Bangladesh Newsflash Edition 71, August 2017 Newsflash Bangladesh is a publication by the give us your comments: please feel free to send a Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in message to [email protected]. For further Dhaka. The newsflash provides an update in terms of practical economic information about Bangladesh, economic developments, the most important tenders please refer to the Netherlands Bangladesh Business and a selection of other relevant business news Platform – www.nbbp.org developed by the Embassy related to Bangladesh. This newsflash is shared with of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bangladesh in a distinctive group of Dutch businesses with special collaboration with Dutch Business University interests in Bangladesh. It is put together on the basis Nyenrode for the Dutch-Bangladeshi business of publicly available information from various community. 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If you do not concrete advice on good business practices, an wish to receive the Newsflash Bangladesh, or would overview of the most relevant government policies like to add a person to the distribution list, or if you for intending investors and much more. would like to Highlights • Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of US$200 million to strengthen urban infrastructure, service delivery, and governance in Bangladesh's municipalities. • Government to go ahead with Rampal power plant construction near the Sundarbans and take measures to mitigate adverse effects, if necessary, upon the strategic environmental assessment (SEA). • Summit Power International Pte Ltd to develop US$1.0 billion of gas-to-power generation and an offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Bangladesh. • Bangladesh sees 25-fold growth in commercial fish farming in three decades. • Country’s export earnings from the United States and the United Kingdom rebounded strongly in July, after witnessing a decline in recent months. • Bangladesh went up 28 notches in the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) index of the Basel Institute on Governance. • Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Ltd has started functioning, taking on its role of running commercial operations of Bangabandhu Satellite-1. • The World Bank to provide US$515 million to Bangladesh to improve the country’s health, nutrition and population services under the 4th health sector programme. • Bangladesh signed an agreement on adopting paperless trade, an initiative of the United Nations. 1 Newsflash August 2017 Political update • Violence has escalated in Rakhine state, Myanmar since August 25th, triggered by coordinated attacks staged against multiple police posts and an army base in Rakhine State, sparking retaliations. The extent and implications of the attack remain uncertain. According to UN sources to date over 300.000 Rohingya have fled the violence and crossed the border into Bangladesh. • The Dutch government made €500.000 available to provide emergency relief to the Rohingya population in Bangladesh, Minister Lilianne Ploumen of Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade announced at her meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Amsterdam on Thursday. This money will provide aid to the refugees through the United Nations World Food Program. • The High Court revised the lower court verdict in the sensational 7-murder case, upholding death penalty for 15 including expelled Narayanganj AL leader Nur Hossain, and 3 ex-Rab officers. • Since 11 August 2017, heavy monsoon rains have caused intense flooding across more than one-third of Bangladesh. 32 districts in the northern, north eastern and central parts of the country have been affected, impacting a total of more than eight million people. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department’s latest bulletin warns that further heavy rainfall is expected to continue. • US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G. Wells completed a two-day visit in Bangladesh on August 29-30. While in Dhaka, Ambassador Wells discussed Bangladesh’s bilateral relations with the United States and cooperation on security, energy and regional issues. Textile and Ready Made Garments (RMG) 26 more Alliance factories complete remediation Generalised Systems of Preferences scheme (New Age) Twenty-six more readymade garment Bangladesh signed up for a 16-point action plan to factories which make products for North get it back. American retailers and buyers completed full Apparel exports to US drop (The Daily Star) safety remediation. With the progress, the total Garment shipment to the US, the country's single number of remediated factories affiliated with largest export destination, declined 7.47 percent the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a year-on-year platform of North American buyers and retailers, to US$5.2 reached 118. The platform hoped that all the billion in material components outlined in their corrective 2016-17 action plans would be completed in the Alliance- largely affiliated factories by July, 2018, the timeframe because of set by Alliance. July’s success reinforced the higher duty, confidence to the platform that Alliance factories longer lead- would have substantially completed remediation time, and and be well on the way to developing a lower prices. Apparel exporters also blamed the sustainable culture of safety before the Alliance appreciation of the local currency against the ends in 2018. American greenback, less imports by US retailers GSP may be handed back this year: former US and inefficient port operations in Bangladesh, for envoy (The Daily Star) There is a possibility of the fall in garment exports. Exporters say Bangladesh winning back trade privileges to the Bangladesh's garments are less attractive to US American market at the end of the year, when the customers as competing countries can offer United States Trade Representative convenes for similar items at lower prices since they enjoy appraisal. “At the end of this year GSP comes up preferential duty privilege. Bangladeshi apparel for renewal. I personally believe that Bangladesh exports face 15.62 percent duty to the US will find a place in the schedule,” said Frank G markets, whereas Vietnam, Turkey, China and Wisner, the former US ambassador to Zambia, India are subjected to 8.38 percent, 3.57 percent, Egypt and India. After the suspension of the 3 percent and 2.29 percent duty respectively. 2 Newsflash August 2017 Longer lead-time is another major problem confronting Bangladesh whereas competitors can Infrastructure send to the US within a shorter time. Bangladesh Padma rail deal with China by this year (The Daily takes nearly three months to export to the US Star) Bangladesh and China are going to sign final whereas competitors can supply the same deals on the Padma Bridge Rail Link and four other products to the US within 60 days or less. projects International retailers have also cut the lead-time involving US$6.8 for Bangladeshi exporters. billion by this year. The deals Government moves to complete remediation by have been June ’18 (New Age) The government has taken a finalized after move to expedite the remediation of the months of readymade garment factories inspected under negotiations following the Chinese president's the national initiative with the aim of removing all Dhaka visit last October. China would provide the safety faults in the units by June next year. both soft and commercial loans to finance the Under the move, the Department of Inspection projects. These are part of the 27 agreements and for Factories and Establishments started to hold memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed meetings with the factory owners to get during official talks between Chinese President Xi information about the problems they are facing in Jinping and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The completing remediation. The DIFE had taken the Padma rail link would facilitate train move to complete remediation in the factories communications between Dhaka and southern which were inspected under the national region, power projects would help strengthen initiative, a joint initiative of the Bangladesh transmission and distribution capacity, Info Sarkar government and the International Labour Phase-III would help shape over 4,500 Union Organisation. There were 104 RMG factories in Information Service Centers (UISC) as IT hubs Chittagong, which are housed in rented or shared generating employments, and SPM would help buildings and 50 percent of them submitted pump imported fuel directly from oil tankers to timeframe for completing remediation. Owners the depot of Eastern Refineries Limited (ERL). of the rest of the factories promised to relocate their units to safe places. A labour ministry source ADB approves US$200m for urban infrastructure said a time-bound remediation strategy would be dev (New Age) Asian Development Bank's board formulated as per the promise made by the of directors has approved a loan package totaling government to the international bodies. US$200 million to strengthen urban infrastructure, service delivery, and governance in Government to bring all industries under central Bangladesh's municipalities. Specifically, the