A money-transfer company used by members of the Bangladeshi community has collapsed, depriving at least 2,000 families across Asia of funds and causing despair in some of Britain’s poorest areas. Police and detectives from the Insolvency Service are investigating why First Solution Money Transfer, based at the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel, East London, was unable to deliver at least £1.7 million intended principally for the Sylhet region of Bangladesh.
The Times, London | Read

DHAKA, May 23 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's booming mobile phone industry has made a significant contribution to economic development, adding $650 million to gross domestic product (GDP) and creating nearly 240,000 jobs, a recent study said. "The mobile phone industry in Bangladesh employs 237,900 people directly and indirectly. These are well-paid jobs with salaries many times the national average," said the study by the international consultancy firm Ovum. Reuters | read

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited (BPL) is set to be the first Bangladeshi company to list in Britain, raising $22 million through a sale of 20 percent of its share capital, the company said on Sunday. Bomb blasts in London and Bangladesh over recent months delayed the initial public offering (IPO) plan to raise $49 million. The more modest offer closed on Thursday after what the company called an overwhelming response from investors. Trading is due to start on Oct. 21 on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Reuters | read

Despite its flock wallpaper, sullen waiters and unflattering lighting, it has long been embraced as the most venerable of British institutions. The curry house has acquired the same status as pubs and Yorkshire pudding, with its Friday night ritual played out by millions. But despite its place in the nation's heart, it emerged yesterday that the future of the £2.5bn curry house industry is under threat; Indian restaurants across the country are in the grip of such a "serious" staffing crisis that the repercussions may be long term.
The Independent, London | Read

Bangladesh is failing to block money laundering despite new laws brought in to tighten financial regulation, a new study suggests. Almost $6bn slipped through the net in the year to June 2003, more than half of it the proceeds of smuggling, according to the Bangladesh Economic Association.
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Weak law and order, widespread corruption and lack of utility services are major obstacles to attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Bangladesh, said UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Jorgen Lissner, releasing an international report yesterday. "Bangladesh needs to improve law and order situation as well as addressing its image problem to attract the increased amount of FDI," he said while launching the World Investment Report 2003 (WIR) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
New Nation, Dhaka | Read

Globalisation as a doctrine is not yet based on clear and compact set of principles. It is broadly understood as a form of political and economic liberalism realised through democratisation and free market within a great variety of shades and colours. In fact, globalisation is currently understood mainly in terms of interconnectedness of nations in economic domain, in particular trade, financial flows and transnational corporations. It is seen as an economic parallel to internationalisation in the form of universal rule of the market, free trade, and global flow of capital via spread of information technology.
New Nation, Dhaka | Read

Abul Bashar, a Bangladeshi-born street trader in London's East End, got a 9,000-pound ($14,266) loan in July from Street U.K. Ltd. to expand his range of shirts and coats after some of Britain's top banks balked at lending. Street U.K., based in Birmingham, was founded in 2000 by former J.P. Morgan & Co. banker Rosalind Copisarow to lend to entrepreneurs in Britain's poorest neighborhoods who are often shunned by Britain's biggest banks, such as HSBC Holdings Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.
Bloomberg | Read