LOS ANGELES, 13 June 2022, (TON): President Joe Biden made a forceful pitch to reassert US influence in Latin America through a weeklong summit in Los Angeles but the modesty of his promises will test his efforts at a time when China is making rapid inroads.

Some two dozen leaders came together for the Summit of the Americas where Biden and the rest of the top US brass pledged to do more with them on migration, clean energy and health infrastructure and charmed guests with glitzy receptions befitting Tinseltown.

Biden said “the Americas should be the most forward-looking, most democratic, most prosperous, most peaceful, secure region in the world.”

Biden said “no matter what else is happening in the world, the Americas will always be a priority for the United States of America.”

WASHINGTON, 13 June 2022, (TON): The International Atomic Energy Agency urged Iran to resume talks now to avoid a crisis that could make it extremely more difficult to salvage the 2015 nuclear accord.

Iran this week disconnected some cameras allowing international inspectors to monitor its nuclear activities in response to a Western resolution passed June 8 in which the UN agency denounced Tehran’s lack of cooperation.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in an interview “twenty-seven surveillance cameras have been removed.”

He added “recent history tells us that it is never a good thing to start saying to international inspectors, go home... things get much more problematic.”

The 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, gave Iran relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities.

KYIV, 13 June 2022, (TON): Local officials said “Russian forces have blown up a bridge linking the embattled Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk to another city across the river, cutting off a possible evacuation route for civilians.”

Sievierodonetsk has become the epicenter of the battle for control over Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

Parts of the city have been pulverized in some of the bloodiest fighting since the Kremlin unleashed its invasion on Feb. 24.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “the key tactical goal of the occupiers has not changed: they are pressing in Sievierodonetsk, severe fighting is ongoing there, literally for every meter.”

Serhiy Gaidai, said “Ukrainian and Russian forces were still fighting street-by-street there on Sunday, the governor of Luhansk province.”

RIYADH, 13 June 2022, (TON): The ministry of defense announced “the Royal Saudi Air Force has concluded a joint exercise with its Egyptian counterpart in the Kingdom’s northern region.”

The closing ceremony of the Saudi-Egyptian “Faisal 12-2022” exercise, which was held at the King Faisal Air Base, was attended by the Deputy Commander of the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Talal Al-Ghamdi, on behalf of the air force’s commander.

Al-Ghamdi praised the positive results of the exercises, which were carried out according to specific tactical goals that achieved the desired military benefit for both parties.

He said “the impact of the intense exercises helped launch the two forces to a high level of readiness and preparedness.”

The ministry said “the aircrews implemented a number of scenarios in a real combat environment, and pilots of both forces proved their high combat efficiency, and their rapid ability to deal with and destroy enemy targets.”

DHAKA, 13 June 2022, (TON): Low-lying areas in six unions of Roumari upazila of Kurigram have been inundated by flash flood triggered by the recent rains and onrush of upstream water, rendering 20,000 people marooned.

Aman seedbeds and other paddy fields were submerged following the rise in the water level of the Brahmaputra and Jinjiram Rivers in India.

Abu Syed of Madartila village said “his paddy fields went under water due to the recent flash flood. I have to harvest immature paddy to avoid huge loss.”

Abdul Kaiyum, of Mandalpara village, said “he brought one bigha of land under vegetable cultivation and now all vegetables went under water due to the heavy rainfall.”

KABUL, 13 June 2022, (TON): The three-year long mission of the UN special envoy for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, is ending.

Lyons’ has been publicly thanked by European Union representatives and Afghanistan-focused diplomats, Islamic Emirate officials and top Afghan politicians.

The EU Ambassador to Afghanistan, Andreas von Brandt, told media “Lyons has made efforts to improve the human rights’ situation in Afghanistan.”

He said “I have always appreciated her insights, her collegiality, her wisdom and her determination to work and do the best for the people of Afghanistan.”

Lyons held farewell meetings with senior officials of the Islamic Emirate.

The ministry said on Twitter “the Ministry of Interior on Saturday said that acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani met with Deborah Lyons, outgoing UN special envoy for Afghanistan. Haqqani praised Lyons work in Afghanistan as positive.”

DHAKA, 13 June 2022, (TON): The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Dhaka observed the National Day of Russia across Bangladesh.

On this occasion, a reception was held with the participation of Bengali officials, including Minister of Agriculture Dr M Abdur Razzaque, and State Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Swapan Bhattacharjee, representatives of the diplomatic corps and public organizations.

The program ended with the performance of the artists from Alexandrov Academic Ensemble of Song and Dance of the Russian Army.

The National Day was also celebrated at the Russian House in Dhaka.

The participants stressed the deep ties between the two countries, and recalled the role of the USSR in the victory of the Bengali people in the war for independence and the post-war reconstruction of Bangladesh.

DHAKA, 13 June 2022, (TON): The United Nations has adopted a resolution prompting its Department of Global Communications to use both official and non-official languages, including Bangla.

United Nations General Assembly adopted an India-sponsored resolution on multilingualism.

The other languages are Hindi and Urdu. The resolution also mentioned languages such as Portuguese, Kiswahili, and Persian.

The UN has six official languages; English, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and French.

The addition of Hindi, Bangla, and Urdu will instrumentalise and institutionalise their usage as mediums for disseminating UN information, said TS Tirumurti, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York.

DHAKA, 13 June 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said “his ministry is currently studying different aspects of newly formed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity to determine whether it would be beneficial for Bangladesh to join.”

He told media at his office "we are studying on it,”

Tokyo US President Biden launched the IPEF with 12 other couturiers; Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam - which together represent 40 percent of world GDP.

The USA said “there would be opportunities for other countries to join in IPEF and Washington expects that Bangladesh would follow it closely.”

While asking China's stand on IPEF, the foreign minister said “there may be observations of different countries on whether Dhaka should join IPEF or not but we will only do that protects our national interest.”

By Farzana Tamannur (TON)

To unlock the true potential of Bangladesh's eCommerce market, trends and practices Bangladesh Brand Forum organized the country’s first ever Bangladesh E-Commerce Summit 2022. It was presented by Daraz, Powered by Dotlines and in Association with eCourier & The Business Standard; under the idea Revitalising the E-Commerce Industry. The summit took place at the Sky Ballroom, Le Meridien Dhaka, with an objective to help Bangladesh to achieve its prospective market as it now has a flourishing e-commerce industry. 

The Bangladesh E-commerce summit 2022 investigated the continued increase of eCommerce and how covid changed the background for the eCommerce business in Bangladesh. The summit brought together a big and various communities of change-makers Ecommerce expert and established retailers altogether and engaged with the leading Leaders, Global Experts, retailers and brands, who shared their knowledge on the main trends in the E-commerce industry. The summit aimed to build a sustainable e-commerce ecosystem and explored what the future of retail will look like as customers continue to hold new ways of buying in our growing digital world. 

During his inauguration speech Shariful Islam, Founder & Managing Director Bangladesh Brand Forum said,” Bangladesh has forecasted a very keen viewpoint concerning the e-commerce flourishment based on the efficiency and ease of access revolving around it. The future will dictate the matured ecosystem to reach and support the overall business with commitment.”

Welcome words at the summit were given by A. H. M. Hasinul Quddus (Rusho), Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Daraz Bangladesh which was followed by the speech of Ashiqur Rahman (Rean), Chief Growth Officer, Dotlines. 

Bangladesh Ecommerce Summit housed 03 Keynote Sessions, 04 Insight Sessions, 03 Panel Discussions, 02 Case Studies, 01 Fireside Chat & 01 Deep Dive Session. 

ON A very positive estimation, the size of Bangladesh’s e-commerce sector is projected to be around $3 billion by 2023. Bangladesh is also set to graduate from a least developed country to one of mid income around the same time. There has also been strong historical proof of customers spending more money on food, fashion, and consumables while they have higher expendable income. So, there is potential for development in this sector. And the development of mobile financial services and stronger internet coverage in suburban areas has been credited to the development of e-commerce in the precedent years.

Because of the Covid pandemic, e-commerce saw a natural boost internationally as nationally or local lockdowns have been in place. Companies have been inventive and acquired additional market shares by giving customers what they wanted while customers have been able to order consumables, conventional and non-conventional goods and services from the safety and comfort of their homes. The proof in Bangladesh lies with the online sale of cattle during Eid-ul-Adha, for instance, as sales have been considerably higher than last year.

The e-commerce industry in Bangladesh is a promising industry. This sector is steadily growing and attaining competitiveness. The local e-commerce corporations which have been in the market since beginning of the e-commerce industry must be given protection. Simultaneously, foreign investments are requisite in this sector. The payment processes offered by e-commerce sites need to be made more secure. Low-cost, high-speed internet needs to be guaranteed in the rural areas.

The e-commerce industry needs to put more highlight on delivery logistics and client service. Immediate action to ensuring customers rights needs to be taken since a regulatory authority is not present to stop consumers from being cheated and given low quality or date-expired products.

In spite of the obstacle, the sector has a lot of prospective and in the next few years, contribution of e-commerce to the country's GDP is likely to be important. The government should be more approaching in supporting this sector as part of its Digital Bangladesh initiative.

The e-commerce sector has not yet realized its prospective in the country, and the biggest cause behind this is a lack of domestic brands, particularly beauty products, said Shinthia Sharmin Islam, co-founder and CCO, Shajgoj Limited, at a panel discussion, "From heart to cart: create a love language between products and people", at the summit.

Presently, less than 1% of the people in the country purchase beauty products online, she said, forecasting that at least 15% of people will purchase beauty products online by 2030.

"We are delivering about 5,000-6,000 orders every day from our e-commerce site, and 90% of them are females. Three of us girls started our online platform."

She emphasized the need for patience and inventive ideas in succeeding in e-commerce industry. "If one starts an e-commerce trade, one must wait patiently for 5 to 10 years. There will be diverse problems. We have to take new steps to deal with them."

In order to gain the trust of online consumers, one has to offer product details with each product, she said, adding, "You have to attach more significance to client care than to your own business. We send some gifts with each box of ordered products and write something that emotionally touches clients."

Morin Talukder, founder and CEO of Pickaboo.com, said, "We started our online mobile sales activities in 2016. At first, we faced several problems; however the challenge was to gain the trust of the clients. So far, we have done that. People are getting real products from our platform."

Hundreds of change-makers, e-commerce specialists, established retailers, and e-commerce enthusiast attended the e-commerce summit.