Despite interest shown by foreign investors in country-specific Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) taking steps to acquire and allot land to that effect, it appears preparatory work on most of these zones is lagging far behind schedule.

It is a common enough sight on Dhaka roads to see policemen hailing cars and motorcycles to stop and check their papers. It is within their rights to do so. What is equally common on the roads is that while the dutiful policeman is doing his job, a dilapidated jalopy resembling a monstrosity straight out of a “Mad Max” movie gushing out big, black plumes of smoke chugging along the road pretending to be a bus

Every year we are promised by the relevant ministry that prices of essentials will be kept within reach during the holy month of Ramadan. Since, that promise is hardly ever kept people have stopped expecting anything in this regard. The ministry of commerce had a meeting of traders, law enforcement and officials from the various government agencies and departments along with importers and traders on April 1 to better gauge what stocks should be

According to the latest data, Dhaka's traffic has ground to a snail's pace. 12 years ago, the average speed per hour (on Dhaka roads) for motorised vehicles was 21 kmph (kilometres per hour). Today it is 5 kmph (it has reduced 76 percent).

The government has just announced a fresh bailout package to the tune of Tk 20 billion (approximately USD 250 million) so that they may meet some of their capital shortfalls.

Highways are the major arteries of our economic backbone. Since the railway network was never really developed to transport bulk goods, we are inordinately dependent on highways to connect the capital city with the rest of the country to get goods transported.

Things are not looking very rosy for one of the largest infrastructure projects undertaken by the government under the public-private partnership (PPP) model in 2011.

It's that time of year again when we talk about the rationality of power tariff hike. According to media reports, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has forwarded a proposal to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) that there is need to hike the prices of petroleum products.

We can understand our position in the index when we take into account how we performed against other nations.

What we must remember is that the path to transforming the production workplace will differ from nation to nation.

President Trump is re-engaging in Afghanistan in a manner that basically reverses former President Obama's policies.

The Islamic State (IS) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (an al-Qaeda affiliate, known earlier as the Nusra Front) have effectively been ejected from Lebanese territory by the army there. The latest twist in Middle East politics is the recent Lebanese experience.

That was basically the message realtors had given Rajuk in early November in a views-sharing meeting. Realtors believe it is ludicrous for Rajuk to try and reclaim what has already been grabbed.

The United Nations unveiled its World Economic Situation and Prospects 2018 report on December 14.

Energy efficiency is all the rage these days. A much less talked about issue is water efficiency and sustainability at industrial level.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is the body the government depends on for data on the various sectors of the economy to make policy decisions.

We live in interesting times to say the least. Last week Hariri launched a tirade against Iran and its principal ally, Hezbollah, for trying to destabilise the region.

One does not give much thought to the export market for home textiles and terry towels in this country.

People, particularly those who belong to the lower income groups, have been reeling under the weight of rising cost of living for some years now.

According to a report published by this paper on October 22, “Bangladesh was the top buyer of scrapped ships in the world in the third quarter of 2017, followed by India,” as stated by the Brussels-based Shipbreaking Platform.