ICE Business Times, March 2016

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a global business magazine from bangladesh

TIMES

march 2016

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TK. 100 | www.icebusinesstimes.net

Lamiya Mo rsh ed

alma Kha dor S n ssa a b m

Rounaq Jahan sor s fe ro

reen Fatema A Nas wa l

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Rubana Hu q

S. Zaman min a h ha

Economy

The Hype, the Hope And The Changing Landscape

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am Az

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Padma Bridge

Hu ma ir

What Makes Us Happy and Why

i Khanam mod m a oh Neela Ho sna Ar a

Apparel Industry

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD Inside Shasha Denim: A Photo Story

msunnahar Sha

TRAILBLAZING WOMEN TELL US ABOUT THEIR RELENTLESS EFFORTS TO CreaTE A BALANCE

Contents TIMES

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From the Editor Around the World by Numbers

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Vision Statement from Ambassador Salma Khan

Interviews 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52

Professor Rounaq Jahan Shahamin S. Zaman Rubana Huq Nasreen Fatema Awal Mohammodi Khanam Neela Hosna Ara Lamiya Morshed Shamsunnahar

Word of Mouth A diligent worker from one of DBL’s factories

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State of Affairs 1st Annual Sanem Conference 2016 Information Technology Trade and Commerce Banking Corner

a global business magazine from bangladesh

TIMES

Vol. 6 No. 7 | March 2016

Contents TIMES

Publisher & Editor Director, International Publications Executive Director Managing Editor Assistant Editor Sub Editor Staff Feature Writer Designer Business Development Brand Promotion Finance & Accounts Sales & Distribution

Shasha Denim Photostory

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Denim Dream Comes True

Features 24 30 34 54 58 62 72 74 76 89 90 94

In the Loop: Port Progression Turning a New Page CEO’s Guide to Gender Equality Women in Banking Success Through Commercial Aquaculture Inside Out: Prospects of Padma Citi N.A: An Equal Opportunity Provider for Women The Economics of Contentment Deciphering Leaders A Redefined Lense Tech: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Capital Market Update

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Abul Khair Zeenat Chowdhury Nawshin Khair Tawhidur Rashid Irad Mustafa Shaikh Ashfaque Zaman Asaduzzaman Sk. Yeahhia Md. Nizam Uddin Forhad Mohammad Imran Lamina Yeasmin Effat Ara Laizu Md. Abdul Alim Md. Nazrul Islam Md. Rubel Khan

This issue’s Photographs by Din M Shibly Ashraf Uddin Apu Kazi Mukul Hossain Tuhel Safwat Choudhury Gani

Editorial & Marketing Queries editor@icebusinesstimes.net, or send us a note at www.facebook.com/icebusinesstimes www.twitter.com/BusinessTimesBD

Be sure to visit our website www.icebusinesstimes.net

Published by Abul Khair on behalf of ICE Media Limited Kushal Centre, Plot 29, Sector 3, Uttara C/A, Dhaka- 1230 and printed at M.K. Printers,189/1, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208 Editorial and Commercial office: 3rd Floor, House: 4, Block: B, Road: 23 A, Banani, Dhaka 1213 Advertising, Sales, Subscription and Distribution: 01812656961, 01715732425, 01759391168, 01850824294, 01881925963, 01881925962, 01611227676 Tel: 02 55035336-8, 09666773313 Rejoinder: In last two issues, we have used photographs photographs from Chittagong by Samiul Wares.

FROM THE EDITOR Numbers are gender neutral, yet they speak volumes about the gap between men and women.

The Mckinsey Quarterly sites that trillions of dollars in growth can be added in the following decade if we progress towards gender equality. With a population of 16 million, 50% of which are females, reaching our true potential is reliant on nonpartisan treatment towards the numbers.

Bangladesh has very few women in high-ranking positions throughout each sector. The difference in the presence of men and women are definitively apparent. The World Economic Forum has ranked us 68th out of 142 countries in regards to gender equality. We take pride in the women who have fought against the odds in order to secure their position. However, transcending this mindset to all men and women is the true challenge.

We must cultivate a society which can come to the realization that their sisters, daughters and mothers are not simply homemakers but also the shapers of a better tomorrow. Gender equality is the prerequisite to a flourishing economy along with the reduction in poverty and provision for sustainable development. We must educate each and every household to engrain in them the idea that their children are equal investments to society.

Gender is not a threshold to the potential of an individual.

The United Nations has observed March 8th as International Women’s Day since 1975, with this year’s theme being “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality.” It was a vision that Ambassador Salma Khan penned in her book, “The Fifty Percent”, in 1988. In the book, she elaborated the necessity to recognize the contribution of women in economic development.

When she entered the field, she witnessed that their contributions were not even considered as part of the larger economic scenario. Throughout the decades the written words of her book have become somewhat of a reality but there is a need for further progression. In her time, she created a ripple in the corporate front with the contributions of other women as well as herself. Now is an era for women to create a tide of advancement from that ripple.

/ Word of Mouth / State of Affairs

The newly appointed Ambassador of Qatar H.E. Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Dehaimi paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's office recently

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the final match of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup Football Tournament 2015

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the Graduation Ceremony of DSCSC Courses 2015-2016 at Sheikh Hasina Complex, DSCSC, Mirpur Cantt 18-02-16

The three British lawmakers—Sir Keir Starmer, Stephen Timms and Steve Reed met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Parliament office with other eight members under the banner of Labour Friends of Bangladesh.

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina among the winners of Ekushey Padak 2016 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the 36th National Rally 2016 of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) at Ansar-VDP Academy at Shafipur

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated interactive multimedia digital content for primary education at a function at her Tejgaon office

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the BCS Women's Network event

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/ Word of Mouth / Economy

SANEM’s 1st Annual Economists’ Conference 2016 Held South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) organized its first Annual Economists’ Conference 2016 on “Bangladesh: Way towards a Middle Income Country” that was held on 20th February, 2016 at BRAC Centre Inn, Mohakhali, Dhaka. Eminent Economist Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud and Chief Economist, South Asia, The World Bank, Dr. Martin Rama adorned the event as keynote speakers. Mr. Christian Tardif (Representative of the High Commission of Canada in Bangladesh) and Dr. Stuart Davies (Senior Economic Adviser, DFID, Bangladesh) provided special remarks during the inaugural session. Professor Bazlul Haque Khondker (Chairman, SANEM) was the chair for the inaugural session. Renowned economists from home and abroad were present during the daylong event. The conference focused on four distinct themes including “Economic Growth”, “Poverty and Human Development”, “Sectoral Economy” and “Trade and Regional Integration”. The launching of the pioneering book on “Structural Change and Dynamics of Labor Markets in Bangladesh: Studies on Labor and Employment took place during the conference. Dr. Selim Raihan (Executive Director, SANEM) was the convener of the conference.

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/ International

Around the World by Numbers 2640 Megawatt Sembcorp Industries launched a 2640 megawatt power complex worth $3 billion in Nellore to provide essential long term power solutions required for the economic growth of India.

32%

255 Million Turkish Lira

Berkshire Hathaway Inc, the conglomerate controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett, said fourth quarter profits climbed 32% on investments and earnings from the company’s expanding stable operating businesses.

$3.23 trillion China still owns the world's largest currency reserves, but it’s being depleted at an alarming rate. Foreign exchange reserves in China declined $99.5 billion in January to $3.23 trillion, following a record fall the previous month, and have shrunk by $762 billion since mid-2014, more than the gross domestic product of Switzerland.

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4.3%

Saudi inflation soared to a five-year high in January after the kingdom made unprecedented cuts to public subsidies and raised fuel prices. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which reflects movements in the cost of living, rose 4.3% in January compared with the same month a year earlier.

Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu announced a multi-million-dollar aid package for the country's struggling tourism industry which is going through a crisis period because of security concerns. Davutoglu said that a total of 255 million Turkish lira ($86.5 million) in financial aid would be given to Turkish tourist agencies while there would also be measures to help firms restructure debt.

$120 million

A US appeals court overturned a $120 million jury verdict against Samsung, finally handing the South Korean smartphone maker a significant win in its longstanding patent feud with top rival Apple.

/ Word of Mouth / Information Technology

Radisson Blu Chittagong Bay View was awarded “New Hotel of the Year 2015�. Geir Sikko, General Manager (center) is holding the award at the Carlson Rezidor Asia Pacific award ceremony.

Mahbubul Alam, President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry along with the President and Vice President of Dutch Bangla Chamber of Commerce & Industry in an idea sharing session

State Minister for the ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP annoouncing the programing contest.

Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, Chief Operating Officer (COO) ROBI was also present at the event

Green University Observed International Mother Language Day-2016

In a bid to enrich the construction industry, a three day International Building and Construction Technology and Power Sourcing Expo held in Dhaka

The Westin Dhaka introduces a tantalizing live BBQ buffet dinner at Splash every Thursday from 6.30 pm till 11.30 pm. Delicious lamb-chops, juicy sirloin steaks and king prawns can all be found at the live BBQ

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/ Word of Mouth / Trade & Commerce

Apparel Industry

ASROTEX Group’S corporate night

ASROTEX Group, one of country’s top knitwear manufacturer and exporters held their ‘Corporate Night’ recently at a hotel in Dhaka.

ASROTEX Group was founded as a privately held family business in 1995 and specialized in manufacturing all knitted garments. They are among of the leading vertically integrated knitwear manufacturers and exporters in Bangladesh. Their activity is highly motivated by their passion for fast fashion and the willingness to meet clients’ and partners’ requirements.

Over the years, ASROTEX emerged as one of the leading conglomerates of the country with substantial growth. Today, ASROTEX is one of the major exporters of RMG to different destinations across the globe.

ASROTEX has been maintaining its status as one of the largest sources of foreign exchange in the RMG sector and a proud recipient of the National Export Trophy for 2011.

Asadul Islam, Managing Director of Asrotex Group said, “Our commitment to business ethics has earned us enormous trust. We are building on this by creating world‐class products and surpassing our customers’ expectations. We do this through leadership in sectors of national economic significance, to which the group brings a unique set of capabilities. Our commitment is to help clients and customers to find their ideal products.”

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Automotive Industry

Showcasing Motorcycle

TVS Auto Bangladesh presented a ‘Blockbuster Launching’ of motorcycle to its customers of Bangladesh recently in Dhaka with 6 latest new generation motorcycles.

J. Ekram Hossain, Managing Director, TVS Auto Bangladesh inaugurated this Blockbuster Launching event. Among others, Biplob Kumar Roy, Head of Operations; Mrigen Banerjee, 2-Wheeler Business Head; Atiqur Rahman, National Sales Manager; and Ashraful Hassan, Marketing Manager of TVS Auto Bangladesh Ltd. were present in the launching ceremony. Kollol Chowdhury, SVP, TVS & Sons; Auro Ashish Chowdhury, GM, TVS Motor Company Ltd.; Rajik Farid, Country Manager; S. P. Krishna Kumar, Senior Manager and other high officials from TVS Auto Bangladesh Ltd. were also present in the launching ceremony. Since 2007 TVS Auto Bangladesh has been assembling and marketing all TVS range of two wheelers & three wheelers in Bangladesh. With the pace of time, the rising demand for Motorcycles and purchasing capacity of the people, TVS Auto Bangladesh has been presenting range of Motorcycles of TVS brand. This blockbuster launching event is a part of the “TVS Utshob” which continued throughout the month of February 2016.

/ Word of Mouth / Trade & Commerce

Hospitality Industry

Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden commemorates its 10th birthday on 11th February, 2016.

As one of the very first international hotels, it has remained true to its passion of providing the ultimate five star hotel experiences for city dwellers, in addition to guests from all across the globe.

The hotel has experienced a solid run of achievements consistently during its prolific journey over the last decade, being elevated from ‘Radisson Green’ (up market full service hotel) to the premium ‘Blu’ (upper up market full service hotel) brand in a short span of 5 years.

As a gesture of unending appreciation for its loyal patrons, the hotel will provide an exclusive opportunity for all its guests to reap a reward of 10% discount on all its restaurant outlets.

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Banking Industry

11th Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards

Seeking Applications for Different Categories

As part of Citi’s ongoing commitment to the field of microfinance, the Citi Foundation will continue its support of the Microentrepreneurship Awards program again this year, highlighting the achievements of some of the most innovative microentrepreneurs in Bangladesh said a press release of Citi Foundation. This year, the Citi Foundation is committing $3,000,000 to the program where globally, the awards will take place in 30 countries including Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.

The 11th CMA in Bangladesh is being jointly organized by SAJIDA Foundation, a well-known MFI in Bangladesh, and Citibank N.A. Bangladesh, with the strategic partnership of the Credit and Development Forum (CDF). The goal of the program is to promote microentrepreneurs and increase awareness of their financial needs, in what is broadly known as “microfinance.” More importantly, the aim of this initiative is to put the spotlight on local microentrepreneurs who are helping to lift the economic fortunes of their communities, generating greater opportunities to bring capital into their developing economies.

Applications are now open for successful microentrepreneurs through MFIs, Banks and Non-Banking Financial Institutions. There will be two regional meetings held at SKS Conference Hall Gaibandhaatat 9:30am on January 30, 2016 and at Comilla BARD Auditorium 2 at 9:30 am on February 4, 2016.

Participating microentrepreneurs will present their business successes to microfinance experts and leaders from the public, private and academic sectors.

The competition and judging process will continue through April when the winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in Dhaka.

Prizes will be awarded in categories ranging from (a) Best Microentrepreneur of the Year – Tk 450,000 only (b) Best Agricultural Microentrepreneur of the Year – Tk 350,000 only (c) Best Women Microentrepreneur of the Year – Tk 350, 000 only (d) Best MFI of the Year – Tk 300,000 only (e) Most Innovative MFI of the Year – Tk 400,000 only Also, runner-up of Best Microentrepreneur of the year; Best Agricultural Microentrepreneur, Best Women Microentrepreneur of each category will receive Tk 100,000 only as prize money.

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/ Word of Mouth / Information Technology

NASA Space Apps Challenge Competition 2016

Bangladeshis will Make Their Mark on Space Technology: BASIS President For the second consecutive year, world’s largest hackathon competition “NASA Space Apps Challenge 2016” organized by USA’s space agency NASA is coming to Bangladesh. Along with over hundred cities around the world, the competition is going to be held on April 22nd-24th in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. The winners at the divisional levels will get the opportunity to participate in the final. Like the last year Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) is the local host of the event.

A meet the press was organized to brief about this year’s NASA Space Apps Challenge competition at the BASIS Auditorium on Monday.

Shameem Ahsan, BASIS President and FBCCI Director presided over the press conference. Ariful Hasan Opu, BASIS Director and Convener

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of NASA Space Apps Challenge 2016; Tarique M. Barkatullah, Deputy Project Director, LICT; Afroz Al Mamun, Founder & CEO, NASA Camp Ambassador; M. Ashraful Amin, Associate Professor, Independent University Bangladesh; Md. Monowar Hossain Khan, COO, Bagdoom.com and Muhammad Shahin, Founder & CEO, pbazaar.com spoke at the conference. Russell T Ahmed, BASIS Senior Vice President; M Rashidul Hasan, BASIS Vice President; Md. Ashraful Haque, Sr. Liaison Officer, Chittagong Independent University and representatives of the partner organizations of the competition were present on the occasion.

BASIS President and FBCCI Director Shameem Ahsan said, “We are delighted to be organizing the global competition for the second year in a row. We hope to get

solutions to global challenges involving information technology and science though this challenge.” It will open the door to employment and engagement in NASA and other international agencies for Bangladeshis. Someday technologies invented by Bangladeshis will be used on mars, moon and in space.

Ariful Hasan Opu, BASIS Director and Convener of the NASA Space Apps Challenge 2016 said, “This year, boot camps will be organized in a large scale in three divisions of the country. Two teams from each; six teams will be selected from these divisions to compete at the final challenge in NASA. Besides, BASIS will award selected participants with certificates.”

To spread this competition country-wide BASIS Students’ Forum will organize seminars in 100 universities of 64 districts. The participants will be mentored by the leading mentors of the country.

This year Space Apps participants will create solutions to mission-related challenges broken into six categories: Aeronautics, International Space Station, Solar System & Beyond, Technology, Earth and the Journey to Mars. The participants will be able to take part in this challenge by registering alone or with a team.

The registration can be done online by visiting http://studentsforum.basis.org .bd/ before March 20, 2016. To know details about the competition visit http://spaceappschallenge.org.

The competition will be supported by BASIS Students’ Forum and CloudCamp Bangladesh; and sponsored by Pbazaar.com and Bagdoom.com. Academic partners are Rajshahi University, Independent University of Bangladesh and Chittagong Independent University.

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Port Progression / In The Loop / Chittagong

By Asaduzzaman

T he World Trade Center (WTC) in Agrabad is an initiative built by the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI). The twenty one storied building was built to serve as one of the nerve centers of Bangladesh’s trading operations with its conference and trading facilities. The CCCI started their five day centennial celebrations part of which

was the inauguration of the WTC on the 30th of January by the honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Businessmen from around the country as well as foreign dignitaries also attended the event. The Tk. 200 crore project aims at bringing various business opportunities together, under one roof. The Trade Centre will be equipped with modern facilities which mean people there will have access to banks, exhibition halls, a shopping mall, a food court, conference rooms, health clubs, banquet halls, recreational facilities and a 4-star hotel.

As another part of the CCCI’s five day program, an international trade

conference was held at the Radisson Blu Chittagong on the 31st of January, dubbed ‘The Bay of Bengal Growth Triangle and the Maritimes Silk Routes- (One Belt, One Road Initiative) Complementing Vision20121’. President of the CCCI and Vice President of the FBCCI, MahbubulAlam moderated the session. The chief guest was the Planning Minister, AHM Mustafa Kamal who emphasized the need to refine skills and be more knowledgeable regarding global competency.The keynote speaker -

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Photo Caption:

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The guests and dignitaries are seen during the Tourism Summit where amongst others the Mayor of Chittagong City Corporation, A J M Nasir Uddin was also present

Shipping Minister, M Shajahan Khan , MP visited the Tourism Summit on the last day of the 5 day centennial program of CCCI

President of Bangladesh Employer’s Federation and Managing Director and CEO of AK Khan & Company Limited, Salauddin Kasem Khan, presented a paper. He addressed importance of investments in Dhaka, the Chittagong Economic corridor, high-speed rail and Toll rail/highways linking trans-Asian highways to Myanmar and beyond. He also spoke of refining managerial skills in collaboration with educational institutes in Canada and the EU.The paper went on to discuss the development of tourism in Cox’s Bazar and the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Other prominent guest at the event included the Canadian High Commissioner, Benoît-Pierre Laramée; CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Abrar A Anwar; Deputy Country Director of

ADB, Oleg Tonkonojenkov; Senior Vice President FBCCI, Shaiful Islam (Mohiuddin) and the President of Bengal Chamber of Commerce, Sutanu Ghosh.

The Canadian High Commissioner, Benoît-Pierre Laramée commented postulating that Bangladesh would be able to reach its goals if the country develops infrastructure, workforce and the power sector. It is also important that Bangladeshi products are receiving duty-free entry into Canada.

CEO of SCB, Abrar A Anwar Chief discussed how 111 years back Standard Chartered Bank started its operations from Chittagong. He spoke about how the GDP growth of Bangladesh is quite impressive and how more financing will be required in areas such as

infrastructure for the greater good of the nation.

Deputy Country Director of ADB, Oleg Tonkonojenkov explained how the ADB is very keen on working with the development ofthe Chittagong Economic Corridor and the power plant at Materbari.

During the latter half of the daya Youth Conference was also held in the Radisson Blu Chittagong. The Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, Obaidul Quader, termed the youth as the brand ambassadors of the country’s future and urged them to use their creativity to help the country move forward.

Editor and Publisher of the Daily Star, Mahfuz Anam was the special guest and moderator.

He postulated that the youth should learn English and other languagesas multilingualism will allow them to be better prepared for the global platform. CCCI President, Mahbubul Alam stated that the country’s youth are its most important resource which we have to make the best use of. Other prominent guests included Former Principal Secretary, Abdul Karim; President of the CCCI, Mahbubul Alam, President of Sri Lankan Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Sarath Premature Kahalarachchi; Former-President of the CCCI, MA Latif and the MP and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Power and Energy, Tajul Islam.

The CCCI’s five day program concluded with an International Tourism Summit which was held in Rangamati on the 1st of February.

Chief Guest, Shipping Minister, Shahjahan Khan emphasized the growth of tourism as a window of opportunity in the future. Other prominent guests who had also spoken at the event included former CCCI President MA Latif; CCCI President, Mahbubul Alam and the Egyptian Ambassador to Bangladesh, Mahmoud Ezzat.

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Photo Caption: A H M Mustafa Kamal is seen gracing the International Seminar arranged by the CCCI, where panelist such as Abrar A Anawar, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank; Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin), Senior Vice President, FBCCI; key note speaker, Salauddin Kasem Khan; Moderator and President CCCI Mahabubul Alam; Canadian High Commissioner in Bangladesh, Benoît-Pierre Laramée and President of Bengal Chamber of Commerce, Sutanu Ghosh were also present

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Al-Haj Sufi Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Chairman of PHPH group and other guests and dignitaries are seen in the high end seminar titled ‘The Bay of Bengal Growth Triangle and the Maritimes Silk Routes- (One Belt, One Road Initiative) Complementing Vision2021’ held in Radisson Blu Chittagong Bay View

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/ Word of Mouth / Banking Corner

Honorable Ambassador of UAE H.E. Dr. Saeed Bin Hajar Al-Shehi called on the Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman recently at his office

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman welcomed the Deputy Governors of Bangladesh Bank after their re-recruitment was completed

Dutch-Bangla Bank recently launched Virtual Card individual apps developers and programmers.

Sayem Ahmed, Chairman of Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd.; KS Tabrez, Managing Director of Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd. and BASIS Director, Suny Md. Ashraf Khan spoke at the conference presided by BASIS President and FBCCI Director Shameem Ahsan

Southeast Bank Foundation disbursed scholarships to organize the Higher Secondary and Graduation level meritorious students coming from poor families for the disbursement of scholarships

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Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman giving his speech in the launching ceremony of ‘Green Banking for Energy Sustainable Economy’, jointly organized

by BIBM, GIZ and Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA)

NRB Bank Limited and Bangladesh Election Commission has signed an agreement recently to enable Identity verification services from EC which will authenticate individuals and ensure transparent financial transactions

Jamuna Bank Limited and Election Commission Bangladesh signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently for verification of NID information of the clients using the database of Election Commission at the Election Commission office. A.K.M. Saifuddin Ahamed, Deputy Managing Director of Jamuna Bank Ltd. and Syed Mohammad Musa, Director (Operations) of National Identity Registration Wing of the Commission inked the MoU

BRAC Bank Limited launched a Women’s Forum titled “Tara” for facilitating career development and professional excellence through sharing of experience and networking among women bankers of the bank. With more than 1,150 members, Tara is the largest private sector women bankers’ network in the country

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Financial Intelligence Unit of Bangladesh Bank signed a MoU in Monaco to prevent money laundering and terror financing in countries like Nigeria, Lebanon and Kazakhstan

BRAC Bank Limited made a contribution to the Law and Order Coordination Committee to bring Gulshan, Banani, Niketan and Baridhara areas under CCTV security.

Selim R. F. Hussain, Managing Director and CEO, BRAC Bank Limited, handed a check for Tk. 2.5 million to Annisul Huq, mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation, in a ceremony held in the city on February 23

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman delivered his keynote speech on Role of Central Banks in Promoting South Asian Economic Cooperation at the 2nd International Conference on South Asian Economic

Dhaka Bank Limited has formally inaugurated its 85th Branch at Kamarpara, Tangi, Dhaka. Mr. Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO of the Bank formally inaugurated the Branch

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/ Feature/Agent Banking

Turning a New Page IBT Report

The Bahoratoil Union is one of eight unions of Sakhipur Upazila of Tangail District. It is a quiet and out of reach area where inhabitants are deprived of services like banking and have to travel to Sakhipur to avail them.

The rate of education is also inadequate and options of livelihood are limited. The only thing the locality can boast about is a large number of migrant workers.

As such, banking is quite an unknown word for the people of this locality. Since the introduction of the new banking system, Agent Banking by Modhumoti Bank on 4th February 2016 at the UDC (Union Development Center), the people of the locality have discovered a host of new services which were previously alien to them.

This new innovative approach already amused the local people with hosts of services like agri-loan, SME funding and direct contact with growers.

Agent Banking is a new sort of banking for netting the unbanked population providing them with basic

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banking and financial services. This type of banking has already made its way into the Latin America. In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Bank has endorsed the Agent Banking policy and Modhumoti Bank is one of the private banks that have been able to stand out as the pioneer in this sector.

The Managing Director and CEO of Modhumoti Bank Md. Mizanur Rahman told ICE Business Times, “We have the vision to change the notion regarding Agent Banking by introducing digital methods.” According to him, the idea will come to fruition with the help of smart technologies.

Empowering the people with the benefits of the digital platform already available in their area will be greatly helpful. Rahman also emphasized that Modhumoti Bank’s digital banking is a new model of financial inclusion in Bangladesh to reach the unbanked segment of the society as well as existing bank customers with a range of financial services, especially in

geographically dispersed locations.

He expresses his gratefulness to A2I for allowing them to use their UDCs with all the necessary equipment and as a result, the entrepreneurs are incurring lower expenses to implement Agent Banking in their UDCs and 24/7 Call Centers. Close monitoring of Agent Points, well-managed Operating Procedure and a very simple process of opening accounts in the Digital Points are the key role players of their success in implementing Agent Banking. “At this point, we are offering services like account opening, cash deposit, cash withdrawal, remittance payment, utility bills payment, fund transfer, etc. In the next phase, we are planning to distribute Social Safety Net Payments and other G2P payments through our Digital Points.”

Since banks follow stringent regulations when it comes to transactions, KYC is critical.

Keeping that mind, Modhumoti Bank has arranged biometric devices to leverage its services for those who cannot sign. In the meantime, 600 accounts are already opened with a minimum deposit of Tk. 10.

Anwar Hossain, in charge at the Center told ICE Business Times that members of remittances earners’ families and farmers for DPS are their targeted clients. “A

Md. Mizanur Rahman

Managing Director & CEO Modhumoti Bank Limited

large number of women are also interested in opening an account. Since the people of this area had bitter experiences dealing with some NGOs, finding easy going banking services encouraged them to be associated with it.”

The agent and operation people told ICE Business Times that people are amazed to see such easy ways of banking. There are long queues in front of the centers even on the second half of the day. There is also an option for obtaining widow allowances and old age benefits from this account. Therefore, it is a new path for the people and relieves them from the burden of waiting in the gate for simple services.

One copy of an individual’s National ID card and biometric devices are being used to open the accounts.

The software for cash in and cash out process had also been updated.

Vision Statement

The Fifty Percent

Ambassador Salma Khan

Ambassador Salma Khan is a women’s rights activist at home and human rights practitioner on an international level. She is the founder chairperson of the NGO Coalition on Beijing Process (NCBP). She was the Asian woman to be elected as a Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in which she served for three terms, starting in 1992. She is accredited with the initiation of Women’s Wing of the National Planning Commission and the Five Year Development Plans of Bangladesh. She has served as the Division Chief of the Macro Economics Division and Planning Commission, Director General of the Bangladesh Institute of Management, and as an Economics Professor in Chittagong University. She is the recipient of numerous accolades including the Gold Medal of the Asiatic Society, the Ananya Top Ten Award and the Rotary International Jean Harris Award.

The Ambassador's professional work and publications have focused on economics as well as women, children, labor, and non-governmental organizations.

In 2006, she became her country’s Ambassador to Indonesia.

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D

uring my youth, I used to cycle down through Topkhana road oblivious to what a great privilege it was at the time. I lost my father when I was three years old, as the youngest of seven children. My mother raised us in a household with an open environment which meant I was unaware of the inferior portrayal of women in our societies at the time. A strong emphasis was put on education by my mother during my upbringing. After obtaining a degree in Economics from Dhaka University in 1961, I had traveled to the U.S.A. for my Masters. Upon my return in 1967, I was appointed as the Chairman of the Economics Department at Chittagong University in 1971.

After joining the workforce, the stark realities of being a woman were brought to my attention. As I was teaching my classes about poverty and the necessity for agricultural development, it had come to my attention that women were not even considered when the matter of economics and developmental issues were being discussed. It had come to my attention that no one had addressed the conditions of our public finance and development economy with regards to the contribution of women. In 1975, I moved to Dhaka because my husband’s work required him to be stationed there. I had reached a point in my career where it would be necessary to choose a path for my future. I realized that continuing with my teaching profession would not lead to the changes I wanted to see in regards to women’s development. Before leaving for Dhaka, Dr. Yunus came to Bangladesh and was working in the Jobra village near Chittagong University. I handed over my Chairmanship to him but being introduced to him and hearing about his ideas inspired me to take an initiative for the change that I wanted to see. I wanted a role which would allow me to help in the decision-making processes which would help with the development of women in our country. Once settled in Dhaka, I joined the Planning Commission upon Dr. M.N. Huda’s request. There we prepared the Second Five Year Plan. Simultaneously, there were two defining moments for women; the Women’s Ministry was created in 1978, and Dr. Amina Rahman was the Minister.

Initially, I had joined the Planning Commission as the Deputy Chief of the Social Welfare. Many women including

myself felt the need for a separate entity that would focus solely on women’s issues. My dream had come true when a separate cell was created for women which I was to be in charge of. At this time, I had the tools and data to write a book, however, this seemed rather implausible due to the circumstances then and would not become a reality until much later.

The first world conference on the status of women was convened in Mexico City in 1975. It was called by the United Nations General Assembly to focus international attention on the need to develop effective strategies and plans of action for the advancement of women. In 1979, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which was often described as an international bill of rights for women. Following this, UNICEF invited the Planning Commission to the UN debate on Women’s Empowerment in Copenhagen. The Planning Commission wanted me to write a paper regarding this matter in the context of our country; this was quite an exciting opportunity because it was what I had wanted to advocate. I had accompanied the Minister to this conference, and this is where I came to know of CEDAW. It became a major platform and motivation for me to vigorously continue my endeavor to write a book on women and their contribution to the overall economic development of a nation. My book ‘The Fifty Percent: Women in Development and Policy in Bangladesh” was published in 1987 although I had finished writing it a lot

earlier. When it was published, there had been no other texts regarding this matter, and it remains one of the most significant hallmarks of my life. With each year of the Five-Year Plans that have been set into motion after I have joined, there has been a significant degree of progress recognizing women for their participation in development.

Women have made distinguishable progress in the last few decades, especially in the 1990s. I recall the CEDAW and Millennium Development Goal conference in 1995, where Bangladesh was one of the only nations in which NGOs, such as BRAC and Grameen were collaborating with the public sector to alleviate poverty, create health immunization prospects and provide micro-credit loans. Women are currently employed in every sector, but they do not have equal access to productive, economic or land resources. Today, 70% of women do not own land and the implementation of the inheritance laws further detriments their economic status. It is alarming to learn that a large portion of the female population is still subjected to violence from their relatives. We need to create a curriculum that teaches parents to value girls having the same capabilities as boys for a real sense of progress to occur. There is a significant amount of women that are subjected to unpaid labor, leaving their contributions discredited.

Equality is an on-going battle that I will continue to advocate. It is one of the most prominent instruments through which our country will reach its real potential.

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/ Gender Equality / Mckinsey Quarterly

A CEO’s Guide to Gender Equality

By Raiyan Rumman

Gender equality is yet to be ensured in most societies. When referring to organizational culture, the situation is even worse. Worldwide, leaders are now well concerned about the issue. Recently, initiatives like “HeForShe” by the UN Women Solidarity Movement For Gender Equality has brought even the male leaders, under the same umbrella to push for gender equality.

This write-up basically serves as a concise overview of the report named ‘A CEO’s Guide to Gender Equality’ which was published in McKinsey Quarterly earlier in November 2015.

Divided into three parts, the report tried to portray the promises of gender equality, the difficulties to achieve it and the solution for it. “Progressive executives know that gender equality is not only the right thing to do but also the smart thing,” highlights the report, “That’s why more CEOs, heads of state, and university leaders are committing themselves to gender-equality goals for the institutions they lead.”

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The Promise of Gender Equality

Gender equality is not only an issue of fairness these days but also, for companies, a matter of attracting the best workers, at least, half of whom are women. There is also considerable economic value at stake for companies and nations. A new study by the McKinsey Global Institute finds that the world economy could add trillions of dollars to its growth during the next ten years if countries met best-in-region scores for improving women’s participation in labor forces.

The Difficulty

Gender equality is not that easy of a task to ensure in companies around the globe. We hardly see a healthy representation of women in the higher level positions of organizations.

In the corporate pipeline, the more it proceeds towards senior level posts, the tinier the ratio appears.

One of the leading reasons behind this failure of achieving gender equality is unconscious bias. As asked for an opinion on this issue, film actress Geena Davis told McKinsey that it results, in part, from lopsided male representation in television and film—a long-standing trend observed by the Institute on Gender in Media

that she founded.

The report places perception gap as another obstacle; McKinsey research on diversity shows that fewer men than women acknowledge the challenges faced by female employees at work. For instance, when asked whether “even with equal skills and qualifications, women have much more difficulty reaching top management positions,” the gender divide was quite striking. 93% of women agreed with the statement, but just 58% of men, while just 5% of women disagreed with the statement, some 28% of men did.

Facebook chief operating officer and Lean In founder Sheryl Sandberg talked about the difference in appreciation by general people, towards women

while doing the same good thing. “Think of a career like a marathon,” says Sheryl, “What voices do the men hear from the beginning?

‘You’ve got this - Keep going - Great race ahead of you.’

What do the women hear from day one out of college?

‘You sure you want to run?

Marathon’s really long.

You’re probably not going to want to finish. Don’t you want kids one day?”

The Solution

The report ends with four pieces of suggestions for the top executives. Firstly, top executives must get committed with the goal of reducing gender inequality.

Gender equality was a top-ten strategic priority for only 28 percent of companies in 2010 when a third didn’t have it on the strategic agenda at all.

However, the situation improved somewhat by 2015, but there’s still a long way to go.

Secondly, as the report advises, top executives have got to broaden their action horizon. McKinsey research shows that gender equality requires executives to intervene across a broad range of factors, setting in motion disparate resources and people for years at a time. The focus of these interventions must be to help women become better leaders—and to design conditions under which they can be so. Crucial aspects include sponsoring (and not just mentoring) women, neutralizing the effects of maternity leaves on career advancement and wage increases.

Later, the report suggests holding challenging conversations. Companies that make progress tend to hold a series of challenging conversations about gender issues among their executive teams.

Lastly, companies should sweat the small stuff, the report insists. Ian Narev, CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, notes that gender equality requires a bias for action.

He says, “I like focusing on processes because it helps us get past any ‘warm and fuzzy’ elements of diversity and into action levers.”

Are we improving the gender equality condition in the corporate world? Present trends may not be encouraging, but greater commitment from CEOs, combined with a willingness to stay the course on big transformational-change projects, could help finally resolve an issue that’s long overdue for fixing.

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/ Cover Story

Powerhouse of Inspiration Alice Walker, the American novelist, stated, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” This month’s issue illustrates the profound change that women can possess if they utilize the power that is already theirs. They have made their way up the corporate ladder, set up new businesses and organized others under one umbrella for a common cause. They have not just established themselves as successful women but powerhouses of inspirations. The notion of equality needs to become a reality, in which men and women are uniform contributors of economic and development activities in a society. Read on to be enlightened about these achievers.

/ Interview/Policy Making

The Balancing Act

Professor Rounaq Jahan is a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh. She obtained her Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University, USA in 1970. She has worked as a Professor of Political Science at Dhaka University, a Coordinator of the Women’s Program at the UN Asia-Pacific Development Center (UNAPDC) Kuala Lumpur, and the Head of the Program on Rural Women at the International Labor Office (ILO), Geneva. Professor Rounaq is the founder President of Women for Women, a board member of Research Initiative, Bangladesh (RIB) and a member of the advisory board of the Human Rights Watch: Asia. She has some internationally acclaimed publications. She was also the recipient of the Radcliffe Institute Graduate Society Award of Harvard University in 2008.

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Q Throughout your career as a social scientist, you have observed the dynamics of women in society; what is your opinion of the drastic change they have achieved in Bangladesh?

In Bangladesh women had made steady progress since independence. Many factors and many players contributed to this shift. I believe the achievement of women stems from the Liberation War of 1971.

During that time women and men had to take many decisions on their own; they took on initiatives which they had never thought of before. During and after the war, women realized that their traditional roles, such as being confined inside their households and depending on men for livelihood and protection, were no longer applicable.

Many men died or deserted their wives leaving women vulnerable. With the extensive losses during the crisis, social dynamics and norms drastically changed; and it became easier to break down traditional social structures and practices. The non-government initiatives

such as BRAC, Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) and Grameen Bank played a very significant catalytic role in the progress of women.

They recognized women’s critical economic and social roles and started women-centered programs.

The microfinance loans allowed women in rural areas to venture into economic activities. By mobilizing women to hold weekly meetings regarding financial matters, these initiatives instilled a sense of solidarity amongst women.

This solidarity created a support system in the community for women to undertake non-traditional roles. Successive governments were also committed to women’s empowerment and initiated many programs in partnership with NGOs, particularly in social sectors, such as health, family planning, and education.

These factors had a major impact on improving women’s health, well-being, and economic opportunities.

Our continued progress will need collaborative efforts by women and men and government and NGOs.

What is your outlook regarding this transitional phase we are going through?

Transition always has positive as well as negative aspects. On the positive side, this change has ushered in a necessity for education amongst a wider population, in which education has become a priority that is not exclusively for the wealthy. It has also allowed for an absolute sense of decision-making for women.

On the other hand, it has also led to a materialistic consumerism culture. This is

apparent in many aspects of our cultural practices today.

For example, these days we celebrate our various festivals in a more opulent manner than we did in the past.

The secular trend amongst Bengalis has created an Eastern Bengali agrarian society that does not have a caste system. Do you believe that there is a separation of classes?

In India, you will see the presence of a caste system, and in Pakistan, the prevalence of traditional feudal lords is remarkable.

We do not have such systems or customs that conforms to that kind of rigidity. Through education and income people have been able to move up the social ladder more quickly. Nevertheless, there is a separation of wealth and income which exists in most societies. What is alarming is that wealth and income inequality is increasing. If this trend of inequality is allowed to grow unchecked, then, in the future we will not have opportunities for easy upward social movements.

Traditionally political bodies would consist of military regimes in Pakistan and Bangladesh. This trend is now changing with political powers being transferred to others. Is this the result of a paradigm shift?

After the overthrow of military rule in 1990 Bangladesh joined the ranks of electoral democracy. Over the years, there has been a change in the socio-economic background of our political leaders. For example in the 1970s, the majority of

parliamentarians consisted of lawyers and other professionals, a dynamic that has currently shifted towards businessmen. At present nearly 60% of parliamentarians are businessmen. The dominance of money, and in some cases muscle power in electoral politics has proven detrimental to women who are interested in running for public office. Women are disadvantaged in having control of independent wealth and muscle power.

This is why dynastic women leaders or women with family political connections do better in electoral and party politics. In the last parliament, only 19 women were directly elected to parliament and half of them were dynastic inheritors of their seats through the family connection.

We have had two successive female prime ministers. What impact do you think this has brought about?

Whereas many first world countries, including the USA, have yet to elect a woman president, we have had two female prime ministers who have rotated in power since 1991. Both the major political parties have been led by two women leaders for more than thirty years. Their continued acceptance and predominance in our male dominated society is no doubt a remarkable achievement and a sign that their gender is not an issue.

When we evaluate these two female leaders, we talk about their qualities without referring to their gender. One significant impact of their continued leadership has been a general acceptance in society of women as top political leaders.

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/ Interview / CSR

Developing a Better Tomorrow

Shahamin S. Zaman is the CEO of CSR Center & Focal Point of UNGCLN, Bangladesh. She did her schooling in the United States, after which she came back to Bangladesh to study Economics at the Dhaka University. As an economist, she worked with the development sector of multiple international organizations including Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), Ashoka Foundation, the Canadian Internatinal Development Agency (CIDA), Actionaid, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Department of International Development (DFID). Shahamin is a founding member of SANSAR (South Asia Network for Sustainability and Responisbility). She is a board member of the UN Working Committee for Labor and Human Rights, the World Humantarian Summit (WHS) and the Board of Governor of Underprivileged Children’s Educational Program (UCEP).

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The future generations are better equipped in developing their skill, education and vocation. This will help them understand the realities of a prosperous tomorrow.

Q

You have acquired many years of success in this sector. Why did you choose to get involved in it in the first place?

My involvement started at a very young age. My father, Dr. Shadatullah was the Chief Economist of the Planning Commission of Pakistan. He would allow us to read the Statistical Year Books that we brought back from his office. My mother would also bring books from the Harvard University Library. She consistently emphasized the necessity for education and building a career. Upon starting work for the development industry of Bangladesh, I realized there were hardly any women in the working field.

This inspired me to design projects that catered to women in rural and urban settings to develop their skills, provide training, educate, and empower them to become decision makers.

For the past 8 years, the CSR Center has engaged academic institutions, the government,

and private sector firms to create a dialogue regarding the need for corporate social responsibility.

Thankfully we have observed positive changes over the last decade or so. More and more women are working and attaining better jobs.

Some of them are going for their higher studies abroad and coming back with greater qualifications.

However, it is still important to remember our traditions and culture so that a balance can be struck between work and family lives.

New spaces need to be created for newcomers so they can blossom. Since 2007, we at the CSR Center have been trying to initiate dialogues to engage the government, academia private sector and our development partners to understand the importance of corporate social responsibility. We have been trying to highlight how the empowerment of women is a part of the core principles of CSR.

There are a number of barriers, which include a male centered mindset and the unwillingness for people to grow out of these mindsets. Do you think these problems are changing over time?

The socio economic climate structure has drastically changed as a result of globalization. For example, child marriage was a common phenomenon.

However, with the easier access to knowledge through the internet and media, these girls now have the knowledge and outlook that these social constructions are not a productive solution. The future generations are more equipped in developing their

skill, education and vocation as well as the realities of a prosperous tomorrow. There are still a handful of people who abide by local cultural mindset but within ten years it will change and I think it will change for the better.

How have the dynamics of women changed over the years?

I was raised in the USA, where the distinction between men and women are not nearly as definitive.

Upon my arrival in Bangladesh, I observed a stark difference between women in the USA and in Bangladesh. However, this has changed over the past fifteen years. With the changes in the dynamics of our economy and increased financial pressures burdening families, the roles of women have drastically evolved. There are more women in the workforce as it has become increasingly difficult to sustain a family on the husband’s salary alone. It would be extremely rare to see wives or daughters in these positions fifteen years ago. Again, with globalization and better communication, women are realizing that they have the right to choose the future they desire and slowly more and more women are working towards achieving that.

What is your dream for women in the future?

I would like the knowledge, education, and information that have I received to be disseminated to every corner of Bangladesh. I want all of the women of this country to have their voices be heard; we are equal contributors to society and should be recognized as such.

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/ Interview / RMG

Innovating an Industry Rubana Huq is the Managing Director of Mohammadi Group. She has been in the position for almost two decades, actively empowering over seven thousand women in the industry. The group exports a million pieces of ready-made garments every month of which women manufacture 75%. She is also the Chairperson of Sharaf Memorial Trust, an entity that runs two schools for the children of the workers of the factories. Apart from her corporate entity, Rubana launched a literary magazine, Monsoon Letters, with Bangladeshi writers. She is the founder of the Bangladesh chapter of FOSWAL (Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature, based in Delhi) and formed the WRITE Foundation, which hosted its first SAARC Literary Summit in February 2014.

Rubana is also a poet, having won the SAARC literary award in 2006.

She is also a PhD candidate at Jadavpur University in Kolkata.

Rubana had been selected as one of the 100 Women of the World by BBC for 2013 and 2014.

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We have recently started sending our workers to the Asian University for Women in the hopes that acquiring a graduate level of education will further enhance their careers and help them attain better standards of living.

Q

There are a considerable number of women employed in the garments industry.

However, they are not commonly employed in the more prominent positions. What is your opinion on this?

Though there is still much progress that needs to occur in terms of women in the workforce, the RMG sector has significantly changed the scenario of women’s employment in Bangladesh.

Literacy is the key element to helping these women progress from behind the sewing machines to creating a corporate identity.

What is the difference between the women of our country when compared to the women in other parts of the world?

One should not compare the conditions or dynamics of women in the East with those of the West given that the cultural landscape is extremely different. Women

in the West have less social pressures, greater access to education and a greater degree of freedom. Since the social baggage is to a lesser extent and education is also at a better level, they have an advantage over women who are swamped by financial and social burdens.

A growing majority of women in our country have financial and social burdens in the context of a third world country.

Women are obtaining low tier jobs and those that are highly educated are able to obtain the higher-level job. On the other hand, this phenomenon is not apparent in the mid-level jobs. What is the reason behind this?

This is a matter of literacy. A few years back, I can recall an instance when eight female operators were promoted to supervisors after I had explained their competency to the managers in our company. In order to receive any further promotion, they must graduate; most of these women have not continued their education beyond grade 12. We have recently started sending our workers to the Asian University for Women in the hopes that acquiring a graduate level of education will further enhance their careers and help them attain better standards of living.

your findings?

The penultimate aspect of development is self-respect and self-esteem. Women must know how to value their own spirit and worth.

They must acknowledge the significance of their worth in society regardless of their economic status. It is not possible to go forward without self esteem.

It does not matter from which economic strata they come from; just being a woman is worthy of honor.

Whom would you say has made the most major contribution in helping with your success in life as an entrepreneur?

The definition of success is relative. However, whatever little I have achieved has been through the contributions of my husband and my children.

You are affiliated with the Literary Club, Monsoon Letters and the social organization, Jaago Bangladesh as well as other social organizations. You have written about the development of women based on your research.

Can you elaborate upon www.icebusinesstimes.net

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/ Interview / Entrepreneur

The Business of Unity Nasreen Fatema Awal is one of the founding Directors and key personalities of the Multimode Group in Bangladesh. She has been associated with the establishment and gradual progress of Multimode Group and its activities since the early eighties, overseeing its growth into becoming one of the leading Business house in Bangladesh.

Nasreen was the Founder President of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh (WEAB), a Former Director of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Vice Chairperson of the SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurs Council and President for the Dhaka American Women’s Club. Through her businesses she has opened numerous schools such as the Dagonbhuiyan Girls High School, Shahjahan Bhuiyan Memorial School and Khashia Punji School at Moulavibazar. Amongst the numerous awards and accolades Nasreen has received over the course of her career, a few include the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award in 2008, the Begum Rokeya Shikha Award in 2008 and Best Personality for Women Entrepreneurship Development Award from the SAARC Women Entrepreneurs Council. She has also been honored as the first woman in Bangladesh to achieve the CIP (Commercially Important Person) award four times respectively in 2008, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

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Gradually we started introducing handcrafted local products to our foreign guests, which was something new at the time.

Q

You were with Dhaka American Women’s Club.

What can you tell us about that experience?

I left for the USA in 1973 and came back in 1984 after which I had decided that we needed an American forum for women here in Bangladesh. We started on a very limited scale, showcasing local products to foreigners. We did this through a fair we organized called the Christmas Bazar in 1985 during which many expats bought these products as Christmas gifts. Gradually we started introducing handcrafted local products to our foreign guests, which was something new at the time. Later on, we slowly moved towards food products and recipes. We had observed that foreigners showed a keen interest in Bangladeshi food items so we started translating Bengali recipes into English for them. We also translated foreign recipes to Bangla for local cooks. The funds we raised from our sales proceeds were then used to start a school.

Overall, I’d say the American Club has made an impact in changing the outlook of

people from abroad regarding the women here.

There are definitely some cultural lags but the interactions which have taken place there, over the years, has helped raise our value and instill a greater level of confidence in our women.

You were the Founder-President of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh (WEAB) and are also associated with the SARRC Women’s Chambers. What are your thoughts on this?

During the beginning of the new millennium no one was thinking about a women’s entrepreneur association.

There were many barriers which needed to be hurdled.

People didn’t have the right mindset back then so they tried to dissuade from getting involved in such an endeavor. Some women at the time thought it might be a bad idea. However, they didn’t understand the long-run implication or outcome of having such an association. Now we have a number of other Chambers and Federations looking after the empowerment and progression of women in our country.

What would you propose so that women have greater decision making power in businesses in our country?

The scenario is changing slowly. In 2005 we approached the Bangladesh Bank to form a Bank specifically created to cater to the needs of women. We proposed a SME Mahila Bank where all the directors would be women. We see other specialized banks like the Ansar VDP Bank and the

NRB Banks so we proposed a bank which would cater to our needs while strictly following Bangladesh Bank guidelines. Such a bank which would be run by women for the women would go a long way in empowering women in our country.

What are your thoughts regarding the state of people’s mindsets regarding women in our country?

A change is required and it needs to come into our society with some help from the government. Women mostly have to work at home but slowly they have to become the ice breakers in their families. It is important that working women receive the right kind of encouragement from the people at home as well as the society they are in.

It does not matter where a woman works. Their outlook and interactions are what matters. Their focus must be on how they are learning new things such as a new sense of responsibility from working in businesses.

Slowly, the backwards mindset will be eradicated.

What about the state of the education system our children are being put through?

Our education system is changing but it needs to be updated at a faster rate to be on par with the global scenario. We run schools in villages where we try to inspire the children by persuading them to think out of the box. We have debates and dramas to encourage children to engage themselves in informal methods of thinking. These things cannot be taught through text books.

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/ Interview/Insurance Industry

Insuring the Future

Mohammodi Khanam, ABIA, is a very well known insurance professional and has been involved in this sector for the last 25 years.

She is currently the CEO of Prime Insurance Company Ltd. She completed her MSS along with her BSS (Honors) in Economics from the University of Dhaka. Prior to joining Prime Insurance Company as Additional Managing Director in the year 2011, Mohammodi was Executive Director of Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd. She has received a lot of training in the insurance arena from home and abroad and also attended a number of International Training, Seminar/Workshops and Re-insurance Conference.

Mohammodi is also internationally recognized as Trade Finance Specialist by the E-business School of Ireland.

She has been awarded the esteemed International Who’s Who of Professionals (USA) and also has been featured in the 2009-2010 editions of the Madison Who’s Who Registry of Executives and Professionals. She is a regular trainer of Bangladesh Insurance Association and various training institutes of private banks.

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Radical changes have occurred in our country in terms of education, culture, business, agriculture, trade, and so on. However, we are still living in a male dominated society.

Q

Given that you are working in an area in which women were rarely employed, how do you feel about your profession? Are you enjoying your experience?

If we look back when women started getting involved in the corporate world to generate income as well as to give themselves their own identity, very few women joined insurance companies compared to banks & other financial institutions. During that period, around 1988; I stepped into the insurance industry with a different outlook.

I started my career with BIDS as a Research Executive under renowned economist, Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad. Being a former researcher helped fuel my keenness to study market needs, think holistically and progressively with a goal to introduce innovative products & services. This has also helped me address the changing demands of an emerging Bangladesh economy seeking better-crafted insurance covers and superior customer service.

Today, I am the Chief Executive Officer of Prime Insurance Company Ltd. Yes, of course, I enjoy my profession to the fullest. Every year is challenging for me but these challenges yield new stories, new knowledge, and new experiences. Learning from my previous experiences, I always maintain my schedule and plan accordingly for the near future. I never leave a task unfinished which is why irregularities are rare in my work.

With the power vested in me, by the

board, I as the CEO have rearranged the structure of Prime Insurance in a corporate governance style.

After proper analysis, I have delegated responsibilities to the proper areas and brought in a structure which will encourage teamwork and enhance the services provided by our company.

What are the major challenges you have faced as you have progressed in this profession?

Radical changes have occurred in our country in terms of education, culture, business, agriculture, trade, and so on. However, we are still living in a male dominated society. In this society, females are not always cordially accepted as a corporate leader by the males. I also had to pass through this situation.

Sometimes it was difficult to receive the acceptance of my male colleagues. They often tried to create obstacles in my way even attempted several times to stop my personal development in the industry. However, through my determination, enthusiasm and hard work, I was able to overcome whatever problem I encountered.

Parallel to my professional life, I also have to maintain a family life with my husband and two kids. Being a mother, besides giving them love and affection, I also had to make sure they were receiving the proper education and teaching. I have had to cope with those situations methodically.

Here, I must say, fortunately, I have received outstanding support from my husband, Mr. Md. Mehmood Husain, President & Managing Director of Bank Asia Ltd.

which helped me to overcome most of my challenges.

What are your professional challenges?

Unhealthy competition of commission is one of the main professional challenges.

Besides, high tariff rates, malpractice of underwriting in the market, violating the rules approved by IDRA, doing business with the help of local agents. Then there is the lack of professional & educated marketing persons in the industry, dual roles played by the Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC), again stay order in the high court against special rate in underwriting by the clients and so on. These are the main challenges in the insurance sector.

It is also mentionable that as a member of the Central Rating Committee (CRC) we aim to provide our clients with the lower premium rates as well as to approve a special rates including all the possible facilities through revising the tariff rate when we would be able to withdraw the stay order of the high court. Thus by this process, the unhealthy competition of commission will hopefully be removed from the industry.

What is your advice for future professionals?

If anyone intends to grow his/her career in this sector, he/she should have extreme will power, skill in underwriting, basic knowledge in claims, reinsurance, marketing & other departments associated with the insurance sector.

Moreover, he/she should be educated and well versed in English all the while maintaining an extroverted approach.

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/ Interview/Apparel Industry

On the Path of Guidance

Chairman of Crony Group, Neela Hosna Ara has served as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of Knit Affairs for BGMEA and the Gulshan Society Club.

Neela, during her career as an entrepreneur has received numerous awards and accolades.

They include the SSE Award from GIZ-Bangladesh which includes a Platinum Awards for “Grievance Handling", a Gold Award for “Innovative Initiative" and a Gold Award for “Inclusive Skill Development”. Neela has also received a Women Entrepreneurship Award from the BGMEA.

Success stems from the satisfaction of the workforce; hence we ensure that our employees are receiving the benefits they are entitled to, so they can work effectively and efficiently.

Q

You are the chairman of Crony Group and Abanti.

How do you continuously maintain the success of your company?

We have grown into a company of 30,000 workers; the strength of the company is built upon our sense of unity. Success stems from the satisfaction of the workforce; hence we ensure that our employees are receiving the benefits they are entitled to, so they can

work effectively and efficiently.

We have been following certain practices since the inception of the company such as, providing salary bonuses and other benefits before we start considering our profits. Also, thankfully there have been no complaints from our employees regarding harassment or health issues from working at the factories. This is because the people at Crony Group work as a family.

We are pursuing the idea of building a green factory by the end of 2018. We want to establish this as we do not want to be portrayed as a large industrialist but rather as a company which works for the development of the nation.

This allowed me to flourish, which in turn inspired me to help women however I could.

As you have travelled the world, do you think there is any particular reason that woman in our country face greater barriers than other nations?

We must look into the domestic structure that is prevalent in our country.

Many women are educated but are not allowed to work.

This is not only an issue of institutional education; we must be enriched culturally as a society. We should focus on raising our daughters as achievers as opposed to homemakers. In other words, gender should not be a marker of one’s potential and ability.

You have a broader outlook of what should be included in CSR. Could you elaborate upon how you implement these ideas in your factory?

Your family has worked on a number of projects for the betterment of society. What is the driving force behind your philanthropic work?

I particularly take women’s health and hygiene issues into account. Only 1% of women are aware of health risks and the importance of using sanitary napkins while working in factories. In light of this, we have kept doctors, nurses and counselors for our female employees. We understand that in this context, women feel uncomfortable discussing their problems. Therefore, where health and hygiene is concerned, it is essential to make them feel at home.

We strive on the ideology that our sacrifices and contributions will create a better tomorrow. As a freedom fighter, my father believed in the sacrifices that soldiers had made for our country. Our family is from Bikrampur, where we are establishing a primary school and running a hospital. I believe it should be our priority to make any contributions we can for the society.

What has inspired you to work extensively on CSR projects with women?

My family had supported me throughout, particularly during my academic years.

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/ Interview/Social Businesses

Giving Back to the Society

Lamiya Morshed is the Executive Director of Yunus Centre, the global hub for social business activities of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.

She has been involved with the organization since its inception as the Yunus Secretariat in 2006 and its formal incorporation in 2008. She has worked with Grameen for more than 23 years. In 1994, she joined Grameen Trust, which supports and implements poverty-focused microcredit programs in more than 45 countries. During her tenure at Grameen Trust and Yunus Centre, she had participated and presented at high level international forums, conferences and summits around the world on the subject of microcredit and social business.

In addition to her responsibilities at the Yunus Centre, she serves as the Managing Director of Grameen Healthcare Trust. Lamiya also serves as a board member of the following social businesses - Grameen Healthcare Services Ltd, Grameen Creative Lab (Germany), Grameen Intel, Grameen Uniqlo and Japan Automechanic Co Ltd. She is a member of the Management Committee of Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing (GCCN), a joint venture nursing collegue established by Grameen Healthcare Trust and Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland.

Bangladesh is scoring much better than in the past on indicators such as women's economic empowerment, their increased mobility, maternal mortality, and infant mortality all of which signal the increased emancipation of women.

Q

As you are a business development professional and have work experiences from home and abroad, what is your opinion regarding the challenges for our women of the different class in Bangladesh?

Even though an increasing number of women within our society are working, women still have to fight the stereotypes of what is considered women's role in society. In workplaces, structural changes are still needed regarding equality of pay for the same work as men. Upholding of laws that exist to protect women's rights is still a major challenge in Bangladesh, as well as in other countries. Those women, who have a job or career, find it challenging to balance the career and family, as family concerns are still primarily considered a woman's responsibility. But we have come far in Bangladesh, and I am hopeful about the future.

Considering your knowledge regarding the Green model of development and empowering women, would you please provide us with your thoughts how things have changed for women over the years?

We have seen quite a transformation in the lives of women in the rural parts of the country. And this is in large part due to the work of organizations like Grameen Bank and other large NGOs that worked to empower women in the village, right at their doorstep.

Bangladesh is scoring much better than in the past on indicators such as women's economic empowerment, their increased mobility, maternal mortality, and infant mortality all of which signal the increased emancipation of women.

It is a sign of women empowerment that millions of rural women are now small business owners, whereas it was considered taboo for women to handle money in the 70's or even as late as the 80's.

You have been involved with the Yunus Center and helped in developing many businesses over the years. Would you please give us a short account of this?

As we have seen for some time, traditional capitalism, which focuses on profit maximization, does not solve many social problems. In fact, it exacerbates them in many cases. We see an increasing rate of unemployment, environmental degradation, growing inequality, in the developed countries where traditional capitalism is thriving.

As such, we are promoting a new kind of business, social business - which is special type of business dedicated exclusively to solving social problems and not personal monetary gain. It is a business, in that it has to cover costs, and that enables it to expand. The difference between social business and a charity is that the latter is always dependent on outside funding. But Social Businesses runs on their engine and produces their own money so that the services can be provided continuously. This also allows products and services to improve, and more and more people can be reached with these much-needed services.

A large number of social businesses have been created in the last ten years in Bangladesh and around the

world tackling issues as diverse as education, healthcare, provision of clean water, renewable energy, protecting the environment, and so on.

What are your thoughts on how business mindsets are changing around the world?

Our traditional mindset is that people who want to make money go into business. However, we are promoting the idea that people who wish to do well can also involve themselves in business that also aim to benefit the society and its people. There is a choice to do traditional business, social business, or both.

Now we are encountering more youths from Bangladesh and around the world who are motivated by a philanthropic calling, rather than a monetary one.

We are observing a change in the mindsets of the youth.

As Professor Yunus said, "When you delink the idea of business from personal money making, it becomes all about using your creativity to solve problems that you care about." That is something that seems to motivate people everywhere.

As a thought center, what is the vision of the Yunus Center?

Our vision is to create a poverty-free world. As Professor Yunus says, “Unless you imagine the world we want to live in, it will never happen�. Just as science fiction motivates us to invent world-changing technologies that never existed before, we need to create the social fictions of the world we would like to see and work towards creating it.

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/ Interview /Police

Enforcing the Law

Shamsunnahar is the Police Superintendent of Chandpur District. She has been involved in police services since she joined the BCS Cadre in 2001.

She had served in the UN Office in Italy from 2009 to 2014 as a successful high ranking official.

During her tenure from 2009 to 2010 in East Timor, she played a major role in developing the human resources of the law enforcement sector of the nation. She completed her Masters from Dhaka University in Political Science and MBA from Buckingham University in the UK. She is a seven time recipient of various awards for her services from the UN and a three time recipient of the the National Award of the IGP Batch. She recently made Bangladeshi police history by becoming the first female police officer to lead a parade of a thousand troopers in the 'National Police Week 2016'.

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Honesty, integrity and eagerness are the traits you will need. If you have these in abundance, becoming a successful police officer should not be a problem.

Q

What is it like being a police officer who has been lauded for her work locally and internationally?

It’s been an honor to be awarded with the IGP Batch award thrice and the UN Award seven times. It shows that my work in the force is being recognized which is always good. Personally, it means that I have been upholding my responsibilities properly.

There were challenges along the way but I motivated myself to overcome them.

What challenges have you faced during your time in this profession?

Law Enforcement has always been a challenging profession. However, I wouldn’t say that it has been that difficult for me since I got into this line of work.

People say that it is even more difficult to make headway in this profession as a women but I would not agree with that. With adequate professional

attributes anyone can progress in this line of work.

Honesty, integrity and eagerness are the traits you will need. If you have these in abundance, becoming a successful police officer should not be a problem.

Who are your inspirations?

While I was growing my parents helped me realize what my true calling was.

After marriage, my husband has been my support system.

Till this day my husband still encourages and inspires me to do my best in whatever task I take up.

What difference have observed between working woman in Bangladesh and other countries?

East Timor was plagued with violence and poverty but there were no differences between the working men and women of the country.

Due to the poor state of East Timor, it didn’t have proper health or education facilities.

It was quite different in Italy, where I worked as a UN staff. There I observed a multicultural environment which I had not seen in other countries. In comparison with other countries, our own society still has a long way to go as it does not always accept our women in every field of work.

perform their responsibilities clearly. Obstacles like child marriages need to be removed as these things prevent women from establishing themselves as economic entities in our country. It doesn’t matter which profession they’re getting into, if they have the right capabilities with the right competency and confidence then one should be able to find success wherever she plies her trade.

What is your future plan?

My plans are simple. I want to perform my professional duties with perfection.

Alongside this I would like to do something that would benefit the lives of other human beings. I wish to work for the country with the highest sense of integrity and honesty and see where that takes me.

What is your opinion regarding the development of women in Bangladesh?

We have a government which knows how important a role women can play in the economy. We have to capitalize on this opportunity. Our society, especially the families within it, must change their outlook. Women need to

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W / Inside Out / Women in Banking

Women in Banking and Finance

By Asaduzzaman

With 56 private banks and a host of non-banking financial institutions, Bangladesh’s banking sector has been adding 2% to the GDP with an annual growth of 10%. The industry currently employs 7491 female bankers, around 13% of the total human resources pool. This disparity is further highlighted in the World Economic Forum’s report, The Global Gender Gap Report, where Bangladesh ranks 68th. However, women are making significant progress with many women acquiring high-ranking positions in banking. ICE Business Times converses with female bankers about the prospects and challenges of the industry.

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Humaira Azam, Bank Asia Ltd.

Women should not only strive to have a job but create more for other women.

Zara Jabeen Mahbub, BRAC Bank Ltd.

Humaira Azam is the Deputy Managing Director of Bank Asia Limited. Starting her career as a management trainee in ANZ Grindlays Bank, Humaira advanced to become the first female member of MANCOM in Standard Charter Bank, Bangladesh. It’s her mother-in-law who inspired her to complete her education and secure a career in the banking profession.

Humaira is very outspoken regarding the lack of professionalism that makes it much harder for women to attain any rank in this sector. Inadequate treatment, lack of support and preconceived gender notions are some of the reasons which hamper the credentials of any woman who tries to enter the field, according to Humaira. She added that women face opposition even before recruitment because of ‘informal corridors’ through which men keep track of the job openings, work politics and company dynamics, and problems. Despite the odds, Humaira wants women to use courage while facing challenges and never to underestimate their capabilities. She urges to act with confidence, perseverance, and determination. She believes that the tool for progress is a quality education to be comprehensive in whatever the respective job demands.

She also wants women to become entrepreneurs no matter how small or large their endeavors may be. “Women should not only strive to have a job but create more for other women.”

We need to help each other and work towards building a stronger network of professional women in Bangladesh.

Earning a BBA from North South University and an MBA from The University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Zara Jabeen Mahbub is currently the Head of Communication & Service Quality at BRAC Bank Limited. She has 20 years of management experience in the RMG, IT and Banking industries. When asked to identify factors that helped her in her professional life, she mentioned support from family (especially her husband), strong conviction, confidence, transparency, integrity and communication worked as the critical success factors. “One of the biggest challenges women face today is the inadequate support from family and the lack of appropriate support facilities like childcare and after school services for children.” She reiterated that women must learn to leverage support from family members and bring them closer into the success circle. “When I do well in my professional life, my family members take pride in my success and celebrate it as a collective success. I work for one of the largest banks in the country that accounts for almost 15% of the female population in the banking industry, and it is a privilege to be a part of this woman-friendly organization”. Regarding the challenges in Banking, she mentioned that the challenge is in the mindset, and it is a pity that women mostly have to quit because of familial reasons and lack of support. “We need to help each other and work towards building a stronger network of professional women in Bangladesh. It is time to shatter the glass ceiling!” she added. www.icebusinesstimes.net

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‘Live, laugh and love your work,’ is the simplest mantra that can get you through thick and thin.

Sherifa Amreen, IDLC

“From a stereotypical perspective, many will think that positions such as the one I am designated are for men only; but that’s their views and the time has come for them to think otherwise,” states Sherifa in a jubilant mood. She followed her instinct while opting for a career, which was to be in a highly competitive sector. She is ecstatic to see an increasing number of girls obtaining banking jobs with the much-needed conviction. Even for herself, idolizing senior coworkers has given her enough inspiration to stay assertive in her decisions.

It’s is her fervor for the labor that makes her

accommodate long hours at work or frequent traveling in pursuit of completing the job in a punctual and proper manner. She is grateful to her father for his million-dollar advice: learn, unlearn, and learn again; to make a difference for the people around you-which helps her embrace work with renewed vigor every day.

In a diverse workplace, making people trust you as another worthy employee for the organization can be difficult. “Especially when they take physical attributes into consideration for a particular position, men have an inequitable advantage. I have always remained true to my identity as a woman from the inside, setting my priorities and goals accordingly, be it at work or in my personal life,” she elaborates.

Regarding the glass ceiling she said that fortunately I have had male bosses who were not sexist at all. They have inspired me to believe in my capabilities and I have also been guided by great leadership. My husband and my in-laws support me tremendously so I can balance the game. Many women face that very lack of trust and patience from their immediate family and co-workers. The key is to have perseverance, keep going even after you fail at a certain task.

For the starters in any profession, Sherifa’s advice is to acquire the skill and remain aptly professional in order to be recognized. Trying to be over-smart or getting carried away in the rat race of today’s corporate world will be distracting and destructive, she posits. “’Live, laugh and love your work,’ is the simplest mantra that can get you through thick and thin.”

I believe leadership is cultivated and not an inherent quality.

Rayhan Kawsar, NRB Bank Limited “In today’s banking, proper branding is the key to reaching out to your customers. In order to achieve that, a better understanding of each and every product, be it retail banking or corporate banking are of immense importance. I am extremely fortunate to have joined this bandwagon. It is exciting.”

A former Radio Jockey and a Social Sciences graduate from Dhaka University, Rayhan Kawsar has made her mark as an upcoming leader for brand building in the banking industry.

Rayhan is grateful to her parents for the kind of upbringing that taught her equality. This is why she is confident about her qualifications and never hesitates to walk the extra mile to achieve the goal that she has set.

“I believe leadership is cultivated, it is not an inherent quality. Hence, I am trying to hone my skills in this sector to attain a leading position and to play a catalytic role in the future.” Besides her parents, she is also thankful to her husband who serves as a great source of inspiration.

As of women in banking, Rayhan’s view is that since women are more meticulous and punctual, they operate dexterously in managerial positions. She is proud of the female colleagues in the various departments of her bank, who, with their hard work and intense labor, managed to amass the organization’s success in the shortest possible time.

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/ Aquaculture / Koi Farming

Success through Commercial Aquaculture

By Md. Zamal Uddin

H

amida Begum is a successful female farmer who established her name as a female aquaculture entrepreneur in Gournadi Upazila of Barisal district. After the untimely death of her husband, the income from his business and labor stopped. Due to this she could only rely on her betel leaf garden and three ponds as a source of income.

However, at the time these resources were failing to generate enough income to cover the food and education expenses for her family.

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This is when she realized that she had to make better, more efficient use of the little resources she had at her disposal. Despite that realization, she still had to figure out how to maintain her family life while coming up with a suitable income source which would support the family and her children’s educational costs. Around the same time she became a member of a farmer training group for commercial aquaculture organized by a USAID supported Aquaculture for Income and Nutrition (AIN) project in December 2013.

Through this program she received eight hands-on-training sessions on commercial aquaculture. This training gave her the right motivation to start culturing Vietnamese Climbing Perch, locally called Koi. She started her new venture in a pond of 28 decimal out of her three ponds of total 160 decimal in 2014.

Hamida stocked 150,000 Climbing Perch fingerlings in a grow-out pond in July, 2014. 55 days later she was able to start selling the largest fish she had and could use the regular income to buy more feed, which reduced her need for capital. She completed her first final harvest after 4 months by the end of October, 2014. She started Koi fish culture with the help of USAID-AIN technical support some time

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afterwards which helped her produce 121 kg/decimal in her 28 decimal pond. Her profits amounted to an extraordinary Tk 220,200 from an investment of Tk 89,000. In recognition of her exemplary performance in Koi culture in 2014, she was awarded with a National prize by the Department of Fisheries during the National Fish Week-2015. The prize was handed over to her by the Prime Minister in July 2015.

During 2015, Hamida also expanded her Koi cultivation from one pond to two ponds, while using the third pond for Tilapia culture. She produced a total of 15,339 kg fish (both Koi and Tilapia), for which the expenses were Tk 1,341,220, the value of the sold fish was Tk 2,300,800; which gave her a net profit of Tk 959,580. During the culture period she used 18,594 kg fish feed, which she bought from the local bazar.

Having properly set up her business now, she is happy with her steady production and income source. Not only does this help her cover her livelihood cost but it also pays for the educational costs of her children. She was able to

learn the Koi culture techniques such as pond preparation, proper stocking density, feed management, disease and hazards management, marketing, etc. from her field training sessions and follow up staff support programs from the AIN project. Hamida mentioned that, “there is no alternative to technical knowledge and training for successful commercial aquaculture and I worked accordingly to make my pond a success.” She has improved her standard of living through aquaculture and her success has even motivated her to participate as a “Member” in the forthcoming election of the Union Parishad.

She also mentioned that she is grateful to USAID’s Aquaculture for Income and Nutrition Project for their continuous technical support and linking with different ‘quality seed and feed sources’ which has contributed to achieving her success.

This article was published with permission from WorldFish.

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By Shaikh Ashfaque Zaman

/ Inside Out / Padma Bridge

The Prospects of Padma

Dr. Selim Raihan is Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Dhaka and the Executive Director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM). He has published the paper, ‘Estimating the impact of the Padma Bridge in Bangladesh’ with Dr. Bazlul Haque Khondker.

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Q What are the most significant effects that will occur following the construction of the Padma Bridge on macroeconomic and microeconomic levels?

Construction of Padma Bridge is expected to generate welfare to the people of Bangladesh in general and the people of South West in particular. The benefits are expected to arise from the greater integration of regional markets within the Bangladeshi national economy. Moreover, given the interdependence of economic activities/sectors, the direct impacts of the Padma Bridge on individual sectors and factor markets are likely to induce a chain of changes in the rest of the sectors of the economy. Using an economy-wide multiplier model, our study finds that, the injection of $2.1 billion into the economy produces economy wide benefits in terms of value added of Tk 453,670 million ($6,481 million) over a period of 31 years.

This would give an annualized growth rate of 0.33% of national base GDP. Using the Traffic model, road users benefit is found to be million Tk 1,295,840 ($18,512 million). Thus, the total project benefit is estimated to be Tk 1,749,510 million or $24,993 million. This implies that total project benefit is 39% relative to the base national income. Assuming the 31-year full realization time frame, total project benefit per year is then 1.26% relative to the base national income.

What do you think has been the greatest challenge in the construction of the bridge?

Initially the greatest challenges were the funding and the resources, both of which have been provided by our own national wealth. The challenge that the project is currently facing is management. A proper management of the entire project including the constructions and funds are absolutely necessary. The monetary amount of funding increases with time, therefore we must ensure that each task

is completed within the allotted time in order to ensure that overspending does not occur.

Many innovative bridges such as the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (Japan) have been constructed recently. Is there any international construction project that you think is a model of progress for Bangladesh?

You cannot simply use projects from Japan or China as models for Bangladesh.

Given our country’s context in terms of the lack of availability of skilled workers in every level, technological standpoints and other facets related to weak institutions, the challenges in Bangladesh are numerous and different.

Our overall infrastructure is very weak and we have inefficient port facilities.

Road transportation is also underdeveloped and time consuming, which increase the overall costs of any project. Whereas, in both China and Japan, the overall infrastructure is much more efficient compared to Bangladesh. The managements of the projects are also more efficient in those countries.

Take the example of the the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, which has been delayed for a significant amount of time. If we delay any large project like this, the cost is significantly increased and it creates a significant loss to the economy. The key factor is addressing and solving our own inefficiencies.

What propelled you to calculate the impact of the bridge?

I have seen my colleagues

conducting a similar study when the construction of the Jamuna Bridge had started. We were approached by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority and World Bank because they wanted a very comprehensive research on what would be the impact of the project; they wanted a report that would not only detail the traffic model, but it would include the impact on numerous sectors that were interrelated to it. Our academic input is specialized in this particular field and we gladly accepted the proposal. It was uncertain whether such a vast project would actually provide benefit and using this research we could answer all of these questions.

When conducting your study, is there any particular reason that you employed the SAM method in your calculations?

Although, it is customary to use ‘traffic’ models to estimate the benefits of transport project (e.g.

Padma Bridge), depending only on the traffic model may underestimate the full benefits of the project since such a model can only capture primary or direct benefits in the form of efficiency gains arising out of cost and time saved. The secondary benefits of a transportation project are also substantial. The secondary effects may be generated due to multi-sectorial productivity gains through structural changes occurring in the economy from improved productivity made possible by the bridge. The well-known models for capturing secondary

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benefits are SAM based fixed price and CGE models. Hence in addition to adopting the traffic model, both SAM based fixed price and CGE models are employed to estimate full benefits of the Padma Bridge project. In this context the full benefits would thus compose of efficiency gains of traffic model and the economy wide benefits of the SAM and CGE models. Because of its location in the South West region of Bangladesh, Padma Bridge is expected to have larger impacts on this regions compared to the other parts of Bangladesh. Therefore, a regional SAM model was also formulated to assess the impacts of Padma Bridge on the South West region of Bangladesh.

You have calculated simulations for multiple sectors that include agriculture, manufacturing, leather products, construction and labor. Of these simulations, which particular sector would you say is most unpredictable?

Why? The manufacturing sector is the most unpredictable because it is extremely undeveloped in the Southeast. We predict an increase in their production because of reduction in transportation cost and a rise in demand for those products in the Southeast.

Nevertheless, gas and electricity are also major provisions in this scenario and our calculations factored that these provisions are amply provided.However, these changes are not of the projects full potential due to lack of electricity,

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Think of it like the traffic problem in Dhaka; the creation of only expressways and highways will not solve the problem unless the smaller roads and connections themselves are not fixed.

gas and other infrastructure. Unless and until these provisions are provided, the potentials that we have calculated in our study will not materialize. The Padma Bridge is a gateway for economic gain. In order to manifest these gains there has to be subsidiary interventions.

Are there any similar future projects that you believe will also provide a significant economic impact for Bangladesh?

The government’s initiations to create economic zones willcreate definitive progression. The future projects should look into solving sector specific infrastructure and integrating with the broad general infrastructure. I have written extensively about the concept of ‘entitlement failure’ in infrastructure, where there are large projects with sufficient supplies of infrastructure but many growth-enhancing sectors may fail to have proper access to those infrastructure. One such example is the leather industry in Bangladesh which accounts for around one billion US$ in exports and which has immense potentials in generating employment and growth by increasing export of higher value added products. However, this sector has not yet reached its full potential primarily due to operating constraints stemming from its production base in Hazaribagh of Dhaka city where there are minimal waste management systems and inadequate industrial layout planning. The Hazaribagh-centric tannery industry is now legally bound to

A Structure of Significance

In their research paper, ‘Estimating the Economic Impacts of Padma Bridge in Bangladesh’, Dr. Selim Raihan and Dr. Bazlul Haque Khondker comprehensively calculate the economic influence that the Padma Bridge will have on the economy of Bangladesh.

Percentage

Total Economics Impacts (%) 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Gross Output Percentage Increase of Various Industries % change over Base

Output

Factor Income

Household Income

National SAM Based Total

9.52

Poverty Reduction

8.23

29.06

8.43

8.4

Regional SAM Simulation 1 Total Regional SAM Simulation 2 Total

Total Increase in Commodity Demand

The Increase in the Demand of Particular Industries Increase in demand % 5

29.06

16

5

Other crops

% Change over Base

9.41

Utility (Electricity)

(Simulation) National

8.29

8.4

8.39

Transport

Increase in Household Income Road User Benefit from the trafic Model in mill USD VOC

TTC

Sub-total 696

19 31 50

2015

199 93 106

2020

423

202 221

2025

VOC- Vehicle Operation Cost TTC- Travel Time Cost

66

354

342

2030

431 388

820

2035

945

% Change over Base

997

508 437

542 455

2040

2045

9.42

8.78

Rural land based

8.71

Rural non-farm

Urban

/ Inside Out / Infographic

9,400

The Padma Bridge in Number

4,388 2,613

28,793

Overall Cost increases rate (in crore taka)

2007

River Training Cost Increase Rate

20,507

2011

(In Crore Tk.)

2015

10,162

Main Bridge Cost increase rate

12,133

(In Crore tk.)

7

200

8,361 3,663

1

201

5

201

2007

1,908

Land Acquisition increase rate (In crore Tk.)

303

2007

2011

2015

1,270

2007

2011

2015

360

68

1298

1086

Approach Road Cost increase Rate (In Crore tk.)

2015

2011

O

n January 6th, the Executive Committee of National Economics Council (ECNEC) approved of the third revision of the Padma Bridge Multiproject (PBM). The planning minister, AHM Mustafa Kamal, announced the approval of a total of 10 projects with the project cost of Tk. 30,292.54 crore. This is a result of additional projects and the increase of labor and materials with the progression of time. The project cost was initially Tk. 10,161.75 crore, when it was approved in 2007. Upon the inclusion of the rail track, it was revised in 2011, with the total cost increasing to Tk. 20,507.20 crore.

relocate all the factories to a new environmentally compliant tannery estate (under construction) on the outskirts of Dhaka city.

Nonetheless, such relocation has been stuck for many years with unresolved decisions on cost sharing of various components of the new industrial estate. Yet, there is no denying the fact that unless this relocation is effectively done, the leather sector will continue to suffer from ‘entitlement failure’ despite significant improvements in broad general infrastructure.Think of it like the traffic problem in Dhaka; the creation of only expressways and highways will not solve the problem unless the smaller roads and connections themselves are not fixed.

Are there any other projects both within and outside urban areas that you think would be beneficial to the overall economy of the nation?

The government’s initiation to create special economic zones would be very relevant. The idea is to create pockets of efficiency in an environment of inefficiency in the overall economic system.

Nevertheless, there are concerns regarding this matter. In a country like Bangladesh, you cannot develop the infrastructure of the whole country in a short span of time because there aren’t sufficient resources and there are inefficient systems. When the government starts this project, it must look at the experiences of other countries and a number of issues related to the proper management of these

economic zones. For example, India has created more than 500 economic zones but they haven’t brought expected gains. On the other hand, China has thrived with the implementation of this idea.

China has been successful for a number of reasons.

They have developed these zones with consideration of the accessibility and distance to ports, developing the infrastructure that connects the zone with the port and the capacity of the port, and also executing better efficient management system. You need to have very efficient connections between these zones and air, land and seaports. You also need skilled and educated managerial staff to utilize the most modern methods to effectively oversee these transactions.

We need to consider and follow the models of success as well as develop our own when we create these zones.

Are there any international construction projects that you see as a model of progress for Bangladesh to follow?

Under the Asian Development Bank’s South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) project, which is a large-scale project involving six countries in South Asia involving Bangladesh, there are plans to construct several economic corridors to facilitate intra-regional trade in South Asia. With the development of these corridors, industrial bases in these countries can be expanded.

A Micro Prospective of Dr. Selim Raihan One economic analysis you wish to be a part of.

Analysis of micro level economic and political institutions and their role in inclusive growth.

A quote from an economist that your admire.

“If economics were only about profit maximization, it would be just another name for business administration. It is a social discipline, and society has other means of cost accounting besides market prices.”

Professor Dani Rodrik, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University From his book “The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy”, published in 2011

The most significant economic study conducted in the past 10 years.

There are two economic studies I would like to mention. The first one is about the relation between trade patterns and location of economic activity, for which Paul Krugman was awarded the Noble Prize in 2008. The second one is the analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare, for which Angus Deaton was awarded the Noble Prize in 2015.

A rudiment that you teach in your class.

You have to have a passion for learning economics. You can’t be an ‘economist’ just simply by graduating in economics. Learning economics is essential for understanding the real world surrounding you, even if you don’t become an economist at the end.

Essential book to understand economics.

“Principles of Economics”, by N. Gregory Mankiw, “Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science” by Dani Rodrik

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/ Inside Out / Economic Theory

SAM- Social Accounting Matrix Today 2000

Wasilly Leontief

1900

Alfred Marshall

Karl Marx

1800

David Ricardo

The economy-wide circular flow of income Value added

Savings

Factor markets Taxes

Adam Smith

1700

François Quensay

Sir W. Petty

Activities

Households

Intermediate consumption

Sales

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Imports Indirect taxes

Rest of the World

Government

Transfers

Commodity markets

The Social Account Matrix (SAM) has revolutionized the methodology of calculating economic interdependence.

These economist have paved the way for this calculative analysis to be applied for a number of analysis.

Enterprises

Final goods

Exports Transfers Tariffs

Note: the arrows show direction of payments Source: adapted from Chung-I Li (2002)

Current external balance

Bridging the History of Economic Theory

SAM is a commonly used to tool to calculate economic transactions that occur in a certain nation or region. It can be implemented for descriptive analyses or predictive analyses.

Descriptive analyses observe the internal workings of a particular region in order to understand the strengths and the income sources of the residence. It takes into account economic factors such as exports as well as non-economic factors such as environmental traits and transport faculties, which factor into the region’s economic base.

Predictive analyses forecast the future determents or benefits from any economic project or entity. It can be used to make inferences regarding any economic changes will be made from the respective project or investment to deem whether is will me profitable in various divisions.

Capital

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/ Interview / Banking

An Equal Opportunity Provider for Women

C

iti is a leading global financial institution with a global female workforce of 136,000. This constitutes approximately half of Citi’s entire employees across the globe in 100+ countries.

Aside from promoting gender diversity across the world, Citi champions the notion of global and community citizenship encouraging its employees, partner institutions to

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work with the community and create equal opportunity spaces where possible; the Citi UCEP Technical Education project provides skills training of industrial sewing operations and employment support for underprivileged women. Citi’s Enterprise Development initiative through the Mobilizing Women’s Collective program ensures equal access to economic resources for women by demonstrating training on financial and entrepreneurship skills. The Citi Microentrepreunership Award has been recognizing talented grass roots level entrepreneurs for the last 10 years in the country. ICE Business Times recently conversed with three prominent female figures of Citi Bangladesh: Sabah Azim, Senior Vice President, Corporate & Investment Banking; Nibras Yaman, Manager, Compliance and Nowrin Islam, Assistant Manager, Country Public Affairs.

What are the challenges of working in a global bank that adheres to international standards?

Sabah Azim: Working in a multinational organization, we are required to deliver best quality service for our clients while engaging all other stakeholders. The banking industry is continuously evolving in terms of regulations, requirements, compliance, control and to be able to effectively and efficiently manage all those aspects while catering to clients’ needs is what represents the challenge and the excitement of it all.

Nibras Yaman: Citi is present in over 100 countries and operates as a complex organization. In being present in several jurisdictions, there are regulatory requirements

that we must abide by locally and internationally as well.

There is no room for compromise. When you are working in such a multinational organization with continuously evolving requirements, the challenge lies in serving all our stakeholders while keeping all these in mind.

selection, they are meticulously trained in order to sharpen their skills and grow as individuals, as professionals.

Nowrin Islam: All Citi employees are privileged to have the access to global resources through numerous trainings, leadership programs and global exchange programs.

How necessary do you think compliance is?

Bangladesh is further integrating itself with the global economy on a daily basis. What is your opinion of our position for women in the banking industry?

Nibras Yaman: Compliance culture is very strong in Citi.

We are given opportunities to have placements and attachments in other parts of the organization to experience Citi culture, and compliance to regulations is an integral part of this. Compliance is extremely important in this industry and Citi continuously provides training to all its employees to keep everyone updated on the same.

Many women feel discouraged about their employment as a result of the glass ceiling. Have your experienced the glass ceiling effect here?

Sabah Azim: We do not feel the presence of a glass ceiling.

There are several women at the unit head and department head level who will say the same.

Nowrin Islam: Because of this and also the fact that there nearly half our workforce here are women, we can feel the commitment that Citi has to this aspect.

Sabah Azim: Citi Bank provides an environment where the quality of your work and not your gender define your identity. There are no positions that are given on the basis of being a male or female.

With regards to the high degree of professionalism, how do you maintain these standards?

Citi of Joy Three experienced bankers share what it is like to work for an organization, which promotes equal opportunities for everyone

Sabah Azim: This process starts from recruitment. Our selection process is extremely rigorous. Following their

Nibras Yaman: The banking industry in Bangladesh has evolved over the last couple of years. Bangladesh Bank has taken several steps to encourage more and more women in this industry.

Maternity leave of six months, performance evaluation for expecting women to be based on the prior three years of performance are just a few of the standards that banks must adhere to. Banking does have a reputation of having longer hours vis-à-vis other institutions. But I believe with proper nurturing from the organization one can truly motivate an individual to not only give a lot more back to the organization but to the economy as a whole.

As far as CSR is concerned, how has Citi Bank helped women?

Nowrin Islam: Citi abides by a “more than philanthropy” approach with an aim to enabling progress for women in the community. Citibank, N.A., Bangladesh is continuously working on empowering underprivileged women, creating an entrepreneurship development drive for women, and recognizing women micro-entrepreneurs for their talents and remarkable contribution to the society through the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards.

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The Economics of Contentment

/ Special Feature / Economy

Dr. Minhaj Mahmud teaches development economics at BIGD, BRAC University. He is also a visiting scholar for the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Research Institute and a member of the Economics Research Group Dhaka.

Mahmud’s research has been published in a number of ranked economics journals including Economica, Economics Lettersand Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.

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Do you think these studies should be conducted in more third world countries in order to elaborate upon income disparity?

World Bank conducted a study entitled ‘Addressing Inequality in South Asia’; the chart represents the future well being of the populations of South Asian countries on the basis of income classes.

Q

You have mentioned 6 domains of happiness and their relationship to income within your study. Which of these do you think is the most important in terms or most directly correlated to happiness?

According to our study, the most important domain of happiness is economic happiness and job happiness.

Income is the primary factor of economic happiness. This in a sense transcends into the other domains. If one has a stable means of income it leads to stability in other domains such as social, marital and housing happiness.

Given that the Easterlin Paradox has many blind spots such as barter goods, the black market and household production. How did you nullify or decrease the effects of these issues in your study?

In his first article regarding Easterlin Paradox, which was published in 1974, Richard Easterlin takes into account GDP per capita. However, GDP calculations have these particular blind spot therefore it faces criticism as a factor for these calculations. In their research paper ‘Rising Income and the Subjective Well-Being of Nations’, Ed Dienerof University of Illinois and his colleagues suggested the use of mean household income instead. We also focused on household income for our study. It is a micro econometric approach where we did not take GDP into account.

When collecting data about individual happiness, well being and quality of life come into light; Nobel laureates such as Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen have emphasized this as an effective means to determine the quality of life. We have found that relative income and social pressures in these areas affect an individual’s happiness. Determining the dynamics of how income changes their social premise as well as other aspect of their lives will allow researcher to understand the population of that particular area.

Why do you think that the overall happiness for a respondent of Bangladesh is more associated with marriage and happiness as opposed to housing conditions and economics?

We looked into unobserved heterogeneity in this case because personality traits or other characteristics can affect their responses in this case. Given that this is the case; we looked into these personality traits and their effects. The phenomena that marriage has a pronounced effect on overall happiness are apparent in all nations; we attribute this phenomenon to compensation for lack of satisfaction within economic and housing domains. These social factors are taken into account as the discrepancies between the study of economic wealth and happiness.

Could you please explain the idea of Easterlin Paradox and its theory regarding wealth distribution?

Easterlin himself describe his theory in his paper ‘Does Economic Growth Improve Human Lot.’ He looked into the association of income (GDP per capita) and happiness. He theorized that higher levels of income do not being happiness atsocietal level, which is poulaly known as the Easterlin paradox. Easterlin focused on three questions: are rich people happier than poor people at an individual level? Were rich countries happier than poor countries and whether the happiness levels of countries increase with the wealth of a nation (GDP growth)?

What was one of the unexpected results you have found in your study?

We find that there is nonlinearity when one looks at the wealthier class, when observing economic happiness. Another study focusing on Bangladesh,also shows a satisfaction of relative income amongst those who do not have significant financial means.

We have come to the inference that in these areas though the incomes of individuals are much less, when they compare their income to the relative income of other, there is not a significant difference. When we come to higher income level, there might be a greater degree of competition in a smaller pool of individuals. This may lead to a greater degree of comparison amongst peers and a sense of discontent with one’s income.

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/ International / Leaders

Deciphering Leadership

By Sheahan Nasir Bhuiyan

Leadership books that were written in the past focus on a more authoritarian structures with command and control being key aspects. The world has changed.

People are not the same anymore.

A modern leader needs to be different. The following are nine stories from nine leaders that showcase qualities a leader in today’s world should possess.

Malala Yousafzai Activist

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Malala has already exhibited leadership skills that are comparable to seasoned veterans in the political or business arena.

There are valuable lessons to be learnt on how she went from a tragic victim of violence to one of the most

influential figures on the planet today. Perhaps the most important aspect of leadership to be learned from her is her insistence on taking a stand. The Taliban started bombing schools in her locale of Swat Valley, Pakistan, scaring the majority of the community into abandoning education.

Malala was not deterred. At only 11, she defied the Taliban and continued to pursue her dreams of being an educated, independent woman. Not only that, she started writing anonymous blogs for BBC Urdu and later started speaking out in public, to journalists, and radio and TV stations, at great risk to herself. Change is often not accepted by the

status quo and one of the best ways for a leader to incorporate new ways of doing things is to publicly stand up for their beliefs. As demonstrated by Malala, overcoming resistance requires perseverance and sacrifices. She put herself at great personal risk to stand up for what she believed in, the right to education for all.

Such actions not only motivate others around you, but also inspires them to see new potential within themselves. Malala has inspired countless individuals across the planet to believe that everybody is capable of accomplishing a lot more than what you thought, despite the brutality of the circumstances.

Pope Francis

Pope of the Catholic Church, Bishop of Rome

Joanne Liu

International President, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Being in charge of the largest group of Christians is no easy task, especially at a time when the Church is losing more followers than ever before. Pope Francis inherited the papacy in the midst of allegations and investigations against the

Vatican’s finances, and as such the Pope made it a top priority to clean up the mess.

So far, the Pope has done remarkably well and has even managed to win back some points. The Pope showcased his leadership qualities by adopting a very strict “business is business” policy. He appointed the Australian Cardinal, George Pell (a man whose views are quite different from the Pope’s to say the least) to spearhead the financial reforms. Pell is very conservative and has even expressed disappointment personally when Francis was appointed. Pope Francis is comparatively liberal when compared against what we are used to seeing from the

Church. But none of it mattered because the Pope believed Pell’s approach to the reforms would be the best move for the Church despite their differences. It is absolutely essential for a good business leader to understand that business is business and one is not in it to build friendships. Despite having many like-minded colleagues at his disposal, the Pope chose to go with what he believed to be the best man for the job.

Joanne Liu is the International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). She was appointed to her post in 2013, after spending time with MSF since 1996 in different capacities, including physician, field doctor, program manager and board member. She has been to the most unstable locations on this planet and has been at the forefront of many of MSF’s missions in highly vulnerable areas. She is so

committed to the vision of MSF that upon realizing that there was a lack of capacity when it comes to managing the organization, she went for a Masters in Management at the Desautels Faculty of Management in Montreal.

Joanne Liu loves what she does. In an interview with the Financial Times, she expresses that, “When I see a mother who has walked for three weeks to come to a MSF clinic, with two kids on her back and her belongings on her head, facing intimidation and physical abuse on her way, I am inspired by her resilience – her desire for life.” A great leader needs to love what they do and the sentiment is echoed by Steve Jobs. The level of commitment, the passion with which you approach the task at hand and the enjoyment derived is all enhanced when you love what you do. Shortly after her appointment, the Ebola

epidemic broke out in Western Africa in 2014. The countless loss of lives combined with the inability to process what was happening led to the crippling of the economies of nations like Liberia and Sierra Leone. These countries did not have the capacity to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.

Under Joanne’s leadership, MSF tackled the situation and did some tremendous work in stopping the epidemic. They were so effective at handling the situation that they were given the Best NGO award for 2015.

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Following the financial disaster in 2008 and the subsequent bailouts that followed, it was evident that something needed to change in the American automotive

Sir Alex Ferguson

Former Manager, Manchester United Football Club

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opinions. She expects to receive a diverse range of inputs and provides feedbacks. At the same time like a good leader should, she knows when to step in and make the final decision.

Her approach has seen the culture at GM changing to a much more open nature instead of being defensive and downplaying their product defects. With all the revelations coming out from the auto industry in the past few years, an open, inclusive leadership approach seems like the perfect strategy to propel GM forward.

CEO, General Motors

industry. Enter Mary Barra.

Ms. Barra broke boundaries when, in an entirely male dominated industry, she became the first female to be appointed as CEO, at General Motors. And the quality that set her apart from the rest to rise all the way to the top?

Inclusive leadership. Ms. Barra has been at GM for close to 35 years in different roles and her ability to garner employee advocates to improve business operations have not gone unnoticed. To seek input for projects, she’s been known to collaborate with relevant people through town hall meetings. Employees have always maintained that she created an environment where they can voice their

Sir Alex Ferguson. The name alone would instill fear into many a team faced by Manchester United in the 26 years he has managed the club. His own players would quiver in his presence when he wasn’t pleased. The instigator of the infamous “hair dryer treatment” (he would shout so close at your face that it mimicked a hair dryer), this man had leadership traits oozing out of him, without which being at the top of a world famous organization for 26 years while maintaining success

over the pitch would have been impossible. Such was his success that since his retirement, he has been approached by Harvard Business School and his leadership approach has been documented into a case study. Sir Alex exhibits all the traits mentioned so far but his single biggest ability was talent management. 26 years at a football club is a heck of a long time and during that period, he is credited with building five great teams, with his greatest the 1999 achievement of the European, Premier League and FA Cup treble, the first English team to do so.

Ferguson approaches this with a keen sense of analyzing what a player brought to the team in the current context, irrespective of what he has brought in past. Manchester United was famous for not offering players older than 30 single year contract extensions.

Coupled with a necessity to

promote youth players, Ferguson always had one eye on the future. Players considered to be legends at the club were cast aside without a second glance, even to the fans’ dismay. His methodology was comparable to business portfolios of products. He concedes that often his methods were difficult even for him as he built great relations with some of the players he had to let go. But like all good leaders, he firmly had his eyes on the prize. Leaders in other context would do well to take lessons from the way he managed his team, meticulously drawing up their strengths and weaknesses, calculating what they were worth to the organization and take actions accordingly. After all, building five great teams, 13 Premier League titles, 2 Champions Leagues and 23 other trophies would not have been possible without managing your team well.

Mary Barra

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Any list on leadership would not be complete without mentioning Apple CEO Tim Cook, Fortune Magazine’s most influential leader.

When Steve Jobs retired, the questions surrounding the appointment of Tim Cook were everywhere. Naysayers had already written Apple down, predicting a slow death, filling webpage after webpage on articles explaining how Apple is modeled after Steve Jobs and how Tim Cook does not have what it takes to replace the great man. There can be no Apple without Steve Jobs is what they said. Perhaps they were drawing from earlier instances when Apple was without Steve Jobs and struggling to survive before he came back and made them the business behemoth they are today. Whatever the case, they predicted doom for Apple because Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs. And that is it.

Tim Cook is his own man.

Helena Morrissey CEO, Newton Investment Management

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Leaders should be themselves and not try to be someone else. When he took over, he did not try and be Steve Jobs. He did things his own way and he has proved his critics wrong. Since Steve’s departure, Tim has taken Apple from strength to strength. Great leaders will not try and be something they are not. People are not

chameleons and you cannot change your colors. You can try, but it is not going to end well. Steve Jobs was hell bent against smaller version of the iPad or two classes of iPhones. Tim Cook did both.

One only has to look at the numbers to realize that Tim has made a statement by doing his own thing and how.

It may sound clichéd but the world has changed quite a bit in terms of how businesses are run. Some businesses, possibly because of the sector they are in, or because of their massive size, cannot embrace change and are stuck doing the same activities. To be successful in the current environment,

Tim Cook

CEO, Apple Inc.

leaders need to accept change and be adaptable to existing and future conditions. Helena Morrissey is a great example of a leader who has embraced the change and made the most out of it. She is the CEO of Newton Investment Management, a post she was appointed to when she was only 35! She manages over 400 employees and handles £45 billion in investments. Ms. Morrissey recognized that the nature of the workforce in the UK has changed dramatically over the decades. The manufacturing sector in the UK has almost ceased to exist while the service sector has grown significantly. She recognized that the UK workforce is full of ideas and it is this human capital, knowledge, which will be the game changer in years to come. She structured her business accordingly and is reaping the benefits first hand. She is also a proponent of bringing about positive change to society as a whole and has founded the 30% Club, a foundation which has pledged to pressure UK boardrooms to have a 30% female presence by the end of the year. Leaders who do not see the changing nature of the environment and accept it will lag behind.

Mario Draghi

President, European Central Bank

It is probably very tempting for a leader to let all the attention get to her/his head and go crazy. There are numerous CEOs that we’ve read about over the years who indulged in a lavish and

Frances Hesselbein

President and CEO, Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute

This list features some newcomers and some established veterans, but nobody has been in the business longer than Frances

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extravagant lifestyle (Donald Trump comes to mind).

While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, seems to think otherwise. It’s not hard to imagine that a man who wields such immense power will not let it get to his head.

Mr. Draghi has the incredibly difficult task of maintaining financial unity across eighteen countries. Yet, despite the pressure, he has been described as a down-to-earth guy. He celebrated his son’s graduation at a pizzeria in Milan and maintains a modest lifestyle outside of his office. Such humbleness

serves as a great leadership quality because it removes a lot of unnecessary barriers.

Showing off one’s wealth and fortunes to colleagues that cannot afford the same may create obstacles which will result in them not sharing their inputs. It may intimidate others and result in an autocratic leadership style.

Hesselbein. Ms. Hesselbein is 99 years old and is the current President and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute. Prior to that, she was the CEO of the Girl Scouts in the United States. If anyone on this planet knows a thing or two about leadership it is this lady. She has authored numerous books on the topic and as well as countless speeches. To pick a single trait from her was tough but the first thing she mentions at an interview with Fortune magazine resonated well with us. Ms. Hesslbein insists that a good leader should always walk through a door when it opens, and that is exactly how she rose to prominence all those years ago. Prior to her, there has been no one appointed as a CEO of the Girl Scouts from a local council, so when the search committee approached her, she thought they were not being serious.

However, that did not stop her from grabbing the opportunity with both hands and at her interview she gave it her all, describing in detail exactly how she would transform the organization.

The committee was very impressed with what she had to say and called her a few days back to offer her the post. The rest as they say, is history. So to future leaders she says that no matter what, when an opportunity presents itself, grab it. Own it.

/ Different Perspective / Photopreneur

A Refined Lense Prito Reza

If a picture can tell a thousand words, the career of young photographer Prito Reza would speak volumes. He has captured the many facets of life and given wedding photography a new dimension. His company Wedding Diaries makes weddings a personal experience that is as individualistic and unique as the couple.

His journey to the world of high resolution has had many low points. Reza started his journey behind the lenses by taking photos for Tk 20 at Rukaya Hall. He transitioned into a photojournalist and had taken up wedding photography as a means to buy the expensive gear and equipment and it eventually became his passion.

Today, Prito is an international photographer who has taken wedding photographs in New York, Sydney, Bangkok etc, obtaining the Best Wedding Photographer of 2012 and the first photographer to be a spokesperson for Fuji film. The first wedding photojournalism exhibit entitled ‘Wedding Diary’ was a milestone event showcasing the magnificence and opulence of a milestone day.

He has expanded his portfolio of magnificent work to capturing the day to day lives, the gritty realities, the wakes of disaster and the silent voices of our nation’s heroes and minorities.

Prito Reza postulates the marriage of photography and entrepreneurship as the pioneer photopreneuer.

The fellowship changed my perspectives. Among the entrepreneurs, a few were working in the field of social business. They helped me understand the meaning and impact of social business for the benefit of our citizens. Around the world it is an established fact that business as usual is not going to do. We will have to think about ways through which besides maximization of profit, we can do some good to the community where the business is being operated.

With the help Of photography, I wanted to connect with our youth. The idea was simple. Learning photography will enable them to gain to things at the same time. One is to earn some money. The other is to do social good. The latter comes from the emergence of citizen's photojournalism. Imagine a boy or girl from Panchagarh taking a picture of an incident of child marriage in their locality and making it viral through social media. I think the with that one post the photographer can raise huge awareness. For that, they need two things. One is the skill to take the picture in a proper way and learning about the norms of citizen journalism. Now one may ask if it would be possible for everyone interested to get into photography has the ability to buy the right camera. We are working on that issue right at this moment. We are considering a business model that will allow them to buy camera and lense on credit and return it on installments. I believe with the help of this model, we can create an army of young and enthusiastic photopreneuers in 64 districts of Bangladesh. We are humbled that the social business lab at the Yunus Center has acknowleged our idea and we received recognition from Dr. Yunus.

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/ Photo Story / Shasha Denim

Denim Dream Comes True

Photographs by Din M Shibly

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Shasha Denims Ltd. (SDL) is one of the leading denim fabric manufacturers in Bangladesh and incorporated as a private limited company on 28th October, 1996 where subsequently converted into a public limited company on 3rd August, 1997 with Register of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) in Bangladesh under the Companies Act, 1994. SDL is a publicly listed company and its factory situated at DEPZ. Mr. Shams Mahmud is the managing director of the Company. The Company started its commercial operation in July 2000 and engaged in manufacturing different types of classical Indigo Denim (denim fabrics) through the integrated manufacturing process of weaving, dyeing and finishing.

SDL uses the most modern computerized SLASHER DYEING technology in its production process. The main raw materials used for the production is yarn, which the Company imports from the overseas markets mainly from China, India and Pakistan. The Company produces a single product ‘denim fabrics’ of varied specifications, compositions, color and qualities.

Product Segmentation are Basic Denim, Ring Denim, Slub Denim, Cross Slub Denim and by Composition Cotton Stretch Denim, Cotton Polyester Stretch Denim, Cotton Denim Tencel Denim, Cotton Polyester Denim, Cotton Jute Denim, etc.

SDL holds 15% of market share in denim fabric industry. Big Boss Corporation Ltd. is the highest amount purchaser of SDL and it purchases roughly 11% of total production.

The company is going to expand its annual production capacity by 9.6 million yards in addition to existing 21.6 million yards with an estimated capital expenditure of Tk 1,540

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million. The products from expanding unit will be unique in nature. The company might be able to charge $1.0 millionn premium on the price of the expanding production unit.

Currently, both the selling price and quantity of the company’s products is increasing.

The company achieved 18.26% CAGR over the last 5 years in its revenue. Revenue for the 1st quarter in 2015 has witnessed 19.5% growth on YOY basis from that of 2014 while net profit grew by 21.8% during the same period.

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/ Tech / Samsung

7 Reasons Why the Galaxy S7 Edge is the Most Anticipated Smartphone Yet

P

What a user expect from a smartphone?

Incredible outlook? Groundbreaking features?

High-powered performance?

reviously it was thought that, a good smartphone is one that answers to the needs of the customers.

Whether, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has overturned the concept and introduced us to a new concept which is, a good smartphone is the one that satisfies the latent desire of a user that he/she never realizes before it is offered. “Rethink what a phone can do”- the tagline has also clearly implied this message.

Being created for today’s mobile lifestyle, the Galaxy S7 Edge had successfully taken the lead in the industry for its unique cellphone experience that features a worry free design, exciting camera, astonishing gaming experience and enhanced software functionality and powerful unsurpassed connectivity to a galaxy of services, products and experiences. In addition, Samsung’s latest flagship devices marry sleek design with powerful performance so users can do even more, faster and easier.

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Here are seven reasons why the Galaxy S7 Edge is the most anticipated smartphone yet.

1. Exciting camera, No compromise with the quality The most raved about new features of the latest additions to Samsung’s Galaxy S line-up are its new camera capabilities. As the first smartphones to apply Dual Pixel technology, the devices are able to capture high quality images in low light environments and can automatically focus moving objects while fast capture.

Furthermore, a large F1.7 aperture ensures brighter, sharper photographs. New Motion Panorama and Selfie Flash functions let users have an entirely new phonography experience.

2. Worry-free design While preserving the design heritage of its predecessor, the Galaxy S7 Edge boast an even more seamless connection between its glass and metal materials, along with a slimmer rear

camera. Thanks to the curvy form of the devices’ glass, these models now provide an even better grip and naturally fit in one hand. And, bringing back the microSD slot, the new flagship smartphones are more functional than ever.

3. Water and dust resistance People who don’t want to compromise with their work, travel and match in all kinds of locations and environments can enjoy its compatible feature which is the upgraded IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. As the premium standard of protection against water and dust, the feature allows users to enjoy the sleek, curvy design of Samsung’s latest flagship smartphones without the inconvenience of a bulky additional case.

4. Powerful gaming experience With their optimized hardware and enhanced UX, which allow for smoother graphics and longer playing times, Samsung’s new smartphones can satisfy

even the most demanding mobile gamer. And with the new Game Launcher app, users now have the ability to take control of their mobile gaming experience with numerous customization options.

5. A phone that stands out, even when the screen is off The Galaxy S7 Edge offer a new Always-On Display (AOD) feature that delivers constant information and notifications, such as the time or number of missed calls, while utilizing a miniscule amount of battery. With plenty of customization features, the AOD can be as unique as its user.

easier access to users’ frequently used content and tasks.

7. An assortment of accessories No smartphone is complete without its accessories, and Samsung offers a collection of them to complement the design and enhance the features of its just-revealed devices. Samsung is offering the Gear VR and Level U Pro with the pre-book offer of Galaxy S7 Edge for a new 3D virtual reality view and wonderful listening experience. These new accessories offer seamless integration to enhance one’s personal and professional style.

6. Simple and soft UX Customizable lock and home screens, beautified icons and the user-friendly Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system have taken the user experience of the new Galaxy smartphones to an entirely new level. In particular, the refined edge screen of the Galaxy S7 Edge provides practical functions and

After the pre-book period (28-Feb.’18 - 16-Mar.’16), the Galaxy S7 Edge will be available from March 18 onwards in Bangladesh markets.

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/ Capital Market Update Top Ten Companies by Turnover Value for this fortnight (January 16-31, 2016) Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sl. No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sl. No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name of the Securities Emerald Oil Industries Limited United Power Generat Limited Alltex Industries Ltd. IT Consultants Limited Bd.Thai Aluminium SAIF Powertec Limited Square Pharma Beximco Pharma The Dacca Dyeing United Airways (BD) Ltd

Category

ion & Distribution Company

Value in Tk. mn

A A

1,925.36 1,669.55

29,325,486 10,400,305

% of total Value 3.51 3.04

A N A A A A A A

1,596.96 1,422.06 1,143.64 1,036.22 1,030.55 996.06 897.84 824.51

54,404,996 19,212,838 25,725,710 14,892,311 4,009,203 11,387,457 51,449,524 106,075,660

2.91 2.59 2.08 1.89 1.88 1.81 1.64 1.50

Top Ten Companies by Turnover Volume for this fortnight January 16-31, 2016) Name of the Securities Category Volume in Nos. United Airways (BD) Ltd C & A Textiles Limited Alltex Industries Ltd. Generation Next Fashions Ltd. The Dacca Dyeing Al-Arafah Islami Bank Maksons Spinning Mills Limited City Bank Appollo Ispat Complex Ltd. Delta Spinners

A A A A A A B A A B

106,075,660 55,851,095 54,404,996 54,395,638 51,449,524 47,632,109 42,576,338 32,920,218 32,709,599 31,409,008

Top Ten Gainer Companies by Closing Price for this fortnight (January 16-31, 2016) Name of the Securities Category Current Last % of Fortnight Fortnight Change Closing Closing Price in Price in Tk. Tk. Eastern Lubricants Alltex Industries Ltd. Sunlife Insurance Company Limited Desh Garments Rahim Textile Tallu Spinning Monno Stafllers ICB Employees Provident Mutual Fund One Dafodil Computers IT Consultants Limited

Value in Tk. mn 824.51 676.83 1,596.96 556.70 897.84 725.51 412.62 740.48 622.73 345.39

% of total Value 5.80 3.05 2.97 2.97 2.81 2.60 2.33 1.80 1.79 1.72

Value in Tk. mn

Averag e Daily Value Traded Tk. mn

A A B

723.60 30.60 35.50

305.00 23.80 28.40

137.25 28.57 25.00

67.38 1,596.96 210.60

6.13 145.18 19.15

A A A A A

194.40 241.20 24.20 335.30 7.00

163.70 206.10 21.00 295.70 6.20

18.75 17.03 15.24 13.39 12.90

178.44 36.66 676.56 4.15 7.33

16.22 3.33 61.51 0.38 0.67

A N

24.20 71.20

21.80 64.50

11.01 10.39

172.20 1,422.06

15.65 129.28

Value in Tk. mn

Average Daily Value Traded Tk. mn 16.91 0.23

Top Ten Loser Companies by Closing Price for this fortnight (January 16-31, 2016) Name of the Securities Category Current Last % of Fortnight Fortnight Change Closing Closing Price in Price in Tk. Tk. Shurwid Industries Limited SEML Lecture Equity Management Fund Emerald Oil Industries Limited Summit Alliance Port Limited Atlas Bangladesh Prime Finance First Mutual Fund KDS Accessories Limited ILFSL Shahjibazar Power Co. Ltd. Samata Leather Complex Ltd.

Volume in Nos.

Z A

12.30 10.50

18.90 13.60

(34.92) (22.79)

186.03 2.49

A

60.90

74.10

(17.81)

1,925.36

A A A

48.50 122.80 9.70

58.80 145.80 11.50

(17.52) (15.78) (15.65)

523.27 80.27 49.86

175.03 47.57 7.30 4.53

N B A Z

69.70 9.50 104.30 23.10

82.40 11.20 121.30 26.70

(15.41) (15.18) (14.01) (13.48)

572.46 75.28 275.25 0.56

52.04 6.84 25.02 0.05

Disclaimer: Dhaka Stock Exchange does not hold any responsibility for these date.

94

Top Ten Companies by Turnover Value for this fortnight February 1-15, 2016) Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name of the Securities

Category

Beximco Pharma Square Pharma Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited United Power Generation & Distribution Company Limited City Bank Olympic Industries Alltex Industries Ltd. IT Consultants Limited IFAD Autos Limited ACI Limited.

A A A A A A A N A A

Value in Tk. mn 2,211.08 1,483.73 1,483.10 1,236.52 1,227.50 891.81 828.99 821.07 771.16 752.72

Volume in Nos. 24,052,587 5,606,080 10,114,695 7,703,598 52,642,009 3,166,015 29,686,156 13,419,468 8,176,952 1,327,581

% of total Value 5.03 3.37 3.37 2.81 2.79 2.03 1.89 1.87 1.75 1.71

Top Ten Companies by Turnover Volume for this fortnight February 1-15, 2016) Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name of the Securities

Category

United Airways (BD) Ltd City Bank Fu-Wang Ceramic Appollo Ispat Complex Ltd. Alltex Industries Ltd. Al-Arafah Islami Bank Beximco Pharma Maksons Spinning Mills Limited BEXIMCO C & A Textiles Limited

A A A A A A A Z A A

Volume in Nos.

Value in Tk. mn

% of total Value

398.91 1,227.50 660.54 747.82 828.99 409.22 2,211.08 179.55 661.70 222.22

4.96 4.57 3.70 3.37 2.58 2.36 2.09 2.01 1.90 1.87

57,140,995 52,642,009 42,637,514 38,811,247 29,686,156 27,150,366 24,052,587 23,163,025 21,842,168 21,531,054

Top Ten Gainer Companies by Closing Price for this fortnight February 1-15, 2016) Sl. No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name of the Securities

Gemini Sea Food Libra Infusions Limited Bangladesh Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited Prime Islami Life Apex Foods Kohinoor Chemicals Aramit Linde Bangladesh Limited Olympic Industries Fareast Islami Life

Category

Current Fortnight Closing Price in Tk.

Last Fortnight Closing Price in Tk.

% of Change

Value in Tk. mn

A A A

652.70 531.90 168.70

323.00 311.60 116.90

102.07 70.70 44.31

A A A A A A A

60.50 131.10 388.10 518.70 1,287.50 295.20 72.00

43.30 105.50 330.20 452.30 1,136.50 261.60 64.00

39.72 24.27 17.53 14.68 13.29 12.84 12.50

Average Daily Value Traded Tk. mn

156.66 65.32

14.24 5.94

1,483.10 166.33 306.69 27.34 112.43 667.21 891.81 48.96

134.83 15.12 27.88 2.49 10.22 60.66 81.07 4.45

Top Ten Loser Companies by Closing Price for this fortnight February 1-15, 2016) Sl. No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name of the Securities

IT Consultants Limited Maksons Spinning Mills Limited Miracle Ind. Savar Refractories Dafodil Computers The Dacca Dyeing Alltex Industries Ltd. Khulna Printing & Packaging Ltd. Eastern Lubricants Bd.Thai Aluminium

Category

N Z B Z A A A Z A A

Current Fortnight Closing Price in Tk. 51.90 6.80 27.50 42.30 20.50 12.90 26.00 11.00 622.40 37.10

Last Fortnight Closing Price in Tk. 71.20 8.50 33.10 50.40 24.20 15.20 30.60 12.90 723.60 43.00

% of Change

Value in Tk. mn

(27.11) (20.00) (16.92) (16.07) (15.29) (15.13) (15.03) (14.73) (13.99) (13.72)

821.07 179.55 25.14 0.08 164.01 274.78 828.99 31.40 111.60 454.23

Average Daily Value Traded Tk. mn 74.64 16.32 2.29 0.01 14.91 24.98 75.36 2.85 10.15 41.29

Source: Dhaka Stock Exchange

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