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Standard Chartered Bank to introduce e-commerce in Bangladesh |
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September 20, 2000
Dhaka (UNB) – Standard Chartered Bank plans to introduce e-commerce service package in Bangladesh to facilitate the country’s export trade in the digital economic era. “Exporters, specially the RMG exporters, will then be able to manage their supply chain at low cost,” the bank’s regional head (cash and trade), Wasim Saifi, said here yesterday (Tuesday). The e-commerce banking would be in place sometime next year, he told a seminar at a local hotel. He said big buyers worldwide are now looking for efficient supply chain management to reduce product costs. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the bank jointly organised the seminar on “Facilitating Export Trade” with BGMEA president Anisur Rahman Sinha in the chair. Commerce Secretary Golam Rahman, BGMEA vice-president Anisul Huq and the bank’s senior country representative Mohammad A Ali also addressed the meeting. Wasim said a lot of documentation is required for export trade. “The new service package offers how you will manage the huge task from a single portal electronically, a part of Internet that is suitable for trade, and at low cost.” Ali said the Standard Chartered Bank is planning to introduce the same technology in Bangladesh which it is already piloting in Singapore and is going to pilot in Hong Kong in November. BGMEA president Anisur Rahman Sinha said the RMG business needs quality, cost-competitiveness and timely shipment where banks have important role to play. He said RMG exporters have to pay the banks an interest of 80-100 million US dollars annually for 120 days of LC usage period against raw material import. An export deal also requires 8-9 per cent commercial expenses, including 3-4 per cent interest, of the total export value. “The package might be a cost-competitive and beneficial one for the RMG exporters...unless we consider the package, we may fall behind our competitor who are using the technology,” he told the meet. |