UPDATE______________JANUARY 17, 2009 SUNDAY
NEWS
Bangladesh moves up in trade logistics efficiency
Country ranks 79th in a World Bank survey of 155
Bangladesh has emerged as an over performing country in proving efficiency of trading goods around the world, according to a new World Bank survey.
Bangladesh ranked 79th in the global Logistics Performance Indicators (LPI) study released on Friday. It was in the 87th position in the 2007 survey.
The LPI is an "interactive benchmarking tool" created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities in their performance in trade logistics, the WB says.
The LPI 2010 allows for comparisons across 155 countries. It is based on a worldwide survey of operators on the ground (global freight forwarders and express carriers), providing feedback on the logistics 'friendliness' of the countries in which they operate and those with which they trade.
The report says Bangladesh has made a significant improvement in customs, infrastructure, and lead-time. In terms of logistic quality and competence, however, Bangladesh was in the 96th position.
“Economic competitiveness is relentlessly driving countries to strengthen performance, and improving trade logistics is a smart way to deliver more efficiency, lower costs and added economic growth,” said World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick.
Nine other most significant over performers are: China, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Madagascar, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, and Vietnam.
Germany is the top performer among the 155 economies followed by Singapore, Sweden and the Netherlands.
According to the LPI, high income economies dominate the top logistics rankings, with most of them occupying important places in global and regional supply chains.
By contrast, the 10 lowest performing countries are almost all from the low and lower income groups.
Although the study shows a substantial “logistics gap” between rich countries and most developing countries, it finds positive trends in some areas essential to logistics performance and trade. Some are the modernization of customs, use of information technology and development of private logistics services.
WHAT SCORES MEAN
The LPI is the weighted average of the country scores on the six key dimensions: (a) efficiency of the clearance process by border control agencies, including customs, (b) quality of trade and transport related infrastructure, (c) ease of arranging competitively priced shipments, (d) competence and quality of logistics services, (e) ability to track and trace consignments, and (f) timeliness of shipments in reaching destinations within the scheduled or expected delivery time.
In the LPI index 2010, Bangladesh scored 2.74 where top country Germany bagged 4.11 points. In the 2007 report, Bangladesh ranked 87th with a score of 2.47.
An over performer is a country with a higher LPI score than expected -- based solely on its income level. An underperformer is a country with a lower than expected LPI scores.
Bangladesh's shipment lead-time came down to 1.41 days in the latest survey from 4.1 days in 2007.
In terms of international shipment, Bangladesh ranked 61st in the latest survey, which was 96th in 2007. In the customs procedure, Bangladesh ranked 125th in 2007, which is 90th now.
The 2010 report has placed Bangladesh in the 72nd position in terms of infrastructure. The ranking was 82nd in the 2007 report.
The 10 most significant underperformers are Botswana, Croatia, Eritrea, Fiji, Gabon, Greece, Montenegro, Namibia, Russian Federation, and Slovenia.
The existence of these two groups, as well as the general dispersion in performance within income groups, suggests that policy has a strong influence on logistics sector performance.
According to the report, among the top 10 low-income countries, Bangladesh ranked sixth after Vietnam, Senegal, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Benin. Congo, Madagascar, Kyrgyz Republic and Tanzania are the other four among the low-income group.
..............................
WORLD
Taiwan allows $500m Chinese capital in market
Taiwan will allow Chinese investors to invest up to 500 million dollars in the island's stock market, in a further step towards closer economic ties, the government said Saturday.
Starting Monday, Chinese institutional investors can own up to a 10 percent stake in local gas, financial or other companies controlled by the economic ministry, said Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission.
However, there is an 8 percent ceiling for shipping firms while Chinese investors are barred from buying airlines, air cargo, futures, construction, real estate and broadcasting stocks, it said.
..............................
SPECIAL
AB Bank goes for equity financing
AB Bank has entered equity financing, as it has purchased preference shares of a power generation company and a telecom transmission service provider.
With the purchase of the preference shares, it is the first private sector bank that has gone for equity financing, officials of the bank said.
The bank has recently bought Tk 10 crore worth preference shares in Everest Power Generation Company Ltd and Fiber@Home.
The two companies will have to go for initial public offering (IPO) after three years in line with the agreements signed with the bank.
Equity financing is the act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors.
“It's the credit for industrialization, but in a different form,” M Fazlur Rahman, additional managing director of AB Bank, told The Daily Star.
He said the objective of such financing is not only financially assisting the companies to run their business, but also bringing them to the capital market after three years of financing.
“Listing of theses companies will strengthen the supply side in our stock market,” Rahman said.
He said the bank would receive eight to nine percent dividend from Everest Power and Fiber@Home during the three-year period.
The bank has also initiated move to go for equity financing with some more companies.
“We are in talks with Otobi, Banglalion Communications Ltd, Cashlink Bangladesh Ltd and Infrastructure Development Company Ltd,” Rahman said, adding that -- if finalised -- these companies will also have to go for IPO after a certain period.
Earlier state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) had gone for equity financing. But such financing by the ICB has not been seen for a long time.
However, the ICB is working to resume equity financing in line with a recommendation by the parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry.
..............................
BTRC to sharpen watch on telecom transparency
The telecom regulator has moved to check how mobile and land phone operators go by rules in paying revenue to it.
All operators are supposed to pay the Bangladesh Tele-communication Regulatory Commission at least 5.5 percent of the revenue they earn.
BTRC says it will go for an advertisement this month to choose a firm to audit the financial and other service-oriented activities in the telecom sector, the highest tax payer.
“The goal of our move is to make transparent what operators earn and what is actually paid by them,” said BTRC Chairman Zia Ahmed.
However, besides landline operators, four out of the six mobile operators now publish their financial status in every three months, as these foreign companies are listed on bourses.
Grameenphone, the largest private cell phone operator, is already listed on Bangladesh's two stock exchanges. Grameen's parent company Telenor's shares are on trade in Norway.
Orascom, the owning company of Banglalink, Telekom Malaysia, AKTEL's majority share holder, and SingTel, Citycell's shareholder, are also listed in their own countries.
Bharti Airtel, which recently acquired Warid's 70 percent stake, is also listed in India.
Industry insiders think mistrust between the commission and the operators has resulted in the new move of the regulator. They also pointed out that BTRC faces a dearth of manpower to examine activities of the operators.
Urging the operators not to take the new step negatively, the BTRC officials cited India among some countries where such auditing practices exist.
India's Department of Telecommunications has ordered special audits of Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance Communications Ltd. and three other telecom companies on complaints of misreporting revenue, according to media reports.
The local telecom sector has so far contributed Tk 20,000 crore against its Tk 30,000 crore investment by the end of 2009.
Operators welcomed the regulator's move.
Zakiul Islam, president of the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators Bangladesh, said, "We are ready to cooperate with any audit team. We have detail reports on what we are doing."
Bangladesh's telecom subscription reached 53 million at the end of December 2009. Mobile operators are dominating the market with having 52.43 million customers, while the landline ones are serving 1.6 million
..............................
NEWS
Bangladesh moves up in trade logistics efficiency
Country ranks 79th in a World Bank survey of 155
Bangladesh has emerged as an over performing country in proving efficiency of trading goods around the world, according to a new World Bank survey.
Bangladesh ranked 79th in the global Logistics Performance Indicators (LPI) study released on Friday. It was in the 87th position in the 2007 survey.
The LPI is an "interactive benchmarking tool" created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities in their performance in trade logistics, the WB says.
The LPI 2010 allows for comparisons across 155 countries. It is based on a worldwide survey of operators on the ground (global freight forwarders and express carriers), providing feedback on the logistics 'friendliness' of the countries in which they operate and those with which they trade.
The report says Bangladesh has made a significant improvement in customs, infrastructure, and lead-time. In terms of logistic quality and competence, however, Bangladesh was in the 96th position.
“Economic competitiveness is relentlessly driving countries to strengthen performance, and improving trade logistics is a smart way to deliver more efficiency, lower costs and added economic growth,” said World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick.
Nine other most significant over performers are: China, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Madagascar, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, and Vietnam.
Germany is the top performer among the 155 economies followed by Singapore, Sweden and the Netherlands.
According to the LPI, high income economies dominate the top logistics rankings, with most of them occupying important places in global and regional supply chains.
By contrast, the 10 lowest performing countries are almost all from the low and lower income groups.
Although the study shows a substantial “logistics gap” between rich countries and most developing countries, it finds positive trends in some areas essential to logistics performance and trade. Some are the modernization of customs, use of information technology and development of private logistics services.
WHAT SCORES MEAN
The LPI is the weighted average of the country scores on the six key dimensions: (a) efficiency of the clearance process by border control agencies, including customs, (b) quality of trade and transport related infrastructure, (c) ease of arranging competitively priced shipments, (d) competence and quality of logistics services, (e) ability to track and trace consignments, and (f) timeliness of shipments in reaching destinations within the scheduled or expected delivery time.
In the LPI index 2010, Bangladesh scored 2.74 where top country Germany bagged 4.11 points. In the 2007 report, Bangladesh ranked 87th with a score of 2.47.
An over performer is a country with a higher LPI score than expected -- based solely on its income level. An underperformer is a country with a lower than expected LPI scores.
Bangladesh's shipment lead-time came down to 1.41 days in the latest survey from 4.1 days in 2007.
In terms of international shipment, Bangladesh ranked 61st in the latest survey, which was 96th in 2007. In the customs procedure, Bangladesh ranked 125th in 2007, which is 90th now.
The 2010 report has placed Bangladesh in the 72nd position in terms of infrastructure. The ranking was 82nd in the 2007 report.
The 10 most significant underperformers are Botswana, Croatia, Eritrea, Fiji, Gabon, Greece, Montenegro, Namibia, Russian Federation, and Slovenia.
The existence of these two groups, as well as the general dispersion in performance within income groups, suggests that policy has a strong influence on logistics sector performance.
According to the report, among the top 10 low-income countries, Bangladesh ranked sixth after Vietnam, Senegal, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Benin. Congo, Madagascar, Kyrgyz Republic and Tanzania are the other four among the low-income group.
..............................
WORLD
Taiwan allows $500m Chinese capital in market
Taiwan will allow Chinese investors to invest up to 500 million dollars in the island's stock market, in a further step towards closer economic ties, the government said Saturday.
Starting Monday, Chinese institutional investors can own up to a 10 percent stake in local gas, financial or other companies controlled by the economic ministry, said Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission.
However, there is an 8 percent ceiling for shipping firms while Chinese investors are barred from buying airlines, air cargo, futures, construction, real estate and broadcasting stocks, it said.
..............................
SPECIAL
AB Bank goes for equity financing
AB Bank has entered equity financing, as it has purchased preference shares of a power generation company and a telecom transmission service provider.
With the purchase of the preference shares, it is the first private sector bank that has gone for equity financing, officials of the bank said.
The bank has recently bought Tk 10 crore worth preference shares in Everest Power Generation Company Ltd and Fiber@Home.
The two companies will have to go for initial public offering (IPO) after three years in line with the agreements signed with the bank.
Equity financing is the act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors.
“It's the credit for industrialization, but in a different form,” M Fazlur Rahman, additional managing director of AB Bank, told The Daily Star.
He said the objective of such financing is not only financially assisting the companies to run their business, but also bringing them to the capital market after three years of financing.
“Listing of theses companies will strengthen the supply side in our stock market,” Rahman said.
He said the bank would receive eight to nine percent dividend from Everest Power and Fiber@Home during the three-year period.
The bank has also initiated move to go for equity financing with some more companies.
“We are in talks with Otobi, Banglalion Communications Ltd, Cashlink Bangladesh Ltd and Infrastructure Development Company Ltd,” Rahman said, adding that -- if finalised -- these companies will also have to go for IPO after a certain period.
Earlier state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) had gone for equity financing. But such financing by the ICB has not been seen for a long time.
However, the ICB is working to resume equity financing in line with a recommendation by the parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry.
..............................
BTRC to sharpen watch on telecom transparency
The telecom regulator has moved to check how mobile and land phone operators go by rules in paying revenue to it.
All operators are supposed to pay the Bangladesh Tele-communication Regulatory Commission at least 5.5 percent of the revenue they earn.
BTRC says it will go for an advertisement this month to choose a firm to audit the financial and other service-oriented activities in the telecom sector, the highest tax payer.
“The goal of our move is to make transparent what operators earn and what is actually paid by them,” said BTRC Chairman Zia Ahmed.
However, besides landline operators, four out of the six mobile operators now publish their financial status in every three months, as these foreign companies are listed on bourses.
Grameenphone, the largest private cell phone operator, is already listed on Bangladesh's two stock exchanges. Grameen's parent company Telenor's shares are on trade in Norway.
Orascom, the owning company of Banglalink, Telekom Malaysia, AKTEL's majority share holder, and SingTel, Citycell's shareholder, are also listed in their own countries.
Bharti Airtel, which recently acquired Warid's 70 percent stake, is also listed in India.
Industry insiders think mistrust between the commission and the operators has resulted in the new move of the regulator. They also pointed out that BTRC faces a dearth of manpower to examine activities of the operators.
Urging the operators not to take the new step negatively, the BTRC officials cited India among some countries where such auditing practices exist.
India's Department of Telecommunications has ordered special audits of Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance Communications Ltd. and three other telecom companies on complaints of misreporting revenue, according to media reports.
The local telecom sector has so far contributed Tk 20,000 crore against its Tk 30,000 crore investment by the end of 2009.
Operators welcomed the regulator's move.
Zakiul Islam, president of the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators Bangladesh, said, "We are ready to cooperate with any audit team. We have detail reports on what we are doing."
Bangladesh's telecom subscription reached 53 million at the end of December 2009. Mobile operators are dominating the market with having 52.43 million customers, while the landline ones are serving 1.6 million
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