SABLOG

Bangladeshi Food : Some Information

Listing:

Food taking time: Thrice a day (Morning, Afternoon and Evening).
Breakfast: Potato, Roti, Egg
Modern breakfast: Bread, Butter, Jam, Jally.
Lunch: Rice, Vegetable, Curries, Pulse.
Evening Tea: Tea, Coffee, Somocha, Roll etc.
Dinner: Rice, Roti, Curry etc.
Fast Food: Chicken Broast, Burger, French Fries.
Seasonal Food:
Summer: Mango, Jackfruit, Lichi, Jam, Grapes, Bell.
Winter: Date Juice, Cakes, Bhapa Pitha, winter vegetable, tomato, Shim, Coliflower, Carrot.
Rainy: Khichuri, pickle, Hilsha fish.

Sweets: Chamcham, Roshogolla, Roshomalai, Shandesh, Kalojam, Shamai etc.
Occational Food: Biriani, Chicken Roast, Rezala, Sweet Rice, Borhani, Fenni.
Traditional Food: Panta Bhat, Hilsha fish, Shatkora, khichuri, pickle.
Regional Food: Moghlai Poratha, Bakorkhani, Tihari, Meghban, Dawat.
Production of food and availability- food habit also depends on production of food.
Cultural food- Shatkora, coconut, dry fish.
Variation of foods- food varies from place to place because of it’s geographical structure and productivity.

Free Writing:
Food is the toughest and acceptable art to all kinds and ages people. In South Asia, most probably Bangladesh and India are very well known to other countries for their delicious and varieties of food items, but Bangladeshi is well known for religious cuisine too. However, we are concerned about the taste of food rather than its value. When food is tasted then value does not matter. However, I am describing about Bangladeshi food with description. Bangladeshi people are well known as a voracious nation. We take meal thrice a day. For breakfast, we take handmade bread of flour (Rooti) with lots of vegetables and meat. In the rural areas people eat rice soaked in water as their breakfast. They like to have it with green and red chili, onion and salt. Some rich families take western breakfast like toast, Jam, butter. Other two main meals are lunch and dinner. All of us like to have our staple food rice for lunch. As a river country Bangladesh produces lots of fishes.

But Hilsha is our national food. We also take smashes (bhorta) of different seasonal vegetables, cooked vegetable pulses with rice. The curries differ according to the financial status of the families. We usually take the same kind of food for lunch and dinner. On special occasions we eat some especial kinds of food. They are Polao, Biriyani, Chicken or lamb roast, rezala and as drink we have borhani. We also have some special food for each season such as we eat khichuri on a rainy day; rice, cakes and pithas on winter morning and juice fruits on summer.

Bangladeshi people are fond of sweets. We Bangladeshi people love to have sweets as deserts-Chamcham, Roshogolla, Roshmalai, curd (Dahi)shandesh, kalajam are only few of them. We also like home made sweets like payesh, Halua, Jarda etc. Though it is not a part of our culture but our young generation is greatly attracted to fast food now-a-days. There are many fast food shops in BD which sell burgur, pizza, samusa, sandwitch, chicken fry, cold drinks etc.

Labels: Bangladeshi Food

Press Conference of BASIS SoftExpo 2008

BASIS SOFTEXPO is the largest software exhibition of Bangladesh. This year, the five-day exhibition will take place at the Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center. The software exhibition will kick off from 14 February.

At the press conference, T I M Nurul Kabir, Convener of SOFTEXPO 2008, shared various information regarding the fair with the reporters. Nurul Kabir said that there were some milestones in each of the previous fairs. This year BASIS got Denmark as their theme country, which he termed as the milestone of the exhibition of this year. Indicating the increasing number of outsourcing works between Denmark and Bangladesh, he said that the flow would continue this year as well. Mr. Kabir informed the journalists that 14-16 delegates were coming from Denmark who would be match making with 50 local companies looking for outsourcing works. Eight Danish companies are also taking part in the exhibition. Convener hoped that this match makings will be able resulted in joint venture outsourcing alike the past.

IT Industry Association of Denmark is the associated partner of ASIS Softexpo 2008. Nurul Kabir also indicated that BASIS had convinced UK Trade and Investment office of Bangladesh to include IT in their priority sector. UK Trade and Investment is one of the strategic partners of the exhibition. The other strategic partners are Danish Federation of Small and Medium Industries, Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). Companies from different countries are taking part in the exhibition. Stressing on IT education, Mr. Kabir said that students from some universities were offered to present with their projects in the exhibition. Being asked if there would be any special arrangement for the student or for the small entrepreneurs, he said that a special zone would be there at the fair only for the students and small entrepreneurs. The entry fee for the fair is 20 Tk., while school children will not require any entry fee in order to attract the young generation to IT.

President of BASIS, Mr. Rafiqul Islam Rowly said that the IT projects would be showcased in the exhibition of this year. He also added that the exhibition is getting wider after ever year. In response to a question of Business Bangladesh correspondent, Mr. Rafiqul Islam said BASIS always tried to inspire individual enthusiasm, but as it was not an organization, it was not always possible to help in individual sector from the fair. Mr. Islam stressed ever increasing market of software export. Indicating a chronological order of software export, he hoped that BASIS was expecting US $30 million exporting software this year, while the amount had been US $26.8 million previous year.

Mr. M. Shoeb Chowdhury, Senior Vice President of BASIS, said that for the first time the chief of the government would be at the opening ceremony of the fair. He also revealed that there would be a media center in the exhibition from where the journalists would be able to use internet and can get help about anything. Mr. A K M Fahim Mashroor, chairman of seminar of Softexpo 2008, introduced the seminar set to be held during the five day long exhibition.

Labels: BASIS SoftExpo

BASIS SoftExpo 2008: Beginning from 14 February

Bangladesh Association of Software and information services (BASIS) is the organizer of SoftExpo. SoftExpo 2008 is going to start from tomorrow and today, BASIS organized a press conference in this regard. A good number of reporters attended the press conference held at BASIS office. BASIS leaders discussed about different sides of SoftExpo 2008. They also answered to the different questions raised by journalists about the expo. They also talked about the condition of ICT sector of Bangladesh. They invited everyone to attend SoftExpo and hoped that a huge crowd will enjoy the expo.

BASIS provided a press release and we have put the press release here at the end of this entry. Business Bangladesh editor Rashidul Hasan Bulbul was present at the press conference.

Here is the official press release:

Bangladesh Association of Software and information services (BASIS), the national association representing software and information technology enabled services (ITES) sector of country, is going to organize BASIS SoftExpo 2008 form February 14-18, 2008 at Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center, Dhaka, BASIS SoftExpo, the yearly mega event of Basis has, by now, earned the reputation of the largest ICT event of the country.

Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed. Honorable Chief Adviser, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh will inaugurated the five-day long expo on February 14 at at Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center, Dhaka. Mr. Manik Lal Somaddar, Special Assistant to the Honorable Chief Adviser, Ministry of Science and information & Communication Technology and His Excellency Mr. Einar Hevogard Jensen, Ambassador, Royal Danish Embassy will be present as the special guests.

This year’s Expositon is expected to have a lot of focus on some recent technology trends and issues in the industry like e-Governance, telecom Software, Banking software, ERp/Crm/SCM software, web applications.BPO, E-commerce, E-learning etc. Apart from showcasing of prodects and services by the exhibitors, a series of workshops and seminars will be organized on the occasion.

More than 150 local and foreign exhibitors and internatnional delegates from and participatnt form Denmark, France, UK, German, Japan are taking a part in Basis SoftExpo 2008. The Exhibitor companies will expose Business Software, outsourcing. Multimedia & animation, Games, Mobile & Wireless Applications, e-commerce, e-governance, Hardware Technology Solution, Telecommunications & Networking , ITES and BPO, IT Education, Financial Institution, ICT for Development etc. Apart from showcasing of software products and services by the exhibitors, a series of workshop and seminars, business matchmaking etc. will be held during the exposition.

ICT Outsourcing in Bangladesh in generating lot of interest a recent time and the forthcoming exposition will host a seminar on outsourcing where those involved in outsourcing both form home and abroad will attend.

Delegates form Danish companies will visit this year’s SoftEspo and take part in matchmaking meeting in addition to participating in various seminars, workshops and roundtables. Besides nembers of Japanese companies will be visiting the BASIS SoftExpo 2008 to attend matchmaking and other events and to explore the possibilities of engaging in business ventures with Bangladeshi TCT companies

The visitors expected to visit the expo includes CEO/MDs from the corporate word Government decision and policy makers, academia, business leaders, media, ICT professionals, students, and ICT users form all over the country.

BAISS SoftEspo-2008 at a glance:

Number of total Exhibitors: 150

Business Software Exhibitors: 87

Outsourcing Companies: 16

High-End Hardware & IT solution exhibitors: 5

IT Education and Traning exhibitors: 8

Multimedia and Animation: 6

Pavilion Exhibitors: 10

Special Zone Exhibitors: 18

Theme Country: Denmark

Partner Association: IT Association of Denmark (ITB)

Strategic Partners: Danish Federation of small and Medium Sized Enterprises (DFSME)

Paris Chamber of commerce & Induatry, UK Trade Investment and JETRO

Theme of BASIS SoftEspo-2008: ‘Get. Gain. Grow.’ (This emphasizes on transforming Bangladesh into an e-nation by utllizing the immense potentials of ICT in every phase of tour economy as well as society).

Number of Seminars and business sessions: 12+ by BASIS (To be participated by key decision makers of the country and renowned experts & stakeholders from aboard).

Date: 14 to 18 February.

Venue: Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center, Dhaka

Entry Fee: Tk. 20 (entry fee is free for students).

Exhibitors include:

• BASIS Members

• Local and multinational ICT companies

• Mobile application development companies

• Successful ICT projects in Multinational and local companies

• IT training institutes & Universities

• ICT consulting houses

• Financial institution

• International ICT Associations

The best place to find information about SoftExpo is its official website: http://www.softexpo.com.bd/

Labels: BASIS SoftExpo

BASIS SoftExpo 2008

Bangladesh is often portrayed as a poor country in the media but if you go to SoftExpo 2008 organized by BASIS then you will surely find that Bangladesh has something more than poverty. Nearly 200 local and foreign companies are going to participate in SoftExpo 2008. The event will start from 14 February and will continue until 18 February. The companies will display their products and services. A large turn out is expected and the organizers are hoping that nearly 100,000 visitors would visit the Expo.

There is just 1 day before the start of SoftExpo 2008. organizers are busy with last minute preparations. The companies are also busy with last minute preparations. February is the month of language and culture in Bangladesh. Ekushey book fair is going on at Bangla Academy. So, SoftExpo 2008 will be like a bonus for the city dwellers of Dhaka.

SoftExpo started in 2004 and in the first Expo, it created a lot of interest among all the people who have any kind of interest in Bangladesh. This is going to be the fourth SoftExpo. The main goal is to showcase software products and services of Bangladesh.

To know about SoftExpo, you can visit this link:

Labels: BASIS SoftExpo

CityCell in Corporate Bazaar 2008

CityCell, the pioneer in the mobile phone industry in Bangladesh has participated in Corporate Bazaar 2008, the only corporate fair of the country. For the fair, the company has brought special offer for the corporate customers under which it is selling Samsung S109 cell-phone in 1399 taka. The present market price of this phone is 3799 taka. In addition, it is offering five other cell-phones from five different brands. Two of the models have high speed internet facility. In this corporate fair, City Cell is actually highlighting their latest technology. According to Mohammad Sharif-ul-Hassan, compared to other cell-phone technologies, CDMA is better. He added that all the customers of City Cell will have better service from now on.

Labels: CityCell, Corporate Bazaar

Trust Bank in Corporate Bazaar 2008

Trust Bank has a lively presence in Corporate Bazaar 2008. It has a large pavilion and the good decoration attracted a lot of visitors. In the fair, Trust Bank has promoted several offers but two of them are interesting. Women entrepreneur loan will be given to those women who are in business for two years. This is a nice initiative and it will surely help many women in Bangladesh.

Trust Bank is also promoting Visa Classic International Card in this fair. It will help the consumers when they go abroad.

To get more information, you should visit any branch of Trust Bank or visit the website:

Labels: Corporate Bazaar, Trust Bank

AB Bank in the Corporate Bazaar 2008

AB Bank is the first private bank in Bangladesh. AB Bank has offers not only for their customers but also for the general people in Corporate Bazaar 2008. G.K. Salauddin, principal officer of customer finance care of AB Bank, has presented their offers to the people in an acceptable manner in their pavilion. With his easy presentation, visitors understand that AB Bank is offering auto loan, gold loan, personal loan, education loan etc. against easy terms. However, the more important is merchant banking. The special offer of AB Bank is credit card with a low interest rate.

Labels: AB Bank, Corporate Bazaar

GrameenPhone in Corporate Bazaar 2008

GrameenPhone, the leading mobile phone operator of the country, is highlighting their recently marketed Black Berry phone and business solution package in Corporate Bazaar 2008. The most attracting features of Business solution package are international roaming, special tariff and internet service in a reasonable price. However, only the businessmen are allowed to buy business solution package.

Labels: Corporate Bazaar, GrameenPhone

Ranks Tel in Corporate Bazaar 2008

As Bangladesh government ensured a number of mobile phone operators having easy access to Dhaka City, Ranks Tel got the permission on 9 September and started their activities in Dhaka city from 18 December. On the occasion of Corporate Bazaar 2008, they present their corporate packages to the visitors. There are special opportunities including PABX connectivity though those corporate packages. That is why, an user can be charged on the basis of his usage and if he does not use the line, no line rent would be charged to the user.

Computer Bichitra is one of the leading magazines of Bangladesh. It is an ICT magazine. It has a sizable reader base too. Computer Bichitra has been serving the ICT community in the country for 12 years. It has received numerous awards. The magazine has also become media partners of a number of IT fairs. Computer Bichitra is also the media partner of Infocom, the largest IT fair in India.

In Corporate Bazaar 2008- there is a stall of computer Bichitra and Computer Bichitra also published a special supplement on Corporate Bazaar 2008. The supplement has provided all the necessary information about the fair. It has been distributed to everyone who came in the fair at free of cost. This is a very good initiative from Computer Bichitra.

In the stall of Computer Bichitra, there were new and old issues of the magazine in display. Many visitors came to see them and some of them became interested would perhaps become regular reader of the magazine from now.

Labels: Computer Bichitra, Corporate Bazaar

There were five panel speakers who shared the ways they follow while recruiting employees in their respective companies. Prof. Dr. M Z Mamun, Director, Institute of Business Administration of Dhaka University, was the only panel speaker outside the corporate world. The other panel members were Sandeep Mookharjea, Head of HR, Standard Chartered Bank, Asif Zaman, Head of HR Division, Huawei Technologies Bangladesh, Suman Bhattacharjee, General Manager, HR Division, Cairn Energy, Emad-Ul-Amin, Director, HR, Grameenphone, Arif Shahriar, Head of Group HR, RahimAfrooz. Ms. Naila Chowdhury, Group Director of aamra group of companies was the moderator of the seminar. At the beginning of the seminar, Russell T Ahmed, Convener of Corporate Bazaar 2008, introduced the panel speakers with the audiences. The seminar was hosted by Standard Chattered Bank.

In his speech, Prof. Dr. M Z Mamun said that students must be disciplined from the very beginning. He also said that from the very first day they need to believe that they are manager. He indicated the importance of the overall get up of the graduates. Besides discipline, he also stressed on the communication skill of the graduates. Dr. Mamun focused on honesty and co-curriculum activities of the students and while talking about resume, he called on the graduates to be honest while making their resumes and include only those areas which the company is looking for in order to make the resumes precise.

Stating the fact that his company recruited 400 odd employees and received CVs from different sources almost everyday, Sandeep Mookharjea said that it was impossible to go though the CVs thoroughly and they needed to filter the CVs. In the first level of filter, his company looks at the academic credentials of the graduates and then which institutions the graduates came from.

While answering a question of a student Mr. Sandeep said that the companies want the best person for a post in this competitive world as like a student wants to join a good company. He said that Standard Chartered Bank had two offers for the fresh graduates in which they even do not need to have any experience. At the end, he called on the graduates to be prepared for a number of things like working in a team, working extra hours whenever challenges come, developing personality and communication skill, learning from the mistakes, becoming visible in terms of works and impress the people in higher hierarchy, knowing the company well etc.

Emad-Ul-Amin echoed Mr. Sandeep while talking about the filtering process of the companies. He added that making mistakes in the CV made a negative impression regarding the candidate. He also said that the graduates must ensure that their skill is enough to be recruited in the companies. While giving the answer of a student on giving reference in the CV, he said that the reference should be validated and the students needed to give reference someone who knew the students.

Arif Shahriar said on the seminar that students must have a dream what he or she is going to be. He stressed on changing the management though leadership. He said that it was important for the graduates to know how to market themselves. Mr. Arif focused on extra curricular activities besides CGPA and other academic records. To him, the capability of adding values is an advantage of a prospective graduate.

He asked the graduates to know about the companies and the post they applied for. Attitudes, knowledge and skill are some of the areas he thinks, graduates should also focus on. Regarding English language skill, he said that having competency in English was not everything to achieve a job. About the questions a candidate might face in the interview, he said that it was not like that the questions would always be made from your discipline. Even family related question might come in the interview board.

Asif Zaman brought his personal experience while talking about the common attributes the companies look for in fresh graduates. He said that the graduates have to make themselves visible. He focused on skill, knowledge and ability of the graduates. He asked the graduates to self themselves to the recruiters and develop communication skills. Mr. Asif also said that his company wanted people who can challenge and are determined.

Labels: Corporate Bazaar

Corporate Bazaar 2008, the three day long fair, was started at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre yesterday. It is the third fair of Corporate Bazaar. The fair was officially inaugurated by Mr. Syed Faruque Ahmed, Chairman of aamra group of companies, in the morning yesterday. Organized by aamra networks, Corporate Bazaar 2008 attracted many visitors on the first day. There are different stalls and pavilions are available for the visitors. The representatives of the companies were answering the question of the visitors. A seminal was held on how to increase the revenue of RMG export.

The media center of Corporate Bazaar 2008 was helping out the visitors with providing directions regarding the show. The center was crowded with people all the day. Journalists were asking for program schedule and many other important tings. Few people were busy with preparing the press release for media, while others were busy with giving the answers of their inquiries.

Labels: Corporate Bazaar

At the seminar, there were three panel members including Prodeep J. Sugathadasa, Director & General Manager, Paxar Bangladesh Limited, Fazlul Haque, President, BKMEA and Lurens. F. Muller, Country Manager, The Cotton Group B&C. The seminar was hosted by Aamra resources limited. The seminar was conducted by Syed Farhad Ahmed, Managing Director of aamra group of companies. All the speakers were very much optimistic regarding the future of RGM sector of Bangladesh and pointed out some important initiatives to be taken in order to increase the revenue from RMG sector in Bangladesh.

Lurens. F. Muller addressed the development of infrastructure in the sector as one of the ways to increase the revenue from RMG export. Besides, Mr. Lurens Muller also stressed on the technological development of the sector, indicating the ever-increasing competition with other markets like China. He said technological development would help the manufacturers provide better customer satisfaction like delivering the products in time. However, he also said that government has some responsibilities on the matter. He called on manufacturers to offer value added items and more fashionable items what, to him, would increase the revenue from RMG sector. Being asked if price is the only factor to take into account, Lurens said that price is one of the factors, while giving some focus on the reliability between manufacturers and buyers and the cooperation with each other.

Prodeep J. Sugathadasa did also point out some key issues to generate more revenue from RMG export. He said Bangladesh garments industry was growing rapidly indicating its being doubled in the last two and half years. He viewed product diversification as one of the ways to increase the revenue of RMG sector. He stressed on launching different product lines in order to create new sources to increase the revenue. He believes that product diversification would help RMG sector to meet its goal.

Aside from price being a factor in generating more revenues, Prodeep J. Sugathadasa also indicated world class facilities and strong middle management with high priority. To him, management of the factories has a lot to do with giving better customer satisfaction which will help the factories to have more revenues from RMG sector. Saying that Bangladesh has the advantage of lower labor cost, he urged to improve equipment.

Fazlul Haque, president of BKMEA, also talked about some important issues needed to in order to increase the revenue from this sector. He said that 40% increase in the productivity was readily possible in the factories even without spending a dollar more on equipments. He said that even the best factory in the country was producing half of its maximum capabilities. So, BKMEA organized a three-month long program in which the policy makers of the factories would be able to learn how to increase the productivity within the same set of facilities. He also focused on product diversification as one of the ways of increasing revenues from EMG export sector. Mr. Haque said with sheer confidence that BangladeshCambodia, China in terms of social compliance. However, he admitted that Sri Lanka has an edge over BangladeshBangladesh was getting RMG market on the interpersonal relationships with the buyers. Rather, he said that it had been the credibility of Bangladesh that they were providing better quality and service and getting the similar response from the buyers in RMG export. He called on people of the manufacturing companies to negotiate with the representatives of foreign companies with confidence. was not far behind the countries like when it comes to social compliance. He also focused on negotiation with the buyers as one of the key issues to attract the buyers. However, he strongly opposed the concern that

Mr. Farhad Ahmed was expressing his thoughts and ideas over the issue while changing the turn of the panel members. He talked about the state of the run products. He focused on better management within the factories.

Labels: Corporate Bazaar

Corporate Bazaar 2008 started today and we from Business Bangladesh were there to cover the inaugural ceremony. It is organized by aamra networks limited and the inaugural ceremony took place at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre. Syed Faruque Ahmed, Chairman of aamra group of companies, inaugurated the three day long Corporate Bazaar 2008.

Syed Faruque Ahmed in his speech welcomed everyone to the inaugural ceremony of Corporate Bazaar 2008. He said that B2B (Business to Business) market is very important for our economy. He hoped that Corporate Bazaar could add some flavor to the existing corporate culture in Bangladesh. He said that Corporate Bazaar was not concerned with attracting a huge crowd but its main goal was to increase interaction among the stake holders of the business sector in Bangladesh.

Syed Farhad Ahmed, Managing Director of aamra group of companies also spoke on the occasion. He expressed his satisfaction to note that Corporate Bazaar had continued to flourish and promote corporate culture in Bangladesh. According to him, corporate culture is something new among Bangladeshi companies. He hoped that Corporate Bazaar would continue to increase corporate culture and professionalism in the country. He said that 150 million people of the country can be converted into a pool of skilled workforce if the right kind of training could be provided. He cited the examples of Malaysia and Singapore are now seeking skilled people from other countries. Syed Farhad Ahmed sought the support of everyone to make Corporate Bazaar a success. He said that a few of our neighbors have seen success in outsourcing and Bangladesh can do the same. That is why they have selected BPO as the topic of Corporate Leaders’ Meet in Corporate Bazaar 2008.

Russell T Ahmed, convener of CorporateBazaar and chief operating officer of aamra networks limited in his welcome speech said that aamra networks limited was organizing Corporate Bazaar out of social corporate responsibility. He also said that networking within the business sector is also an outcome of Corporate Bazaar. A number of seminars had been organized addressing the business sector’s interest. He informed the audience about the seminars. He thanked the sponsors for their generous support. He viewed that the success of Corporate Bazaar will be the success of corporate community in Bangladesh.

I am putting here the press release from the organizers:

Country’s premier corporate show, Corporate Bazaar, kicked off Saturday at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital city.

Syed Faruque Ahmed, chairman of Aamra Group formally inaugurated the exclusive fair. Syed Farhad Ahmed, Managing Director of Aamra Group and Russell T Ahmed, convener of Corporate Bazaar also addressed the inauguration ceremony.

AAMRA NETWORKS LTD, country’s leading corporate internet service provider, is staging the fair for the third time this year. It is an exhibition of exclusively corporate solutions arranged for the corporate visitors. The concept of the Corporate Bazaar emerged from the need for a truly corporate market place in Bangladesh. It is a market place for products and services designed and offered exclusively to the business world: business leaders, entrepreneurs, managers, executives and those who belong to the business community and influence decision making. As fairs and exhibitions held in Bangladesh usually fail to offer an ambience for business decision makers to visit, the organizers aim to make sure that this is one showcase where business leaders can actually get an overview of what is on offer to them and make informed decisions.

The first two editions of Corporate Bazaar, held in 2006 and 2007 met with great success in bringing together the top leaders of the business community under one roof. Some of the leading companies of the country covering over twenty industries exhibited their corporate solutions.

This year the exhibition will be a three day affair starting on the 9^th of February 2008. On show will be all types of products and services necessary for running a business. Over forty leading organizations from different sectors are showcasing their corporate packages covering a wide range of industries like Telecommunication, IT, Banks, Airlines, Office Equipment Manufacturers & Distributors, Advertising Companies, Electronics, Power Supply. The list of exhibitors covers both local big shots as well as multinational companies.

The corporate world of Bangladesh has a free pass to enter the exhibition. Any individual with his/her own business card will be given a free entry pass upon presenting it at the entrance.

Labels: Corporate Bazaar

Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Honorable Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare & Overseas Employment is going to be present as a panel member. Mr. Mahfuz Anam, Editor, The Daily Star will be there too.

Labels: Corporate Bazaar

Seminar-1

Topic : How to Increase Revenue from RMG Export?

Target Audience : Garment Merchandisers

Time & Date : 3-5 pm, Saturday, 9th February 2008

Host : aamra resources limited

Guest Speaker :

Mr. Prodeep J. Sugathadasa, Director & General Manager, Paxar Bangladesh Limited

Mr. Fazlul Haque, President, BKMEA

Seminar-2

Topic : Common Attributes Employers Look in Fresh Graduates

Target Audience : Promising Upcoming Graduates

Time & Date : 11-1 am, Sunday, 10th February 2008

Host : Standard Chattered

Panel Member:

Mr. Sandeep Mookharjea, Head of HR, Standard Chattered

Mr. Asif Zaman, Head of HR Division, Huawei Technologies Bangladesh Limited

Prof. Dr. M. Z. Mamun, Director, IBA

Mr. Suman Bhattacharjee, General Manager, HR Division, Cairn Energy

Mr. Emdad-Ul-Amin, Director, Human Resource, Grameenphone

Mr. Arif Shahriar, Head of Group HR, Rahimafrooz

Seminar-3

Topic : How Brands can Increase Sales

Target Audience : Branding and Sales Professionals

Time & Date : 3-5 pm, Sunday, 10th February 2008

Host : aamra networks limited

Panel Member :

Ms. Rubaba Dowla, Director, Marketing, Grameenphone

Mr. Akku Chowdhury, Executive Director, Transcom Food

Mr. Muneer Ahmed Khan, Chairman & Creative Chief, Unitrend

Mr. Syed Ferhat Anwar, Professor, IBA, University of Dhaka

Seminar-4

Topic : The Future of Communications in the Business World

Target Audience : Key Contact Persons of various companies/clients

Time & Date : 3-5 pm, Monday, 11th February 2008

Host : Grameenphone Ltd.

Labels: Corporate Bazaar

I want that all of you should visit the official website of Corporate Bazaar. If you do so you can find any kind of information that you want about show. You can also know about the seminars and you can get some ideas about the business sector abut Bangladesh.

Labels: Corporate Bazaar

If you look at international media then you will find that they show Bangladesh in a negative way many times. For example, most of the time, the reports related to flood and natural digesters, political instability and violence and extreme poverty of Bangladesh get a lot of coverage in the international media. But the positive sides of Bangladesh are not shown much. That is why many people in western countries do have that much good idea about this country. However, the reality is not totally a poor country. In fact, it has same economic growths in the last few years and the main source of export in, Bangladesh is readymade garments. Many Bangladeshis live in other countries and they sent a lot of money and remittance is an important part of Bangladeshi economy too. You should also know that there are a lot of big corporate companies in Bangladesh. Actually, there is a fair related to corporate culture in Bangladesh and that is called Corporate Bazaar. Corporate Bazaar 2008 is knocking on the door and intact it will start form 9 February 2008 in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. This time 30 companies are taking place and they are going to display their products and services in corporate bazaar 2008. There will be a number of seminars too in this show and they are going to be a corporate fashion show.

Today, there was a press conference and I am putting here the press release:

A press Conference was held on Thursday, February 7,2008, at the Hotel Sarina, to announce the inauguration of the Corporate Bazaar 2008, being held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Hall, from 9-11 February,2008. Leading the panel at the conference was Mr. Russell T. Ahmed, Convener of the organizing committee of Corporate Bazaar and COO of aamra networks limited; also present at the press conference was Mr. Syed Farhad Ahmed, managing Director of aamra Group, the parent company of aarma networks limited; Mr. Sharful Alam, Head of sales and marketing and Mr. Riaz Uddin Mosharaf, CEO, Windmill Advertising ltd.

This is the third time in three years that aamra networks limited, the country’s leading corporate internet service provider, is arranging the Corporate Bazaar. The Corporate Bazaar is an exhibition of exclusively corporate solutions arranged for corporate visitors. The concept of the Corporate Bazaar emerged from the need for a truly for the solutions, that is, products and services offered exclusively for the business world. The exhibition is arranged exclusively for the corporate and business world: business leaders, entrepreneurs, managers, executives and those who belong to the business community and the influence decision making. As fairs and exhibitions held in Bangladesh usually fail to offer an ambience for business decisions makers to visit, the organizers aim to make sure that this is one showcase where business leaders can actually get an overview of what is on offer to them and make informed decisions.

The first Corporate Bazaar, held beginning of the last year met with great success in bringing together the top leaders of the business community under one roof, while some of the leading companies covering over twenty five industries exhibited their corporate solutions.

This year the exhibition will be a three day affair starting on the 9^th of February 2008, at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre (BCFCC). On show will be all types of products and services and necessary for running a business. Over forty leading organizations of different industries are showcasing their corporate packages. The exhibitors cover a wide range of industries like Telecommunication, IT, Banks, PSTN, Advertising Companies, Electronics, Power Supply, Real Estate, Fashion House, Hospital etc along with many other industries offering products and services as corporate packages. The list of exhibitions covers both local big shots as well as Multi National Companies.

The corporate world of Bangladesh has a free pass to enter the exhibition. Any individual with their own business card will be given a free entry pass upon presenting their business card at the entrance.

The organizers are also arranging several special exclusive events for selected professionals to mark the occasion.

The organizers are arranging several special exclusive seminars for selected professionals to mark the occasion. Each seminar is one of the prime events of the Exhibition and it is attended by around 120 professionals of the country; interactive discussion takes place between the panel members and the audiences. A panel of selected professionals of their industries shall run the seminars.

The most exclusive event of the Corporate Bazaar is the Corporate Leaders’ Meet arranged by aamra networks limited will bring together the top decision makers of the corporate world under one roof. The evening is going to be attended by over 250 business head of the leading business houses operating in the country, exclusively invited for the occasion (scheduled on 10^th February evening). Corporate Leaders’ Meet is the prime event of the Exhibition and this time the discussion topic is ‘Business Process Outsourcing’ – potential for Bangladesh. Interactive discussion takes place between the panel members and the audiences who are the chief executives of the corporate houses of the country.

If you are in Bangladesh you should visit Corporate Fair 2008. It will be held at Bangladesh China friendship Conference Center and it will be held for three days (9 to 11 February). In Corporate Bazaar 2008, a number of companies form the telecom, bank and others sectors are going to participate. Among the major sponsors there are GrameenPhone Limited, CityCell, AB Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, D-Link (India) Ltd. Nokia and Persona Group. Aamra Network Ltd. is going to arrange the Corporate Bazaar 2008.

Labels: Corporate Bazaar

Press Statement: July 15, 2008; An International Monetary Found (IMF) team led by Mr. Thomas Rumbaugh, Advisor in the Asia and pacific Department of the IMF, visited Bangladesh during July 2-15 to conduct the annual Article IV consultation discussions. The mission met with Chief advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed, Finance Advisor Mirza Azizul Islam, Finance Secretary Mohammad Tareque, Bangladesh Bank Governor Salehuddin Ahmed, National Board of revenue (NBR) Chairman Abdul Mazid, other senior government officials and members of academia, the business community and civil society.

Macroeconomic Performance was remarkably resilient in a year of multiple nature disasters and elevated International food and fuel price. A strong pick-up in domestic economic activity in the second half of the year and rapid growth in garments exports and remittances enabled growth in FY08 to exceed 6 percent. This together with external assistance including balance of payments support under the IMF’ s policy on Emergency Natural Disaster Assistance ( ENDA) of $217million, steadied the external position. Escalating international food and fuel prices, however, drove up inflation, which averaged almost 10 percent over the year. This put increased pressure on the livelihoods of the poor, who suffer the most from inflation. Increasing subsidies are also putting pressure on the fiscal position, despite strong revenue performance.

The medium team outlook is positive as Bangladesh has considerable positional to achieve high growth and sustained poverty reduction. However, the current environment is a very challenging one for macroeconomic management. Managing inflationary pressures will be difficult, and any further sustained increase in international oil and prices would place stress on the balance of payments and fiscal position, and would inevitably reduce growth and poverty- reduction. Potential political uncertainty surrounding the local and national elections is a short- team risk while dealing with climate change is a huge long- term

Macroeconomic policies should aim to ensure a sustainable position is left to the next government. The main priority is to keep control of inflationary pressure stemming from global prices and domestic demand. Some initial increase in inflation is inevitable but there is a role for domestics in preventing second round effects where inflationary pressures spill over into wages and general pricess. Monetary policy should send an early signal that the authorities are not going to allow the second round effect to become entrenched and avert the need for more drastic action later. This would complement Bangladesh Bank’s objective to maintain stability in the exchange rate and support the continued growth in remittances and international reserves.

Impressive gains in revenue collection were instrumental in allowing the F Y 08 fiscal deficit to be within the budget target. This helped to provide space for spending on disaster relief and improved budget coverage of escalating fuel and fertilizer subsidies. the recent substantial increases in fuel and fertilizer prices were essential to fund important increase in social safety net spending while Maintain a sustainable fiscal position in FY09. However, despite the sizeable allocations made in the budget, recent movements in international commodity market suggest that additional spending for fuel and fertilizer subsidies will likely be required.

Adhering to the macrocosmic targets of the FY09 budget will also be important to prevent putting further pressure on inflation. If revenue collections exceed budget target s, which is possible given the increase in the base achieved in FY09, the saving should be used to reduce the deficit rather than to finance expenditure overruns. Any additional fuel and fertilizer subsidies should instead be financed as much as possible through reallocations in expenditure. Reducing the implementation of the annual devilment program to cover increased subsidies could undermine future growth and should be avoided.

In the medium term, fiscal policy needs to return to a part of lower deficits. Improved revenue performance is therefore essential to allow much needs increases in public expenditure. This will require substantial broadening of the coverage of VAT and income tax as well as continual progress in tax administration and enforcement. Further reduction in poorly – targeted subsidies would allow fiscal space for increases in social spending and public investment.

To secure the future growth potential of Bangladesh successful sector development will be critical. Progress has been made but the agenda is and Bangladesh has far to go to catch up with other countries in the region. Going forward, there will need to be a comprehensive vision a prominent leadership role. Particular attention should be given to depending the government debt and foreign exchange markets and improving the operations of the state- owned commercial banks in preparation for their ultimate divestment.

Labels: IMF