Despite impressive economic growth and development performance over the past few decades, Bangladesh has failed to build its institutional capacities – a failure that may prevent it from making the LDC graduation smooth and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, said economists yesterday.

Bangladesh is trying out cultivation of a plant which various Asian regions consider a handy source of ingredients essential to health.

Social dialogues need to be launched in various industries to empower women and strengthen the country’s trade unions, speakers said at a discussion yesterday.

Trade between Bangladesh and Russia will increase considerably if the complexities regarding double taxation and banking channels are removed, according to Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.

The government is undertaking a mega project worth Tk 2,541 crore to create an enabling environment for the digital economy as it gears up for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) yesterday announced Naser Ezaz Bijoy as president-elect for the period of 2022-2023.

Bangladesh’s agarwood-based perfume industry is struggling to bounce back from the Covid-19 fallouts as traders from the Middle East are yet to resume making purchases in full swing, leaving perfumers and raw material suppliers in the lurch.

Envoy Textiles is all set to raise Tk 87 crore by issuing preferred stocks, which are shares in a company owned by people who receive a part of the company’s profits before ordinary shareholders are paid.

The World Bank has stressed the need for bringing more dynamism to designing projects, processing, approval, and every stage of implementation in Bangladesh.

A four-day international conference is set to start today to reflect Bangladesh’s 50-year journey in economy, politics, society and culture since gaining independence in 1971.

Cross-border trade through Hili land port in Hakimpur upazila of Dinajpur has been suspended indefinitely as Indian truckers are protesting allegations of weight tampering in export shipments, according to local businesspeople.

The government has been spending more than Tk 8,500 crore to implement various industrial development projects on both sides of Teesta river in a bid to ramp up economic activates in the region, according to Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.

The government is set to introduce an innovative financing model under a new law to enable small businesses and startups to show their moveable assets as collateral with a view to nurturing entrepreneurs and helping them secure loans.

Sustaining small and medium enterprises (SME) requires special policy support as a lack of close ties with banks is depriving these small-scale traders of benefits of the government’s stimulus packages, said FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin yesterday.

Banks in Bangladesh have been generous in waiving loans throughout the pandemic despite their poor record in recouping funds from defaulters.

In the context of a developing country like Bangladesh, migration and resulting remittances can have crucial implications for its growth and development. Overseas migration has been working as a key means of providing employment opportunities for the growing labour force, with the remittances sent by the migrants contributing at both the macro and micro levels.

Dried fish producers of Chalan Beel which spreads across Pabna, Sirajganj and Natore districts have been left frustrated this year as their production levels have been halved by high input costs amid a scanty supply of local fish varieties.

Unemployed youths are now more interested in getting government jobs rather than private sector ones because of higher salaries and job security, speakers said yesterday.

The ninth national small medium enterprise (SME) products fair 2021 is going to be organised from December 5 to December 12 with the aim of promoting entrepreneurs and expanding this market through the diversification of products.

The Ministry of Textiles and Jute will celebrate National Textiles Day 2021 on December 4 by honouring seven organisations for their contribution to protecting the textiles sector in the pandemic’s aftermath.