladeshi startups. Tell us about that experience. Parvez Hossain Getting into the latest cohort of Accelerating Asia was a blessing for us. There were more than 500 applicants and we were confident that we could give a fight at least. Although nothing was certain. We had to go through several rigorous processes. Total 11 startups including 4 Bangladeshi startups made it to the latest cohort of Accelerating Asia. The founders and mentors in this accelerator program are great and super helpful. You can ask for their help anytime. The program comes with a ton of learning and networking opportunities. The mentors connect the founders with a lot of VCs and angel investors. They help the startups to identify the weaknesses and address them. The journey has been a wonderful experience for me. Future Startup What are some of the mistakes you’ve made, if any, in your journey that you think other entrepreneurs should avoid? Parvez Hossain I’d like to suggest to young people that if they want to do something, they should go for it. I have had this idea of SWAP since 2017. But it took me more than a year and a half to make the decision. Because founding a startup is not an easy task and you have to give your 100% to make it successful. I already had a business called Livewire and I was doing quite well. When I left my job in 2009 and decided to do business, all of my relatives and friends discouraged me. Many people consider getting a stable job is better than business. But jobs do not provide talented people the opportunity to unlock their full potential. I left my job after working for around 2 years and started my business. But deciding to start my startup was a challenge for me. Because you have to burn a lot of cash while running a startup and there is no guarantee of profit in the beginning. Many people are not ready for this struggle. It took me a long time to start my startup because of pondering on this idea. I talked with many people who promised to support me. But later they did not. As I was adamant about it, I decided to start by myself. If anyone wants to start their startup, they should start working on it immediately rather than waiting for long. Because the more you wait and overthink, the more you will waste your time. And the success of a startup depends on the timing. If you lose the timing someone will do it and you lose the 1st mover advantage Future Startup: You have worked for around 2 years for other companies before starting your own business. Many young people want to start their business early, maybe after graduation. From your perspective, which one is better? Parvez Hossain: It varies from person to person. From my perspective, it is better to have working experience before starting a business. Besides, you can meet mentors while working for a company and learn from the leaders of the industry. I have learned a lot while working in BAT including ethical grounds, processes, leadership, etc. I think it is better to have work experience for a year or two. ' Of course, you can start your business after graduating from university. But you will not get enough opportunities to learn the culture and other aspects of the business before starting your own business. Business is not only about money. To run a business, you need skills and connections. The connections you will build while working a job can help you to go further in your business. The network, expertise, and knowledge you gain from a job can help you reach your goal. Future Startup: What are the lessons you have learned so far? Parvez Hossain: To run a business successfully, you need to build a strong PR (Public Relation). I have always been an introvert. I would not know how to respond when someone would praise me. I’m still learning how to approach people. When I started to come out of my cocoon and connect with people, I realized how big this world is. There are a lot of people who are creative but do not showcase their talents because of being an introvert. I consider myself lucky that I have come out of my introverted nature. Future Startup: What do you think about the re-commerce market of Bangladesh? Where do you see the market going after a few years down the line? Parvez Hossain: This market will grow very big within the next few years. The market is so huge and has so much potential that SWAP could not even cover 1% of the market. To be precise, the global market of used smartphones was worth $17B in 2017. Now it has grown exponentially to $42B in 2020. The global used market of the automobile, smartphone, laptop, and furniture combined in $1.48 Trillion. More startups have joined this niche within the last five years such as Backmarket in Europe, Droom, Car24, Cashify, etc in India, and Kavak in Mexico. Every year, smartphones totaling 10 million units are sold in Bangladesh and this number is growing with a 5% CAGR. This market is going to be very big and through our platform, we want to make smartphones accessible to lower and middle class people. We want to launch a financial installment model to make expensive items more accessible to people. If we include other reusable products including furniture, vehicles, and other electronic gadgets, in our calculation it is a $2.6 billion market in Bangladesh. If people can sell their used products instead of throwing them away, it will reduce our environmental pollution and make these items affordable for other people of limited income. Future Startup: What are some of the plans for SWAP in the next couple of years? Parvez Hossain: We have a couple of priorities. One, we want to improve on the technological aspect. We want to provide people with better and future pricing even with our AI-based pricing engine that will be able to give people an understanding of the salvage value of what they possess. We want to give our customers the option to exchange their products, such as exchanging a smartphone for a laptop or exchanging old furniture for a brand new laptop. We want to make this whole process more convenient. That is why we have collaborated with Daraz, Robishop, Pickaboo, Brothers Furniture, and almost all OEMs of smartphones in Bangladesh. In the coming years, we plan to expand outside Bangladesh. The market for recommerce is big and it is an idea that you can take anywhere. Future Startup: How do you deal with stress and stay productive? Parvez Hossain: I would say like almost all other founders, sometimes I feel like giving up because of the high amount of stress that comes with being an entrepreneur. The hours are long. The demands are huge. But then I think that I can not give up. There are days when I work for 24 hours straight in my office with my team. I am very lucky that I have an excellent team. My wife has been very supportive which helps. When I share my thoughts with her, she encourages me and she helps me augment customer experience as she graduated from Hospitality and Tourism management. She gives me a lot of strengths. My co-founder at SWAP Tonmoy Saha is a pillar I lean on when things get tough. He is a very positive person. Whenever I feel demotivated, he encourages me. Having people who support your ambition and encourage you are critical for early-stage founders. I try to take some family time out of work time and spend it with my daughter and she is the boost I need to get myself going.

Japan's involvement in Multimodal Hubs at Dhaka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-nXQpYogL8

https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/hydroquo-23-year-olds-dream-revolutionise-water-management-bangladesh-270832#.YOPes3F57yw.facebook Nusrat Jahan Labonnayo 06 July, 2021, 10:35 am Hydroquo+: A 23-year-old’s dream to revolutionise water management in Bangladesh Hydroquo+ is a Dhaka based Hi-tech start-up that merged the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) with water management to evaluate water quality Hydroquo+ team developed an intelligent I-IoT-based system (I-IoT: Internet of Things) to monitor water quality. Photo: Courtesy Twenty-three-year-old Zahin Razeen is an entrepreneur and a futurist who dreams of changing the water management system in Bangladesh. He realised at an early age that freshwater would become a scarce resource with each passing day. Also, water-borne diseases were a scourge for our country and technology could be used intelligently and efficiently to address this problem. To this end, he, along with his sister, knocked on several doors with their idea. However, to their great disappointment, nobody took an interest. But the founders of Hydroquo+, Zahin and Rizvana Hredita, decided to follow their passion regardless. Eventually, in 2019, they found a willing listener in none other than Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority. Teaming up with the government agency responsible for supplying water to city residents, Hydroquo+ set up a mechanism to test water quality in 10 pipelines of different areas in the city. So far, Hydroquo+ has successfully collaborated with Dhaka Wasa and the Central Microbiology Laboratory in two projects. Chittagong Wasa, as well as the Chittagong Port Authority and MENA region have also expressed interest in doing pilot projects with Hydroquo+. At present, they are researching the implementation of their tracing and filtration technology for private water supply, as well as city and regional level utilities. They are also incorporating their technology in the commercial filtration process, for example, in the pharmaceutical industries or the food and beverage procession industries. ETPs and water treatment plants can also potentially benefit from their technology. The siblings, meanwhile, were recently catapulted into the spotlight thanks to their inclusion in the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia for their venture Hydroquo+. \So what is Hydroquo+? Hydroquo+ is a Dhaka based hi-tech start-up. The team at Hydroquo+ have developed an intelligent I-IoT-based system (I-IoT: Industrial Internet of Things) that monitors water hygiene and provides clients with conservation metrics based on M2M (machine to machine) communication. The system receives the input from the sensor where parameters like turbidity, chlorine, pH, connectivity, pressure etc are connected and machine learning algorithms are employed for predicting the water quality based on a trained data set. The trained data set and forecasted data are kept on a cloud server, which is interoperable through smartphones, desktops and tablets. This has resulted in a fully automated water quality monitoring system that uses IoT technologies to communicate among devices in order to anticipate water quality for the residential area. Zahin Razeen, Founder, Hydroquo+ "When a doctor sees an x-ray report, they can easily diagnose a condition. Similarly, with the capacity of diagnosing water, one can understand where the contaminated water is coming from or detect a problematic pH level, Turbidity, Total organic Carbon, Dissolved organic carbon and Free chlorine easily. So, we invented Hydroquo+," said Zahin. "Conducting the same tests in Buet will cost more time and money. But our system aims to deliver results at only Tk 1.5 within a very short time," he added. After successfully finishing the pilot process of online monitoring of water, the Hydroquo+ team aims to work area-wise to make this advanced system more effective. The motivation for the founders What drove Zahin and Rizvana to form Hydroquo+ was the urge to save Bangladesh from the freshwater crisis. Rizvana even left Canada to come and help her brother pursue the start-up. Zahin explained, "Water industry is the most difficult industry to operate in because it takes a long time to even finish the pre-planning process. But we have dared to challenge the stereotype as a very high functional tech company." "There are only three international companies like us who work for the improvement of the overall infrastructure of the water resource management system, that too in a different capacity than ours," he added. From the start of his student life, Zahin had taken an interest in studying various fields. After much research, he found out that in the future, if World War III takes place, water would be one of the prime reasons behind it. He believes that Bangladesh has abundant water resources. And to save the country from the anticipated scarcity and existing pollution, a sustainable infrastructure is needed to preserve our water as we grow economically. The Hydroquo+ team consists of 10 people including Zahin as the CEO and Rizvana as the COO. Four of the members are foreigners. The founder outsourced the full-stack industrial grade system from Austria. During the deployment phase the team underwent rigorous project based training. Even though the team is small, the members are experts in different fields like astrophysics, chemistry, electrical engineering etc. Is it commercially viable? In entrepreneurship, behavioural challenges and financial challenges are common. Hydroquo+ was no exception. Nonetheless, this venture has commercial viability as well as the power to impact the lives of millions. "When you initiate something different in the market where the potential is hidden, it is common to get rejections. Not everyone could comprehend the unique approach we were advocating at the beginning. Also, my final product was not ready when we started our venture. As a result, it was difficult to get investors," says Zahin. "However, I always believed that the water industry with a market of over six billion can lead one day. Those who once rejected the idea have now started to believe in it," Zahin shared with us. Hydroquo+'s journey in the market has just begun and it aims to level up by reinforcing its current credentials. When we asked the founder about their future vision, he said, "We want to build a circular water industry by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence algorithms and big data analytics to maximise information and data available. It will help to improve the quality of water worldwide and prevent outbreaks of waterborne disease." Zahin is hopeful about the future. "I hope that we soon enough cross the phase of behavioural awareness so that people can understand the necessity of this industry. For that, we need national and global effort. We need to adapt this technology at an industrial level so that we can be ready before the water crisis begins," Zahin went on. Zahin Razeen's ideology to be a successful entrepreneur is to relentlessly pursue and ruthlessly execute. "An entrepreneurial spirit should never die because of rejections. S/he should not stop pursuing his/her dreams unless death comes in their way. I was my company's engineer, facilitator, and commercial viability partner. In short, I played multiple roles because there was a lack of understanding among people about my project. But it did not dishearten me, I was tenaciously working to bring something that can be a big solution to a big problem," he concluded.

https://futurestartup.com/2021/05/29/on-myalice-conversational-ai-and-the-ambition-of-building-a-global-saas-startup-with-shuvo-rahman-founder-ceo-alice-labs/ On MyAlice, Conversational AI and The Ambition of Building a Global SaaS Startup with Shuvo Rahman, Founder & CEO, Alice Labs By Future Startup | May 29, 2021 Shuvo Rahman is the founder and CEO of Alice Labs, a Dhaka-based startup that provides multi-channel customer service solutions and virtual assistant to ecommerce and online businesses. Incorporated in Singapore in 2018, Alice Labs currently operates in South Asia and Southeast Asia including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Philippines, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka serving over 50 e-commerce stores and enterprises, including major brands and retailers like Unilever, Coca-Cola, Giordano, and Maybelline, among others. In this interview with Future Startup’s Naziba Ali, Mr. Rahman gives us a peek behind the scenes of Alice Labs, his path to entrepreneurship, the origin of Alice Labs, the early days of building the product, putting together the team and resources, the state of Alice Labs today and its ambition going forward, the prospect of SaaS industry in Bangladesh, why panic hiring should be avoided by founders at all cost and much more. Future Startup: Thank you for agreeing to do this interview with us. I wanted to start at the beginning of your journey, could you please tell us about your background and path to entrepreneurship? Shuvo Rahman: I earned my bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering from BUET in 2015. In 2016, I joined as a Tech Team Lead at Maya Apa which is an anonymous messaging platform that connects users with expert advice. Problem-solving has always been my forte. To that end, I designed various machine learning modules for Maya to handle challenges such as categorizing user inquiries and matching them with appropriate specialists. I met one of my co-founders, Jamil Akbar, who was employed as a Project Manager back then at Maya. We had to collaborate on projects every now and then and as a result, we built a good rapport over the years. In 2017, Jamil, Fahad (CEO of iFarmer and currently a Director at Alice), Munim and I started a dev shop: MisFit Technologies Ltd. Jamil had expertise in the field of automation, Fahad was apt at strategy and vision, Munim at sales and marketing while engineering and product development was my forte. Being one of the founding members and CTO, I was involved in the strategic and technical decisions and roadmaps to take the company forward. One of our projects has spun off into Alice Labs. I am still on the board of Misfit but am not involved in day to day operations. Future Startup: When and how did you come up with the idea of Alice? What motivated you to start Alice Labs? Shuvo Rahman: In the early days, MyAlice started as a project of MisFit. We eventually decided to establish it as a stand-alone venture and I took over as the CEO. At Misfit, we were attempting to solve multifarious problems of diverse businesses. While working with multiple enterprises, I noticed a trend: Customers preferred to reach out to retailers via social media rather than emails or call centers. Since the average attention span of today’s humans ranges from 8-12 seconds, there's a decent possibility they'll move on to another brand if their questions aren't answered right off the bat. 75% of online shoppers and potential customers expect help within 5 minutes. So it became imperative for e-commerce and online businesses to ensure seamless customer experience across all conversational platforms: Messenger, Facebook, Viber, WhatsApp and so on. During those days, I myself encountered a horrible customer service experience with a bank. While I was in Myanmar for work, I called the call center with a question, but the wait was exasperating. I also emailed them, but received a response three days later. In fact, 78% of customers feel irritated because they need to relay the same information to multiple employees of a company across different conversational channels. To resolve such customer inconveniences, I devised the concept of MyAlice, which automates customer interactions and helps organizations reduce support costs and response times. It also structures conversational data which help enterprises to understand their user base thus managing their customers from a myriad of sources. Alice's proprietary AI learns over time from the interactions of human agents. Every day, the best D2C brands use our customer care solution and virtual assistant, from e-commerce to fashion, FMCG, and even banks. Future Startup: What went into building the initial operation of MyAlice? How did you put together initial investment and other things to get started? Please walk us through what the first few months of your journey were like and the challenges you faced. Shuvo Rahman: As I mentioned before, we started developing MyAlice as a product of MisFit. Eventually, we realized the market demand and decided to separate MyAlice from its parent company as it started gaining some traction. So initially, MyAlice was bootstrapped. One of the toughest parts of a bootstrapped SaaS business is low cash flow (especially at the beginning). You need customers to build up your monthly recurring revenue so you can grow and expand your product. Hence, we had to focus a lot on sales rather than product improvement. That was definitely a tough journey for us. However, we were fortunate enough to generate traction quickly and then secure financing to allow our product development team to work on bettering MyAlice. Apart from that, we concentrated on assembling the best team possible. We identified the talents we need in the team and used our network to discover persons who have those capabilities. Future Startup: From a product perspective, how does MyAlice work as a platform? How does the tech part work? Shuvo Rahman: By using MyAlice, you don't have to juggle between softwares to converse with your customers across multiple channels. Businesses can connect all of their customer-facing channels, such as website chat and social media messaging platforms, to MyAlice to automate conversations for both sales and service through natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) with the ability to smoothly transition to a live operator when required. 3 minutes is all it takes to set up #yourAlice and automate 70 percent of your customer service conversations and reduce service costs by more than 30 percent. Step 1: Connect all your messaging and digital channels by logging into MyAlice. Provide information related to the size of your businesses, product category, volume of transactions etc. In the present world, effective communication is essential for effective customer service. MyAlice is powered by Natural Language Processing (NLP) which gives it the ability to cater to different customers in their native language, be it Bangla, English, Bahasa, Malay, Philipino, Arabic or Burmese. Step 2: Automate your customer responses through the Virtual Assistant chatbot. MyAlice will automatically reply to the queries of your clients even at 4 am through all social media and digital channels. Step 3: Integrate your ecommerce store to MyAlice’s-commerce help desk to benefit from our stock integration automations. In this way, you don’t have to check your store manually each time you get a sales query on each of your different channels. MyAlice can also decode complex behavior of shoppers across different regions, understand user preferences and recommend similar products. Businesses can also track previous orders, viewed products and sell more through up-selling and cross-selling. Future Startup: What’s your rationale behind narrowing down to e-commerce and online businesses as your core target demographic? Shuvo Rahman: It's critical for us to scale as a tech startup. Apart from e-commerce enterprises, we also deal with FMCG, banks, and telecommunications companies. In the FMCG sector, however, because brand loyalty is typically high for these products, there are fewer opportunities to generate stickiness. On the other hand, most banks don’t even use Cloud, so scalability is near unattainable. Customers flock to e-commerce stores in greater numbers. And retailers must respond to customer queries as soon as possible. As far as my knowledge goes, there are around 24 billion e-commerce stores worldwide. However, very few e-commerce stores are visible. 90% of e-commerce stores are on Shopify and WooCommerce. So, in terms of scalability as well as revenue generation, e-commerce is a niche and lucrative market. And the pandemic has only strengthened its position. MyAlice thus works with over 50 e-commerce sites and organizations across the region, including major brands and retailers such as Unilever and Coca-Cola, among others, through its subscription-based customer service plans. Future Startup: How did you design your customer acquisition channels? Could you tell us about the strategies that you carried out to achieve the growth? Shuvo Rahman: When choosing your channels, you must keep your pricing model in mind. I followed the 80/20 rule while picking my sales and marketing channels. To begin, we relied on SEOs and word of mouth within our networks. We started pushing our product on relevant E-commerce groups on Facebook. Due to its relatively low CAC and virality effect, Facebook has been a great channel for us to acquire customers. However, these e-commerce stores could only handle 20-30 orders each day. For these retailers, we devised a $50/month pricing strategy. As you can tell, the ARPU was almost insignificant. In order to broaden our consumer base, we also resorted to influencer marketing. As a business professional, you know that high-end brands do not expect a sales call or a marketing email to kick off their research process. Since we are a B2B business, we decided to pursue Account-based marketing. In order to onboard the reputable brands, we introduced a 300$/month pricing model. Our Sales and Marketing team would produce a list of the best-fit clients with the biggest ROI potential for MyAlice. Next, we would send them automated emails. Future Startup: How much has MyAlice evolved over the past years? Shuvo Rahman: I’d say, a lot. We have built partnerships with local players in nearly every country in the South and SouthEast Asia including Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, among others. These countries are very much native language-oriented and it’s difficult for any foreign company to penetrate this market. MyAlice uses machine learning and natural language processing to mimic human experiences by understanding text inputs and interpreting their meanings across languages. The partners essentially resell our product, extending our distribution. We are also focusing on our sales team in the Middle East. In the third quarter of 2021, we are planning to launch systematic sales campaigns but till then we’ll be focusing on strengthening our product in cooperation with our tech partners. We have successfully raised US$500,000 in seed investment led by New York-based VC Anchorless Bangladesh and participated by HOF Capital.We intend to use the new funding to further develop its product, form new alliances, and expand into new markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. As Alice Labs expands into more of these markets and incorporates more languages, it will be able to strengthen its strategic moats. Future Startup: Did you plan to build a global startup from the get-go? What kind of strategies, in your opinion, are necessary for building a worldwide SaaS company from the ground up? Shuvo Rahman: In the very beginning, I just focused on the macro changes in consumer behavior: the average attention span was shrinking and it was becoming difficult for enterprises to sustain client communication across multiple channels. So I stepped in to address the problem with MyAlice. Initially, all I wanted to do was keep my head above water. It was challenging for us to attain quick enough growth because MyAlice was a bootstrapped startup.When MyAlice began to gather momentum, that’s when I set my sights higher. For building any kind of startup, be it local or global, you should equally focus on the four dimensions: Market, Product, Channel and Model. Make sure to give your product a core value, a hook, a time to value, and a stickiness factor. While going global, ensure that the markets you’re targeting have similar issues and that you can integrate your operations. Future Startup: What are some mistakes you’ve made, if any, that you want other entrepreneurs to avoid? Shuvo Rahman: As a founder, you must avoid panic hiring. Build a team that won’t sink your startup. To avoid panic hiring, keep this mantra in mind: The wrong hire is worse than no hire. Future Startup: What are your future plans for Alice Labs? Shuvo Rahman: In 2022, we want to target the Australian and European markets, with a goal of entering the North American market by the end of 2023. However, we will perhaps not be developing new products for the next 2-3 years, but will focus on building moats around MyAlice. Because the development of a new product necessitates the evolution of your channels and business plan, so for the time being, we want to be very focused on a specific vertical which is e-commerce. Future Startup: What are your thoughts about the prospect of the SaaS industry in Bangladesh? Shuvo Rahman: The startup culture in Bangladesh is gradually evolving. Currently there are 5-6 Bangladeshi SaaS companies that are doing really well. From a technological standpoint, we have a significant edge because the cost of hiring developers or engineers is lower. That is, we have a unit economy in our favor, and we can construct a SaaS offering for 10 times less money. You just have to make sure you can sell the product. With adequate training of young founders, Bangladesh has the potential to produce a large number of worldwide SaaS enterprises. However, when compared to the technological infrastructure of the North American and European markets, Bangladesh is still 10-15 years behind. A SaaS business doesn’t have any boundaries and hence, can be scaled rapidly. Even for a new firm, SaaS can be a terrific method to get started and eventually grow into a million-dollar business. You can sell your services to any company in the world. However, if you don't build a moat, your organization will perish.

https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/economy/2021/06/04/budget-fy22-railway-gets-more-allocation-for-mega-projects Published at 12:23 am June 4th, 2021 Budget FY22: Railway gets more allocation for mega projects Despite its failure to fully spend its budgetary allotment of the 2020-2021 fiscal, the government has decided to increase the allocation for the Ministry of Railways in the upcoming fiscal year intending to improve connectivity. In the budget proposed for the 2021-22 fiscal on Thursday, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal set aside Tk17,542 crore for railways, some Tk1,216 crore more than the previous one. It was proposed in the previous fiscal that the ministry get Tk16,326, but the amount was dropped down to Tk15,496 crore due to slow progress in the implementation of the mega projects. Bangladesh Railway is currently implementing 36 projects, including three mega projects, to improve and modernize its services. The three mega projects are the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project (PBRLP), the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar-Gundam Rail Link Project and the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge Construction Project, on which over half of the total proposed allocation is supposed to be used. Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan on Tuesday said that an additional six months would be needed to complete the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar-Gundam Rail Link Project. “It will be possible to open the Mawa-Bhanga segment of the PBRLP to traffic in June next year. Meanwhile, the Dhaka-Mawa section is scheduled to be opened by June 2023 and the whole project will be implemented by June 2024,” he said. “As we are getting a large allocation for the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge Construction Project, we will try our utmost to utilize the funds properly,” he added.

Ahsan Habib Tuhin 10 July, 2021, 09:05 pm Last modified: 10 July, 2021, 09:14 pm https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/stocks/sri-lankan-firm-plans-get-listed-5-years-272968#.YOm5fK93AjQ.facebook Sri Lankan firm plans to get listed in 5 years Wood coating supplier JAT Holdings Bangladesh has a plan to set up a factory Highlights JAT Holdings Bangladesh has a plan to set up a factory to produce coating under its own brand "White" and enhance research and development facility for wood coating by investing Tk12 crore. JAT Holdings Bangladesh has started its journey in 2009 together with local business conglomerate Akhter Group. The company distributed the wood coating under the brand name "Sayerlack", an Italian brand that provides wood finishes in the industry. JAT Holdings Bangladesh (Pvt) Limited, an affiliate company of Sri Lanka-based JAT Holdings, plans to get listed on local stock exchanges in the next five years. "JAT Holdings is looking at getting listed on Bangladesh's capital market in the next five years," JAT Holdings Chairman Dr Sivakumar Selliah said in the company's recently-held annual general meeting in Sri Lanka. That is why JAT Holdings Bangladesh has a plan to set up a factory to produce coating under its own brand "White" and enhance research and development facility for wood coating by investing Tk12 crore. To strengthen its overseas operations, the mother company JAT Holdings will raise funds by issuing shares in the Colombo Stock Exchange. Managing Director of JAT Holdings Aelian Gunawardene at the virtual launch of the initial public offering (IPO) said that this investment would be made from the proceeds raised from the proposed IPO which would be launched on 20 July. The overseas operation investments would be made through a fully owned subsidiary of JAT Holdings, which is based in Dubai. The managing director said, "We will be investing Tk1.68 crore for enhancing the existing research and development facility to a fully-fledged, state-of-the-art facility for all coatings and a further Tk10 crore locally for expanding the "White" brand coating by JAT marketing and development initiatives." Bangladesh has a good central bank that has kept the exchange rate stable for over a decade and has avoided currency crises and monetary instability, he added. JAT Holdings Bangladesh has started its journey in 2009 together with local business conglomerate Akhter Group. The company distributed the wood coating under the brand name "Sayerlack", an Italian brand that provides wood finishes in the industry. When contacted with its local office, the responder has denied making any comments over this issue. The company claimed in its annual report that currently JAT enjoys a market share of 30% in the wood coating segment in Bangladesh and the brand is synonymous with the high-quality wood coatings in the country and is the exclusive supplier to seven of the 15 largest local industrial furnishing exporters. Furthermore, revenues from Bangladesh, the top export destination fell from Tk70 crore in 2020 to Tk23 crore in 2021, making it the second-largest market, after Sri Lanka. The wood coating market depends on the furniture and wood industry. Stakeholders believe the growth of this industry has primarily been driven by the country's flourishing corporate sector in the last 20 years. The industry now enjoys an annual growth of 18-20%. The country's furniture industry is huge, with yearly revenues exceeding Tk10,000 crore. At present Berger Paints led the coating industry.

I know that dear.

Japan's Infrastructure Investment in Bangladesh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_azLNZ7sZg

What Happened To Western Marine? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJHWlLdyiq0&t=33s

চট্রগ্রামে ভাঙা হবে ২২৩ কোটি টাকায় কেনা জাহাজ! প্রকাশিত ০১:২৫ দুপুর জুলাই ৯, ২০২১ কোপা আমেরিকায় যে মাঠে ব্রাজিল-আর্জেন্টিনার ফাইনাল খেলা হবে জাহাজটি আয়তনে তার তিনটি মাঠের সমান অর্থাৎ ১৯ হাজার বর্গমিটার সৌদি আরবের ২৫ বছরের পরিত্যাক্ত তেল পরিবহনকারী একটি পুরোনো জাহাজ ভাঙার জন্য আমদানি করা হয়েছে চট্টগ্রামের সীতাকুণ্ডের জাহাজভাঙা কারখানায়। পুরোনো হলেও এর জন্য খরচ করতে হয়েছে ২২৩ কোটি টাকা। যদিও গত এক দশকে এত দামে পুরোনো কোনো জাহাজ আমদানির রেকর্ড নেই বলে শীর্ষস্থানীয় সংবাদপত্র প্রথম আলোয় প্রকাশিত একটি প্রতিবেদনের তথ্যে উঠে এসেছে। জাহাজটি লম্বায় ৯৭ তলা উঁচু ভবনের মতো অর্থাৎ ৩৪০ মিটার। আর আয়তনে কোপা আমেরিকায় যে মাঠে ব্রাজিল-আর্জেন্টিনার ফাইনাল খেলা হবে সেটির মতো তিনটি মাঠেরসমান অর্থাৎ ১৯ হাজার বর্গমিটার। চট্টগ্রামের সাবেক মেয়র এম মনজুর আলমের পারিবারিক শিল্পগ্রুপ মোস্তফা হাকিম গ্রুপের সহযোগী প্রতিষ্ঠান এইচ এম শিপব্রেকিং ইন্ডাস্ট্রি লিমিটেড জাহাজটি ক্রয় করেছে। এ বছর এখন পর্যন্ত বিশ্বে এই ধরনের পুরোনো জাহাজ বিক্রি হয়েছে মাত্র ১১টি। তারা জাহাজটির আমদানির জন্য রপ্তানিকারক প্রতিষ্ঠানকে ২০৮ কোটি ৬৮ লাখ টাকা দিয়েছে। আর শুল্ককর দিতে হয়েছে ১৪ কোটি ৩৫ লাখ টাকা। এতো দাম দিয়ে জাহাজটি কেনা হলেও এটি কেটেকুটে যে লোহা এবং অন্যান্য দ্রব্যাদি পাওয়া যাবে তা বিক্রি করেই পুরো খরচ ওঠানো হবে। খরচের চেয়ে বাড়তি যা পাওয়া যাবে, তা উঠবে লাভের খাতায়। এই জাহাজটি কেটে ৪৮ হাজার ৮৭ টন লোহা পাওয়া যাবে। এ ধরনের পরিত্যাক্ত পুরোনো জাহাজগুলো মূলত লোহার পরিমাণের ওপর নির্ভর করে ক্রয় বিক্রয় হয়। এর আগে লোহার দাম কম থাকায় একই ধরনের জাহাজ তারা ১৮০ কোটি টাকায় কিনেছিল। বর্তমানে বিশ্ববাজারে লোহার দাম বেশি হওয়া ৪৩ কোটি টাকা বাড়তি খরচ করতে হয়েছে। এইচ এম শিপইয়ার্ডের ৫০০ কর্মী জাহাজটি ভাঙার কাজ শুরু করেছে। তারা ৯ থেকে ১৫ মাসের মধ্যে বিশাল এ জাহাজ ভাঙার কাজ শেষ করতে চায়। পুরোনো জাহাজটির পেছনে আছে প্রায় ৭৩ টন ওজনের প্রপেলার বা পাখা। এই প্রপেলার চালানোর জন্য আছে ৩৩ হাজার ৬০০ অশ্বশক্তির (বিএইচপি) ইঞ্জিন। ইঞ্জিনটি প্রতি মিনিটে সর্বোচ্চ ৭০ বার ঘোরাতে পারে এই প্রপেলার। পুরোনো এই প্রপেলারের এখনো বাজারমূল্য প্রায় ৫ কোটি টাকা। ইঞ্জিন ব্যবহার করা না গেলেও কেটেকুটে বিক্রি করা যাবে বেশ ভালো দামে। আবার ইঞ্জিন চালানোর জন্য আছে পাঁচটি জেনারেটর। সেগুলো হয়তো জেনারেটর হিসেবেই বিক্রি করা যাবে। এ রকম মূল্যবান নানা পণ্য আছে জাহাজটিতে। মোস্তফা হাকিম গ্রুপের পরিচালক মো. সারোয়ার আলম জানা, কর্ণফুলীর দক্ষিণ পাড়ে এ বছর চালু হওয়া এইচ এম স্টিল এবং সীতাকুণ্ডের গোল্ডেন ইস্পাত—আমাদের এ দুটি কারখানায় এই জাহাজের গলনশীল লোহা ব্যবহার হবে। বাকি পণ্য স্থানীয় বাজারে বিক্রির পাশাপাশি তামা, পিতল, কপারের মতো বেশ কিছু মূল্যবান পণ্য রপ্তানি করা হবে। উল্লেখ্য, এ ধরনের নতুন জাহাজের দাম এখন প্রায় ৯৫ মিলিয়ন ডলার বা ৮০০ কোটি টাকার কমবেশি। আবার এ ধরনের জাহাজের প্রতিদিনের ভাড়া ৩৬ হাজার ডলার।

Buriganga River Restoration Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8euc-rU4M98

Singapore, Bangladesh can collaborate to improve connectivity, infrastructure: S Iswaran https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2OUuXK-sig

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

https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/policy-cards-boost-investment-agro-processing-271771#.YOZ8gBHKE4s.facebook Saifuddin Saif & Shawkat Ali 08 July, 2021, 09:55 am Last modified: 08 July, 2021, 10:03 am Policy on cards to boost investment in agro-processing The draft Agro-food Processing Industry Policy 2021 calls for ensuring $5 billion foreign investment over the next five years TBS Infograph The Ministry of Industries has drafted the Agro-food Processing Industry Policy 2021 to attract investments in the agro-processing sector that remains largely ignored by entrepreneurs despite having huge prospects both in the domestic and international markets. In many countries of the world, including neighbouring India, ripe mangoes are processed as canned and frozen slices and in various other ways, and are sold throughout the year. According to online marketplace Alibaba, the top three markets for processed mangoes are Eastern Asia (40% of the market), Middle East (20%) and North America (10%), where dried mangoes, frozen dried mangoes, soft sweet dried mangoes and sliced mangoes are in high demand. Even though over 20 lakh tonnes of mangoes are produced in Bangladesh every year, no agro processing industry here markets the fruit by processing it in these ways. Consumers can buy mangoes directly from the market for only about three months during the harvesting season. Producers also are deprived of fair prices of their produce as supply exceeds the demand during this period. In spite of having huge potential both in the domestic and international markets, mango processing in the country is limited to juice production by a few companies. The same is true of jackfruit. About 19 metric tonnes of jackfruit have been produced in the country this year. Notwithstanding that the national fruit is produced in a huge quantity each year, no initiative is visible to market jackfruit pulp by processing it or making any other product from it. On the contrary, it is sometimes seen that farmers are throwing jackfruits on the road due to low prices. In order to attract investments in the agro-food processing sector, the government will provide various incentives including capital assistance at nominal interest rates, interest subsidies, tax exemption on imports of capital machinery, research incentives, laboratory grants, waiver of income tax, and skilled workers, as mentioned in the draft policy agro-processing industry policy. The draft policy calls for ensuring $5 billion foreign investment over the next five years. It is expected to create new employment opportunities for 1 lakh people. The industries ministry has already sent the draft policy to various ministries, agencies and business associations for their feedback. Once they give their opinion, the policy will be taken up in the cabinet meeting for final approval. The policy focuses on the processing of fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy products, fish, poultry, eggs, meat and meat products, flowers and grains, including grading and packing. The policy also covers confectionery processing including bread, oilseeds, breakfast foods, biscuits, snacks, cocoa, refined coconut oil, barley pulp, protein foods, high protein foods and breast milk substitutes. It proposes special facilities for scientifically established tissue cell laboratories, and establishment of modern greenhouse and seed production units to meet the industrial standards. At the same time, a strategy has been adopted for halal branding of products besides maintaining quality. Capital assistance The policy proposes to provide 50% of the total capital or highest Tk50cr in flexible loans at a nominal interest rate to those who will invest in agro-processing industries within the stipulated time. To avail this loan facility, a SME industrial unit has to go into production within 12 months of getting the capital assistance. For large industrial units the time limit is 24 months. The same facility will be available for setting up primary processing centres (PPCs), primary supply centres (PSCs) in the industry However, if anyone wants to invest in the technological development and modernisation of their existing food processing industry units, they will get 25% of the project cost or a maximum of Tk50 crore as capital assistance. The government will also provide this facility for setting up cold chains of agriculture, horticulture, dairy and meat products, the policy states. Interest subsidy The policy proposes that 5% or highest Tk20cr annual interest subsidy be given on loans taken on condition of fixed capital investment for industrial units and cold chain infrastructure. This facility will be available for seven years from the date of commissioning of the factory. In the case of PPCs and PSCs, the interest subsidy has been proposed at 5% or maximum Tk10cr per year. The draft policy also proposes incentives and duty cuts on exports, transport purchases, capital machinery imports, cash assistance in research, allotment of stalls for participation in fairs abroad. Duty waiver According to the policy, tariffs will be reduced by up to 50% on the purchase price of air-conditioned vehicles for processing industrial units. Nonetheless, the maximum amount of this discount will be Tk10 lakh. In addition, the government will provide cash incentives at the highest rate to industrial units for the export of perishable goods from the date of their commercial production. The maximum limit of this incentive for an industrial unit will be Tk50 lakh. At the same time, the government will waive corporate income tax for two years. The policy has also attached importance to research to develop the market of this sector. Therefore, it proposes up to 50% of the cost or a maximum of Tk25 crore, if an industrial institute conducts research by a government-approved research institute. Besides, a maximum of Tk5 crore or no more than 50% of the project cost will be provided for laboratory development, the draft policy says. Infrastructure development The government will set up agro-food technology parks or agricultural export zones near seaports, markets and airports within the next five years. It will also establish special economic zones for rapid industrialization. Several steps have been taken to implement the initiatives. The engineering colleges and universities of the country will introduce Food Engineering Management as a specialised subject. Institutions of food processing industry technology will be set up in collaboration with the Institutions of Developed Countries, FAO of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, where industry related subjects will be taught and technical manpower will be created. The government has established the Agro Food ISC (AFISC) under the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA). The government will fund the AFISC to undertake vocational training activities. In addition, for the certification of halal products and evaluation of other products, importance will be given to the certification of various domestic and foreign companies. Besides, the government wants to develop the sector through food packaging, testing quality improvement, supply chain development so that it is possible to increase the export by meeting the demand for quality products in the country. The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI), the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), the Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) and Islamic Foundation will work on product innovation and quality improvement. The government will also soon set up an agricultural food processing board. The government will form the board with members from all sub-sector associations in Dhaka to help increase productivity in the sector and create greater market connections with farmers. An agro-food processing industry development council will be formed to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the policy at the national level. It is learnt that about 2.5 lakh people are directly working in the agro-processing industry. In addition, a large number of people are working in various segments including backward linkages such as farmers involved in the production of agricultural products, employees of packaging material manufacturing factories and suppliers but the Bangladesh Agro-processors Association (Bapa) does not have specific data on this. Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman and CEO of Pran-RFL Group said that the market for agro-processing products in Bangladesh will not be less than Tk50,000 crore. However, Bapa does not have accurate statistics on the issue. According to Bapa, goods worth $400 million were exported in the 2019-20 fiscal year. The amount is expected to exceed Tk450 crore in FY21. At present, agro-processed products are being exported to 144 countries, according to Bapa. The agricultural sector contributes 13.6% to the country's GDP while 40.62% of the total workforces of the country are employed in the sector. A large part of this sector is the agro-processing industry that is currently contributing 8% to the manufacturing sector of Bangladesh. According to data released by Bapa in 2017, the contribution of the agro-processing industry to GDP is more than 1%. Asked about the policy, Syed Mohammad Shoaib Hassan, vice president of Bapa, said, "If the incentives mentioned in the policy are given, it is possible to meet the investment and employment targets." He, however, cast doubt over the implementation of the policy. "Many agencies will work focusing on this issue. In that case if the coordination is not done properly, it will not bring the desired results." Professor Dr Md Abdul Alim of the Department of Food Technology and Rural Industries at Bangladesh Agricultural University, said 40% of fruits and vegetables produced in the country are wasted due to a lack of preservation facilities. If these agricultural products can be processed, they can be supplied throughout the year, he said, adding there is also a huge opportunity to export these agricultural products to foreign markets by adding value to them through processing. "Many organisations in Bangladesh are doing this. For example, Pran Group is exporting food processed products to 144 countries. Further expansion of this industry will require our investment, technology and skilled manpower." He further added that the food processing industry, like the ready-made garment industry, has huge potential. It is important to establish a food engineering university to make use of this opportunity, he concluded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-LUXHTu3Ok

Can't agree more dear.

https://www.newagebd.net/article/142846/japan-based-minori-to-take-over-emerald-oil Mostafizur Rahman | Published: 23:02, Jul 04,2021 Japan-based Minori to take over Emerald Oil Minori Bangladesh Limited, an arm of Japanese farming group Minori Co Limited, will take over non-performing Emerald Oil Industries Limited. Minori Bangladesh has recently nominated Sidratul Mahabub Hasan as representative of the company to the Emerald Oil board after purchasing around 8 per cent shares of the company. BSEC chairman Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam told New Age that Minori Bangladesh will take control of Emerald Oil soon as the previous sponsor-directors had fled the company. The company will invest a fresh Tk 50 crore into Emerald Oil to address the current needs and bring it to operation, he said. It will also mitigate the outstanding banks loans of Emerald Oil, the BSEC chairman said. The company will be given shares against the investment of Tk 50 crore, he said. Earlier on March 2, the BSEC restructured the board of directors of Emerald Oil by appointing five independent directors to the company’s board in a bid to bring the non-functioning company back to business and protect the interests of investors. Two directors had to be nominated from the shareholders having at least 2 per cent shares of the paid-up capital of the company, the BSEC said in its order. Emerald Oil, a rice-brand edible oil producer, is not in operation and has failed to declare dividends for shareholders for the last four years. The previous board of directors did not take any initiative to bring the company back to business over the period of time and the company has failed to declare a cash dividend since 2015, said the regulator. Minori’s Bangladesh operations are based in Tangail while its Japanese operations are based in Chiba prefecture, next to Tokyo. The company focuses mainly on organic crops, including rice, vegetables and fruits, and also partners with local farmers in the region to support their production efficiency and to buy their harvests. Emerald Oil Industries was established in 2008 with a mission to producing edible oil which is a common item needed for the preparation of daily food. The company made its debut on stock exchanges on March 19, 2014. Emerald Oil has been producing refined rice bran edible oil Spondon since 2011. Emerald Oil’s stocks were being traded under the ‘Z’ category since 2018 due to losses incurred and announcement of no dividends. Share price of the company stood at Tk 10.8 per share on March 21 that jumped to Tk 28.3 a share on June 30 after a reconstitution of the board.

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/japanese-engineering-firm-plans-to-expand-operations-in-bangladesh-1625576804 Japanese engineering firm plans to expand operations in Bangladesh Published: July 06, 2021 19:06:45 | Updated: July 07, 2021 11:24:28 TOA Corporation, a world-renowned Japanese engineering company, plans expansion of its operations in Bangladesh. The 113-year-old company established its branch office in Bangladesh in 2020 as part of its expansion plan. Since then, the company has remained engaged in land development works for Bangladesh Special Economic Zone Development under Foreign Direct Investment Promotion Project (FDIPP). Known as the Japanese Economic Zone, it is a project under Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA). Separately, TOA is contributing in Bangladesh to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge Construction Project as a joint venture with other two Japanese companies- Obayashi Corporation and JFE Engineering Corporation. According to the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), a total of 321 Japanese companies are currently operating their businesses in the country. The number was 83 in 2010. Talking to BSS, General Manager of TOA Corporation Bangladesh Office Mitsuhiro Torii expressed his interest to contribute not only to Japan’s ODA projects but also other infrastructure development projects. He said as Bangladesh is a vastly populated country there are diversified business scopes here and those are attracting many investors to come and expand their business. He urged the government to reduce the trade barriers, including complicated taxation system, high tax rate and high import and export tariff, and simplify the administrative system for inviting the foreign investors to invest in Bangladesh aggressively. Torii stated that in order to run and expand business in Bangladesh, they need to acquire collaborations and supports from various local companies of Bangladesh and they will appreciate it if such companies communicate with them and extend their hands to support them. In business relationship sharing, concrete, accurate and transparent information is imperative and this improves the bonding to sustain in long run, he added. He thanked the Bangladesh government for its strong efforts to ensure effective and strong security measures after the terrorist attack in Holey Artisan. Deputy General Manager of the TOA Corporation Bangladesh Office Kazuo Tachi said Japan was one of the earliest countries to officially recognize Bangladesh and warm friendship has developed between the peoples of the two countries ever since; with Japan being the biggest bilateral development partner in the history of Bangladesh and the economic relations between the two nations is continuously growing and this is the main reason why Japanese companies are investing in Bangladesh. He also said Bangladesh has been implementing several mega infrastructure projects to accelerate the growth of international trade, targeting to graduate from the grouping of the least developed countries (LDC) and this is imperative to be an advanced economy by 2041. Since its establishment in 1908, TOA Corporation is engaged especially in marine works for harbours and related facilities, dredging and reclamation work, and construction of coastline buildings, airports, marine leisure facilities, warehouses for distribution, factories, and power plants.

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/bangladesh-prepares-to-face-challenges-after-transition-from-ldc-1625576226 Published: July 06, 2021 18:57:06 Bangladesh prepares to face challenges after transition from LDC Bangladesh is focusing on bilateral free and preferential trade deals as a strategy to overcome the possible losses of global trade concessions after its graduation to a developing economy. Studies on the feasibility of signing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with a number of countries have been completed, according to an official document. The countries and organizations include Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and Eurasian Economic Commission. The possibility of Bangladesh signing such trade agreements with China, Myanmar, Nigeria, Mali, Macedonia, Mauritius, Jordan, USA, Iraq and Lebanon is also being explored, reports UNB. Meanwhile, a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Bangladesh and India is also on the anvil. Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) and Indian Foreign Trade Institute are preparing a report on a joint study on CEPA. The CEPA is a bit different from FTAs as it covers a lot of issues such as trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property rights and e-commerce. Bangladesh has signed a bilateral PTA with Bhutan on December 6, 2020. Under the agreement, 34 Bhutanese products will get duty-free access to the Bangladeshi market and 100 Bangladesh products to get similar access to Bhutan. The commodities from Bangladesh include baby clothes and clothing accessories, men's trousers and shorts, jackets and blazers, jute and jute goods, leather and leather goods, dry cell battery, fan, watch, potato, condensed milk, cement, toothbrush, plywood, particle board, mineral and carbonated water, green tea, orange juice, pineapple juice, and guava juice The 34 products from Bhutan that will get duty-free access to the Bangladesh market include orange, apple, ginger, fruit juice, milk, natural honey, wheat flour, homogenized preparations of jams, fruit jellies, marmalades, food preparations of soybeans, mineral water, wheat bran, quartzite, cement clinker, limestone, wooden particle boards, and wooden furniture. Both the countries will be able to increase the number of items gradually through consultation. PTA negotiations with Nepal are at the final stage. Significant progress has also been made in formal talks aimed at signing a bilateral PTA with Indonesia. Work on a joint study aimed at conducting a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka is at the final stage. In addition, to increase competitiveness in exports, the document mentioned that the government has continued to provide export incentives to 36 products as in the previous fiscal year. The government has identified 17 products to boost exports in the aftermath of the epidemic, which is expected to play a strong role in sustaining export growth after Bangladesh’s transition from the least developed countries in 2026. To reduce the trade deficit, the document said, measures are being taken to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers by executing bilateral trade agreements. Such agreements have already been signed with 44 countries. Bangladesh, as per the rules and regulations of World Trade Organization (WTO), might lose some of its businesses as it will graduate from the LDC status. Bangladesh will formally graduate to middle income country from the LDC status in next three years. But it will continue to get some global trade concessions until 2027 as a three-year grace period will be added. As a result, from 2027 the duty facilities the country gets from WTO in import and export might be stopped. To avert the tough economic situation of the middle income country status Bangladesh has started its initiatives to avoid the middle income country status trap. Meanwhile, the EU has urged Bangladesh to improve labor standards for the continuation of the GSP. The bloc will review the current GSP in 2023.a Bangladesh's GSP status to the EU will end in 2024. The EU, however, will continue the same up to 2027 under a three-year grace period.

UK wants to construct Dhaka-Payra Railway but due to bureaucratic hurdles it is not happening. This type of obstacle is hurting British investors' sentiment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrJVlf0pzzM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwYHe8Be9aA

https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/transport/australian-firm-offers-16bn-loan-high-speed-rail-projects-221689 24 March, 2021, 10:25 pm Australian firm offers $16bn loan for high-speed rail projects The Australian investor will supply the fund through the bespoke portfolio – a process to raise money from the global money market, said officials at the Bangladesh Railway Australia's Providus Investments has come up with an attractive lending offer for implementing Bangladesh's two megaprojects – the Dhaka-Chattogram high-speed train lines and the Bhanga-Payra rail link. The multinational lender will provide $16 billion – the entire funding for the two projects – with a 30-year repayment period, according to the investment proposal sent to the Ministry of Railways. Sources at the Bangladesh Railway have told The Business Standard that Providus has offered a lower interest for the loan than multiple foreign lenders, including Chinese corporations, have offered. The Australian investor will supply the fund through the bespoke portfolio – a process to raise money from the global money market, said officials at the Bangladesh Railway. On 7 October 2020, Providus wrote to the railways ministry, expressing its interest in providing the loan. On 9 March 2021, the investor apprised Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan and ministry high-ups of its investment plan through a PowerPoint presentation. Terming the investment proposal "more attractive" than those from other lenders, the railways ministry has already sent it to the finance ministry's Economic Relations Division (ERD) for assessment, sources said. "It does not matter what we think about the proposal as the ERD will take the final decision," Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan told The Business Standard. "We only informed the ERD about how much money we need for the projects, that is all," added the minister. The government has taken up a number of mega-projects to make the state-run rail transport company, Bangladesh Railway, modern and profitable. The Dhaka-Chattogram high-speed train and the Bhanga-Payra rail link are two major initiatives among the projects. Alongside land acquisition, the two projects will cost the government around $15.8 billion. The cost for the high-speed rail line has been estimated at $11.4 billion while the Bhanga-Payra rail link will require $4.4 billion. According to Providus, it will not charge interest on the loans during the project implementation period and there will not be any hard conditions such as contractor appointment. Moreover, the projects will directly be handed over to the railway on completion. In the meantime, a potential home-grown investor who is interested in joint financing with Providus in the two projects praised the nature of the Australian loan. A high official of the local venture said, "The Providus loan proposal is easy to understand, more attractive and comes with lower interest than what the previous lenders offered." Bangladesh Railway is currently implementing a project to run the feasibility study and to design the proposed high-speed train lines from Dhaka to Chattogram via Cumilla. The 227.3km new route will have seven stops – Dhaka, Dhaka Depot, Narayanganj, Cumilla, Feni, Pahartali and Chattogram. Travel time between Dhaka and Chattogram will be 73 minutes for trains stopping at the intermediate stations, and 55 minutes for non-stop trains. The trains, which will run at a top speed of 300km per hour, can carry approximately 50,000 passengers each way daily. The China Railway Design Corporation and local Majumder Enterprise will submit the design to the railway soon. On the other hand, the Bhanga-Payra rail link project will be 213.3km long – 189.5km main line from Bhanga to Payra port and 23.8km from Payra to Kuakata. The project will have 19 stations, 22 major and 50 minor bridges and 434 underpasses and box culverts. Railway sources said multiple foreign lenders previously proposed funding under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangements. The Chinese contractors said they will arrange the funding for the project implementation, while Providus says it will implement the projects with the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) collaboration with the railways ministry. Md Jahangir Hossain, general manager of Eastern Railway, said they have received a couple of investment proposals for the two mega-projects. "I think the most qualified firm will get the work," he added. Providus has already provided about $70 billion in loan assistance to various countries, including Australia, the United States, and Tanzania. With Providus funding, the lender proposed the railways ministry to carry out the projects by reputed multinational constructors such as Webuild, Laing O'Rourke, Bechtel, Hyundai or Fluor. Chinese corporations interested in high-speed train Two Chinese corporations – the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) – have shown interests in constructing the Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar high-speed railway lines. The two corporations said they will jointly form a company to implement the project. The proposed company will arrange the loans for the project, and hand over the rail lines to the Bangladesh Railway after operating for five years. On 9 October last year, a proposal in this regard was sent to the railways ministry through the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Dhaka and the Public-Private Partnership Authority Bangladesh. According to the proposal, the loan that the proposed company will arrange will cover the implementation cost plus interest, spending for maintenance and operation of trains and the profit of the company. The CRCC and the CCECC will also arrange bank loans with a 20-year repayment period. The Bangladesh Railway will have to repay the loans in 40 installments – two installments per year. The finance ministry will be the guarantor of the loans. UK firm interested in Bhanga-Payra rail investment In 2019, London-based IM Power Plc proposed implementing the "Integrated Rail and Energy Project" in Bangladesh. In the proposal submitted to the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida), IM Power expressed interest in constructing a double-track electric rail line from Payra Port to Dhaka via Bhanga in the first phase for transporting containers and other items. The engineering consultant proposed $11.7 billion investment in the project in three phases. The engineering consultant hinted at implementing the project on the PPP basis through a contract group or consortium. IM Power proposed the construction in the design-build-operate-and-maintain model with a 50-year tenure.

Not surprised. It is more of a business interest.

If these allegation are true then Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) must investigate JTI's claim. At the same time, I am also blaming JTI for not doing proper research before acquiring Tobacco Division from Akij Group.

Myanmar is plagued with multiple ethnic fighters. Good luck to them.