Page 88 - ICE BUSINESS TIMES February 2020

Bangladesh produced 96.07 million kilogrammes of
tea last year, its highest in 166 years, on the back of
favourable weather round-the-year and supportive
BANGLADESH measures.Continuous expansion and replantation by
growers in the last several years
SETS RECORD IN TEA as well as favourable weather,
adequate rains and steps aimed at
PRODUCTION IN 2019 keeping diseases under control
helped the country set the new
record.In 2019, yield grew 17 per
cent from a year earlier, when 167
tea gardens across the country
produced 82.13 million kilograms of tea, according
to state-run Bangladesh Tea Board. The output also
comfortably exceeded the annual production target
of 80 million kg. Before the latest spell of increased
production, annual output had actually declined
compared to local demand, prompting the country to
turn to imports in 2010. Production started
increasing in 2016, when yields hit a record high of
85.05 million kg thanks to favourable weather.
However, it fell to 78.95 million kg the following
year. The government took a roadmap in 2016 for
the development of the tea sector, setting a target to
produce 140 million kg by 2025.

4 MORE SERVICES ADDED TO BEZA’S
ONE-STOP SERVICE

With just some clicks on a mouse investors can now get as many as 14
major approvals from the One-Stop Service (OSS) Centre on the Bangladesh
Economic Zones Authority’s (BEZA) website.Four more services are on way
by this month’s end: providing taxpayer’s identification number, name
clearance of company, registration of company name and occupancy
certificate. Previously, it took pin balling from one desk to another at a
dozen government entities at the least. BEZA plans to provide 125 services
under 27 categories by June 30 on the OSS portal launched in October last
year. This is all part of the government’s plan to ensure foreign direct
investment of $20 billion in Bangladesh’s economic zones by 2030.

According to the International GLOBAL OIL barrels per day (bpd) on average every year
Energy Agency, growth in global oil to 2025, from 97 million bpd in 2018.
demand is expected to slow from DEMAND TO SLOW Demand is then seen increasing by 0.1
the use of electric vehicles increases, FROM 2025 million bpd a year on average during the
2025 as fuel efficiency improves and
2030s to reach 106 million bpd in 2040.
but consumption is unlikely to peak
in the next two decades. In its
annual World Energy Outlook for the
period to 2040 that demand growth
would continue to increase even
though there would be a marked
slowdown in the 2030s. The agency’s
central scenario - which incorporates
existing energy policies and
announced targets - is for demand
for oil to rise by around 1 million

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