Board of Investment (BoI) and Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) will put in joint efforts to foster private sector development in the country in the coming days. In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at the BoI office on Thursday, the two organisations agreed to take up joint programmes, including dialogues, seminars, investment expositions, symposia and business conferences. They also agreed to work together on regulatory researches to identify the barriers of private sector growth and will generate recommendations to improve processes that can promote efficiency and transparency in service delivery. BoI executive member Ahmad Nasiruddin Mahmood and BUILD chairman Asif Ibrahim signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations. M Shahjahan Khan, President, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI); M A Motaleb, Director, Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI), Md Khairul Anam, Executive Member; Nabhash Chandra Mandal, Executive Member; Touhidur Rahman Khan, Director from BoI and Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO, BUILD were, among others, present. “Through this new cooperation agreement between BoI and BUILD, we expect to see positive reflections in investment flow, both foreign and domestic,” said BoI executive member Nabash Chandra Mandal at the MoU signing ceremony. Mandal further stated that ‘this unique cooperation will strengthen BoI in terms of fact-based research outputs’. BoI executive member Ahmad Nasiruddin Mahmood stressed the need for undertaking focused work on the 12 thrust sectors, identified by BUILD from the Industrial Policy 2010, including collaboration with the private sector. BUILD chairman Asif Ibrahim said, “BUILD recently signed an MoU with Bangladesh Bank and is working very closely with them and today we’re collaborating with BoI, yet another very powerful partner, in the journey for supporting private sector development.” BoI is the principal investment promotion facilitation agency of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh that provides necessary assistance and support for registration and implementation of local and foreign industrial projects. BUILD is a research-backed Public Private Dialogue (PPD) platform whose mission is to assist the development of country’s private sector and advocate business reforms to improve the investment climate in Bangladesh. It is a joint initiative of DCCI, CCCI and MCCI -UNB
4 guilty of Mumbai gang rape
Women’s safety in India has been under the spotlight since the gang-rape and murder of a student on a bus in Delhi in 2012, which provoked nationwide protests and the introduction of tougher sexual assault laws, yet an ongoing stream of high-profile attacks has raised concerns that little has changed.
The four men convicted of gang-rape are due to be sentenced on Friday, prosecution lawyer Ujjwal Nikam told reporters outside the Mumbai court where the case was heard.
Under the stricter laws brought in last year, the men face a life sentence. It was not immediately clear whether they would appeal against the verdict.
“Today’s verdict will send a strong message to criminals,” R. R. Patil, home minister of Maharashtra told reporters outside the court.
A juvenile charged for his involvement in the case is being tried separately.
The photojournalist was attacked at dusk on August 22 while on an assignment with a male colleague at an abandoned textile mill in Lower Parel, an up-and-coming district where trendy bars and offices have sprouted on the sites of old factories.
The attack provoked a public outcry partly because Mumbai, India’s financial capital and the home of Bollywood, is considered one of the country’s safest city for women.
A 51-year-old Danish tourist was also gang-raped in December in Delhi’s busy backpacker district by men whom she asked for directions to her hotel. A Swiss tourist was gang-raped in Madhya Pradesh last year while on a camping trip with her husband.
-bdnews24
