State minister for information and communication technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Thursday said that Barisal would be developed as silicon city which would make a significant contribution in building a smart Bangladesh.
The state minister made the remarks while exchanging views with the newsmen after laying the foundation stone of the IT/Hi-Tech Park at Kashipur Mouza in Barisal in the morning, said press a release.
‘Construction of the park will be completed within the next two years. It will create employment opportunities for 3,000 and training opportunities for 1,000 youths every year,’ he said.
Hoping that the high-tech park will turn Barisal region into a technology-rich city, the state minister said that, ‘The young generation of Barisal will be able to create employment opportunities for others and prepare themselves for employment by developing their talents properly.’
Later, the state minister planted saplings of various medicinal and fruit trees in the yard of the park.
Barisal City Corporation Mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah, Managing Director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Dr Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, concerned officials of ICT department, leaders of different levels of district Awami League were present, among others, at the ceremony.
Under the project of setting up IT or high-tech parks at district level , the hi-tech park in Barisal is being constructed on an area of about 6.5 acres at a cost of Taka 170 crore.
The project taken under the authority of Hi-Tech Park of ICT Department is being funded by the Government of India.
Speakers at a roundtable on Wednesday expressed that the role of insurtech players has to be formalised and boosted to bring about the paradigm shift within the overall insurance sector of Bangladesh.
BASIS organised the roundtable discussion titled “Potential of InsurTech in Advancing Bangladesh’s Economy” at it’s auditorium Karwanbazar in the capital.
Senior officials from the Bangladesh Bank and private banks, non-bank financial institutions, insurance companies and other key stakeholders attended the event. The roundtable discussion was moderated by FidaHaq, Co-Chairman, BASISFinTech Standing Committee.
Masud Rana, Additional Director (BFIU), Bangladesh Bank, stated, “Bangladesh Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) should make necessary amendments to their policies to allow tech companies and insurers to work collaboratively to develop and modify products to provide 4IR based and hassle-free services to customers.”
“To ensure the development of the insurtech industry and to suitably serve end beneficiaries, our roundtable today has proposed a few groundbreaking ideas and suggestions to properly structure and redesign the insurance policies” added Fahim Mashroor, Chairman, BASIS FinTech Standing Committee.
Bangladesh has immense potential in the financial service market, that’s what Fida Haq expressed while touching upon a few key barriers that need to be overcome to bring about the necessary changes required. Participants focused on the insurance gap in Bangladesh of nearly 6 billion USD and a very minimal contribution of the insurance sector - 0.4% to be exact - to the GDP of the country.
Insurance sector in other countries - including the sub-continent - have considerably much more market penetration than Bangladesh.
Thus experts concluded with a few solutions to overcome the dismal situation currently prevailing in the insurtech sector: provision of the insurtech companies with permission to operate as Digital Insurance Agents or to begin with provide an NOC until the insurance act is revised to accommodate them. Secondly, there needs to be significant revision of the existing regulations and mandates as per current market needs.
Padma Bank’s newly appointed Managing Director and CEO Tarek Reaz Khan inaugurated its 59th branch on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Located at Dynasty Tower in Gulshan-2, this branch will provide state-of-the-art banking services to the customers. Customers will get exclusive services like Priority Banking, Islamic Banking, Women Banking, Student File services and other conventional banking services from the new branch.
Special guests at the inaugural function were Dr. Hasan Taher Imam Vice Chairman of Padma Bank, Tamim Marzan Huda, Chairman of Audit Committee Padma Bank, Shahnul Hasan Khan, Director Padma Bank, Mashrur Arefin, Managing Director and CEO of The City Bank Limited and Vice-Chairman of Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB), Syed Rafiqul Haque, Former Additional Managing Director and Chief Business Officer Mutual Trust Bank Limited, President of Mirpur DOHS Council A.K. M Mahfuzul Haque (Retd.) And TMS Director (Finance-2) Md. Abul Bashar Bhuiya.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Padma Bank Tarek Reaz Khan, who was the chief guest at the inaugural function, said that the branch has been equipped with the best baking services based on the needs of the customers. Considering the growing demand of the customers, there will be special offers and surprises in this branch of Padma Bank. In addition to the best and modern services, superior priority service, customer locker service have been ensured.
He further said that Padma Bank Limited has recently started the centralization transformation. Centralized bond management was introduced after centralized inward clearing. This increased the transparency of the bank to the customers. In order to ensure the safe banking experience of the customers, bank ensures close monitoring of every single activity now.
Deputy Managing Directors Faisal Ahsan Chowdhury and Zabed Amin, SEVP and Chief Human Resources Officer M Ahsan Ullah Khan, SEVP and Head of RAMD & Law Feroze Alam, SEVP and Head of Corporate Liability Marketing Sabbir Mohammad Sayem, SEVP & CFO Badal Kumar Nath, SVP and Head of Gulshan-2 Branch Mohammad Ahad Ullah and other senior officials of the bank were also present at the inaugural function held for customers.
Noting that the country’s economy would be more dynamic through implementation of the proposed budget for fiscal 2022-23 ( FY23), Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Friday said this budget would also be helpful for the marginal people since the poor class has been duly prioritized.
“This budget for the next fiscal year will be helpful for the marginal people ...all of those including the businessmen and the hard-earned people will be benefitted from it and we’ve prepared the budget in such a way,” he said.
The Finance Minister also claimed that the people of the country were not cheated over the last three years of his term as he has fulfilled whatever he pledged. “We’ve framed this budget considering each and every poor people,”
Kamal said this while responding to a volley of questions at a post-budget press conference held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital.
Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Health Minister Zahid Maleque, State Minister for Finance Dr Shamsul Alam, Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, Finance Division Senior Secretary Abdur Rouf Talukder, NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, Financial Institution Division Secretary Sheikh Mohammad Salim Ullah, Planning Division Secretary Prodeep Ranjan Chakrabarty and ERD Secretary Fatima Yasmin were present at the press conference.
Besides, minister, state ministers, secretaries and other high officials from different ministries and divisions were also present.
Kamal placed a Taka 6,78,064 crore proposed budget for the next fiscal year at Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday eying a 7.5 percent growth and containing average inflation at 5.6 percent.
The Finance Minister said that the development-oriented thoughts have been prioritized in the proposed budget highlighting the desires and expectations of the commoners.
“The next budget will go through a tough time as there will be many ups and downs. We’ll be able to be successful by overcoming all the barriers, Insha Allah. We want to move ahead taking the countrymen with us,” he added.
Kamal mentioned that when the whole of the world was affected due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, no organ of Bangladesh was affected while all the macroeconomic indicators were in good shape.
When asked about the integrated efforts from the government to deal with the price hike of essential commodities, he said that the governments render its efforts so that there is no mismatch between demand and supply.
He said although the overall budget size has decreased in percentage to GDP compared to the outgoing fiscal year, the government did not transfer its focus from expansionary monetary policy to contractionary monetary policy.
The Finance Minister claimed that the price of the locally produced items is now less, but the prices of imported products depend on the fluctuation of global market prices.
“But, I’m giving assurance that the instability in the market won’t persist for long. The government will definitely have some efforts and the government is also committed in this regard. The government won’t fail in this area. We’ll be able to deal with it taking alongside all,” he said.
When asked whether the initiative for giving amnesty to some Bangladeshis in legalizing their unreported assets abroad through providing tax would become successful, Kamal said that the government is not terming this as ‘black money’ rather as ‘undisclosed money’. “We’re trying to bring back that undisclosed money,”
He said that tax amnesty is not a new concept and Indonesia had brought back some $9.6 billion from abroad by giving such scopes in 2016.
“In giving such facility, we won’t raise any question and none will be questioned. Sometimes the money and assets become undisclosed due to the system,” he said.
Elaborating on the issue, the Finance Minister informed that some 17 countries of the world including USA, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Norway, Indonesia and Malaysia have given such amnesty.
“Sometimes there is mismatch, I have never told that there is no siphoning of money. Rather, cases have been filed against the accused and many of them have already landed in jail....we’re trying to bring back the money which has been laundered,” he added.
He also hoped that all concerned would avail themselves of such opportunity in the next budget and thus send back their money and assets to the mainstream of Bangladesh economy. “It’s my belief and they won’t be questioned. But those involved in Hundi will always remain in fear. The only one path is to abide by the government rules and regulations,” he added.
Replying to another question, Kamal said he is hopeful of deportation of former NRB Global Bank MD PK Halder from India.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir said that the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) is responsible for investigating money laundering, suspicious transactions, and cash transaction reports and it is performing its duty properly.
In the proposed budget, the government offered Bangladeshis a scope for legalising their unreported assets outside the country without facing any questions in the next fiscal year.
They will have to pay taxes ranging from only 7 to 15 percent in order to avail of this opportunity.
The opportunity will be in force starting from the first day of the new fiscal and will end on June 30, next year.
NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said that through such amnesty, the Bangladeshis living abroad would be able to show and update their assets in the tax returns.
Supplementing on the issue, Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque said since the Awami League government is a constitutional government and it abides by the rule of law, hence this amnesty would be implemented properly.
Kamal said this budget has been framed prioritizing the common people as well as considering the basic needs like food, education and health. Besides, the universal pension scheme will be launched while tax rates have been reduced so that there is more employment generation.
Asked whether the government has any ‘magic tool’ to deal with high inflation trend, he said that the government in this regard banks on the previous experiences from the start of the pandemic.
Mentioning that inflation is usually generated from within the country and also from ‘imported inflation’, Kamal said that the apparent tool is that the country’s people are flexible and tolerant enough to deal with such situations.
The Finance Minister said that measures have been taken in the proposed budget to patronize the local companies to move ahead with the “Made in Bangladesh” concept.
Replying to another question, he said challenges do not come alone, rather those also come up with immense opportunities.
“I believe in those opportunities. We’re working relentlessly under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina not to let the commoners into fear. Opportunities are opening up as the export earnings reached $50 billion in the outgoing fiscal with a staggering growth which no country in the world could achieve,” he said.
Kamal said that the inward remittance flow also reached $24 billion from $14 billion due to the cash incentives. “If we can increase the revenue growth to 40 percent, then I think there will remain no challenge,”
He mentioned that the foreign currency reserves totaled $48 billion within just 12 years of the assumption of office by the Awami League government as it was only $7 billon in 2009. “It could have been reached $50 billion if there had been no war between Russia and Ukraine... Insha Allah, the foreign currency reserve will again reach to $48 billion,” he added.
Responding to another question, the Finance Secretary said that the draft law on the Universal Pension Scheme is at the final stage and upon approval from the Cabinet, the draft law will go to parliament for enactment.
Rouf said that the government’s target of bank borrowing in the proposed budget would not create any possibility of crowding out of private sector credit, rather the banks would be able to invest their idle money.
Asked whether the high subsidy allocation of Taka 82,745 crore would pose any concern for the government, Kamal said there is nothing to be worried.
Supplementing this, the Finance Secretary said that the price of fuel oil, gas, soybean oil, urea fertilizer has increased in the global market while the government is also continuing with subsidy in the power and energy sector. “If the prices in global market decline, then there will remain no such problem. But, if the global price increases, then there will be a challenge,” he added.
Rouf said that the government provided some 4.50 lakh metric tons of rice to the poor people during the pandemic last year, adding that food subsidy in the next budget would increase.
He also informed that subsidy in the agriculture, power and energy sectors would be boosted in the next fiscal year to keep up the supply side. Besides, he hinted that some austerity measures would be visible from the very first day of the next fiscal year.
NBR Chairman Muneem said that the government’s revenue collection target usually increases every year and the government would also be near to the revenue collection target next year.