The Bangladesh Today (23-01-2018)

ECONOMY & BUSINESS
TUESDAy,
THE
BANGLADESHTODAY
10
JANUARy 23, 2018
Qatari delegation to
visit Kuwait to enhance
trade relations
Annual Managers' Conference -2018 of Northern General Insurance Co. Ltd. has recently held at Hotel Cox Today, Cox's Bazar.
Engineer Abdul Matin, Chairman presided over the conference. Hon'ble Director & Chairman, S. Alam Group Alhaj
Mohammed Saiful Alam. KDS Group Chairman Khalilur Rahman. M A Maleque, Alhaj Abdus Samad, Nasir Uddin, Ms.
Thamina Rahman, Md. Mortuza Siddique Chowdhury, Prof. Dr. Zainab Begum, Barrister Faysal Ahmed Patwary, CEO Abdul
Haque FCA, Company Secretary Sujit Kumar Dey FCA, Senior Executives of Head Office & Branch In-charges of the Company
were present. Branch Managers were advised to enhance business through better Customer Services to uplift company's
growth.
Photo: Courtesy
US economy is perhaps the best
it has ever been: Trump
The US economy is
perhaps the best it has ever
been and the country is doing
really well, President Donald
Trump has said.
Trump was speaking on
the eve of the first
anniversary of him becoming
the President of the US.
"Tomorrow will mark
exactly one year since I took
the oath of office. And I will
say, our country is doing
really well. Our economy is
perhaps the best it's ever
been," Trump said in his
address to March for Life
Participants at the National
Mall through live video
address from his Rose
Garden at the White House.
On June 20 last year,
Trump, 71, was sworn in as
the 45th President of the US.
He succeeded Barack Obama
in the White House.
Throughout the first year
of his presidency, Trump's
popularity and approval
rating have hovered in 30s.
Unmindful of such polls,
which he has always
doubted, Trump asserted
that his policies are working
for the better.
"You look at the job
numbers; you look at the
companies pouring back into
our country; you look at the
stock market at an all-time
high; unemployment, 17-
year low," he said.
"Unemployment for
African American workers, at
the lowest mark in the
history of our country.
Unemployment for Hispanic,
at a record low in history.
Unemployment for women,
think of this, at an 18-year
low. We're really proud of
what we're doing," he said.
Trump said during his first
week in office, he reinstated a
policy first put in place by
President Ronald Reagan,
the Mexico City policy.
"I strongly supported the
House of Representative's
Pain-Capable bill, which
would end painful, late-term
abortions nationwide," he
said and called upon the
Senate to pass this important
law and send it to my desk for
signing.
On the National Day of
Prayer, Trump said he signed
an executive order to protect
religious liberty.
"Today, I'm announcing
that we have just issued a
new proposal to protect
conscience rights and
religious freedoms of
doctors, nurses, and other
medical professionals. So
important," he said amidst
applause from the select
audience in the Rose
Gardens.
Thousands of people
listened his speech at the
National Mall on a giant
screen.
"I have also just reversed
the previous administration's
policy that restricted states'
efforts to direct Medicaid
funding away from abortion
facilities that violate the law,"
he said.
"We are protecting the
sanctity of life and the family
as the foundation of our
society. But this movement
can only succeed with the
heart and the soul and the
prayer of the people," the
President said.
Trump said Americans are
more and more pro-life.
"You see that all the time.
In fact, only 12 per cent of
Americans support abortion
on demand at any time.
Under my administration,
we will always defend the
very first right in the
Declaration
of
Independence, and that is
the right to life," he added.
In his remarks, Vice
President Mike Pence said
that Trump is the most prolife
president ever in
American history.
"From preventing taxpayer
dollars from funding
abortion overseas to
empowering states to respect
life and Title X, to
nominating judges who will
uphold our God-given
liberties enshrined in the
Constitution of the United
States," he said.
China approves
five IPO
applications
The Chinese securities
regulator Friday approved
five new IPO applications,
which will raise up to 6.7
billion yuan (about 1.04
billion U.S. dollars) in the A-
share market.
Three companies will be
listed on the Shanghai Stock
Exchange and two will be
listed on the ChiNext, a
NASDAQ-style board,
according to the China
Securities Regulatory
Commission.
The firms and their
underwriters will confirm
dates and publish
prospectuses following
discussions with the
exchanges.
A delegation of Qatari businessmen will
visit Kuwait to boost bilateral trade ties,
Qatar News Agency reported Sunday.
A statement of Qatar Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (QCCI) said that a
group of 55 Qatari businessmen led by
Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassem bin Mohammed
Al-Thani, the QCCI chairman, will travel to
Kuwait on Tuesday.
The two-day visit will aim to discuss
means of boosting trade relations, as well
as establishing a forum for business in the
two countries, the statement said.
"This visit reflects the deep and robust
relations between both countries. It aims
to review and enhance cooperation ties
Saudi Arabia's Energy
Minister Khaled al-Faleh on
Sunday called for extending
cooperation between OPEC
and non-OPEC oil producers
beyond 2018 after a deal to
shore up crude prices.
"We should not limit our
efforts to 2018. We need to be
talking about a longer
framework for our
cooperation," Faleh said before
a meeting between OPEC and
non-OPEC countries in
Muscat.
This is the first time OPEC
kingpin Saudi Arabia explicitly
calls for extending a 2016 deal
between oil producers to cut
back production to combat a
global oil glut.
OPEC and non-OPEC
countries signed a landmark
agreement in November 2016
to cut output by 1.8 million
barrels per day to fight huge
oversupply and lift sagging
crude prices.
That deal was initially for six
months, but the 14-member
cartel and 10 independent
producers have since extended
it until the end of this year.
"I am talking about
extending the framework that
we started -- which is the
declaration of cooperation --
beyond 2018," Faleh told
reporters.
But Faleh said the new
framework for cooperation
might differ from the current
agreement and its production
quotas.
among businessmen," Al-Thani said.
Al-Thani also praised Kuwait's leading
role in resolving the latest Gulf
Cooperation Council crisis, in addition to
supplying the Qatari market with products
and commodities since the beginning of
the embargo.
On June 5 last year, the quartet of Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates
and Egypt severed ties with Qatar, accusing
it of backing extremism and fostering links
with their Shiite rival Iran. Doha, however,
vehemently denies the claims.
The Saudi-led bloc boycotting Doha also
has issued a list of demands to lift the
blockade, which was rejected by Doha.
Saudi Arabia calls for extending
non-OPEC cooperation
"It does not necessarily mean
sticking barrel by barrel" to the
same agreement, which has
helped a healthy rebound in oil
prices to around $70 a barrel.
It would mean "assuring
stakeholders, investors,
consumers and the global
community that (the
agreement) is here to stay".
It would send the message
that "we are going to work
together not only with the 24
countries, but inviting more
and more participants," he
said.
Faleh said oil producers have
not yet achieved their target of
reducing world stocks to
normal levels and striking a
balance between supply and
demand.
Huge customers' flow
at Walton Pavilion
A good number of buyers
and visitors are thronging
the Walton Pavilion at the
ongoing month-long Dhaka
International Trade Fair
(DITF)-2018 at Sher-e-
Bangla Nagar in the capital
to pick up their desired
appliances from wide ranges
of electronics, electrical,
home and kitchen
appliances of Walton, says a
press release.
The experienced sales
executives of the pavilion are
also dealing with the huge
customers' flow more
professionally and helping
the buyers picking up the
best appliances at affordable
rates. During several visits
to the DITF-18, it was found
that a large number of
buyers and visitors were
thronging the Walton
Pavilion every day. The local
brand is also experiencing
an upward trend in the
number of visitors and
buyers at the pavilion
following the pass of the
days of the country's largest
international exhibition. It
was seen that most of the
fair's visitors entered into
the Walton pavilion for at
least once to know about
what kinds of appliances,
including new models, are
showcasing the local brand.
Dwelling on the visit to
Walton Pavilion, a buyer
and housewife Shammee
Akhter said, "A lot of
products, specially new
models, are usually
showcased and sold out at
the DITF. I visited every
pavilions and stalls of both
the local and the
international electronics
brands and also found that
the local brand Walton was
showcasing highest models
of different sorts of
appliances. Prices of Walton
brand appliances are
comparatively reasonable.
Although I entered into
Walton Pavilion to just visit,
I purchased some sorts of
home and kitchen
appliances getting cheap
rates of the items."
Md Humayun Kabir,
executive director and the
operating officer of the
pavilion, said, "Along with
the consumer goods, this
year they are displaying and
selling out various sorts of
industrial solutions like
LGP, LDP, master batch,
aluminum foil tape, various
sorts of plastic and still
components as fresh
products. These products
are the basic raw materials
of various sorts of
electronics and electrical
appliances. Walton is now
manufacturing these
products at its own factory.
After meeting the internal
demands, Walton has
planned to sell out these
industrial solutions at home
and abroad." Pointing at the
sales of this DITF, he termed
the overall sales at the
pavilion as satisfactory.
Shah Shahid Chowdhury,
convener of Walton Pavilion
at DITF-18, said, they are
displaying more than 700
models of appliances in
accordance with the
demands, tastes and
purchasing power capacity
of the local buyers. Of them,
more than 100 models of
appliances are fresh.
He noted that they are
displaying and selling out
total of 44 new models
fridges, including IoT
technology based smart
refrigerator, 21 models of
frost and 9 models of nonfrost
refrigerators, 8 models
of tempered glass door
refrigerators and 6 models
of freezers.
In addition, he said IoT
technology based smart ACs
as well as ionizer
technology's ACs have been
showcasing and selling out
as new models of Walton
ACs at the pavilion.
Among the new models of
appliances, there are also
next generation quantum
dot plus technology's
Spectra Q- TV, some smart
and LED televisions, 15.6
inch display's 7th generation
laptops powered by Core-i 5
processor at the Walton
Pavilion.
Md. Shafiqul Alam, incharge
of Walton Pavilion,
said, customers' flow at their
pavilion are comparatively
higher than the other
participated electronics
brands of the DITF. And, the
overall sales are sound till
today, saying it he hoped
that the sales will be
increased by manifolds at
the end of the fair.
At the ground floor of the
pavilion. there are 21 models
of freezer, 31 models of nonfrost
refrigerator and 86
models of frost refrigerator,
103 models of LED
television, 2 models of Ultra-
HD television, 23 models of
air conditioner, 24 models of
rice cooker, 5 models of
kitchen cookware, 13 models
of iron, 6 models of IPS, 10
models of auto voltage
stabilizer, 6 models of fan
and LED bulb, few models of
oven, induction cooker, hair
dryer, air cooler, washing
machine, rechargeable and
portable lamp, juicer, multicooker,
toaster, gas stove
and water dispenser.
Prof. Dr. Saiful Islam, Vice-Chancellor, BUET inaugurated BUET Annual Sports Competition-2018
on Thursday (18 January, 2018) at the university play ground. Among others: Prof. Dr. Satya Prasad
Majumder, Director, Directorate of Students' Welfare and Chairman of BUET Athletic Club, Prof.
Dr. Quazi Deen Mohd. Khosru, Advisor BUET Athletics, other advisors of BUET Athletic Club,
Provosts and Assistant Provosts of different residential halls and Mr. Maqsudur Rahman, Dy
Director, Physical Education Dept. & member Scy of BUET Athletic Club were present on the occasion.
Photo: Courtesy
China's food delivery
market grows 23 pct
in 2017
China's food delivery
market registered fast
growth last year as young
Chinese are increasingly
choosing to order food
online, a report showed.
The online food delivery
market hit 204.6 billion
yuan (about 31.9 billion U.S.
dollars) in 2017, 23 percent
more than the previous year,
according to a report by
Meituan Waimai, a major
food delivery firm.
Almost 300 million users
have used online services to
order food, the report
showed.
Young people were among
the most active users,
according to Jiang Junxian,
director of the China Cuisine
Association (CCA).
According to Jiang, while
the online food delivery
market has seen rapid
expansion, there is still room
for businesses to grow as
food delivery accounts for a
relatively small portion of
the total catering industry.
Motor City not just for cars: Detroit
boasts world's 1st sneaker exchange
Detroit remains
synonymous with cars, but
"Motor City" is also home to
a virtual marketplace for a
much smaller consumer
item: sneakers.
Located on the 10th floor
of an ultra-modern building
in downtown Detroit and
backed by investors that
include the rapper Eminem
and actor Mark Wahlberg,
StockX is an exchange to buy
and sell athletic shoes,
including limited-editions or
collector's items.
As with other trading
floors, prices on the world's
first sneaker exchange
fluctuate based on consumer
perceptions, and can sell for
hundreds or thousands of
dollars.
Instead of poring over the
utterances of central
bankers, participants on
StockX -- which has
expanded into handbags,
watches and streetwear --
monitor Instagram to see
what Hermes bag Kim
Kardashian is carrying or
what is on Kanye West's feet.
The market's main floor
has a display of Air Jordans
and shoes by Nike, Adidas
and other brands in a variety
of colors. All have been
verified by the exchange for
authenticity.
A few feet away, a team of
young women inspect
handbags by Chanel, Louis
Vuitton and Hermes.
"StockX is a stock market
of things," said founder and
chief executive Josh Luber.
"We just connect buyers
and sellers but the method
by how we connect buyers
and sellers is exactly the
same way that the world's
stock markets connect
buyers and sellers."
Not unlike Nasdaq, the
electronic exchange located
at Times Square in
Manhattan, StockX has a
scrolling display that
updates prices with each
new transaction.
On a recent wintry
morning in early January,
an order of the Air Jordan 10
Retro Drake OvoWhite went
for $400.
Eminem also has
conducted business on the
exchange, selling a rerelease
of the limited-edition
Air Jordan 4 Encore. The
offering was part of a
fundraising drive for Detroit
communities that raised
more than $200,000.
Although most
participants are in the US,
the virtual exchange, which
opened two years ago, also
has a solid clientele in
China.
StockX tracks different
"sectorals," such as the
"Jordan Index," the "Nike
Index" or the "Adidas
Index," which aggregate
prices for various items.