Bangladesh in world media this week

In the outgoing week, Bangladesh’s soring a near-impossible win against Afghanistan in cricket match was most talked-about news. Moreover, the country observing the Language Martyrs’ Day in the week was featured on many news outlets. There were also a few financial news that caught many readers’ attention.

Here is a pick of five stories on Bangladesh that made headlines on international media in the outgoing week (February 19 to February 25):

Bangladesh pair record 2nd highest 7th wicket partnership in ODIs to take team to victory against Afghanistan

Bangladesh pair of Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan showcased immense calm and maturity as they put on a herculean effort to deny Afghanistan in what earlier looked like a comfortable victory for the visitors, reported NDTV on February 23.

Both Hossain and Hasan stitched together an unbroken 174-run partnership that helped the home side escape an embarrassing defeat in the first ODI at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Wednesday.

In the process, the pair broke the record for the highest 7th wicket stand for Bangladesh in ODIs. They went past the duo of Imrul Kayes and Mohammad Saifuddin who held the top spot for Bangladesh with a 127-run stand, achieved against Zimbabwe in 2018 in Mirpur.

Hossain and Hasan were also placed second in the list of most runs added by a pair for the seventh wicket in men's ODI history. The list is currently topped by the English duo of Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid, who had added 177 runs in 2015 against New Zealand.

Bangladesh observes Language Day- Amar Ekushey

Bangladesh is observing the historic Language Day named ‘Amar Ekushey’, paying tribute to the martyrs who laid their lives during the language movement in 1952 demanding Bangla as the official language for the then East Pakistan.

Scores of students were killed on this day in 1952 when Pakistani forces fired upon them during the protest leading to widespread civil unrest, featured DD News on February 21.

Wreaths were placed at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka immediately after midnight on Monday on behalf of President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Amar Ekushey song ‘Amar Bhaiyer Rakte Rangano Ekushey February’ played in the background.

A large number of eminent public figures, ministers and people from all walks of life started paying tribute at the national Shaheed Minar in Dhaka from midnight on Monday.

Chief of three services, members of diplomatic corps, freedom fighters and civil and military officials paid tribute to the martyrs on this occasion.

Hundreds of people including students from schools and colleges, youth and the elderly, children, men and women individually and representing various organizations paid their respects to the language martyrs throughout the day across the country.

The day is also observed as International Mother Language Day.

Axiata sets aside $1.6bn capex to drive growth in Bangladesh, Indonesia

Malaysia’s Axiata Group is allocating RM7.1 billion ($1.69 billion) capital expenditure (capex) for the financial year ending December 31, 2022 (FY22) as the telecommunications group accelerates its expansion in Bangladesh and Indonesia.

President and group chief executive officer Datuk Izzaddin Idris said the bulk of the allocation was to improve Axiata's mobile network quality of services, reported the Strait Times on February 23.

There was growth opportunity in markets like Bangladesh and Indonesia due to the low penetration rate of mobile users, he added.

Axiata outpaced its headline key performance indicator guidance of low single-digit earnings growth for the year ended December 31 2021.

The group saw its net profit surging 124.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to RM818.90 million from RM365.15 million in FY20, while revenue rose 7.02 per cent to RM25.90 billion from RM24.20 billion.

It previously targeted earnings before depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) and revenue growths of 8.5 per cent and 8.3 per cent respectively.

Bangladesh: Rubber production grows on local demand

Rubber production is growing in Bangladesh, buoyed by increased domestic use and surging exports, particularly to neighbouring India, the Japan News reported on 25 February.

Export earnings from rubber shot up 57 percent year-on-year to $28 million in the July-January period of the current fiscal year, from $18.3 million during the same period a year ago.

The latest export figure beat earnings data of the past years except for the last fiscal year, when overall earnings stood at $34 million, the highest in a decade.

Apart from shipment, domestic demand for rubber from tire makers, footwear and medical gloves in Bangladesh is on the rise.

Currently, rubber is being grown on 40,000 hectares of land with private operators running 1,304 gardens and state agencies operating 28 gardens. Most of the gardens are in the Chattogram region.

Rubber cultivation in Bangladesh was started by the British in the early 20th century.

In 1952, the forest department experimentally planted some trees in Tangail and Chattogram with rubber seeds and a few thousand rubber saplings from Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Lead acid battery market in Bangladesh: 6.30% Y-O-Y growth rate in 2022

The Lead Acid Battery Market Share in Bangladesh is expected to increase by $75.98 million from 2021 to 2026, at an accelerated CAGR of 6.75 percent, according to the recent market study by Technavio, featured Yahoo Finance on February 25.

The lead acid battery market share growth in Bangladesh by the sealed segment will be significant during the forecast period.

The increasing use of mobile applications is driving the demand for sealed lead acid batteries. Gel batteries have a higher resistance to shock, temperature, and vibration than other lead acid batteries.

Owing to the performance advantage over other lead acid battery types, gel batteries cost higher than AGM and FLA batteries.

These batteries are ideal for mobile and deep-cycle applications, which require constant current and are generally used in electric vehicles (EVs), golf carts, and material handling equipment.

Moreover, the report also provides Value Chain Analysis which helps companies gain a competitive advantage in the market.