And The March Continues

Global brands rally behind the exit queue
Mocking govt efforts to bring investment new.

One after another global brand continues to quit Bangladesh at a moment when Bangladesh badly needs their presence to augment employment opportunities and revenue.South African Nandos and French Lafarge are two of the latest incidents to start with.

Nandos started its journey in Bangladesh back in 2008.Later it opened several outlets in Bangladesh. As per news report, Corona made a heavy dent in its operation here, forcing it to shut down all 4 outlets in Bangladesh.¹

Lafarge was one of the few companies that had strong presence in Bangladesh. Recently, it decided to sell stocks of its operation here following a gas bill row with the government². Lafarge went to court but the court ruled in favor of the government. It is unclear why Lafarge left the country while infrastructure boom is going on.

Earlier Corona-battered big brands stopped sourcing from Bangladesh. UK-based Debenhams closed its Bangladesh office without clearing the dues. Later Debenhams' employees held press conference demanding their arrears and compensation³.

Being a less developed country that enjoys relaxation of ownership right laws on drugs,Bangladesh has long been destination of global pharmaceutical brands. However, many opted to leave the country without giving any valid reason. GlaxoSmithkline announced its closure three years ago. Its consumer division was making profit back then. So the announcement came as a surprise. French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi and Purdue Pharma followed suit.There has been some issues in business environment or governance. None bothered to search the answer.

In IT, Accenture, an Indian IT firm doing some content related work for Telenor in Bangladesh, abruptly declared closure of its operations in Bangladesh. This kind of announcement did not send positive signal abroad to foreign investors. Meanwhile, key businesses and funds to stimulate business are being concentrated into the hands of some cronies who have proven that they are unable to bring the much needed wind of change in the economy. From garbage collection to public infrastructure construction, one can see the footprints of powerful oligarchs who spare no means to get rid of any competitor or obstacle. Recent drive against casino is an eye opener. Greed of the few brings down the whole system and corrupts the process of transparent dealing. In the end, government spending does not stimulate the private sector, plays no role to create any meaningful jobs and finds innovative ways to be laundered abroad.

A handful of groups are responsible for the bad loans that cause bankers and government officials to spend sleepless nights as piling up of bad loans poses serious menace to the economy. From container transportation through waterways to direct to home TV services, powerful oligarchs control the vital businesses , leaving little room for private sector, which will take the onus to propel the economy, to play any leading role.

This is indeed not a very promising sign for the future course of the economy, which requires a holistic growth approach to create more opportunities for all and to accelerate the trickle down process to dispel inequality.

One global brand after another abandons Bangladesh, mocking the indicators that say business climate is improving. Meanwhile, concentration of wealth into the hands of the powerful few augurs ill for Bangladesh economy⁴.

Notes And References:

1 “Nandos Keno Bangladesh Chhere Gelo (Why did Nandos leave Bangladesh)? “,Business Inspection Bd,December 17,2021Link here

2 “Lafarge Ki Bangladesh Chharte Chain(Does Lafarge want to quit Bangladesh)?”,Mehedi Hasan Rahat,Bonikbarta, October 06,2021 Link here

3 “Winter Is Coming!”, Rezaul Hoque,https://hoquestake.blogspot.com,January 17,2021,Link here

4 “Big Brands Ditch Bangladesh”,Rezaul Hoque,https://hoquestake.blogspot.com,November 07,2019,Link here

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(15 janvier --- 22 janvier)

Selon un reportage, société bangladaise Beximco a racheté l'opération bangladaise de Sanofi en payant £35,5 million.

Selon un reportage, de plus en plus de Bangladais ont téléchargé l'appli turque BIP après WhatsApp avait montré incompétence de garder l'info privée.

Selon un reportage, Bangladesh a décidé de l'importer blé depuis Ukraine après la Russie avait imposé droit.

Selon un reportage, police a appréhendé un salarié du bureau de l'anti narco pour avoir saisi bijoux depuis un joaillier. Il était aussi un ancien dirigeant de la filiale du parti en exercice.

Big Brands Ditch Bangladesh

More and more multinational companies are winding up their operations in Bangladesh. The latest incident took place when foreign investors of Dutch-Bangla Bank, which is doing well amid troubled commercial banks, declared that they were going to sell their shares to Bangladeshi investors.

The decision was not greeted well across the market and to a great extent highlights the sorry state of business. It came at a time when GrameenPhone and Robi, two leading mobile phone operators of the country, are at loggerhead with the government over contested due taxes. Robi divulged to the press that consumers would pay the extra cost if government planned to go ahead with the collection of contested dues by hook or by crook, bypassing the arbitrary settlement process. Sea changes took place in telecom industry  when GrameenPhone and Robi agreed to merge their operations in Asia. Following a negative reaction from the press , Telenor said they had postponed the decision.

Despite significant improvement of Bangladesh's ranking in World Bank's "Doing Business Report", world's leading brands and investors are leaving Bangladesh one by one. This does not lend support to the claim that sound business climate prevails in Bangladesh. At the same time major economic zones across the globe are crippled by economic slowdown. The situation is writ large on the falling order of RMG industry. The cash cow of Bangladesh economy has not registered the anticipated growth target in the ongoing fiscal year.

Even the domestic demand does not look so promising to many foreign brands. Singer sold all its sales outlets in Bangladesh to Turkish home appliances manufacturer Arcelor. Bata with its more than 1000 sales centers across Bangladesh made a profit of Tk 50 crore in 2018. Meanwhile, a sprawling slum could generate that much of money each month provided that we take into account regular cash given by the drug lord operating in the sum. I recently went to a Bata discount shop and saw shoes were up for sale at a quarter of their original price.

In the pharmaceutical industry, GlaxoSmithKline announced its closure of pharmaceutical division two years ago. Its consumer division was making profit back then. So the announcement came as a total surprise. This year French Sanofi declared that it would sell its operations here. Purdu pharma made similar declaration. Being a least developed country, Bangladesh enjoys some WTO advantages for making cheap drugs. This advantage did not bar these companies to take such harsh step. There has been some issues in the business environment or governance. None bothered to search the answer.

In IT, Accenture, an Indian IT firm doing some content related work for Telenor in Bangladesh, abruptly declared closure of its operations in Bangladesh. This kind of announcement did not send positive signal abroad to foreign investors. Meanwhile, key businesses and funds to stimulate business are being concentrated into the hands of some cronies who have proven that they are unable to bring the much needed wind of change in the economy. From garbage collection to public infrastructure construction, one can see the footprints of powerful oligarchs who spare no means to get rid of any competitor or obstacle. Recent drive against casino is an eye opener. Greed of the few brings down the whole system and corrupts the process of transparent dealing. In the end, government spending does not stimulate the private sector, plays no role to create any meaningful jobs and finds innovative ways to be laundered abroad.

A handful of groups are responsible for the bad loans that cause bankers and government officials to spend sleepless nights as piling up of bad loans poses serious menace to the economy. From container transportation through waterways to direct to home TV services, powerful oligarchs control the vital businesses , leaving little room for private sector, which will take the onus to propel the economy, to play any leading role.

This is indeed not a very promising sign for the future course of the economy, which requires a holistic growth approach to create more opportunities for all and to accelerate the trickle down process to dispel inequality.

One global brand after another abandons Bangladesh, mocking the indicators that say business climate is improving. Meanwhile, concentration of wealth into the hands of the powerful few augurs ill for Bangladesh economy.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(11 octobre --- 18 octobre)

Selon un reportage, l'organisation des droits de l'homme, ASK, dans son rapport s'est dit que la tuerie extrajudiciaire avait coûté 309 vies dans 9 mois de cette année. De plus, 160 événements violent de politique ont péri 34 vies et blessé 1867 personnes.

Selon un reportage, la force frontière a tiré vers dans une escarmouche pendant élection municipale et tué deux indigènes et blessé trois autres à Bandarban.


Selon un reportage, la société française Sanofi cherche des acheteurs pour ses affaires au Bangladesh. Son PDG a affirmé la nouvelle à la presse.

Selon un reportage, El Chapo de l'Asie, un homme d'affaires thaï, avait des laboratoires d'amphétamine dans la forêt de Shan State en Birmanie.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(20 septembre --- 27 septembre)
Selon un reportage, des dirigeants du parti en exercice se sont enfuis après le gouvernement a entamé une série de raide contre casino clandestin. Police a alerté la force frontière sur leur.

Selon un reportage, police a aidé des Népalais à enfuir l'appartement dans lequel ils résidaient.
Selon un reportage, police a appréhendé deux dirigeants des clubs où les casinos clandestins avaient été mis en place et saisis des argents et d'or depuis chez eux.

Selon un reportage, une explosion de mine a péri un Rohingya à Bandarban, près de la frontière entre Bangladesh et Birmanie.

Selon un reportage, naufrage a tué 10 personnes à Sunamganj.

Selon un reportage, police afghane a appréhendé des terroristes présumés dont un Bangladais à Kaboul.

Selon un reportage, l'armée de la terre a appréhendé un membre blessé d' un groupe rebelle de CHT après une fusillade courte à Khagrachhari.

Selon un reportage, la société française Sanofi va bientôt arrêter son opération au Bangladesh. Il prépare à vendre ses actions. Pendant que tous ses rivals au Bangladesh détiennent 2 pourcent du marché pharmaceutique, il y détient moins de 2 pourcent. Avant la société anglaise GlaxoSmithKline avait arrêté son opération ici.

Selon un reportage, 4 membres d'une famille ont été massacrés à Ukhia, Cox's Bazar. Le patron travaille à Dubaï.
Selon un reportage, presque 110 femmes de chambre dont 26 sont victimes de violence, sont retournés depuis l'Arabie saoudite le 26 août.