M-S-Siddiqui | Daily Observer

What Bangladesh stands to lose after LDC graduation?

M S Siddiqui

The criteria for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) graduation are set by the UN and focus on three keysare: low income (GNI per capita), weak human assets (health/education), and high economic and environmental vulnerability to shocks.The Income criterion, based on a three-year average estimate of GNI per capita, based on the World Bank Atlas Method ...

Are microcredit banks with shareholders feasible?

M S Siddiqui

According to Micrcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) data, there are 683 microcredit institutions in the country. With the upcoming LDC graduation and pullback of donors, these institutions will face capital shortage. To face the challenge, NGOs can be structured in various ways, including NGOs with social business, government-owned entities, or private companies. Those structured as private ...

Is BTRC driving telecom market towards monopoly?

M S Siddiqui

Both mobile network operators (MNOs) and internet service providers (ISPs) in Bangladesh face a wide range of taxes and revenue-sharing mechanisms, which inflate the cost of data services. The tax burden for telecom providers includes:15% VAT is levied uniformly across telecom services, affecting both MNOs and ISPs, and an additional 10% SD is applied to ...

G2B++ model of cooperation needed for our economic development

M S Siddiqui

The socio-cultural reality is that government and academia have very negative impression of business. Government means both politicians and bureaucrats and academia usually maintains a distance from business. Close cooperation is imperative for economic development. It is widely discussed that bureaucratic bodies often encounter obstacles such as a lack of innovation and limited exposure to contemporary ...

Blockchain tech ensures transparency of financial transactions

M S Siddiqui

A blockchain is a Distributed ledger technology (DLT) that can be used to store permanent and tamper-proof records of digital data. The store has immutability and irreversibility of ledger state having data persistence and provenance, accountability and transparency, etc. The process allows keeping data in consecutive blocks like a chain. The recorded data is permanent ...