The Best That Britain Has to Offer
You’ve recently been elected the Chairman of British Business Group (BBG). Tell us what BBG is all about.
The BBG has been in existence since 2005. Since its inception, it has been operated under the umbrella of the British High Commission (BHC). In May 2017, BBG formally registered as a Trust and has a fully operational Secretariat to operate independently.
The primary focus of BBG will be to seek ways and means of improving business environment for British companies that operate in Bangladesh. It expects to achieve its goals by organizing networking sessions and sharing knowledge and best practices with key government officials, private sector and visiting UK dignitaries (high officials, MPs, ministers, envoys). The BBG membership will interact on areas of mutual interest and be a bridge for greater UK – Bangladesh collaboration on the commercial stage.
What has BBG accomplished so far and what are some of the future plans?
Almost 50 prominent British organizations from key industries are members of BBG. It is encouraging to see that more and more renowned British organizations are interested in becoming a part of this business association community.
Over the last one year, BBG has organized several key events, many in collaboration with the British High Commission, that have had the presence of well-known businesses and eminent personalities like the BIDA Chairman, Commerce Minister, Principal SDG coordinator to name a few. All these events, either in the form of BBG’s Launching Ceremony, Networking Mixer Sessions, Iftaar events and Breakfast Meetings have garnered immense success, coverage and appreciation.
This is only the beginning, the future holds much bigger plans and activities to turn BBG into one of the most prominent Trade Associations operating in Bangladesh. In the coming years, we plan to promote good governance, international standards/ best practices; promote values to government, for example, Climate Resilience, Green Environment and Sustainability; do advocacy at different quarters on behalf of our members interests; support FDI inflow into Bangladesh from British investor to name a few.
You have been CEO of HSBC Bangladesh since 2014. In your opinion, how is the banking industry performing in Bangladesh currently?
Bangladesh’s banking sector is growing at a very rapid rate. A number of technological advancements have been made such as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network (BEFTN). Having said this, there are still many challenges facing the banking industries and there is more room for improvement. By bringing the best international practices to Bangladesh, HSBC is playing an instrumental role to support the growth of the banking industry.
Tell us a bit more about your organization HSBC. How are you performing in Bangladesh?
Since opening its first office in 1996, HSBC has been aligned with the development strategy of Bangladesh and have supported selective long term projects which support other economic drivers like employment, social and environmental improvement etc. The Bank’s contribution to the power sector includes more than $1 Billion of financing to implement four new power projects for Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).
HSBC is also continuing its support in cross-border electricity import of 250MW from India on an annual basis. This has supported the government’s plan to diversify the energy source to opt for low cost fuel sourcing for power generation.
We are proud to play our part in one of the country’s milestones, the Bangabandhu-1 satellite. A technically sophisticated project, an example of our global connectivity and expertise where HSBC France, HSBC Hong Kong and HSBC Bangladesh worked closely to successfully arrange the financing. The satellite is the first Bangladeshi geostationary communication satellite operated by Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL). It will enable the country to own and provide communications and broadcasting services locally and regionally. It is expected to bring uninterrupted telecommunication systems to Bangladesh, including television, telephone and internet services, which the country usually purchases from overseas.
After helping Bangladesh deploy its first satellite into orbit, HSBC has made possible its first commercial import of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel than coal and oil and currently generates about half of Bangladesh’s power. Yet there is increasing demand for imports because the country consumes more natural gas than it produces.
We have also recently been involved in the financing of the first two Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s for Biman, supporting the international expansion of the national airline.
These achievements were only made possible due to HSBC’s ability to capitalize on its global network and expertise and our deep-rooted relationship with our customers.
Bangladesh has made huge efforts in attaining the middle-income country status by the year 2030 with reports of economic growth of 7% this year alone. Where do you see the country progressing in the coming few years?
At HSBC, we have refreshed our long-term forecasting framework to make model projections for 75 developed, emerging and frontier economies, to assess growth potential and changes in global rankings by 2030.
Our model focuses on catch-up potential, population (size and shape), human capital (education and healthcare), politics, openness and technology. Better-educated workers are more likely to be productive; poorer countries will have room to catch up by simply adopting best practice and technology available elsewhere; and those with strong governance are more likely to facilitate investment and growth.
Over the past decade Emerging Markets accounted for about half of global growth and on our modelled estimates, over the coming decade or so, roughly 70% of global growth will be from countries we currently describe as emerging.
Five Asian economies feature among our six fastest-growing economies in the world – Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Pakistan and Vietnam – so that by 2030, the contribution to global growth from emerging Asia excluding China will be converging on that of the whole of the group of countries currently classified as developed by MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International).
China is set to continue to be the single biggest contributor to global growth over the next decade and by 2030, will have become the world’s largest economy. While poorer countries with younger populations will generally see the sharpest moves up the rankings, other factors matter too. Improvements in education, healthcare and the rule of law can still see countries with shrinking working populations hold their position or even move up the rankings. Emerging Market countries will account for roughly 50% of global GDP by 2030, which represents a seismic shift from half that in 2000.
According to this report, Bangladesh has considerable growth potential. Bangladesh is likely to be the biggest mover in the global GDP rankings (42nd to 26th) by 2030. Bangladesh has a lot going for it. It is the world’s eighth most populous country and the economy has consistently grown in excess of 6% annually for the past decade. Bangladesh grew at a record 7.9% y-o-y in the fiscal year that ended on 30 June 2018, making it the fastest growing economy in Asia.
Demographic trends such as urbanization, smaller households, technology, and more women in paid work and higher enrolment rates in schools are all positive news, with an increased ability to save and indulge in discretionary spending. Sales of products such as air conditioners, washing machines and computers are on the rise. A new consumer class is emerging that wants to enjoy the better things in life. With no major natural disasters last year, agriculture flourished along with the industries and power sectors. In addition, remittances from Bangladeshi workers abroad help keep external account problems at bay while growth soars. This market deserves more attention than it gets.
The big challenges, power shortages and poor infrastructure, are starting to be addressed. For a country faced with such challenges – Bangladesh’s economy has proved to be very resilient.
What part of your job is most rewarding for you?
I love meeting people – our clients, customers and staff. I am humbled by the resilience of the entrepreneurs of Bangladesh. Getting to know their companies, visiting their factories, how they are taking the ‘Made in Bangladesh’ label globally, how they are contributing to the society and taking care of their workforce is fascinating. There is a world of possibility lying here in Bangladesh and it gives me much inner pleasure when we are able to assist these customers connecting them to opportunities globally.
