Laurels for business heroes

From left, Selim RF Hussain, managing director of IDLC Finance; Masuda Islam, chairman of Protina BD Foods; AMA Muhith, finance minister; MA Rahim Feroz, vice-chairman of DBL Group; Abu Sayed, general manager of Nasir Group of Industries; Desmond Quiah, country manager of DHL Express; and Malcolm Monteiro, senior vice president and area director for South Asia of DHL Express, pose for photographs at the Bangladesh Business Awards ceremony at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka yesterday. photo: Amran Hossain

Two individuals and two enterprises were honoured with Bangladesh Business Awards yesterday for their resounding successes that not only brought fortunes to their ventures but also created jobs and contributed to the economy.
The Daily Star, the country's leading English newspaper, and DHL Express, the world's top logistics company, awarded them at the 13th annual event, which has become the nation's best business recognition.
Nasiruddin Biswas, chairman of Nasir Group of Industries, won the Business Person of the Year trophy for his astounding success.
He entered the business world as a tobacco trader in the countryside four decades ago to eventually establish a conglomerate that now boasts an annual turnover of Tk 2,000 crore and has created more than 23,000 jobs.
A pioneer and innovator, Nasiruddin now leads a group of nine industries, from local cigarettes to state of the art float glass and energy saving bulb manufacturing companies.
He, however, could not attend the programme to accept the award in person due to his medical treatment abroad. On his behalf, the company's General Manager Abu Syed received the trophy at a ceremony at Hotel Sonargaon in the capital.
IDLC Finance was recognised as the Best Financial Institution for rapid growth in business, compliance and ethical practices.
The non-bank financial institution's deposit almost doubled to Tk 2,200 crore in 2012 from two years ago and credit disbursement reached Tk 2,799 crore from Tk 1,561 crore over the same period.
Accepting the trophy, Selim RF Hussain, managing director of the company, said: “We didn't want to restrict ourselves to norms. We always want to add value to our customers, clients and all other stakeholders.
“Our USP (universal selling point) is being able to say yes or no quickly. We want to be trusted and have people's faith in us.”
He has been leading the company for the last few years to bring down its non-performing loans to 2.09 percent while doubling the number of branches to 26.
His firm always worked to meet the need of the customers, which in turn yielded benefit for the company.
The Enterprise of the Year award went to DBL Group, one of the leading composite garment factories.
Its journey began in 1991 with a garment factory to become an enterprise that saw an annual turnover of over $243 million in 2012, riding on quality products at competitive prices, timely delivery and a committed workforce of 15,700 people.
Mohammed Abdul Jabbar, managing director of the company, led the group from the front adding 19 ventures to the feather of the group in two decades.
Group Vice-chairman MA Rahim Feroz accepted the award.
Schoolteacher-turned entrepreneur Masuda Islam won the accolade as the Outstanding Woman in Business for her hard work and achievement that created 26 jobs.
She now leads Protina BD Foods, which sells frozen snacks, sweets, bakery and vermicelli and supplies the items to the capital's big superstores. Her venture now has an asset of Tk 1 crore.
Delighted to receive the trophy, Masuda said: “I started the business as part of my effort to give unadulterated food to my family. Then I thought why can't I do the same for the whole country?”
She urged the government to take steps to convince the people responsible to be helpful in setting up small and medium enterprises, especially those led by women.
“We are not small in numbers. We are contributing to the economy. We make profit but do not take it out of the country. We spend the money to raise our children so they can become assets of the country.”
Finance Minister AMA Muhith handed the crests to the winners as chief guest.
Speaking at the event, the minister said businesses should try to achieve excellence and all of these awardees have shown that they were striving for excellence.
He thanked the Daily Star and the DHL for joining hands in honouring excellence in businesses in Bangladesh.
Muhith questioned why the country's industries including garment factories cannot set up fair prices shop for selling essential commodities among their workers. “This is not a matter of corporate social responsibility but should be as part of humanitarian concern.
“Bangladesh is a land of all impossible attainments. But we make it by good performance by the wonderful workers at the factories, wonderful farmers working in the farms and by the wonderful entrepreneurs who are putting all their talents together and getting some results for us. These are the people who are building the nation.”
Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said the awards celebrate the greatest achievement of the businesses for their contribution to the economic growth and taking Bangladeshi brands to the international level.
He said time had come for the country to perform. “We have many things to be proud of. But time has come to transform our pride into performance, which will take us to the future."
Anam said people are now talking about Bangladesh as one of the “Next 11” emerging markets and taking note of Bangladesh as a centre of excellence and productivity.
“Today, our garment sector is facing a huge challenge. We must admit we have not allowed the industry to flourish with the standard and security of the workers as it should have. But let not our flaws in some areas of performance distract our vision from the success we have achieved.
“If we can now respond to the labour standards and working conditions and improve the safety of our factories, we will not only be able to retain our place, but also be able to overcome a giant like China. This is where our focus should now come -- to the role of the business community."
Bangladesh must turn the current crisis into an opportunity, he said.
Desmond Quiah, country manager of DHL Express, said his company was proud to join The Daily Star in recognising the outstanding achievers in the business and corporate world of Bangladesh.
“It is also our privilege to honour the excellence in business. The winners are leading from front and have taken Bangladesh to the world, opening newer global horizon for the country,” he said.
The ceremony started with one minute's silence in the memory of those killed in the Rana Plaza collapse in Savar on April 24.
A musical group performed a score to pay tributes to Pandit Ravi Shankar who organised a concert in Madison Square Garden in New York in 1971 for Bangladesh.
The group performed as over 300 businesspeople, diplomats, bureaucrats, politicians, entrepreneurs, celebrities, civil society members and academics gathered at the ceremony.
Another group sang the famous song, “Bangladesh,” by legendary musician George Harrison, Shankar's friend.
Seen as a morale boost to the recipients, the awards aim to acknowledge the country's best businesses and the people behind them.
The awards were launched in 2000 as the country's business has had no dedicated awards, government or private, to recognise the continuing and outstanding achievements of businesses.