National News... 1 অবসর য ওয় স ক র চ কর জ ব ও নববর ষ ভ ত প রবন Summit keen on more power, port project GP on a roll...

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1 DSEX Gold (Ounce) $ Dollar (Buy) (Sell) REPO Rate (18/4/2017) 3.15% CSCX Oil (Barrel) $50.73 Euro (Buy) (Sell) REPO Rate (17/4/2017) 3.28% Source: DSE and CSE Source: yahoo finance Source: One Bank Limited Source: Bangladesh Bank (WAV) National News... 1 অবসর য ওয় স ক র চ কর জ ব ও নববর ষ ভ ত প রবন... 1 Summit keen on more power, port project... 2 GP on a roll... 4 Govt to rethink allowing local companies to invest abroad... 5 Govt to form taskforce to cut cost of business... 6 BIA demands cut in insurance cos corporate tax to 25pc... 8 BASIS wants 40pc cash incentive on exports... 9 Bring back discipline to get budget incentives, NBR tells transport sector... 9 Export to UK drops Power Division seeks Tk 260b in next ADP Call for installing ETPs in economic zones FRC may act soon to oversee auditors' work Cybercriminal Lazarus group hacked Bangladesh Bank International News Trump orders review of skilled worker visa scheme India moving forward to become major destination for FDI India's Paytm in talks with SoftBank to raise $1.5b National News অবসর য ওয় স ক র চ কর জ ব ও নববর ষ ভ ত প রবন অবসর য ওয় স ক র চ কর জ ব রকও চলরত বছ থ রক নববর ষ ভ ত থ ওয় হরব অ ষ মন ত রণ লরয় অ ষ রবভ গ গতক ল ব ধব একর প রজ ঞ পন জ র কর রছ প রজ ঞ পরন বল হরয়রছ, স ক জ ত য় থবতনক ঠ রম আওত ভ ক ত অবসর য ওয় সব স ক র স মর ক ও থবস মর ক কমষচ র ব ল নববর ষ ভ ত থ ওয় রসদ ধ ন ত রনরয়রছ এরত আ ও বল হরয়রছ, শতভ গ থপনশন সমপষণক কমষচ থপনশন সমপষণ ন ক রল থয পর ম ণ রন থপনশন থপরতন, ত ২০ শত শ হ র ১৪২৪ ব ল সন থ রক ব ল নববর ষ ভ ত প রবন অ ষ রবভ গ স র জ ন থগরছ, অবস রভ গ র জন য ব ল নববর ষ ভ ত র রত স ক র ১৩ থক র ক ক পড়রব জ ন থগরছ, ব ল নববরর ষ আরগ রসদ ধ ন ত হরলও প রর য় গত ক রণ প রজ ঞ পন জ র ক রত সময় থলরগরছ ১৪ এরপ রল নববর ষ অন ষ ঠ ন প হরয় থগরলও অবসর য ওয় স ক র চ কর জ ব এ ভ ত প রবন 1 P a g e

2 বতষম রন অবসর য ওয় চ কর জ ব বছর দ র কর উৎসব ভ ত এব রচরকৎস ভ ত প ন গত বছ থ রক নববর ষ ভ ত চ ল হরলও শতভ গ থপনশন সমপষণক র থ ওয় হয়রন এ বছ থ রক ত ব ল নববর ষ ভ ত আওত য় এরলন Source: Summit keen on more power, port project SUMMIT Group eyes more power and port projects after the successful completion of most of its ventures in Bangladesh, the chairman of the company said. The group has taken a $2-billion investment plan in order to set up a terminal for liquefied natural gas, two LNG-based power plants and ports, said Muhammed Aziz Khan. We have kept our promises by implementing all of our projects on time, he said. Summit Group is the largest private sector power producer in Bangladesh, generating over 1,500MW of electricity. Recently, it completed the 115MW Barisal power plant and 55MW Narayanganj plant, while the 115MW plant in Gazipur and a floating liquefied natural gas terminal are under implementation. The group has set up Summit Power International Pte Ltd in Singapore to get funds for investment in Bangladesh and plans to be listed on the city state's stockmarket next year. Bangladesh's capital market is too small to cater to the capital-intensive energy and power projects, he said. Summit has committed to investing $2 billion by 2021, said Khan. As part of the investment plan, the group will have to invest $600 million as equity, as 30 percent of an investment project has to come in the form of equity. Of the $600 million, about $200 million will come from Summit's own profits while the rest will be raised from local and international sources. The Singaporean office will primarily raise about $400 million. Investors led by the International Finance Corporation have already invested $175 million into the company, Khan said. The investment will enable Summit to execute the Summit LNG terminal project. Summit Group is awaiting a final nod from the government to set up the floating LNG terminal on Moheshkhali Island in Cox's Bazar at a cost of $500 million to supply 500 million cubic feet of gas a day. Summit LNG Terminal Company is expected to sign agreements today with Petrobangla and the energy and mineral resources division for terminal use and implementation in Dhaka. The company has signed an agreement with an international provider of the floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) on a hire-purchase basis. For Bangladesh, this will be the second LNG terminal agreement. The project will be completed in 2018, Khan said. In July, state-run Petrobangla and Excelerate Energy signed the final deals to set up Bangladesh's first LNG terminal. Summit Group is taking assistance from US-based Excelerate Energy for the floating terminal project. Excelerate Energy operates the largest fleet of FSRUs in the world. It provides LNG transportation, marketing and storage, and floating re-gasification services. So it is very natural that we talk to them, Khan said. 2 P a g e

3 Khan said geophysical, metocean, and geotechnical surveys need to be carried out for an FSRU project. Summit's terminal will be located 4 kilometres away from the terminal of Excelerate. Due to its proximity, Summit will be using the study reports from the US Company. Khan hopes that once the LNG is made available, Summit would be allowed to set up two 600MW LNG-based power plants. We also want to set up a few more 100MW power projects. The net worth of Summit as valued by KPMG is $1 billion. It has invested $2 billion in the energy sector alone. In recent years, Summit has been able to attract investment from multinational lenders such as the International Finance Corporation, the Asian Development Bank as well as multinationals GE and Daelim of South Korea. Summit's Singaporean company, in a joint venture with GE and Daelim, is bidding for a 330MW power plant project in Sri Lanka at $300 million with financing from international lenders. Summit Alliance Port Ltd now has a dockyard in Chittagong, which facilitates exports and imports, and has opened a port in Narayanganj. It also has plans to expand its port infrastructure beyond the country. We have submitted bids to set up a port in Kolkata and Sri Lanka each in a joint venture with local companies in the host countries. The goal is to help Bangladeshi companies move cargo smoothly. Summit has also laid 35,000 km of optical fibre cables across the country, covering 64 districts and 80 percent of the upazila headquarters. Khan said they are interested in foraying into the transmission and distribution of electricity in Bangladesh. Transmission and distribution should be privatised. We are blessed that we have received the opportunity to provide electricity to every home in Bangladesh. Hopefully, we will be able to provide internet connectivity to every home as well. Khan has called for reasonable taxation policies. The difficulty in Bangladesh is the 37 percent corporate tax, 20 percent dividend tax and 30 percent personal income tax, he said. It is unreasonable to expect that people will invest their money, earn money and then pay about 70 percent in taxes. Khan demanded a level playing field for foreign and local investors. Exemptions granted to foreign investors provide them with discriminatory advantages, he added. The tax rate should be reasonable for everybody, from citizens of Bangladesh to foreign investors. Foreign investors should be welcomed into the country, so should my own brothers and sisters. By having such high tax rates, the government forces people to maintain two-three books. Nowadays, Khan frequently visits Singapore and is in touch with investors in the country. I would like to feel that our office in Singapore is an extension of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, he said, laughingly. We portray how good Bangladesh is, how good Bangladeshi companies are and how good Bangladesh is as an investment destination. Investors should come and invest in the country. Source: 3 P a g e

4 GP on a roll When Grameenphone started its journey as a village phone programme in 1997, mobile phone was still a luxury in Bangladesh. But in the last two decades it has not only grown keeping pace with the economy but also taken modern but affordable telecom services to the doorstep of the people. It took only a year or two to become the leading and largest telecom service provider in Bangladesh a feat it has successfully retained years after years. It is one of the largest taxpayers in the country too. Today, GP has nearly 6 crore subscribers, nearly half of the total customer base in the country. It generates crore calls daily. Over 2 crore people use internet on its network. Thanks to the reach of GP and other mobile phone operators, Bangladesh has the 10th highest number of mobile subscribers in the world. The exact contribution of GP to the economy is hard to come by. But according to the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh, the sector accounts for 6 percent of gross domestic product, giving an idea about the leading player's role. GP is a pioneer in introducing new products and services in the local telecom market. We have passed two decades successfully in Bangladesh. It has not been only a business success for us but the journey has helped the overall development of the country, said Petter-B Furberg, chief executive officer of GP. He said during the journey the operator has established telecom infrastructure and developed the telecom market which has brought a new dynamism to the economy and most importantly made modern telecom accessible for the general people. The operator was the first to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh and mobile to mobile telephony and became the first company to cover 99 percent of the population. GP was the first telecom operator to introduce the pre-paid service in It established the first 24-hour call centre, introduced value-added services such as SMS, fax and data transmission services, international roaming service, SMSbased push-pull services, and personal ring back tone. In the process, the operator has eliminated thousands of miles of physical distance, facilitated trade and commerce, education, health care and created jobs. Now we are looking forward to the next 20 years. In the last two decades, Grameenphone has added 8,124 users per day on average. Now, 30,000 to 35,000 new customers are joining the network every day. Furberg said the operator is trying to build a digital ecosystem that will be helpful for the people living even in the furthest part of the country. We are not only a telecom company; we are a company for the future which helps boost the economy, he said. GP offers bill and utility payments services and has channelled 3.88 crore transactions so far. The operator allows its subscribers to buy train tickets through mobile phones. Starting with only 47 employees, it directly employs about 3,000 people. But some 7 lakh people are directly or indirectly reliant on the company for their livelihood as dealers, retailers, scratch card sellers, suppliers, vendors, contractors and others. 4 P a g e

5 The company invested Tk 29,860 crore as of December 2016 in the country. At the same time, it contributed Tk 47,760 crore to the state coffer. It disbursed Tk 15,249 crore among shareholders since Norwegian telecom giant Telenor holds 55.8 percent share in GP, while Grameen Telecom owns 34.2 percent and the remaining shares are held by general retail and institutional investors. The company is now working on e-commerce services and segments such as entertainment and plans to roll out more digital services. However, some local e-commerce entrepreneurs have opposed GP's move to make entry into the segment. But Furberg argued: If the entry is restricted it will be bad for Bangladesh as it will limit innovation. If people want, services such as Alibaba and Amazon will come to Bangladesh and Facebook will run classified ads. Then what is the problem with Grameenphone? he asked. We are definitely not monopolising and pushing someone out of the market. Rather we are bringing more competition to the market. Despite all the achievements, GP also has frustrations as it has not got permission to launch mobile financial service (MFS). Furberg said: Even we applied together with a bank, but we have not been given the approval. This is a loss for the Bangladeshi people because there will be less competition in this segment, he said, adding that GP is not pursuing the MFS issue any more. The former CEO of Telenor Myanmar said given the advancement in technology and the advent of data services that have brought in lifestyle, communications and social empowerment applications onto smartphones, it is hard to predict where the company will be after one or two years. I can at least say that as long as Grameenphone continues to provide innovative and relevant services it will have a place in the heart of its subscribers, said Furberg. He said the future of the industry will lie more in data and digital empowerment and GP will try to meet the customers' needs as best as it can. Grameenphone wants to be a facilitator to promote innovation and entrepreneurship and we have already started to establish such platforms. Yesterday, GP's market capitalisation was Tk 45,195 crore, the highest among 331 companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. Its shares traded between Tk and Tk 336 on the premier bourse. Source: Govt to rethink allowing local companies to invest abroad The government wants to allow local private companies to invest abroad, considering the country's economic strength, said a finance ministry top official yesterday. The finance ministry is ready to allow local companies to invest abroad, but the central bank has strong reservations about it, said Md Eunusur Rahman, secretary to the bank and financial institutions division of the finance ministry. However, we will take the issue to the cabinet meeting on finance soon for a decision, Rahman said at a discussion on 'ease of doing business and trade facilitation' at the commerce ministry. 5 P a g e

6 Capital accounts are not convertible as per the Bangladesh foreign exchange law, which means that no individual or company can invest abroad without the prior approval of Bangladesh Bank (BB). The central bank allows local companies to invest in foreign countries on a case-to-case basis and has already permitted several companies to do so. But recently, BB has turned down the proposals of some companies to invest abroad, especially to some African countries and Vietnam. At the discussion, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed instructed the officials of different ministries, departments and agencies concerned for removing trade barriers and to form separate taskforces. Different business chambers and trade bodies like the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce would also be included in the taskforces, the minister added. In the last Doing Business report released in October, Bangladesh was ranked 176th out of 189 economies across the world. Only Afghanistan (183rd position) among the eight South Asian countries came in lower than Bangladesh, while Bhutan topped the list in the 73rd position. The minister also asked officials to make business procedures paperless and digitise the laws and policies to cut costs, time and steps needed for obtaining government permission in doing business. Kazi M Aminul Islam, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, said businesses need to cross 13 stages to start a new venture in Bangladesh, while it is only three stages in New Zealand. Our target is also to reduce the number of stages to 3 to ease business procedures, like in Singapore or Korea. M Khaled Iqbal, chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority, said Chittagong Port handles more than 92 percent of export and import volumes and 98 percent of containerised cargoes every year. Chittagong port was ranked 76th among the 100 top ports across the world for handling cargoes. In 2016, the port handled 2.35 million TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Units) of cargo, which was 2 million TEUs in 2015 and 1 million TEUs in Iqbal said the port authority is developing a bay terminal near Halishahar in Chittagong on 10km of reclaimed char on the Bay Bengal, mainly to reduce the pressures on Chittagong Port. It is also working to develop a small port at Mirershorai and a bay terminal at Patenga, he said. The port authority is working to deliver services round the clock, he added. Md Nojibur Rahman, chairman of the National Board of Revenue, said the customs and taxation systems have been digitised to ease the business processes. Digitisation will reduce corruption and harassment for businessmen. Source: Govt to form taskforce to cut cost of business The government will form a taskforce to ease doing business and facilitate trade through addressing problems businesses raised Wednesday. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed announced the decision at a government-business consultation aimed at making ways for taking the economy further forward. 6 P a g e

7 "Every ministry will constitute taskforce to ease doing business and for trade facilitation across the country. Different trade associations will be included in the taskforce. Activities to ease doing business in the country will continue throughout the year," the commerce minister told reporters after the meeting. The meeting on 'Ease of Doing Business and Trade Facilitation' was held at the ministry's secretariat office with broadbased representation from government agencies concerned and business leaders. Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Md Nojibur Rahman, secretary of bank and financial institutions division Md. Eunusur Rahman, Secretary (in charge) of the commerce ministry Shubhashish Bose, secretary of the ministry of civil aviation and tourism S.M. Ghulam Farooque, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Kazi M. Aminul Islam, chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral M Khaled Iqbal, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Abdul Matlub Ahmad, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Abul Kasem Khan, Vice- Chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Mafruha Sultana and representatives of MCCI, BGMEA and BKMEA were present at the meeting. "We have to care for our business community so that they do not face any harassment. Besides, we have to take steps to decrease extra cost, processing stages and time for improving further business environment. There is no alternative to strengthening the country's overall economy," said the commerce minister, also a senior leader of the ruling Awami League. He further noted that the economy is moving forward due to sincere efforts by businesspeople. "We all have to work together to ensure business- friendly environment in the country." The commerce minister expressed his disagreement with the latest World Bank annual doing-business ratings on Bangladesh. A number of businessmen at the meeting pointed out that the country's business environment is being hampered due to bureaucratic complexities, and lack of coordination among different state agencies. "We have to change our attitude for improving overall economy," the NBR Chairman told the meet. There are massive problems with bank loans. On the other hand, "big loan is a big problem" in the country's banking sector. Besides, there are many reservations of Bangladesh Bank (BB), said the bank and financial institutions division secretary, Mr. Eunusur Rahman. The BIDA Chairman told the meeting that the country needs big local and foreign investments in future to take the GDP size up to US$3.0 trillion. Mr. Matlub Ahmad observed the country is going forward firstly through public and private cooperation. The government is helping country's trade and business through policy support. The chief of the apex trade body proposed that the government form a taskforce to remove complexities in business level. Country's trade bodies concerned will have to be drawn into the taskforce, he said. Businesspeople are mostly getting discouraged due to huge hidden cost in country's business sectors. The government should take steps to remove the problem, he added. Besides, dialogue between public and private sectors should be arranged in order to expand trade and business activities. Required facilities will have to be increased for doing busing in the country, businessmen opined in the meeting. They also said additional time, processing complexities and higher cost in doing business have to be addressed. 7 P a g e

8 Source: BIA demands cut in insurance cos corporate tax to 25pc Bangladesh Insurance Association on Wednesday proposed that the government in coming budget for financial year should reduce corporate tax for the insurance companies to 25 per cent instead of existing 40 per cent. Besides, the association also demanded for scrapping the 5 per cent tax provision on insurance policy benefits of policyholders, 15 per cent value added tax and 5 per cent source tax on agents commission, and 40 per cent tax on insurance company s excess operating expenses. The insurance association came up with the proposal at a pre-budget press briefing held at its office in Dhaka. BIA president Sheikh Kabir Hossain presented the proposals in the briefing where its vice-president Ahasanul Islam, executive committee members Muzaffar Hossain Paltu, AKM Monirul Hoque, Nurul Alam Chowdhury and Nasir Uddin Ahmed, among others, were present. Kabir said that the sales of life insurance policies have been on the decline since 2014 when the government imposed 5 per cent gain tax on policy benefits as policyholders prefer depositing funds into banks rather than purchasing life insurance policy. Unless the tax provision is scraped, life insurance companies would be at stake for survival, he said. Speaking about the corporate tax issue, the BIA president said although the insurance companies were not comparable with the bank and financial companies in terms of profit generation, 40 per cent corporate tax was imposed on the insurance companies illogically. Insurance companies are not that sound like banks and financial institutionsand the government should reduce corporate tax on insurance companies to 25 per cent so that the entities can survive, he said. Kabir also requested the government to stop duel taxation on the commission earnings of insurance companies agents as they have to pay 15 per cent value added and 5 per cent income tax on their earnings as commission. Retaining 15 per cent VAT on insurance company agents earnings would worsen their livelihood, he said. At the same time, he also called for streamlining insurance company agents income in line with the government s policy, that exempted individual earnings of Tk 2.50 lakh from income tax, as insurance company agents have to pay source tax on each and every receipt whether the amount is Tk 1,000 or 10,000. The BIA president also proposed for the increase of tax free dividend income limit to Tk 1 lakh from existing Tk 25,000. Ahasanul Islam said that the government should reduce corporate tax rate on insurance companies to 25 per cent considering the sector s contribution to the country s economy. Although the insurance companies paid insurance claims worth around Tk 1,000 crore, the development of the sector was hindered due to lack of positive publicity, he said. Policyholders should communicate with insurance companies and with the regulatory authority before filing cases with any court for claim settlement, Ahasanul said. Source: 8 P a g e

9 BASIS wants 40pc cash incentive on exports The trade body for software exporters yesterday demanded 40 percent cash incentive on exports of software and ITenabled services. Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services made the call in a pre-budget meeting at the National Board of Revenue. The industry is capable of earning $1 billion from exports; and this year it has already crossed the $700 million-mark, said Mustafa Jabbar, president of BASIS. We can achieve the $5 billion export earnings target by To do that, the government should provide the sector with the incentive, he said. If the industry gets only 40 percent cash incentive for a period of five years, it will perform as well as if not better than the garments sector and will create millions of new jobs, the BASIS said. BASIS also urged the government to withdraw value-added tax and other duties on the use of internet. On Tuesday, the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh also wanted the VAT on internet use to go. Mainly people are not using internet because of the VAT burden, Jabbar said. If we can increase broadband penetration by 10 percent, it will help us to boost GDP by 1 percent. But the VAT and other taxes are making it impossible. In yesterday's meeting, Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) demanded tax holiday for assembling computer and computer accessories in the local market until There is tax holiday in the industry, but local assemblers do not get it, said Ali Ashfak, president of BCS. We are entering into a digital society from an agriculture-based society. So we need to go for assembling IT products, which will also help us to export the product as well. Currently, the tax is much higher for assembling IT products than importing. The leaders from the Internet Service Providers also placed their demands in the meeting. Source: Bring back discipline to get budget incentives, NBR tells transport sector The National Board of Revenue chairman Md Nojibur Rahman on Wednesday asked road transport sector leaders for bringing back discipline in the sector for getting incentives in the budget. You will get all types of incentives from the National Board of Revenue if you bring back discipline in the transport sector, he said while Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik Samiti secretary general Khandaker Enayet Ullah sought duty waiver for the sector at a pre-budget discussion. The revenue board arranged the discussion with transport and automobile sector at its headquarters on the day. Commuters of Dhaka city have been suffering immensely due to anarchy created by transport sector after Bangladesh Road Transport Authority started drive against buses for charging extra and other irregularities since Sunday. Many city buses, mainly seating service buses, continued to stay off the street and the buses which are operating continued to charge extra. 9 P a g e

10 At the meeting, Enayet demanded reduction of tariff value on import of radial tyres and normal tyres for bus, truck and other big vehicles as local manufacturers could produce only a small portion of big tyres in the country while they could not produce radial tyres. There are around 3 lakh big vehicles including truck, covered van and bus plying in the country and each vehicle needs on an average one tyre a month, he said. He demanded reduction of import tariff for radial tyres to $2.5 per kg from existing $3.5 and for other tyres to $1.5 per kg from current $2.5 per kg. He also sought industrial duty benefit for the sector as the government declared the sector as an industry. In reply, the NBR chairman said that transport sector was one of the important sectors for the economic development of the country. We hope mass people will get appropriate services from you, he said. He also said that the new VAT law would be implemented from July 1 and the revenue board had already given seven instructions to field offices to prepare themselves including holding consultations and creating awareness among businesses in this connection. In the law, the NBR has given importance on protecting domestic industry and generating employment and creating level playing field for all, he added. Later, the revenue board also held pre-budget discussions with the Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) where the association sought incentives on import of reconditioned hybrid cars and withdrawal of supplementary duty on import of microbus. In its proposal, BARVIDA said that the NBR in last year gave duty waiver on import of new hybrid cars but reconditioned hybrid cars remained out of the benefit. Globally, the production and demand of hybrid, electrical and solar cars are increasing considering their fuel efficiency, environment friendliness and longevity, said BARVIDA president Habib Ullah Don. He demanded 35 per cent subsidy for reconditioned hybrid cars on the total price of a new hybrid car and year-wise depreciation to encourage import of used hybrid cars and keep the price affordable for consumers. He also sought waiver in supplementary duty on import of the car. The association also demanded removal of disparity in calculating depreciation of one-year old used cars. Source: Export to UK drops Country s merchandise export to the United Kingdom (UK) dropped by around seven per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY17). Statistics available with the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of Bangladesh, export to the UK dropped to $2.62 billion in July-March period of the current fiscal year from $2.82 billion in the same period of last fiscal year. The decline in export may be attributed to the negative impact of the Brexit or Britain s exit from the European Union (EU). 10 P a g e

11 After the Brexit vote, UK s currecny declined sharply against the major currencies. Earlier, a quick analysis of the commonwealth secretariat showed that Bangladesh would be the most affected developing countries of the Commonwealth in terms of tariff. As a consequence of the UK s pullout from the EU, Bangladesh has to pay $400 million additional import duty which is around 11 per cent of the country s total annual export to the UK. Annual export to the UK was $3.8 billion in the last fiscal year. Source: Power Division seeks Tk 260b in next ADP The Power Division has sought a development allocation of Tk billion for the next fiscal year (FY), which is 45 per cent higher than that of the current FY. It will be the highest demand among other sectors under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the FY , officials said Wednesday. In the current ADP, the division received Tk billion in allocation for implementing the development projects. "We have sought the money as some larger projects, especially in the generation and the transmission sub-sectors, are being implemented to meet the growing electricity demand of Bangladesh," said a Power Division official. He said the fund will be required as some big power plants and installation of high-voltage transmission lines will be implemented in the next FY. According to the Power Division, they sent the fund requisition to the Planning Commission so that it can include the projects, to be implemented between July 2017 and June 2018, in the next ADP. Out of total amount, the division sought Tk billion from the internal resources and Tk billion from the external resources as project aid. Meanwhile, the government has allocated a amount of Tk billion --Tk billion from the internal resources and Tk billion from the external resources -- in the current ADP. Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) under the Power Division has been implementing some mega-projects, including the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Matarbari power plant at an expenditure of Tk billion, Ashuganj 450MW power plant at Tk billion, 1,320MW Rampal Power Plant project at Tk billion and 400MW Bibiyana-3 CC power plant at Tk billion. The Power Generation Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) is implementing a number of large projects, including installation of 400 kilovolt (kv) power transmission line project at Tk billion, Bangladesh (Bheramara)-India (Baharampur) cross-border transmission line upgradation project at Tk billion, and Aminbazar-Mawa-Mongla 400kv transmission line project at Tk billion cost. A Power Division official said: "Since we need to enhance our power supply capacity along with higher generation target, we have taken necessary generation, transmission and distribution projects." Around 30 per cent of the people are still out of the electricity supply coverage as the grid line is yet to cover many villages. Power is one of the top priority sectors of the government as the country is struggling hard to overcome the electricity supply shortage against the demand. 11 P a g e

12 According to the power sector master plan 2010, Bangladesh's anticipated peak demand would be 17,304 MW in FY2020. The government is committed to generate 20,000 MW of electricity by FY2021, requiring investment worth billions of dollars. Source: Call for installing ETPs in economic zones Speakers at a workshop on Wednesday emphasised the need for installing full functional effluent treatment plants (ETPs) in the economic zones of the country before industrial plants go into production. They also said the concept of green economic zones will help attract more foreign direct investment in many sectors. The speakers came up with the views at the workshop titled 'Central Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) for Economic Zones (EZs) in Bangladesh' jointly organised by Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), 2030 Water Resources Group (WRG) and German development organisation GIZ at a city hotel. Prime Minister's Office Chief Coordinator (SDGs) Abul Kalam Azad attended the programme as chief guest. Presided over by BEZA Executive Chairman Paban Chowdhury, the workshop was also addressed by Water Resources Ministry Senior Secretary Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan, Ministry of Environment & Forests Secretary Istiaque Ahmad and 2030 WRG Asia Region Co-Head Bastiaan Mohrmann. Terming Bangladesh as the most vulnerable country in terms of environment, Mr Azad said the government has taken the plan to establish 100 EZs across the country by 2030 where strict maintenance of CETPs is a must to protect the environment. He said 80 per cent of waste water produced worldwide is discharged without treatment while the rate in Bangladesh is around per cent. However, he said there is a scarcity of human resources in the country for effluent and sludge management both in public and private sectors. Despite having significant potential in producing electricity from sludge management, the country has not yet got any success in this regard, Mr Azad added. BEZA Chairman Paban Chowdhury said untreated effluents harm not only surface water but also ground water in the long run affecting reserve of fresh drinking water. Mentioning BEZA's commitment to protect the environment for sustainable development of the country, he said CETPs in the EZs are considered a viable wastewater treatment solution for industries of all sizes and scales. BEZA has already selected around 36,000 acres of land to establish EZs till now which will reach around 75,000 acres finally, he added. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed among BEZA 2030 WRG and GIZ to initiate a technical and knowledge-based partnership to facilitate establishment of CETPs in the under-construction EZs in the country. Source: FRC may act soon to oversee auditors' work The much-debated financial reporting council (FRC) may start functioning anytime soon as the appointment of its chairman now awaits the final seal, sources said Wednesday. 12 P a g e

13 It's an independent watchdog against cooking accounts books of institutions and enterprises. The process of formation of the council is riddled with pitfalls, including opposition from professionals in the accounting and auditing jobs. Finally, the council law was passed in parliament in September Executive orders for the formation of the highpowered body also came sometime in 2016, but it remained non-operational for want of its chairman and other key officials. The FRC is believed to ensure accountability and improve performance of the professional accountants of Bangladesh as it will oversee work of auditors so that such financials cannot be doctored. More importantly, the council will also monitor financial matters of various government, autonomous and nongovernment institutions as well. People familiar with the latest developments said the office of the FRC would be functional soon as they are expecting final approval from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). But its office and initial budget are yet to be finalised, they told the FE. A wing under the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance has already sent two names for the post of chairman and one will be chosen from the list for four years. "We've sent the names more than a week back to the PMO and hopefully waiting," said an official involved with the process. He said there are some procedures that need time to be executed. The procedural delays also frustrated local think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) as it in its latest media briefing on this matter also urged the government to operationalise the watchdog body. Earlier in 2016, Finance Minister AMA Muhith had told reporters that the FRC would be formed at the end of the calendar year 2016 under the Financial Reporting Act (FRA). However, the people involved in the process said after PMO's nod they will issue a gazette notification. After appointment of the chairman he will hire other key people, including its CEO. They also said framing a budget for maintaining the office of FRC is in the final stage. But its office location is yet to be finalised. Earlier, the government had wanted city's one of the old buildings located at Kakrail crossing. They, however, hinted that the FRC will be operationalised from the upcoming financial year. Earlier, a three-member search committee headed by the Comptroller and Auditor General had gone on a search to pick chairman for the council. The committee chose two persons in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the act. The chairman must have at least 15 years' experience at executive level with degrees in the disciplines of economics, MBA, finance, law and banking. His tenure will be four years. The council will consist of 12 members representing government, chartered accountants, cost accountants, the national board of revenue and business-promotional organisations. Under the council will function key wings like standard-setting, financial- reporting monitoring, audit-practice revision, and enforcement divisions. The FRC will have its own office in Dhaka. Later, the council will set up its office in other places across the country. 13 P a g e

14 Apart from monitoring function of the professional-accounting bodies, one of the key objectives of the council is to raise the trustworthiness of annual financials. Earlier, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) used to look into the matters. The FRC will act in setting standards and ethics for chartered accountants and auditors, and formulate new guidelines as per the mandates stipulated in the act. Local investors and multilateral lending agencies have long demanded a regulatory body to oversee the activities and accounting practices of chartered-accountant firms, many of which allegedly often doctor accounting figures of listed, non-listed and corporate businesses. The passage of reporting act had been hindered for at least two years as the ICAB opposed the move. The other members of the FRC will be two additional secretaries from the ministries of finance and commerce, a deputy auditor general, a deputy governor to be nominated by Bangladesh Bank, a member from the National Board of Revenue and a commissioner of the securities and exchange commission, the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh, the president of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh and the president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, an executive director to be appointed by the Chairman of the FRC, and an accounting professor from a public university. The council will formulate necessary rules and regulations to monitor auditing practices and ensure compliance with the standards set by the international accounting standards board and the international auditing and assurance standards boards. After a long delay and dithering, parliament passed the Financial Reporting Act 2015 in September that year. Back in 2003, the World Bank in a report recommended establishing an independent oversights body. The last caretaker government approved a financial reporting ordinance. However, it was not approved by parliament later on. In 2012, a financial reporting law was proposed by the community concerned. After three years, the long-awaited law got through. After establishment of the FRC, all auditors and audit firms must register with the council. Without registration, no auditor and audit firm will be allowed to provide auditing service to any entity involving public interest. Source: Cybercriminal Lazarus group hacked Bangladesh Bank Cybercriminal gang Lazarus group carried out the $81 million Bangladesh Bank cyber heist, not the other groups named since the February 2016 incident, according to a top researcher of cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab. Vitaly Kamluk, director of the Moscow-based company's global research and analysis team for the Asia Pacific region, said: We're pretty sure it was the work of Lazarus group. The researcher made the remarks in an interview with The Daily Star recently. 14 P a g e

15 By contrast Lamont Siller, an FBI officer in the Philippines involved in the investigations, said last month that the heist from the central bank's account at the New York Federal Reserve was "state-sponsored". In the wake of the crime, then central bank governor Atiur Rahman was forced to step down along with two deputies. BB formed a committee to probe the attacks but the report has not been made public yet. On 3 April this year Kaspersky Lab released a 58-page report on Lazarus Group, the gang behind some of the most notable cybercrimes in recent times. The report said the BB heist may very well have been their work. When asked whether the heist was state-sponsored, Kamluk said: We don't do attribution, we publish only the facts. However, he said Lazarus has been known for sophisticated cyber espionage since Running such campaigns requires vast human and financial resources which very few cybercriminal groups possess. Most probably this isn't just a cybercriminal group. After the BB heist came into the spotlight, Kaspersky Lab started to search for new Lazarus malware samples and successfully identified a chain of infections, according to Kamluk. Then we conducted several incident response operations in Southeast Asia and Europe aimed at preventing additional attempts to steal money. He said in parallel with an attack against Bangladesh, Lazarus was preparing to conduct similar operations on other banks. The Kaspersky Lab report suggests that a North Korean IP address was involved. Kamluk said it could mean several things: the attackers connected from that IP address; it was a carefully planned false flag; or someone in North Korea accidentally visited the command and control URL. About any weakness or negligence on the part of the BB, SWIFT or New York Fed, Kamluk said: We note that in all of the attacks against banks we have analysed, SWIFT software solutions running on banks' servers have not demonstrated specific vulnerability. The attacks were focused on banking infrastructure and staff, exploiting vulnerabilities in commonly used software or websites, brute forcing passwords, using keyloggers and elevating privileges. The way banks use SWIFT software requires personnel responsible for administration and operation. Sooner or later, the attackers find the personnel and gain the necessary privileges to access the SWIFT platform, Kamluk said. With administrative access they can manipulate the software as they wish. There isn't much to stop them because from a technical perspective their activities may not differ from what an authorised engineer would do: starting and stopping services, patching software, modifying the database. In all the breaches we analysed, SWIFT hasn't been directly at fault. More than that, we have witnessed SWIFT implementing integrity issue detection to protect customers. When asked whether the report could be used as legal evidence, Kamluk said Kaspersky Lab didn't aim to create a report to fit legal requirements. Our goal was to protect our customers. Although we do forensic analysis in a way that is very similar to the best law enforcement standards, we are not obliged to follow the full chain of custody. However, on request we can. Talking about the heist's impact on the local IT industry, Prabeer Sarker, chief executive officer of Officextracts which is the Bangladesh Kaspersky Lab distributor, said it had implications not only for IT but also for the financial, government and corporate sectors, as well as the entire nation. All quarters became aware of cyber security with a jolt. The major effect is awareness. 15 P a g e

16 He said immediately following the incident the number of people and establishments claiming cyber security expertise mushroomed, with many using the incident to generate hit and run business. That phase is fading now. IT professionals have gained experience over the past year to implement the right security strategies. Source: International News Trump orders review of skilled worker visa scheme President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a review of the US visa programme for bringing high-skilled foreign workers into the country, putting technology firms and the outsourcing companies that serve them on notice that possible changes may be ahead. Seeking to carry out a campaign pledge to put America First, Trump signed an executive order on the H-1B visa programme. It was vague on many fronts, and did not change existing rules, but one objective, said Trump aides, is to modify or replace the current lottery for H-1B visas with a merit-based system that would restrict the visas to highly skilled workers. Indian nationals are the largest group of H-1B recipients annually. Such a change could affect companies, such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Cognizant Tech Solutions Corp and Infosys Ltd that connect US technology companies with thousands of foreign engineers and programmers. None responded to requests for comment. Trump announced the order and made remarks at a visit to the headquarters of Snap-On Inc, a tool maker in Wisconsin. In addition to addressing the visas issue, he also ordered a review of government procurement rules favouring American companies to see if they are actually benefiting, especially the US steel industry. With this action, we are sending a powerful signal to the world: We re going to defend our workers, protect our jobs and finally put America first, Trump said. Trump was a businessman before he was elected president last year, and his companies have been criticised for using visa programmes to fill positions at Trump properties with foreign workers. Trump-branded products are also made overseas. As he nears the 100-day benchmark of his presidency, Trump still has no major legislative achievements. With his attempts to overhaul healthcare and tax law stalled in Congress, Trump has leaned heavily on executive orders to change policy. It was unclear whether the latest such order would yield immediate results. The H-1B visas section included no definite timeline. The government procurement section did. We hope the goal of president Trump s executive order on the H-1B programme is mend it, don t end it, said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a technology industry group. Going to a more merit-based H-1B system could attract more people with advanced science and technology skills, Atkinson said in a statement. But he said some ideas could make the system ineffective, such as requiring advertisement of job openings for long periods to prove the unavailability of US workers. Democrats said Trump s order was not strong enough, and too late, after thousands of visas were awarded this month in this year s lottery. 16 P a g e

17 For a president who has prided himself on his swift action when it comes to immigration, an interagency review of the programme is a guarded and timid approach. It s too little, too late, said US senator Dick Durbin, the No 2 Democrat in the Senate. Critics of the programme say most H-1B visas are awarded for lower-paid jobs at outsourcing firms, many based in India. That takes work away from Americans, lowers wages and keeps Americans from being trained in tech-related fields, they say. Right now, widespread abuse in our immigration system is allowing American workers of all backgrounds to be replaced by workers brought in from other countries, Trump said. Tech companies have been bracing for Trump to make changes to the H-1B programme. The visas are intended to go to foreign nationals in occupations that generally require specialized knowledge, such as science, engineering or computer programming. The government uses a lottery to award 65,000 visas yearly and randomly distributes another 20,000 to graduate student workers. Critics say the lottery benefits outsourcing firms that flood the system with mass applications for visas for lower-paid information technology workers. Right now H-1B visas are awarded in a totally random lottery and that s wrong. Instead, they should be given to the most skilled and highest paid applicants and they should never, ever be used to replace Americans, Trump said. More than 15 percent of Facebook Inc s US employees in 2016 used a temporary work visa, according to a Reuters analysis of US Labour Department filings. Facebook did not respond to requests for comment. Infosys, India s No 2 IT services firm has said previously that it is ramping up work on on-site development centres in the United States to train local talent in an effort to address the visa regulation changes under consideration. It warned last week that onerous changes to US visa rules could affect its earnings. NASSCOM, the Indian IT service industry s main lobbying group, said it backs efforts to root out H-1B abuses, but said the idea that H-1B visa holders are cheap labour is inaccurate. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Washington in February to be open minded on admitting skilled Indian workers. Source: India moving forward to become major destination for FDI India, with a young skilled work force, high growth rate and deregulation being undertaken by the government, is set to become an important destination for foreign investment, a former top US trade official has said. "With the young skilled work force, its growth rate that is going to surpass China for the coming years as well as the market opening and deregulation undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make this a really important destination for foreign investment," Wendy Cutler, who was the Acting Deputy US Trade Representative under Obama administration told a Washington audience yesterday. Speaking at a panel discussion on the occasion of launch of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index, Cutler said, India under Modi has emerged as among the favourite destinations for foreign investors. For the second consecutive year, India appears in top 10 of the index. This year, it was placed at eighth spot as against ninth last year. 17 P a g e