Iftekhar Rahman Archives - The Oniket Bulletin

Building Bangladesh’s Fashion Brand Competitiveness Beyond Contract Manufacturing

July 2, 2026July 2, 2026 editor No Comments

A Manufacturing Power Without Brand Power Bangladesh has built one of the world’s most important apparel manufacturing platforms. Its factories supply major international retailers and its ready-made garment sector anchors national exports. Yet a strategic paradox remains. Bangladesh is globally competitive in producing clothing for others, but Bangladeshi clothing brands have not achieved equivalent strength…

Trade, Commerce & Industry

The US-China Strategic Contest and Bangladesh Part II. From Diplomacy to Delivery

June 25, 2026June 25, 2026 editor No Comments

Bangladesh’s challenge is no longer simply to identify opportunities arising from global realignment. It is to build the institutional capacity to evaluate commitments, implement reforms and measure outcomes consistently. The anticipated visit of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to China should therefore be assessed through a practical lens. The relevant question is not merely how many…

Trade, Commerce & Industry

The US-China Strategic Contest and Bangladesh Part I: Navigating Opportunity in an Age of Managed Competition

June 18, 2026June 18, 2026 editor No Comments

The economic relationship between the United States and China has entered a more complex phase. It can no longer be understood simply as a conventional tariff dispute. Tariffs remain important, but the contest now extends to technology, industrial capacity, critical minerals, investment screening, digital systems and the security of global supply chains. US goods trade…

Trade, Commerce & Industry

When Financial Statements Lose Credibility: Why Audit Reform Must Become a Governance Priority in Bangladesh

June 13, 2026June 13, 2026 editor No Comments

Iftekhar Rahman Verdant Global The Governance Risk Hidden Inside the Numbers Corruption is not always visible as a bribe, an illicit payment or an unexplained transfer of public funds. It can also appear in subtler forms: a loan repeatedly rescheduled without genuine recovery, an inadequately disclosed related-party exposure, an asset valuation that is not challenged,…

Trade, Commerce & Industry

Fractional CFOs and CEOs: Closing Bangladesh’s Governance and Execution Gap

June 6, 2026June 6, 2026 editor No Comments

Strategic Context Bangladesh’s next phase of private-sector competitiveness will depend not only on access to capital, export resilience or infrastructure delivery, but also on whether businesses can access strategic leadership before they can afford a permanent C-suite. Fractional CFO and CEO consultancy services offer a practical but still underdeveloped solution. Properly structured, the model can…

Trade, Commerce & Industry

Defensive in Arithmetic, Ambitious in Reform: Rethinking Bangladesh’s FY2026-27 Budget

May 30, 2026May 31, 2026 editor No Comments

Relief versus Ambition: Reframing the Budget Debate The debate around Bangladesh’s FY2026-27 budget has been framed around a difficult question: should the next budget focus on relief rather than ambition? In the present context, this is not a conservative argument. It reflects an economy facing inflation, fragile confidence, weak revenue mobilisation, financial-sector stress, energy uncertainty…

Economy & Policy Governance

Reopening Bangladesh’s Textile and Jute Mills: Geopolitical Stakes Beyond Industrial Revival

May 24, 2026May 24, 2026 editor No Comments

The renewed high-level focus on reopening Bangladesh’s closed textile and jute factories should not be read merely as a domestic employment initiative. Its return to the Prime Ministerial agenda after years of policy dormancy suggests a wider strategic calculation. Bangladesh is entering a more demanding geopolitical trade environment, where industrial capacity, market access, input origin,…

Trade, Commerce & Industry

Chattogram Port Concession: Efficiency Must Serve Public Interest

May 15, 2026May 15, 2026 editor No Comments

Bangladesh’s renewed engagement with DP World over the proposed operation of the New Mooring Container Terminal, and the possible inclusion of the adjoining Chattogram Container Terminal, should not be judged through a simplistic lens of foreign investment versus national sovereignty.¹ The more important policy question is whether Bangladesh can structure a concession that brings global…

Trade, Commerce & Industry

Bangladesh’s Cement Industry: Building Resilience Beyond the Cost Shock

May 7, 2026May 8, 2026 editor No Comments

Bangladesh’s cement industry is facing more than a cyclical cost shock. The current pressure exposes a wider industrial policy challenge: a strategically important construction input remains highly dependent on imported raw materials, vulnerable to external supply disruption, and constrained by weak domestic demand. Cement is not only a private construction commodity; it is directly linked…

Trade, Commerce & Industry