The concept of globalization was gaining momentum around the world. We understood that Bangladesh too would join the bandwagon soon.
Born on 1st January 1948 to the couple Late Ayub Ali and late Rezia Khatun, A. H. M Moazzem Hossain is the editor and publisher of country’s premier specialized financial daily the Financial Express. Since its inception in November 1992, this newspaper established a different model of newspaper management and made a difference in terms of presentation and policy. A sheer icon of objective journalism, the publication witnessed a track record of steady growth. Much of that success is owed to Hossain, who received his Masters in Economics from Dhaka University in 1968. He was a fellow of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and is regarded as the guru of Financial Journalism, Economic Analysis and Idea Generation in this field.
Hossain has an uninterrupted 45 years career in journalism having worked with the Bangladesh Observer, The New Nation, United News of Bangladesh (UNB), Dhaka Courier and The Daily Star to name a few. This senior journalist was the founder President of Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) and member of board of trustees of the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB), a member of the Board of Directors of the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), a member of the Board of Directors of Janata Bank, a director of ICB Securities Trading Company Limited and Bay Leasing & Investment Ltd. He is an avid traveler. He gets candid with IBT and shared about the ups and downs of financial journalism in Bangladesh.
How did you find your holy grail in Financial Journalism?
Though I had taken up journalism as a career, my academic background was in Economics. However, I would say it has helped me throughout the journey. I had a stint in research on banking and economic sectors. I joined the Bangladesh Observer as a Staff Reporter. Gradually, due to my educational background seniors preferred that I cover the economic events and in this way, a knack for financial journalism was born. In the beginning, I did reports on various issues like banking and the corporate sector through at that time those sectors were not so developed. With the passage of time, I invested more time and energy in practicing Financial Journalism.
What are the most intriguing aspects of Financial Journalism?
There are two important aspects of Financial Journalism. One is conceptual and another contextual. For financial and business journalists, conceptual priority in respective issues or fields is very important. On the other hand, reporting on stock markets requires fundamental ideas about the listed companies, Market Capitalization, and Price Earnings Ratio. Again, for a reporter on banking issues, knowledge about Statutory Requirement, Bank Rate, Lending Rate and its administration and implication including performing and non-performing loans is instrumental. One has to have more practical, field-based knowledge. This is the conceptual aspect.
On the contextual side comes the issue of writing for the readership in a country like Bangladesh where in general fiscal and economic literacy is not yet very good. From that perspective, conditions of various industries inside and outside the country, trading between different nations and so on are pivotal as we are living in an interdependent world. Moreover, developed countries also affect the economic performance of countries like us. Initially, we thought and designed a financial daily keeping in mind about the economic condition of the country.
Nowadays, the contextual side of things is receiving more prominence. Nevertheless, for both the aspects, one has to continuously update him or herself with the latest knowledge and changes in technology and the popular trends of global media.
What was the seed idea for the Financial Express?
1991 was the year when the idea to set up a financial daily came to my mind. The Financial Express came into being the next year, November 1992, to be more specific. That was a very interesting time. The concept of globalization was gaining momentum around the world. We understood that Bangladesh too would join the bandwagon soon. The country’s economy was going to open up to embrace the changes that would take it to new heights. The GATT was replaced by WTO-Marrakech Agreement, which laid the framework of multilateral trading facilities for Bangladesh. The capital market was at a teething stage. Infrastructures were being built, new cash flows from abroad were wooing local investors to set up heavy industries and Banks were getting more and more dynamic. Citizens of this country needed a better understanding of those changes and reforms. There came the Financial Express to render a deeper understanding of the market and the economy. It’s a matter of joy and pride that the newspaper has been a solemn witness in the rise of true financial journalism in this country. This form of journalism was much needed to chronicle the emergence of Bangladesh as an Asian Tiger. With priorities set around issues like development sector, finance and economy, we also have our readers updated about the general news from home and abroad that they might find interesting.
We proceeded with the project and got the favorable response from many companies. We had a bunch of visionary investors who believed in us namely Mahaburur Rahman, the present Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Berauz Ispahani, Syed Manzur Elahi are who have been with us since the very beginning. Zakiudin Ahmed and Mossaraf Hossain – both of them were also involved in the printing and publishing business. As for the business model of the newspaper venture, we thought instead of contributing we should go for equity basis so that even small investor could participate. We wanted to embark on the path to a steady growth. After achieving certain feats, we decided to expand and invest in building a sustainable brand once we could gather the adequate funds. We already have our own building. I wouldn’t say that we have achieved 100% of what we had planned but we are close to that mark.
What principles did Financial Express adhere to throughout its journey?
Our focus is to maintain the basic principle of objective journalism and as far as our policy is concerned, no character assassinations or any malicious reporting would be encouraged. The basic grammar of journalism associated with the five Ws (Who, What, When, Where, Why) have been followed. We have been very meticulous in maintaining a neutral stance which means we do not use political priorities, rather we proceed with development news. We have always been very objectively focused. I would not say that we have achieved perfection because that is a perpetual exercise. Now the market determines the course of everything. We have stood the test of time. As we entered into an era of everything digitalized, we understood the need for a virtual platform to connect with your readers. While going online, we were focused too and made adjustments as the situation demanded. We will adapt to the new demands of readers with aplomb as we have done it in the past.
There is a growth of this day and we are giving our shareholder directors 40% dividend which is incredible because they invested very small. We have successfully maintained taxpaying and other records properly and kept contributing where needed.
Due to its geopolitically important position, there are great prospects as well as challenges available for the Economy of Bangladesh. What is your take on this?
We have the advantage that we are growing in a geographical position near the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). We have larger neighboring economies like India and we are not far away from China. Countries like Myanmar and Japan have acknowledged Bangladesh as their development partner. In terms of regional connectivity, a lot more cooperation work can be done but for that, we need to take some time steps. We have to lower the cost of doing business in Bangladesh and have to go for institutional reforms and depending on the reform process, the institution-based competitive edge is required. I think the private sector has been a successful driver of growth but to enhance its performance, we have to create a better investment climate. The major challenges are to build up infrastructure and stay competitive and keep delivering quality services. Developing quality human resources is also a major challenge which must be hurdled if we want to grab opportunities in the IT sector and to build an integrated knowledge-based economy. Bangladesh is already a lower middle-income economy and we have to graduate to the middle-income group. We have to change our Least Developed Country (LDC) status as per United Nations (UN) and we have to get out of it.
The milestones Bangladesh has achieved in the sector of health, nutrition and agriculture have encouraged the world to take a new look at the country. So thrusts are required in policy levels which can help the structural development particularly in the capital market along with infrastructural development and institutional building in all sectors.
