9th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of IBFB held in Dhaka
Mr. Abul Maal A. Muhith, MP, Honorable Finance Minister graced the Opening Session of IBFB AGM of 2013 as the Chief Guest held on 24th of April 2014. Mr. M. A. Mannan, MP, Hon'ble State Minister of Finance & Planning, H.E. Dan W. Mozena, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, President, FBCCI and Mr. S. M. Amzad Hossain, Chairman, SBAC Bank Limited were present as Special Guests. Mr. Hafizur Rahman Khan, President, IBFB, Mr. Md. Omar Shafayat Kausar, Vice President, Mr. Humayun Rashid, Vice President (Finance) and Mr. Md. Abdus Salam, Executive Director of IBFB are also on sight.
The 9th Annual General Meeting (AGM) i.e. the AGM of 2013 of International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) was held on Thursday, 24 April 2014 at Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon, Dhaka. The AGM was divided into two sessions - Inaugural Session and Second Session (exclusively for IBFB Members).
Mr. Abul Maal A. Muhith, MP, Honorable Finance Minister graced the Opening Session as the Chief Guest, where Mr. M. A. Mannan, MP, Hon'ble State Minister of Finance & Planning, H.E. Dan W. Mozena, the US Ambassador in Bangladesh, Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, President, FBCCI and Mr. S. M. Amzad Hossain,Chairman, SBAC Bank Limited were present as Special Guests. On the other hand, Mr. Jon F. Danilowicz,Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Bangladesh was the Chief Guest in the Second Session whereas Mr. Jason Smith, Acting Director, Office of Democracy and Governance of USAID Bangladesh was present as Special Guest. Mr. Hafizur Rahman Khan, President, IBFB chaired both the sessions of the AGM which were moderated by Mr. Md. Abdus Salam, Executive Director, IBFB. Starting at 11.00 AM the AGM was attended by the IBFB members along with other distinguished guests such as civil society members, academia, eminent business leaders and dignitaries from other business associations and international agencies, retired bureaucrats, journalists from various print and electronic media etc.
At the outset Mr. Hafizur Rahman Khan, IBFB President and Chairperson of the AGM delivered his welcome speech. Thereafter, Mr. S. M. Amzad Hossain, Chairman of SBAC Bank Limited spoke as Special Guest and Sponsor of the event. Afterward, Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Mr. Dan W. Mozena andMr. M. A. Mannan, MP delivered their speeches as Special Guests. Mr. Abul Maal Abdul Muhit, MPsubsequently delivered his speech as the Chief Guest. Mr. Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury, Founding President & Immediate Past President of IBFB made a concluding and thanksgiving remark at the end of the Inaugural Session.
Welcome speech by the IBFB President
Mr. Hafizur Rahman Khan, President, IBFB, in his opening speech, conveyed at first his gratitude and thanks to the Honorable Finance Minister Mr. Abul Maal A. Muhith, MP for his kind presence as the Chief Guest in IBFB AGM. He also conveyed his gratefulness to the Honorable State Minister of Finance & Planning Mr. M. A. Mannan, MP; the US Ambassador in Bangladesh H.E. Dan W. Mozena; the President of FBCCI Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed for making our AGM very graceful with their kind presences as Special Guests in spite of their very busy schedules.
Mr. Hafizur Rahman Khan, in his remarks, reiterated that IBFB, launched in September 2006, consists of business leaders from all over the country and abroad including resource & knowledge based individuals. As a research and advocacy based non-partisan and non-political business forum, IBFB strives to identify common business & socio-economic challenges, conduct advocacy through dialogues, participatory workshops, seminars, symposium etc. and pursue specific and actionable recommendations to mitigate barriers for sustainable economic atmosphere, and thus create a business friendly environment in the country. In the past, IBFB accomplished several research and advocacy works on different issues like Strengthening Local Governance, City Governance & Private Sector Development, Business Ethics, Shipbuilding Industry, Light Engineering Sector, Environment Clearance for Industrial Ventures, Strong Public Financial Management, Industrial Credit & Improving Transparency of State-owned Commercial Banks, Complexities in Income Tax Laws and its simplification, The Need of Energy Producers and Government Perspectives, Role of Media in Business Advocacy, Identifying the Problems on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Reducing Corruption in Land Registration etc. Prior to the 10th national parliamentary election IBFB undertook a few initiatives such as stakeholders meeting and seminar on Upcoming National Election: Economic Manifestos of the Political Parties in which all three major political parties like Bangladesh Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jatiyo Party participated in dialogues with the business leaders. IBFB was also involved in developing different policy guidelines to submit them to the Govt. for their immediate and effective implementation. IBFB also exchanged several business delegations to explore business potentials and enhance bilateral trade and business relationships with different countries. In the past, trade delegations from IBFB visited Bhutan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, and USA in 2013. IBFB also implemented several projects for the benefit of the business community in cooperation with IRI, DAI and supported by USAID and IFC of World Bank Group. The IBFB President informed the audience that the first Chapter of IBFB was established in Chittagong in 2012 and more chapter offices in other metropolitan cities around the country would gradually be established. IBFB intends, as told by him, to establish a Private Sector Development Institute for which searching of suitable independent space is going on.
Mr. Hafizur Rahman Khan said, in the era of globalization and free market economy of today’s world the private sector is considered as the engine of a country’s economy. New business and industrial ventures, keeping the economic wheel rolling on through continuous production and supply, new investments, employment generation, earning foreign currencies etc. are only a few examples of unquestionable contribution of the business community to the country’s economy. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, as articulated by him, have to compete with the entrepreneurs of other countries where there is no frequent electricity failure and high bank interest rate, transportation of goods does not take so much time as in Bangladesh (almost 12 hours for 250 km), no business unfriendly environment and activities like frequent strikes, vandalizing and torching of vehicles etc. Mr. Khan proclaimed that our entrepreneurs are successfully competing with them and sustaining in spite of such kind of uneven playing field. He opined that the national annual budget size exceeded Tk. 2,35,000 Crore, foreign currency reserve surpassed USD 19 crore, Per Capita Income increased above USD 1,000, Export earnings topped USD 6,500 million etc. in recent years in Bangladesh. He especially thanked to the Hon’ble Finance Minister and praised his leadership for all such remarkable economic achievements. Mr. Khan also requested the Finance Minister to take effective measures so that politics cannot harm and jeopardize regular business and economic activities of the country in future. Appreciating the attachment of Mr. M. A. Mannan, MP with both the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Planning, Mr. Khan articulated his strong belief that the State Minister would be able and successful to bring out remarkable changes in overall business and economic environment of the country. He also requested the leaderships and activists of all political parties irrespective of their political philosophies and wisdoms to ensure political stability so that the natural flow of business and economic activities in the country remain uninterrupted. He also requested the political leaders to resolve all political problems and relevant discrepancies through dialogues, mutual respect, and coordination.
Appreciating the US Ambassador Mr. Dan W. Mozena as a sincere well-wisher of Bangladesh and his tireless efforts in the USA to ensure ongoing US support to Bangladesh, Mr. Hafizur Khan requested him to kindly play proactive and effective role in helping Bangladesh in regaining GSP facilities in the US market.
Mr. Khan conveyed his gratitude and thanks to Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, President of FBCCI for his dynamic leadership to lead FBCCI, the apex trade body, in playing a commendable role in promoting industrialization, trade and businesses in the country. He requested continuous support and cooperation from FBCCI toward IBFB on different business and economic issues. He also requested the FBCCI President to initiate effective measures as the leader of the business leaders with the Govt. to reduce present bank interest rate to single digit to be effective from this year.
Before concluding his remarks Mr. Hafizur Rahman Khan paid his gratitude and special thanks to the Chairman of SBAC Bank Limited Mr. S. M. Amzad Hossain for his presence as Special Guest and also coming forward to sponsor the AGM.
Remarks of the distinguished panel guests:
Mr. S. M. Amzad Hossain, Chairman of SBAC Bank Ltd, in his remarks as Special Guest, conveyed his gratitude and thanks to IBFB for giving their newly established Bank an opportunity to associate with and sponsor such a mega event like the AGM of IBFB. Citing SBAC Bank as a 4th generation bank, Mr. Hossain assured that SBAC Bank will stick with its mission to establish a poverty free and green Bangladesh through promoting development of agriculture, women entrepreneurs and Small & Medium Entrepreneurs.
Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, the FBCCI President, in his remark as Special Guest, paid homage to the departed souls of workers deceased in Rana Plaza building collapse one year ago and conveyed condolence to their bereaved family members. He appreciated IBFB leadership for organizing Annual General Meeting on regular basis and also spelt out IBFB as an exceptional organization having involvement, in addition to business leaders, of eminent personalities of the society including academia, civil society, former bureaucrats, journalists etc. Recalling various tireless strides of IBFB to promote country’s business and economy, he appreciated the IBFB’s time demanding initiatives prior to the 10th national parliamentary election i.e. a stakeholders meeting followed by a national advocacy workshop on “Upcoming National Election: Economic Manifestos of the Political Parties” where, apart from the business leaders including the FBCCI president himself, eminent leaders from major political parties like Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jatiyo Party also participated. Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said that in spite of various problems like economic recession, unstable political situation followed by business unfriendly activities such as strikes, atrocities, torching of vehicles etc. in the recent past, the country’s economy is still moving ahead with more than 6% growth rate every year. He opined, currently the Per Capita Income is USD 1,333 in Bangladesh, around 110 million mobile SIM card are sold and 40 million people are now using mobile phones. He articulated his strong belief that Bangladesh will become a middle income country very soon and the business entrepreneurs will play a vital role in this transformation of country’s economic development.
Mr. Dan W. Mozena, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, at the onset of his remarks as Special Guest, commemorated the tragic accident of Rana Plaza building collapse that snuffed out 1135 innocent lives, left hundreds more injured and destroyed thousands of families. He said, recommitting ourselves to do everything possible to prevent reoccurrence of any such incident in apparel factories in Bangladesh will be a great honor and respect to the victims and their devastated families. The U.S. Ambassador, however recited that the stakeholders of Bangladesh's readymade garment industry - the buyers, the workers, owners, International Labor Organization, USA and other foreign friends and partners of Bangladesh, and especially the Government of Bangladesh - have taken important steps down the path towards ensuring that Bangladesh's apparel industry meets international standards in terms of fire safety, factory structural soundness, and respect for workers' right to freely associate and organize. Nonetheless, the road ahead is long and the obstacles will be many as some endeavors to thwart this transformation of Bangladesh's RMG sector, but I am confident that Bangladesh will succeed in this historic undertaking. He said, I am confident that Brand Bangladesh will become a Premium Brand, a Preferred Brand in the global apparel market place. I am confident that Bangladesh has embarked on a journey that will enable it to become the largest exporter of apparel in the world ... number one ... second to none. I believe that Bangladesh’s undertakings to ensure worker safety and worker rights in every apparel factory ... each and every factory ... no exceptions ... are the greatest tribute the nation and the world can pay to the victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy. I applaud the progress that Bangladesh has made so far in this regard; I commit America to be Bangladesh's steadfast partner in transforming the apparel industry.
While imparting on other dimensions of bilateral partnerships between Bangladesh and USA, Mr. Dan W. Mozena said that recently a 15-member delegation from USA visited Bangladesh to participate in third annual Security Dialogue as the U.S. Govt. gives importance to deepening, broadening, strengthening the security partnership between two countries. He was pleased with successful discussions that covered security in the broadest sense, including the security challenges and opportunities of the region and elsewhere in the world, the various aspects of military partnership, international peacekeeping operations, combating terrorism and violent extremism, fighting the evils of trafficking of persons, of arms, of drugs, and partnering to deepen Bangladesh's disaster response capability. The U.S. Ambassador also named other US-Bangladesh partnership projects such as Bangladesh International Bangladesh International Peace Support Operations Training Center (BIPSOT), Somudra Joy – the largest vessel in Bangladesh Navy provided by the USA in 2013, SWADS – the Navy Seals of Bangladesh that USA helped to create, the Coastal Crisis Management Centers – a string of 30 specialized super cyclone shelters that USA is building along Bangladesh's coastline to enable Bangladesh to respond quickly and effectively to cyclones, tidal surges and other maritime disasters. Mentioning USA as the largest single-country market and its largest foreign investor of Bangladesh, the U.S. Ambassador spoke about the inaugural session of Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) to be held in Dhaka in the next week of April 2014 where issues like restoration of Bangladesh's Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) trade privileges in the United States, endeavors to identity and address obstacles to further expanding bilateral trade and investment etc. will be discussed.
Mr. M. A. Mannan, MP, Honorable State Minister of Finance and Planning, in his speech as Special Guest, said that there are many chambers and business associations in the country, but IBFB is totally a different organization and it has been playing a vital role in promoting country’s business and economy. The State Minister said, Bangladesh economy is now considered as a role model in the world, especially due to our remarkable achievement to uphold GDP growth persistently even during the period of worldwide economic recession. We could establish Bangladesh as a country of readymade garments (RMG) in the world. But we are still suffering from the damages that the Rana Plaza tragedy harmed to our RMG sector and economy as well. The withdrawal of GSP trade privileges in the U.S. and European market is another blow to our economy. But I can assure, he said, the Govt. along with all other stakeholders has already taken every necessary step to restore GSP privileges. The State Minister said, we need to be united and work together to overcome such damages occurred to our economy. He said, people of Bangladesh are always confident and they could do everything for the betterment of the country.
Mr. Abul Maal Abdul Muhit, MP, Hon’ble Finance Minister, in his speech as the Chief Guest thanked IBFB for inviting him as the Chief Guest and wished that the Forum would continue its endeavor to promote business friendly environment in the country. Paying honor to the victims of Rana Plaza in its one year anniversary of the tragedy, Mr. Abul Maal A. Muhit said that Rana Plaza tragedy sullied the image of RMG industry of Bangladesh. He, however, criticized the closure of RMG factories found structurally flawed during inspections and opined that the factory owners should have given time to correct the faults. He quoted, “Closing down units is not a good practice. I seriously object the idea of closing down some units just because they are not in proper shape”. He opined that alternative steps must be taken to bring them to proper shape. Admitting several accidents occurred in the RMG industry, the Finance Minister said, the government had adopted several programs for the RMG sector with a vision to increase country’s exports with annual income of more than USD 24 billion.
In response to remarks from previous speakers on regular power shortages, Mr. Abul Maal A. Muhit said, it feels bad to hear complains about the power cuts. When our government came into power there was immense shortage in the power supply. Due to strong measures taken by the government, he added, the power generation capacity has increased from 3,500 megawatt to 11,000 megawatt and with such capacity in hand the current demand of 6,600 megawatt can easily be met. Opining the power stage not acceptable, the Finance Minister said, the people in Power Division and Energy Division should take a serious note to the situation.
Appreciating the private sector’s role in increasing the revenue income of the government, he said that the private sector could maintain 0.6 percent growth in each of the last five years and that the trend should be continued. He urged the entrepreneurs to contribute more to achieve revenue growth by one per cent in every year during the coming five years of the ruling Government. The Finance Minister said, “I request the private sector to increase growth by one percent in each year during the upcoming five years, and I know it is an ambitious target. But, this should be given emphasis and I expect you people would do this”. Emphasizing on the government policies to promote the private sector he said, their government believes in the philosophy of private sector led growth. He opined that “Working together is the key of success and I believe we could achieve the target if we work together”. Referring to Bangladeshi workers in abroad, he said 80 lakh Bangladeshi workers are employed around the globe and the number will increase to 1.2 crore soon. He said, the expatriate workers who are effectively participating in their home country’s development must be counted in the value of national asset.
Mr. Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury, Founding President & Immediate Past President of IBFB, in his closing remarks, conveyed his gratitude to Mr. Abul Maal Abdul Muhit, MP, Mr. M. A. Mannan, MP, Mr. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Mr. Dan W. Mozena and Mr. S. M. Amzad Hossain for making the AGM of IBFB very graceful with their kind participation and valuable remarks. He also thanked to other important dignitaries, distinguished guests and friends from different print & electronic media for taking some of their valuables time off to come and attend the program.
