World Bank’s reports suggests, Bangladesh has claimed its position in the list of top 10 fastest-growing economies in the world. Regarded as a ‘Tiger cub’ for its tremendous economic growth, the nation aims to become a developed country by the year 2041. In pursuit of this vision, Bangladesh has recently seen various development activities such as MOU signings. The financial system of Bangladesh is made up of three categories comprising formal sector, semi-formal sector, and informal sector. The formal sector incorporates banks, insurance companies, non-bank financing companies, Merchant banks and Microfinance institutions (MFIs), brokerage houses and many more.
The semi-formal sector mainly comprises of specialized financial institutions such as the ones who finance home loans, non governmental organizations (NGOs), and financial institutions that are not governed by the central bank of Bangladesh, Insurance authority, securities & exchange commission and other such financial regulators. The informal sector comprises unregulated private intermediaries.
Recently, it was reported about the collaboration of a UAE financing firm with a top player in Bangladesh. Events like these are encouraging Bangadeshi entrepreneurs and NRB(non-resident Bangladeshi) businessmen to invest more in the country. Many M&A activities are being undertaken in the country to further boost the import and export trades from Europe and Middle Eastern regions.
As per reports, Bangladesh is leading the market of mobile financial services in south Asia owing to the nation’s regulatory policies that have fueled the digital transformation. Reportedly, at least 1 million digital bank accounts were set up in the year 2020 to aid government-to-person payments. Moreover, the government of Bangladesh used a medium called ‘bKash’ during the rough year of 2020 for efficient transactions of stimulus packages and monetary allowances. bKash is regarded to be the first in the country to introduce mobile financial transactions offering services like P2P (Person to Person) money transfers.
Tycoons from the Land of Sunderbans
Bangladesh is known to have produced extraordinary talents over the years. A talent to be admired, A. B. M. Ahasan Ullah, the senior assistant vice president of Bangladesh-based LankaBangla Finance Limited has been commended for his leadership qualities and possessing an intimate knowledge of network infrastructure and security infrastructure in the digital world.
A. B. M. Ahasan Ullah started his career as a network engineer at a Chittagong-based IT firm in May 2006 and offered his characteristic engineering services until December 2008. He later joined a Dhaka-based IT services and consulting firm as a senior network engineer in January 2009 where he would go on to work as an assistant manager in the technical department from January 2011 until March 2012. His incredible career journey has currently landed him at Dhaka-headquartered LankaBangla finance limited where he is leading the team by supervising the design, selection and evaluation of network infrastructure & network architecture domain through ICT (Informations & communications technology) based business requirements and addressing critical deficiencies. A. B. M. Ahasan Ullah was instrumental in a project called ANL CTG Network Implementation, a flat network to layer 3-based network during his services as senior network engineer in one of hisprevious companies. In appreciation to his outstanding contributions in various software and financial institutions A. B. M. Ahasan Ullah has been awarded ‘Excellence in Leadership Bangladesh 2022’ by International Business Magazine, a Dubai based global publishing house.
Financing the Future of Bangladesh
Today, LankaBangla has emerged as one of the leading financial services providers in Bangladesh. The company offers a wide array of products such as home loans, personal loans, credit cards and more. A special mention in its products designed for Small and Medium Enterprises has been widely accepted and has fueled the development in the sector. In addition, LankaBangla introduced a product called Shikha which significantly aids in the development of women as entrepreneurs and furthers women’s economic empowerment.
The future economy of Bangladesh demands solid reforms in policies to further propel the growth in areas of tackling the financial sector’s vulnerabilities, trade competitiveness, a systems approach to urbanization, digital development and more. Furthering the credit growth in the financial sector calls for a rise in the capitalization of banks, enhancing asset quality, resolving the rise of non performing loans and more.
As compared to several Asian countries, Bangladesh possesses an undiscovered domestic capital market which can be used for raising long term finance, infrastructure projects and more. From financing private companies for green investments to financing based on the current climate risks, it is vital for the financial sector of Bangladesh to start funding more on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). Furthermore, cutting down on red tapes for external borrowers, encouraging financing through local currency and drawing foreign direct investments aids in supercharging the financial sector.
Blog By Harish Rajulu
