Daley meets Chinese leaders amid battle over trade status

April 7, 2000

BEIJING, APR 6 (AP) - U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley met Thursday with Premier Zhu Rongji, China's top economic official, as part of efforts to ease Chinese entry into the World Trade Organization.

Daley is in charge of lobbying Congress to approve a deal on Chinese WTO membership, which includes granting Beijing permanent low-tariff access to U.S. markets. Labor unions and some lawmakers oppose ending annual reviews of Chinese trade status, which have been used to press for improvements in human rights.

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Tea cultivation started in Panhagarh

April 7, 2000

Panchagarh, Apr 6 (UNB) – Tea plantation started in village Mandulpara with planting saplings in Tetulia Tea Garden, a private concern, on Sunday.

Chairman of Bangladesh Tea Board Brig Janiel Isalm formally inaugurated the garden by planting a sapling. Director of Tetulia Tea Company Musharraf Hossain presided over the function that was attended by Director of Bangladesh Tea Board S A Hasib, Director General of James Finlay M Kashem and senior officials.

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DSE falls

April 7, 2000

Dhaka, Apr 6 (UNB) – Week’s trading at Dhaka Stock Exchange closed today (Thursday) marking a fall in its benchmark.

All Share Price Index at the country’s main bourse shed 1.47 points or 0.28 percent to close at 515.43 points from Wednesday’s 516.90 points.  

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Kazakhstan-Nuclear Material

April 7, 2000

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, APR 6 (UNB/AP) - Scientists made a first check on nearly one ton of radioactive material found hidden in a truckload of scrap metal bound for Pakistan, the Interfax news agency reported

Wednesday.

Customs officials in Uzbekistan said they discovered 10 lead boxes on the truck last week that were emitting powerful radiation when the truck was halted at a remote border crossing with

Turkmenistan. It was headed for Pakistan via Iran on a trip that began in Kazakhstan.

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Dollar edges lower against euro as trading calms down

April 7, 2000

NEW YORK, APR 6 (AP) - A day after being whipsawed by the stock market, the dollar settled down into calmer trading Wednesday, edging slightly lower against the euro and holding steady against the Japanese yen.

But the dollar rose sharply against the British pound as speculation grew that the Bank of England would leave interest rates alone when policy-makers conclude a meeting Thursday.

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“Trade deficit narrowed,” Jalil

April 6, 2000

Sangsad Bhaban, Apr 5 (UNB) – Commerce Minister M A Jalil told Parliament today (Wednesday) that since the present government came to power, Bangladesh has been able to narrow its trade deficit with the increase of import by different countries.

Replying to a supplementary from Panchanan Biswas (Awami League-Khulna), he said quoting statistics that Bangladesh’s exports were US$3,882 million in fiscal 1995-96 against imports of $6,827 million, showing a trade deficit of $2,945 million.  

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Investment in northern region is neglected

April 6, 2000

Bogra, Apr 5 (UNB) – Despite immense potential, industrial investment in the northern region is not getting expected pace due to bureaucratic bottlenecks and lack of capital and infrastructure.

Bogra Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Amzad Hossain came up with the observations at a seminar on “Investment Prospects in Northern Region of Bangladesh” organized by the Board of Investment here today (Wednesday).

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New 68 double-deckers join BRTC

April 6, 2000

Dhaka, Apr 5 (UNB) – Another 68 double-deckers join the state-run BRTC’s fleet tomorrow (Thursday) as part of the government’s bid to facilitate the movement of city commuters.

Officials at Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) said the two-storied buses of Ashok Leyland have been bought at a cost of 18.5 crore Rupees under state credit provided by the Indian government.

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DSE falls

April 6, 2000

Dhaka, Apr 5 (UNB) – The main index at Dhaka Stock Exchange continued to show a downtrend for the second straight day today (Wednesday) as the losers outnumbered the gainers.

All Share Price Index at the country’s main bourse lost 0.67 points or 0.12 percent to close at 516.90 points from Tuesday’s 517.57 points.

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CSE falls

April 6, 2000

Chittagong, Apr 5 (UNB) – Trading at Chittagong Stock Exchange finished lower today (Wednesday) amid slumping trade.

All Share price index at the country’s second bourse dropped 4.97 points or 0.45 percent to close at 1083.15 points from Tuesday’s 1088.12 points.

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ASEAN mulls regional financing arrangement for crisis times

April 6, 2000

HONG KONG, APR 5 (AP) - Hoping to avoid any repeats of the devastating financial crisis, southeast Asian nations are contemplating plans for weathering the next downturn, a top official said Wednesday.

Among the proposals under consideration would be establishment of a fund of foreign exchange reserves that could be used to defend Asian currencies from speculative attacks, said Rodolfo Severino, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

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Singapore to open broadband network to greater competition

April 6, 2000

SINGAPORE, APR 5 (AP) - Singapore will open its broadband network to greater competition in an effort to turn the city-state into a regional multimedia center, a Cabinet minister announced Wednesday.

Currently, only government-linked Singapore Telecommunications and Singapore Cable Vision offer broadband services, a high-speed method of delivering cable television, Internet access and

interactive television.

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Most Asian markets close lower on slump in technology, telecom shares

April 6, 2000

HONG KONG, APR 5 (AP) - Asian stocks closed mostly lower Wednesday as investors sold telecom and technology-related stocks following losses by the U.S. Nasdaq composite index.

In Hong Kong, blue chips plunged 3.4 percent in the local market's first trading session since a judge in Washington ruled against U.S. software giant Microsoft in a major antitrust case late

Monday - sending high-tech shares worldwide into a tailspin.

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Stocks collapse as Nasdaq's weakness spreads

April 6, 2000

NEW YORK, APR 5 (AP) - Fueled by an exodus from all things technological, the stock market went into a stomach-churning rout Tuesday, with the Nasdaq composite index and Dow Jones industrials each dropping more than 500 points. But the stampede reversed as buyers returned in search of bargains, and most stocks ended the turbulent day with only moderate losses.

The sell off, which gave Wall Street its most volatile day ever, came amid a collapse of the euphoria over high-tech issues that had driven the Nasdaq to unprecedented gains in recent months. Analysts said they couldn't point to any one factor in Tuesday's massive selling, but most said the purge was long overdue.

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“Tax holiday issue will be reviewed,” Kibria

April 5, 2000

Dhaka, Apr 4 (UNB)- Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria today said the tax holiday issue will be reviewed if businesspeople give the assurance that it will not be abused.

“We aren’t going to cancel it hastily. We’ll review it thoroughly,” he told business leaders at a pre-budget discussions arranged by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI). 

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US economy: higher prices worry industry, economy continues to grow

April 5, 2000

NEW YORK, APR 4 (AP) - With prices for energy and industrial raw materials rising at their fastest rate in five years, manufacturing executives are worried that the added expenses may hurt business, according to a private report.

Despite the higher prices, the industrial economy continued to grow in March, at a slightly lower rate than in February, according to the widely watched report by National Association of Purchasing Management released Monday.

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Monsanto announces breakthrough in mapping rice genes

April 5, 2000

BEIJING, APR 4 (AP) - Researchers working for biotech giant Monsanto announced Tuesday that they have basically identified the genetic makeup of rice, a development they say will lead to better quality, higher yield crops and promote world food security.

A laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle, working on contract for St. Louis, Missouri-based Monsanto, used a gene sequencing technique to map roughly 85 percent of the genetic code for rice. To help speed work on the final code, Monsanto says it will give the data to the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project, a 10-country consortium.

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China offered urea plant

April 4, 2000

Dhaka, Apr 3 (UNB) – China offered to set up a urea plant at a cost of about 350 million US dollars in northern Bangladesh, a backward region of the country in terms of industry.

A major development partner, China is also going to set up a Dinammonum Phosphate (DAP) plant in Chittagong at a cost of 60 million dollars with an annual production capacity of 264,000 metric tones.

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Tea industry rebounds

April 4, 2000

Sylhet, Apr 3 (UNB) – Hit hard by drought-like situation in the last few years, the tea industry appears to rebound this year on the back of fair weather.

For the first time in the history of the country’s tea industry, plucking of tealeaves began here well before the season and this has been possible due to adequate rain.

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Asian stock markets close largely mixed  

April 4, 2000

HONG KONG, APR 3 (UNB/AP) - Asian stock markets closed generally mixed Monday, with Hong Kong's key index plunging and Tokyo's rising sharply.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 513.61 points, or 3 percent, to close at 16,892.93. On Friday, the index had slipped 60.61 points, or 0.4 percent.

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Index in DSE rises

April 4, 2000

Dhaka, Apr 3 (UNB) – Day’s trading at the Dhaka Stock Exchange finished higher today marking slight rise in its benchmark.

All Share Price Index at the country’s main bourse rose by 1.23 points or 0.23 percent to close at 520.92 points from Sunday’s 519.69 points.  

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CSE falls

April 4, 2000

Chittagong, Apr 3 (UNB) – The main index at the Chittagong Stock exchange marked a fall today as the losers dominated the gainers.

All Share price index at the country’s second bourse lost 1.77 points or 0.16 per cent to close at 1097.05 points from Sunday’s 1098.82 points.  

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Block 7 goes to Unocal, BAPEX partner

April 3, 2000

The government  yesterday awarded Block 7 to US oil giant Unocal for mining gas with national exploration company BAPEX, reports UNB.

Unocal Bangladesh Limited became the first among 22 companies that took part in the second-round bidding for gas block distribution in 1997 to enter the long awaited production-sharing contract (PSC).

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'Government should back RMG sector after MFA era'

April 3, 2000

The government should classify the ready-made garment industry as and essential sector and support it when incentives are withdrawn in 2005, says a government report.

The report, which was prepared by the Project Management Institute, a private consulting firm, made 13 recommendations to help the sector in the post Multi-Fibre Agreement era. They include the creation of backward linkage industries, demand pull for backward linkage, an enabling investment climate and an appropriate tariff structure.

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Plea to set up apparel, textile body

April 2, 2000

Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Saturday put forward a set of proposals including formation of a high powered Apparel and Textile Development Authority to look after the export oriented readymade garments sector (RMG).

The proposed authority would act as a strategic policy-planner and coordinating body to solve the critical problems of the industrial sector related to port, shipping, customs, civil aviation, labor, backward linkage industry and infrastructure. Possibly led by a Secretary, the authority would be turn under the Prime Minister's Secretariat.

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Substantial decline in revenue collections from land port

April 1, 2000

Revenue collections from the country's land ports have come down substantially in recent days with increase in informal trade.

Collections of tax revenue, during the last eight months of current fiscal (July, 1999- February,2000), from most of the ports, specially from Benapole, Mongla, Rajshahi and Chittagong have demonstrated a major decline.

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More Business News of March 2000