Salman F Rahman said there is a huge demand for Sukuk Bond in Bangladesh market

Salman F Rahman expressed enthusiasm for the introduction of ‘Sukuk Bond’ in Bangladesh market as a new investment equipment.

He was addressing a virtual roundtable on “Sukuk Bond: A new frontier for financing instruments in Bangladesh” organized by Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI) and City Bank Capital. He said “The treasury bonds will be listed very soon and a huge number of bonds are coming and being listed into the market. Lots of corporate houses are also looking at the difference”.

Salman F Rahman, the Bangladeshi industrialist and philanthropist, is holding the rank of a cabinet minister and serving as the Private Sector Industry and Investment Adviser to Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He is the co-founder and vice chairman of Beximco Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in Bangladesh.

Salman F Rahman mentioned that there is a huge demand, requirement and acceptance of Islamic Financing in Bangladesh as this is a country with a majority population who are Muslim. He added that the government is also bringing amendments to the Bankruptcy Law and the Company Act. “The laws are being amended, being reviewed and new laws are being framed. Hence, this is the right time to take initiatives on how to bring Islamic Financing and Sukuk in the market,” he said.

 

BMCCI President Raquib Mohammad Fakhrul, chairing the session, mentioned that Sukuk is becoming an important asset class for investors from both conventional and Islamic backgrounds. By the same token, it is also attracting the attention of sovereign, multilateral and corporate issuers worldwide, he added. High Commissioner of Malaysia to Bangladesh Haznah Md Hashim also spoke on the occasion. In her speech, she said that Malaysia has been rising as a global leader in Islamic banking and finance for several decades and maintained its position as the world’s top issuer of sukuk loans. Sukuk issuance can create opportunities for investors from Malaysia to look into Bangladesh as another potential investment destination, she added. She mentioned that the world is facing an unprecedented crisis in the wake of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Salman F Rahman questions the approval of listing of Walton

Salman F Rahman questioned the approval of the listing of Walton Hi-Tech Industries Limited on the stock market by offloading “only” 1 percent of its shares at a virtual news conference.

The prime minister’s adviser for private industry and investment and a perliament member was perticipating a virtual news conference organised by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission when he asked this question.

The prime minister’s adviser pointed out “The sponsors hold the remaining 99 percent shares. It has made Walton the company with the second-largest market capital all of a sudden”.

“I don’t know whether it has been done intentionally, but it is sending a wrong message,” he added.

The technology company Walton has raised Tk 1 billion from the market by releasing 2,928,343 shares in the book-building system through the IPO after receiving the BSEC nod in early 2020.Walton issued 1,379,367 of these shares to eligible investors at their own bidding prices. The cut-off price per share was fixed at Tk 315 through bidding in March. General investors got 1,548,976 shares at Tk 252 per issue or in 20 percent discount from the cut-off price.

Shayan F Rahman of Beximco Group is happy to bring promising treatment to the people

 

Shayan F Rahman of Beximco Group is excited to bring a hugely promising treatment to the people who need it the most. He said We are excited to bring together two of the leading pharma companies in India and Bangladesh with the scale and capabilities to bring a hugely promising treatment to the people who need it the most. Between us, we can go a long way towards helping to mitigate the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic” after signing an agreement with Serum Institute of India Pvt.

Beximco signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India Pvt. for a cooperation and distribution agreement to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Beximco will be the exclusive supplier of the vaccine in Bangladesh.Under the terms of the planned arrangement, Beximco will make a financial contribution to advance the development of the vaccine which will be adjusted based on the vaccine price. Serum Institute of India will prioritise Bangladesh to be one of the first countries to receive an agreed quantity of doses once the vaccine receives all necessary regulatory approvals.

Beximco will facilitate the needs of the Government of Bangladesh by offering the opportunity for it to reserve the desired quantities for priority supply at prices to be agreed between the government and Serum Institute of India. it will secure additional quantities of the vaccine to be distributed to the private pay market in Bangladesh. The complexity of the market and production means that any financial implications of this arrangement are difficult to forecast at the current time so the Company will provide the market with any further meaningful updates in due course. The number of doses to be provided to Bangladesh on a priority basis and BPL’s investment amount will be dependent on regulatory approvals, SII's production capacity and earlier commitments to other countries.

Beximco Pharma was founded in 1976 and started operations in 1980, manufacturing products under the licenses of Bayer AG of Germany and Upjohn Inc. of United States. Today Beximco Pharma manufactures and markets its own branded generics for several diseases including AIDS, cancer, asthma, hypertension, and diabetes for both national and international markets. It was the first drug company from Bangladesh to sell its products in the US. In May 2020, the company introduced world’s first generic Remdesivir for Covid-19 treatment. The company is consistently building upon its portfolio and currently producing more than 500 products encompassing broad therapeutic categories and the Company has created strong differentiation by offering a range of high-tech, specialized products which are difficult to imitate.

Salman F Rahman prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee

Salman F Rahman, Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser expressed deep condolences at the death of former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. The PM adviser prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed his deepest sympathy to the grief-stricken family members of the Indian former president.

In an emotional speech, Salman F Rahman said “He had always played a supportive role in every crisis moment of Bangladesh including the War of Liberation of this country. He was the first man to be vocal about the necessity of supporting the people of this country during the war. And this veteran Bangali politician was also one of the boldest supporters of Bangladesh in global perspective”.

Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser further said that “The Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were assassinated in 1975 but his two daughters – our honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana – survived by the grace of Almighty Allah. And during the crucial moment when the two sisters were exiled in India, Pranab Mukherjee had provided them with all cooperation. As a nation, we recall his contribution with deep gratitude”.

“His death has caused an irreparable loss for both the countries” Salman F Rahman added.

The government of Bangladesh has announced the observance of mourning programmes in recognition of his contributions to and love for the country after death of President Pranab Mukherjee.

Mukherjee died after fighting for life for 21 days following a brain surgery to remove a blood clot. Since then, he was in deep coma.

Business recalled contribution of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

 

 Business leaders and politicians recalled contribution of the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to the economic freedom of people and formation of business strategy of entrepreneurs during a virtual discussion organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry to mark the National Mourning Day at the Federation Bhavan.

Most discussants joined the programme from different parts of country and abroad. A prayer session was held in remembrance of Sheikh Mujib and others, including his family members, who were killed on August 15, 1975 by a group of army personnel.

FBCCI president Sheikh Fazle Fahim said that if Sheikh Mujib had been alive, Bangladesh could have reached its current economic position in the mid-eighties, and the country would have been a developed one by now. AL advisory council member and former industries minister Amir Hossain Amu said that the anti-Bangladesh and anti-liberation forces killed Sheikh Mujib to stop the economic progress of Bangladesh.

Former FBCCI presidents Salman F Rahman, AK Azad, Abdul Matlub Ahmad among others, spoke in the programme.

Bangladesh expects more investment from Japan

Bangladesh government assured that potential investors from Japan will be given full cooperation in a bid to drive up the number of investments made in Bangladesh.

"The strength and stability of our economy and our strong political leadership is undoubted. We are very grateful to be considered as a possible destination for further Japanese investments," said Salman F Rahman, the prime minister's private industry and investment affairs adviser. Rahman made these remarks while addressing a virtual discussion styled, 'Dialogue to drive Japanese investments in Bangladesh' jointly organised by the Prime Minister's Office, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Over 200 participants from Japan's private sector joined the webinar, aimed at attracting investments from the island nation.

During the event, Rahman urged Japanese businesses to take advantage of Bangladesh's high corporate profitability, business-friendly policies, massive domestic market and strategic access to key markets across the world.

While addressing the event, Ito Naoki, the Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh, asked investors from his country to explore the diverse investment opportunities available here. Bangladesh's economic landscape will transform in a few years with adequate support from the Japanese government, Naoki said. The ambassador also mentioned Japan's cooperation in the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt initiative, the Mass Rapid Transit project and the expansion of Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Beximco Group stands in the path of success

Beximco Group has a long history of doing the right thing at the right moment. It also has a history of coming forward in times of need.  The pharmaceutical business of Beximco Group was the first to start making and exporting a generic version of remdesivir, a drug in the spotlight as a treatment for COVID-19.The textile and apparel unit of the company, one of the largest in Bangladesh, in May 2020 exported 6.5 million medical gowns custom made to the specifications of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. The company's pharmaceutical business, Beximco Pharma, is Bangladesh's top pharmaceutical exporter and third-largest overall producer by sales. Since last month, Beximco Pharma has exported 25,000 vials of Bemsivir to customers in Nigeria, Azerbaijan, the Philippines, Venezuela and Pakistan, where it is cooperating with local drugmaker Searle.

Beximco has also been donating Bemsivir to local public hospitals since getting approval for its formulation on May 21. Authorities in Bangladesh, the U.S., Japan, India and elsewhere have endorsed intravenous use of remdesivir to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Beximco Pharma already exports five drugs to the U.S. and has regulatory approval for nine others there. Its production facilities have also been certified by regulators from Europe, Australia, Canada and other nations. COVID-19, however, has had a mixed impact on the company. In reporting its fiscal third-quarter results last month, Beximco Pharma noted that the pandemic had depressed visitation to hospitals and clinics and caused prices for active ingredients for its drugs to climb.

The unit warned its revenue growth for the year ended June 30 would likely be less than previously expected while noting that sales for the first nine months had risen 13.3% to 19.11 billion taka ($221.31 million). Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv estimate that Beximco Pharma's annual gross profit margin contracted by almost 1.5 percentage points to 46.4%.

Beximco's textiles and apparel operation supplies products to Western retailers including Target, Zara, Michael Kors, PVH, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. The group's new PPE unit, set up with a $30 million investment in late March, is now making 50 million masks, gowns and other types of protective gear a month. It projected that the company will export $250 million worth by the end of this year. Next year, it sees exports doubling and domestic PPE sales reaching $120 million. If realized, this would be a tremendous boost for Beximco Ltd., the group's flagship listed unit on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges. Textiles generated 21.2 billion taka ($245.53 million), or almost 90% of the unit's total revenue, in the year ended June 2019. Total revenues for the first nine months of the current fiscal year were down 10.5% at 16.44 billion taka.

The company's contract to supply the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with washable long-sleeve gowns came via American clothing company HanesBrands, which in April won an order valued at $250 million to supply 20 million such garments to the bureau.

Beximco, meanwhile, is working on setting up a PPE plant in Detroit in partnership with another textile company and is investing in a mask plant with a second partner in Texas as well as considering similar projects in Europe.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals produces generic remdesivir for Covid-19

Beximco Pharmaceuticals introduced generic remdesivir for Covid-19. Nazmul Hassan, managing director of Beximco Pharmaceuticals, announced "Remdesivir is to be given free of cost to government hospitals,".

The launch of the antiviral drug was announced at a ceremony in the health ministry in presence of Minister for Health and Family Welfare Zahid Maleque. While handing over the first batch of the medicine, managing director of the pharma said all government hospitals treat patients free of cost. "And therefore, we have decided to provide Bemsivir free of cost to all those severely ill patients at government hospitals." Addressing the programme, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) has initially permitted six companies to manufacture drugs for Covid-19 treatment.

Beximco gave 1,000 remdesivir to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the treatment of critical Covid-19 patients, said a press release of the ministry.

Originally developed by US based Gilead Sciences, remdesivir is a direct acting antiviral drugthat inhibits viral RNA synthesis. Remdesivir is administered intravenously and is authorised forthe treatment of hospitalised patients with severe Covid-19 disease.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals said recent clinical trials have shown evidence that remdesivir helps severe Covid-19 patients recover faster. Japan Government has also granted special approval for remdesivir inemergency treatment of coronavirus. The emergency approvals will help broaden use of remdesivir in hospitalised patients, especially in developing and least developed countries where access to breakthrough, advanced drugs remains a major challenge, said Hassan. "This reinforces our commitment to play our part in ensuring access to breakthrough therapies despite facing many challenges amid this unprecedented pandemic," he said.

"As a responsible company, we will continue to extend our support to the government in all possible ways during this national emergency," he added. He said Beximco Pharma will supply Bemsivir to government designated hospitals for Covid-19 treatment, and it will not be available through retail pharmacies, in compliance with the directives from Bangladesh drug regulatory authorities.

On the very first day of receiving regulatory approval, Beximco Pharma has donated large quantities of Bemsivir to Bangladesh Government for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.