We have little scope to celebrate our achievements as we continue to face challenges in our business life. In this country of festivity, negative happenings often cloud our minds and we again show resilience. Ahead of the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy this month — that had broken our hearts and shattered our international image — let us hope that the building collapse was only an accident and would not reoccur.
In our efforts to uphold a positive Bangladesh for business, we have focused on a much-talked-about but not well-defined issue of branding of the uniqueness of the country, its products and services. In the cover story titled ‘Bangladeshi brands worldwide’ of the current issue, we have tried to highlight various aspects of branding, making some analysis that could provoke thoughts of all concerned. We have added a sector focus on ‘Bangladeshi bicycle industry booming,’ thanks to global demand and market access.
We need to restore confidence among investors through resolution to the recent political impasse that dealt a devastating blow to business activities, industrialisation and economic growth. This is what former chairman of Privitisation Commission Enam Ahmed Chaudhury emphasised in an exclusive interview. His mantra is a bipartisan consensus for the sake of better business.
In the article on ‘Roasting the golden goose’, we have tried to advocate that the higher rates of corporate tax effectively discourages investments and lowering of rates further promotes ethical business practices. The special report titled ‘Business, the businessmen’s business’ showed how the engagement of the private sector in the railway could improve the service delivery and make the state entity profitable. We have also included an essay on ‘An appreciation of depreciation’ which underlined the importance of long-term strategic planning for sustainable operation and future growth of business. We have carried out a piece on the review of the share market.
The story on ‘A million into unemployment trap’ has mentioned that many youths joined the army of unemployed people in the months of political turmoil spanning 2013 and 2014 when the job market shrank. Based on study reports, it also said graduates in many cases do not match the required job skills. Professor M Omar Rahman, Vice Chancellor of Independent University of Bangladesh, in the guest column, touched on the same issue. He stressed on the ‘philosophy of teaching and training students to be life-long learners’ in a changing world of business.
We at ICE Business Times have continued our endeavours to showcase and highlight the critical issues that are relevant to our business lives. Be it the upcoming Pohela Boishakh or niche sector analyses, the need to put forward the objective overviews of major business happenings remains ever in demand. We hope to show the world that business will go on as usual in Bangladesh.
