Winners of Bangladesh Business Awards '08

(From left) Malcolm Monteiro, senior vice-president of DHL, Desmond Quiah, country manager of DHL Bangladesh, Sabrina Islam, CEO of Reflections, Muhammad A (Rumee) Ali, chairman of BRAC Bank, Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, governor of Bangladesh Bank, Abdul Monem, chairman of Abdul Monem Group of Companies, Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, chairman of Meghna Group, and Sir David Bell, chairman of The Financial Times Group, pose for photograph at the award giving ceremony of The Daily Star-DHL Business Awards 2008 at Sonargaon Hotel in the city yesterday. Photo: STAR

Business Person of the Year

Abdul Monem came to Dhaka in early 50s virtually empty-handed with a secondary school certificate being his only means to bet fortune on the city streets.

Initial days were hard before he signed up as a construction contractor in partnership. But it did not augur well for Monem and forced him to begin his own business in mid 60s.

Only Tk 20,000 was his initial capital.

That's the beginning of Monem who is now chairman and managing director of around Tk 800 crore turnover company, Abdul Monem Group of Companies.

Construction remains the cornerstone of the group's success with the corporate giant catering from beverages, foods, sugar refinery and consulting to energy and pharmaceuticals.

“You will get the touches of my hand on almost all the highways in Bangladesh,” said Monem who received The Daily Star-DHL Best Business Person Award 2008 yesterday.

“Whatever I do, I believe in doing the best. From beginning to date, I maintain my philosophy of doing quality work with honesty,” said the AML boss.

Monem is now at 74. But his influence on the company is still nothing short of profundity with his insights and faster decision-making, for which he has succeeded in many difficult jobs, is still at play.

Outstanding Woman in Business

It is the unavailability of stained and etched glass in the local market that had brought her in the trade of art and creativity -- decorating glass products to feed the yearning of beauty.

“I conceived the idea of working with decorative art glasses when we were planning to build our residence. We planned the house do-ups with etched and stained glasses, but these were unavailable in the local market,” said Sabrina Islam, chief executive officer of Refle-ctions, manufacturer of decorative and architectural art glasses.

In 1998, Sabrina began her journey in the business of decorative beautification in a tiny studio with two workers. Some 20 percent of the capital she raised from her own. The rest she had borrowed from her family business.

Primary works were etched and sandblasted glasses which were aesthetic enough to win the hearts of individuals as well as business houses.

And as demands rose, Sabrina forced to shift the studio in 2000 -- from 400 square feet room to 2200 square feet room -- to expand production capacity.

Reflections' endeavour to acquire excellence did not stop. In 2002, the company inked a deal with a California-based customised decorative and architectural art glass company Stained Glass Overlay (SGO) to expand further into a full service studio specialising in a wide array of designer glass products.

Later years were the days of consolidation. In 2005, Reflections opened a showroom in Chittagong enabling the company to increase revenue.

The company now generates an annual turnover of Tk 65 lakh, employing 24 staffs.

Reflections, a brainchild of Sabrina, now makes seven types of glasses, including stained glass overlay, traditional stained glass, sandblasted glass, engraved and coloured glass and etched glass.

The company now enjoys about 40 percent share of the market thanks to her untiring efforts, unflinching determination and enterprising spirit that allowed urban consumers to bring a touch of live in their houses with touches of art and beauty.

Enterprise of the Year

When late Abdul Khaleque Bhuiyan, a doctor by profession, started selling cycle parts in a shop at Old Dhaka in the late '60s, who could have thought that the trading store would grow as one of the business conglomerates in Bangladesh after some 40 years later.

Yes, this is Meghna Group, now run by Khaleque's son Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, which was recognised as Enterprise of the Year 2008 for its outstanding performance.

Employing 2,900 people, of which half are women, in more than a dozen of strategic business units spanning bicycle and bicycle parts production, knitting, automobile agents and packaging, amongst others, the sprawling Meghna Group had exports alone worth Tk 250 crore.

Meghna Group, which mostly exports its products, has a profit percentage on sales as high as nearly 30 percent.

The export markets include the UK, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Canada, Italy, Greece, Denmark and Finland.

As the core business of Meghna is bicycle manufacturing and exporting, its bicycle portfolio comprises mountain tracking bike, city bike, free style, trekking, folding and kids bike.

In 2008, it exported 4.03 lakh bicycles worth $45 million while it was 3,27,896 bicycles the previous year.

Two of its concerns -- KIA Motors and the BMW dealership -- have been recognised internationally by their principals for their remarkable success.

Meghna Group has also expanded its operations to the white cement industry and electronic accessories.

Best Financial Institution

The BRAC Bank began its journey in the financial sector by exploring the unexplored small and medium enterprises (SMEs), capital demand of which were largely unattended by the then banks in the country.

The bank, with institutional shareholdings by Brac, International Finance Corporation and Shorecap International, commenced on its journey in July 2001.

With the courage of financing to SMEs, the newly established bank offered loans to them ranging from Tk 3 lakh to Tk 30 lakh.

For five consecutive years, BRAC Bank has been the fastest growing financial institute in the highly competitive banking sector.

So far, BRAC Bank has disbursed about Tk 8,000 crore collateral-free loans to 1.5 lakh SME customers.

However, the rate of non-performing loans is still below five percent for SMEs, according to the bank.

Currently, the bank has 56 branches, 30 SME service centres and 429 SME unit offices to render services.

It has also introduced recently a fully automated process within the organisation that includes e-attendance and e-learning