Two projects completed by Beximco Group

Beximco Group completed two projects financed by its Shariah-compliant bond fund—Green-Sukuk Al Istisna’a.Teesta Solar Limited’s power plant with a capacity of 200 MW utilised the full Tk1,881.80 crore allocated from the Sukuk Fund and successfully started commercial operations on January 8, 2023. Meanwhile, the textile division’s expansion project, which is the second project, utilised the full Tk 805.90 crore allocated from the fund and has successfully commissioned the textile machinery arranged through financing and refinancing, as per a Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) filing. It has enhanced the textile division’s capacity in spinning, denim, yarn dyeing, knitting, printing, and washing units, as per the filling.

Beximco also informed the same day its third project – Korotoa Solar Limited’s 30 MW Solar Project located at Tetulia in Panchagarh – is currently under construction and will fully be operational by June 2024.

On July 8, 2021, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) gave approval to Beximco for issuing a Tk 3,000 crore Shariah-compliant green sukuk, and the sukuk made its debut on January 13 last year. Meanwhile, the trustee of the Beximco Green Sukuk Al Istisna'a approved the payment of 5.55 per cent dividend on the Sukuk's face value for the first half of its second year. Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) is the trustee of the Sukuk.

Beximco Group paid a 30 per cent cash dividend to its shareholders for the financial year ended in June 2022. The listed company’s earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk14.32 for FY22 against Tk7.53 for the previous fiscal.

Ties between Japan and Bangladesdh grows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Westin Tokyo of Japan to strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations between the two countries.FBCCI President Md. Jashim Uddin and JCCI Chairman Ken Kobayashi signed the MoU on behalf of their organisations.

The MoU was signed at the inauguration of the summit on Trade & Investment Opportunities between Bangladesh and Japan held at The Westin Tokyo of Japan. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was present at the program as the chief guest. Under the MoU, the parties agreed to cooperate with each other to develop more productive contacts between the businesses of the two countries, exchange knowledge and information related to bilateral trade and economic development.

Private industry and investment adviser to the Prime Minister Salman F Rahman, Foreign Minister Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen, State Minister of ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, FBCCI Former President Md. Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) MP, Ambassadors of the two countries, high officials were present at the summit.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina called on Japanese investors to explore business potentials and investment opportunities in Bangladesh. She made the request at a Tokyo summit on ‘Trade and investment opportunities between Bangladesh and Japan’ jointly organised by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority. The summit was held in Japan to showcase economic potentials of Bangladesh and strengthen business ties between Bangladesh and Japan as the two countries mark the 50th anniversary of
their relationship.

‘We are determined to build a modern, developed and knowledge-based ‘Smart Bangladesh’ by 2041,’ Sheikh Hasina said. Drawing a reference to HSBC Global Research report, the prime minster said that Bangladesh was expected to become the ninth largest consumer market globally by 2030 overtaking UK and Germany.

Bangladesh enters $3 billion semiconductors sector

 

Bangladesh has the potential to export $3 billion worth semiconductors in the next five years, said Salman F Rahman, private industry and investment adviser to the prime minister.

The global semiconductor industry is worth of $3 trillion and many companies are now operating in Bangladesh's semiconductor industry also, for which the ICT ministry has prepared a roadmap, he said. The fourth industrial revolution is going on, so it is time for working on artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and robotics, he also said. Bangladesh will be able to come out of the 'Middle-income country" trap if it can utilise the advanced technologies, Rahman added.

The global semiconductor market size was USD 527.88 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow from USD 573.44 billion in 2022 to USD 1,380.79 billion in 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 12.2% during the forecast period. Based on our analysis, the global semiconductor market exhibited a rise of 6.8% in 2020 compared to 2019.

He made the comments after a meeting on "Policy Dialogue on Roadmap for Smart Bangladesh" at the office of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority in Dhaka's Agargaon. In the meeting, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, also spoke.

Global semiconductor sales data released last week showed the industry experienced significant ups and downs in 2022. While chip sales reached the highest-ever annual total in 2022, the slowdown in the second half of the year substantially limited growth. A deeper dive into the year-end data reveals how this pattern is consistent with the semiconductor industry’s predictable cycle and why the current short-term downturn does not change the reality that long-term growth prospects for this foundational technology remain very promising.

In the current cycle, after a brief downturn in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic, the semiconductor industry experienced a period of tremendous growth, and now it is on a significant downward trend that started in the second half of 2022. The current short-term downturn is the result of a confluence of factors, including increasing inflation, geopolitical unrest, and lingering effects of the pandemic. These factors have contributed to macroeconomic uncertainty, decreased consumer spending, and fluctuations in demand for semiconductors. For example, as household spending on consumer electronics like PCs, smartphones, and tablets has decreased, so too has demand for the semiconductors that power them.

Indeed, macroeconomic headwinds have created significant short-term challenges for the semiconductor industry, resulting in weaker industry growth in 2022 than was previously expected. This short-term adjustment, however, does not change the structural drivers of industry growth that are expected to reassert themselves and propel continued growth over the long term. The net of this is semiconductor demand will grow over the long term, as chips continue to make the world smarter, more efficient, and better connected.