Bangladesh's Corporate World

Intertek entered into an exclusive services appointment and strategic partnership with BEXIMCO Group. Intertek is a leading total quality assurance provider to industries worldwide and Beximco is a diversified private sector group in Bangladesh across a wide range of industries, and one of South Asia's largest vertically integrated textile and garment companies. BEXIMCO Group, based in Dhaka, has recently set up a new PPE Industrial Park, close to their company headquarters, having exported 6.5 million PPE gowns to the USA, with a vision to become one of the major players in PPE manufacturing globally. The spread of COVID-19 has seen the demand for PPE rise significantly and as disease continues to spread throughout the globe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has described, the chronic, global shortage of PPE as “one of the most urgent threats to our collective ability to save lives.” South Asia and Bangladesh is now emerging as the new hotspot for PPE manufacturing and have ram...

Beximco Group took the opportunity to help the world in the time of COVID-19 and started manufacturing personal protective equipment. Coronavirus has changed the world. Beximco Group is trying its best. The brand is otherwise a major supplier  of Zara, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. Beximco Textile division exported 6.5 million medical gowns to US brand Hanes in May. It plans to export $250 million worth of protective gear this year. 60 percent of its 40,000 workers are engaged in PPE making. Bangladesh over the past two decades became the world's second-largest ready-made garment exporter after China, making clothes for the likes of Primark and H&M. Before the pandemic, it accounted for around 80 percent of the country's $40 billion annual exports and employed more than four million people, many of them women from poor rural villages. But when the world started to go into lockdown, the country's 4,500 manufacturers saw shipments plunge by a staggering 84 percent in ...

The most recognizable brand in Bangladesh is Beximco Group. The name synonymous with innovation, trust and quality. The company was founded by brothers A. S. F. Rahman and Salman F Rahman in 1972. The pharmaceuticals wing of Beximco Group, Beximco Pharma, has become one of the largest exporters of medicines of the country and won National Export Trophy a record five times. The USA, Europe, Australia, Canada, Latin America and South Africa certified manufacturing facilities of Beximco Pharma. A. S. F. Rahman and Salman F Rahman are considered as the most forward-looking and  dynamic businessmen  in Bangladesh.  Salman F Rahman , the Vice Chairman of the Beximco Group, has been one of the driving forces in the emergence of the Group as the largest industrial entity operating in the private sector in Bangladesh today. Salman F Rahman is also serving as a Private Sector Development Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister and Bangladesh Awami League President Sheikh Hasina. B...

The World Economic Forum has recently published a survey report in which it is stated that the three factors-inadequate infrastructure, corruption and inefficient bureaucracy are the main barriers for the entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. But even than, some companies like Beximco Group are doing well. They have expanded business in many sectors and became successful. According to the Global Competitiveness Report for 2014-15, 21 percent of businesses have no adequate supply of infrastructures and it is the top barrier of doing business in Bangladesh. Among the top three barriers, corruption places in the second as 20.7% businesses points at it while inefficient government bureaucracy being mentioned by 15.3%. According to the experts of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), these top factors are the most problematic factors for doing business for long time as there is an inadequate effort to lessen the extent of the effect of those factors. However, the entrepreneurs predicts better econom...

The world is progressing at an outstanding pace. Bringing about packets of ideas with every blink of an eye, the business world is churning with rapid motions of newer perspectives. Interestingly, in the past few decades, business sector of Bangladesh has been rising at an impressive rate. Till the last decade, various Bangladeshi companies followed the age old axiom:”better, faster, cheaper”. But things started to happen rapidly in the past few years. Business innovations that could produce a faster sum of products started to thrive. Companies like Citicell, , Pran, ACI, Beximco etc. left no stones unturned to obtain maximum quantity of products.  Also came new ideas. Initiating from new styles to technological breakthrough, search for the ultimate business formula started and continued. Observing the success, the competitors caught up and adapted these method soon enough. Unfortunately, the criteria of core differentiation between them reached a minimum. Gradually the entrepr...

Fashion is a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories and makeup. Fashion is a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style in which a person dresses up. Fashion industry is the product of modern age. In the past tailors and dressmakers were undoubtedly responsible for the innovation of fashion and changing fashion as well. Actually fashion depends on taste of people. For this reason fashion varies from region to region.  Before 20th century most of the dresses were handmade. At the beginning of 20th century fashion magazines were more responsible for adopting and changing fashion. But at present media, social network, fashion websites play the most important role for changing fashion. Though the people of Bangladesh have a unique fashion of their own, they also follow the fashion of many countries. For this there is huge opportunity for the fashion industry to grow. As a result, depending on the taste of Bangladeshi people a huge numbe...

Business leaders and industrialists are worried about new VAT law as there is confusion over it. At a discussion organised by Large Taxpayers Unit of the revenue authority, Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina’s private sector affairs adviser Salman F Rahman said “I, on behalf of the business community, welcome the new VAT law, scheduled to be implemented from July 1. But I want to request the NBR to make sure that the revenue officials show a flexible attitude in the first 3-4 months of implementation of the law and consider it as transitional period.” Salman F Rahman was present in the discussion as the chief guest. The NBR chairman Md Nojibur Rahman was on the chair. Responding to the call, NBR chairman assured that the new VAT law will be hassle-free. In the discussion, Salman F Rahman further said the law was initially planned to be implemented from July 2015 but it was delayed by the government amid demands from businesspeople. In the meantime, the ...

Bangladesh army is planning to set up more branches of its charitable school Proyash at all of its cantonments across the country in a bid to educate children with special needs. Proyash, started with “Special child, special rights” slogan, is headquartered in Dhaka cantonment. 35% of its students are from military family. Institutions those help the army in carrying out this noble includes leaving company in Bangladesh, Beximco Group . The authorities started enrolling civilians’ children from 2009 and now 65% students of the school are from civilians.  Authorities spend 1500 taka per students and teachers’ salaries along with other expenditure are met from the donation which comes from different organizations including the army. A multidisciplinary team assesses the student while special Medicare and education are planned after identifying their needs through the audiology tests. The school has an area of 5.44 acres of land with 491 students. This school is not only aimin...

The ceramic industry in the country is facing challenges like GSP suspension, high import duty on raw materials, and hike in gas tariff. But even than companies like Shinepukur Ceramics Limited, which is a member of Beximco Group and RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Ltd. are doing quite well. Beximco Group particularly played a major role in development of the sector. This industry faced a lot of changes for last some years but still it is developing day by day. The local ceramics industries can supply 78% of local demands and it is able supply 100% of demands. But this industry may face much difficulty due to high import duty of raw materials, hike in gas price hike. And if authorities reduce such duty, then ceramic industries will be able to fulfill the local demand of tiles. The country imports the raw materials for ceramic industries from India, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Germany and New Zealand. The ceramic companies in the country need to assume the proper market strategies in a bi...

Country's largest company Beximco Group signed a treaty with China Energy Engineering Corporation on developing several energy projects. China Energy Engineering Corporation is a Fortune 500 Company and currently one of the biggest power solution supplier companies in China and in the world. CEO of Beximco Power Company Ltd, Ajmal Kabir, signed the agreement at Beximco Group’s head office. President Fu Hongwei signed the agreement on China Energy Engineering Corporation's behalf. Beximco Group’s chairman Sohail F Rahman, its vice chairman Salman F Rahman, director Shayan F Rahman and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma MingQiang were present at the occasion. After signing the agreement, vice chairman of Beximco Group, Salman F Rahman said that it was a significant day for the company. He said the projects will have significant contribution in the energy sector of Bangladesh. Salman F Rahman is one of the top businessmen in Bangladesh and has always looked for new and chall...

It has been 44 years since Bangladesh achieved its independence and there is no doubt that the country has moved forward. Historians might be capable of delineate the contours efficiently in the future, but those of us who lived through the battle that brought the beginning of this nation can examine how we fared and in which issues we faulted. A dispassionate look at of the fault lines may help us uncover the faults in the future. But in present we can see in front of us that Bangladesh is developing. Let’s talk about the improvements Bangladesh has made so far: Major foreign exchange-earners, distant places employees and ready made garments exports- these are the three sectors, Bangladesh has relied on. The amount of remittances of Bangladeshis operating in foreign labor markets is $ 1.7 billion/year. And it represents the largest net foreign exchange inflow. In the course of the duration 1991-2000, the yearly common drifts of short-time period migrants has changed into 226,000...

Bangladesh is a developing country with a large population. But the country is developing rapidly. The GDP growth is maintain a steady rate of 5.5% throughout the last five years. That is a clear indication that Bangladesh is developing and moving in the right direction. In earlier days, Bangladesh was dependent largely on agriculture and natural resources such as coal, gas, hard rock and silicon. But in recent years business sector has come up. The main sectors which are booming includes ready-made garments, textiles, cotton, jute, paper, newsprint, tea, chemical fertilizer, cement, sugar and light engineering. Among all these sectors ready-made garments sectors has emerged as the biggest earner of foreign currency. Next sector is tea. These two sectors are contributing significantly in GDP growth.  Besides ready-made garments products and tea, Bangladesh is also exporting leather and leather products, seafood, urea fertilizer, ceramic products, staple fibers, paper, raw jute a...

Beximco Pharma, a leading drug maker in Bangladesh and a unit of business conglomerate Beximco Group, secured a $51.6 billion loan from Germany-based BHF-Bangk Aktiengesellshaft. A German export credit agency Euler Hermes will be the guarantor of the loan. Earlier, Bangladesh Investment Board approved Beximco Pharma’s proposal to raise funds to utilize in new plant as well as machinery purchasing. The interest rate of that loan will be lower than that of local rate. It is only 2.25 percent. According to Beximco Pharma, the loan will be drawn down in four tranches and repayment will be made over five years in 10 semi-annual installments. The total interest bearing debt of the company was Tk.480 crore and debt-to equity ratio was 23.5 percent as of September 30 th in 2014. The cost of debt was 16.1 percent on average while debt-to-equity averaged 22.7 percent in the previous four years. That is why analysts think that this loan at a single digit rate will have immense impact...

“Corporate culture! What is that?” There are many people who ask this question in spite of working several years in the corporate world. In spite of being crucially important, this motion is many a times left in ignorance and indifference. If you close your eyes doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t see you. What I mean to state is, unawareness does not make corporate culture less important, and thus every corporate member must be aware of the concept of corporate culture and ways to make it healthier. Initiating the discussion, first let us understand what corporate culture is and go to its depth. The part of business involving employee attitudes, standards, policies and procedures, rites and rituals can be assumed as corporate culture. Although it is connected to the surrounding environment yet it has some unique traits as well. It can be negative, positive or even neutral. In most cases it is dynamic and changes with time but it can also be static sometimes. In a nutshell c...

When we think about good and big companies, we tend to think anything other than our national companies. However the truth is very contradictory to our assumptions. Many of Bangladeshi companies including Beximco Group, ACI, Concord Group, Navana Group, Pran Group have created big names for themselves in the past.   We sometimes forget their contributions for the nation. Many Bangladeshi companies are contributing in many business sectors such as poultry, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, aviation, automobiles, real-estate, clothing, media, textiles, garments etc. Companies like Beximco Group and Concord Group not only opened whole new sectors as pioneers for the country but also they opened up new job opportunity and research facilities. These places required more quantity of workers; that generally lead to more job specific courses in universities, resulting in general raise in literacy and also technicians of the country. Bashundhara Group alone has a worker amount of ...