The nexus between climate and
trade: The approach of the WTO

Holiday Report

At no time has humankind collectively faced a graver danger than what we are witnessing now. It is due to the slow but inexorable process of climate change.
   As all know it today, with climate change of barely a few degrees, there will need to be fundamental changes to life on this planet. Countries will go under the sea, massive population will become climate refugees, and the entire production process will require adjustment.
   So, a global response to the crisis is an imperative, and should be our top priority on the international agenda. Perhaps there is still time for countries to act together and delay, or even reverse, the process of climate change.
   Though WTO is not an environment agency, in the preamble of the Marrakech Agreement that established the WTO, sustainable development, the protection and preservation of the environment are recognized as fundamental goals of the WTO. As we learn more about ways of preserving the environment, we must devise ways in the WTO rules to help protect it.
   If trade measures can help combat climate change, there is no doubt that a multilateral agreement on such measures may be helpful. During the Copenhagen Conference, several delegations made specific reference to trade measures as a means to achieving broader environmental ends.
   The Doha Round of trade negotiations contain specific negotiating mandates relating to environmental goods and services. The basic idea is to devise ways of liberalizing trade in environmental goods and services, with the objective of helping the environment. Not much progress has been achieved in those negotiations. Perhaps the negotiators in the WTO are taking a mercantilist approach, and are seeking to advance their respective commercial interests. They must ignore their commercial interests, and concentrate on what will collectively help common environmental concerns, particularly in matters of climate change.
   The 7th Ministerial Meeting of the WTO took place amid the changed economic conditions of global recession. While the multilateral trading system has weathered the storm, the process of responding to the crisis revealed that the WTO could be made more effective, by broadening its functions, to assume greater responsibility in the global trading system. When the Ministers and Senior Officials from the 153 members gathered in the WTO on November 30, Director-General Pascal Lamy stated that the single largest adjustment that WTO Members need to make is to conclude the Doha Round successfully, and soon.
   The year 2009 will go down in history as a moment of great global insecurity; millions of citizens have lost their jobs, many more have seen their savings evaporated, and much of the development gains of the last decades have vanished. However, at the same time, we saw nations coming together as never before. The world was united to find a response to the global economic crisis. The multilateral trading system has also been tested; it has stood firm and showed its value. Completion of the Doha Round, while protecting the interests of the vulnerable, is vital to sustain meaningful multilateralism. Given goodwill and imagination, we should simultaneously be able to devise means to help the environment.

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Pre-tax profit exceeds target by big margin

Holiday Report

National Tubes Limited, an enterprise of Bangladesh Steel Engineering Corporation (BSEC) under the Ministry of Industries, produces steel pipes used in gas transmission and distribution, water supply and irrigation. Jasimuddin Choudhury, Managing Director of National Tubes Limited (NTL) is a key technical professional in his field. After receiving his Electrical Engineering degree from BUET in 1978 he joined Bangladesh Shilpa Bank. Few months later he went to Libya and worked under the Ministry of Electricity. As a technical resource person, he also worked in a German company. In 1987 he returned home and joined the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) and later he was promoted as the managing director of Eastern Tubes Limited and in December last year was transferred to National Tubes Limited as the MD.
   Jasimuddin Choudhury talked to Holiday's Omar Faruque on the present state of the public enterprise.
   Highlighting the financial health of the company, he said it is one of the profitable enterprises of BSEC. It earned a pre-tax profit of Tk 117.8 million (11.78 crore) against the target of Tk 106.0 million in the fiscal year of 2008-2009. Various measures were taken to keep its expenses in control. He recalled the efficiency of the workers, staff-members and officers of the company, which was contributed towards the company's profit.
   Dwelling on how National Tubes came into being, he said it was established as a government enterprise of Pakistan in 1961. After that in 1964 it was handed over to the private sector as an entity owned by the Adamjee Group. After liberation, it was nationalised and placed under the BSEC in 1972. The enterprise was transformed into a public limited company in 1989 by offloading 49 percent of its shares. The company is now managed by an independent board.
   The NTL factory is located on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, about 20 km north of Dhaka city on a 14.31 acres of land. The company employs 340 men and women and uses modern equipment and technology to produce quality products.
   About the product range, he said it produces two types of steel pipes, MS and GI pipes and API pipes. MS and GI pipes are produced following the British Standard BS-1387 and the Bangladesh Standard BDS-1031. Galvanising is done as per British Standard BS-729. The GI pipes are used for water supply and irrigation. On the other hand, the API pipes are produced under a license from the American Petroleum Institute (API). These pipes are produced strictly following the API specifications. The major buyers of the API pipes are the gas transmission and distribution companies of Petrobangla like Titas Gas, Bakhrabad Gas, Jalalabad Gas, and Pashchimanchal Gas Company. API pipes are used for transmission and distribution of natural gas and oil.
   When it comes to quality, the National Tubes MD said standard quality control systems are followed in production at the factory. It obtained the internationally-recognised Quality System Certificate from the American Petroleum Institute (API) in 1990. It also received the ISO 9002: 1994 certificate in 2002 and the ISO 9001: 2008 certificate.

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Holiday Report

With a view to raise capital from the secondary market, RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited, a UAE-Bangladesh joint venture company, has launched issuing of 34,510,000 ordinary shares, each valued at taka 10, through initial public offering (IPO) under the Book Building Method introduced in Bangladesh.
   The company has also appointed IDLC Finance Limited as the lead manager to the issue and BRAC EPL investments Limited as the joint manager to the issue. The company wants to use the net proceeds received from IPO to pay off the loans after listing and balance amount for working capital.
   Launched as a private limited company in 1998, RAK started commercial production in November 2000. The commercial production of new sanitary ware plant started in January 2004. Further expansion of the existing facilities of ceramic tiles and sanitary plants also took place in 2004 and 2007.
   According to RAK press release, the company has attained revenue of Tk. 3,822 million in 2009 which is 17.6 per cent higher than the previous year.

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