Competitiveness, skill development and technological advancements are key for Bangladesh to overcome challenges on graduating from the United Nations group of least developed countries (LDC) in 2026, speakers told a webinar yesterday.

Abul Khair Group is now expanding providing oxygen for free to western districts, having given 80 large cylinders to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital last week.

Various labour rights organisations yesterday demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible for the death of at least 52 workers in a fire at the Hashem Foods factory in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj district.

There is an urgent need for relevant authorities and factory owners in Bangladesh to ensure safe working environments at local production units, said International Labour Organization (ILO) in a statement issued yesterday.

A Tk 58.5 crore project has created interest among farmers to grow foods by using bio-pesticides. And an increased number of growers have switched from using chemical pesticides.

Every year, the last week of November sees a mad rush of individual taxpayers at the tax offices and tax fairs. The reason is obvious: the final deadline to file annual income, expenditure and wealth statements without penalty is November 30, termed as Tax Day.

Debt-ridden micro-businesses and informal workers in Bangladesh are staring at new economic distress as incomes evaporated because of the ongoing strict lockdown, which could impose an additional financial burden on them and deepen their plights.

Workers of a garment factory in Narayanganj today blocked Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chattogram highways for six hours, demanding salaries and other arrears.

Arshad Uddin fell into a deep crisis when his indenting business in Dhaka took a turn for the worse soon after the coronavirus outbreak began in March last year.

Bangladesh needs to formulate long-term plans on how to enhance its export basket after graduating from the UN's group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), experts say at a webinar held yesterday.

The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) has recommended the government extend the duty-free raw material import facility to the firms that sell a portion of their goods in overseas markets with a view to diversifying exports.

It may surprise many that a lot of empty containers are lying idle at the private inland container depots (ICDs) in Bangladesh when the ICDs are choked with export cargoes for failing to ship them on time due to an acute shortage of empty boxes.

Export earnings rebounded strongly in the just-concluded fiscal year, fetching $38.75 billion, buoyed by a revival in the shipment of garment items, official figures showed yesterday.

Despite the lengthy coronavirus pandemic, 13,613 new companies were registered in Bangladesh in the just-included fiscal year, highlighting the confidence of businesses in the economy.

Pharmaceutical shipments from Bangladesh grew 25 per cent year-on-year to $169 million in the last fiscal thanks to the addition of anti-coronavirus drugs to the export basket, continuous improvement of quality and policy support.

Mobile phone operators are seeking permission from the government to sell network-locked or fixed-SIM handsets at lower prices so that more people can afford smartphones and use 4G service.

When the Maksud Bedding Store in Dhaka's Nilkhet area is open, Monir, an employee of the retail outlet, could make about Tk 400 for each day's work.

The demand for premium quality tiles has grown by around 10 per cent annually for the past decade thanks to a section of affluent customers who look for the finest products to decorate their homes and offices.

The worsening Covid-19 situation has generated apprehensions among cattle farmers of Sirajganj and Pabna, two of the biggest cattle rearing hubs of the country.

The price of mild steel (MS) rods has increased by Tk 1,500 per tonne in Bangladesh in the past month because of the rising cost of raw materials globally, making building houses and implementing infrastructure projects costlier.