In Bangladesh - RFL Group's bicycle factory opens new door of employment

[Bilal9]

Published: December 15, 2022 17:17:03 | Updated: December 18, 2022 09:59:32​

---

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said the launching of the RFL Group's second bicycle production factory in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur district has opened a new door of employment in the region.

"The 'monga'-stricken past of Gangachara is over. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has driven away 'monga' from the north where PRAN-RFL Group has created employment. Gangachara is now on the path of progress," he said.

The minister said this while speaking as the chief guest at the RFL Group's Bicycle Factory launching ceremony held at the 'Ganga Foundry Limited' premises in village Lalchandpur of the upazila on Thursday.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the country's leading business conglomerate PRAN-RFL Group Ahsan Khan Chowdhury presided over the function, reports BSS.

Opposition Chief Whip in Parliament Mashiur Rahman Ranga and Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh attended the function as special guests.

Deputy Inspector General for Rangpur Range of Bangladesh Police Mohd Abdul Alim Mahmud, Senior Vice-president of FBCCI Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Deputy Commissioner Dr. Chitralekha Nazneen and Superintendent of Police Md. Ferdous Ali Chowdhury were present as guests of honour.

Managing Director of PRAN-RFL Group RN Paul gave a welcome address.

Tipu Munshi, also a heroic freedom fighter, said, "We had fought during the War of Liberation and liberated the country. PRAN-RFL group is now working for the economic freedom of the nation."

The Group works with farmers and rural people. PRAN products are now everywhere in India, especially in Assam. All these are stories of our victory.

"PRAN-RFL products are being exported to many countries around the world playing an important role in the country's economy. Let the Group go further ahead through the production of bicycles taking our economy forward," he said.

"Bicycles from Bangladesh are being exported all over the world, especially to Europe. When I see Bangladesh products in Europe, the chest becomes bigger," the minister added.

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury said, in the context of increasing demand for bicycles in the local and export markets, PRAN-RFL Group has launched the second bicycle factory in the country at Gangachara upazila of Rangpur.

All the bikes for the local market will be manufactured from this factory.

The annual production capacity of the factory will be 0.60 million pieces once it is fully operational employing 1000 people.

The factory has been set up with the aim of creating skilled manpower in this sector alongside creating employment in the country's northern part.

He said the light engineering sector of the country has developed due to various steps taken by the present government.

The import dependence on various products in this sector, including bicycles, has decreased while export earning of this sector is also gradually increasing.

"We hope that the light engineering sector will be able to establish a strong position in export trade of the country very soon, and RFL Group wants to lead this sector from the front," he mentioned.

Later, the chief guest with other invited guests visited the bicycle factory.

Apart from manufacturing bicycles, the 70,000-square-foot factory will manufacture frames, forks, tyres, tubes and other bicycle components. The factory has received an investment of Tk 600 million.

RFL Group has been manufacturing and marketing bicycles since 2014 and its first bicycle factory is located at Shayestaganj in Habiganj district and produces 0.80 million pieces of bicycle annually.

Currently, RFL manufactured bicycles are being exported to 15 countries, including England, The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Belgium.

 

[Imran Khan]

its good news these damn bicycle are expensive too i bought one for my some last week cost me 100$

 

[Bilal9]

its good news these damn bicycle are expensive too i bought one for my some last week cost me 100$

$100 is not expensive, but may be for a kid's bike. I own a road bike made in Italy in the 1990's that was $3000 when new, I bought this used from the original owner for about $800.

Some Bangladesh and Indonesian high grade bikes are selling in India for about $500 new.

 

[Imran Khan]

$100 is not expensive, but may be for a kid's bike. I own a road bike made in Italy in the 1990's that was $3000 when new, I bought this used from the original owner for about $800.

Some Bangladesh and Indonesian high grade bikes are selling in India for about $500 new.

7 years old baby bike

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

Published: December 15, 2022 17:17:03 | Updated: December 18, 2022 09:59:32​

---

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said the launching of the RFL Group's second bicycle production factory in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur district has opened a new door of employment in the region.

"The 'monga'-stricken past of Gangachara is over. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has driven away 'monga' from the north where PRAN-RFL Group has created employment. Gangachara is now on the path of progress," he said.

The minister said this while speaking as the chief guest at the RFL Group's Bicycle Factory launching ceremony held at the 'Ganga Foundry Limited' premises in village Lalchandpur of the upazila on Thursday.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the country's leading business conglomerate PRAN-RFL Group Ahsan Khan Chowdhury presided over the function, reports BSS.

Opposition Chief Whip in Parliament Mashiur Rahman Ranga and Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh attended the function as special guests.

Deputy Inspector General for Rangpur Range of Bangladesh Police Mohd Abdul Alim Mahmud, Senior Vice-president of FBCCI Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Deputy Commissioner Dr. Chitralekha Nazneen and Superintendent of Police Md. Ferdous Ali Chowdhury were present as guests of honour.

Managing Director of PRAN-RFL Group RN Paul gave a welcome address.

Tipu Munshi, also a heroic freedom fighter, said, "We had fought during the War of Liberation and liberated the country. PRAN-RFL group is now working for the economic freedom of the nation."

The Group works with farmers and rural people. PRAN products are now everywhere in India, especially in Assam. All these are stories of our victory.

"PRAN-RFL products are being exported to many countries around the world playing an important role in the country's economy. Let the Group go further ahead through the production of bicycles taking our economy forward," he said.

"Bicycles from Bangladesh are being exported all over the world, especially to Europe. When I see Bangladesh products in Europe, the chest becomes bigger," the minister added.

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury said, in the context of increasing demand for bicycles in the local and export markets, PRAN-RFL Group has launched the second bicycle factory in the country at Gangachara upazila of Rangpur.

All the bikes for the local market will be manufactured from this factory.

The annual production capacity of the factory will be 0.60 million pieces once it is fully operational employing 1000 people.

The factory has been set up with the aim of creating skilled manpower in this sector alongside creating employment in the country's northern part.

He said the light engineering sector of the country has developed due to various steps taken by the present government.

The import dependence on various products in this sector, including bicycles, has decreased while export earning of this sector is also gradually increasing.

"We hope that the light engineering sector will be able to establish a strong position in export trade of the country very soon, and RFL Group wants to lead this sector from the front," he mentioned.

Later, the chief guest with other invited guests visited the bicycle factory.

Apart from manufacturing bicycles, the 70,000-square-foot factory will manufacture frames, forks, tyres, tubes and other bicycle components. The factory has received an investment of Tk 600 million.

RFL Group has been manufacturing and marketing bicycles since 2014 and its first bicycle factory is located at Shayestaganj in Habiganj district and produces 0.80 million pieces of bicycle annually.

Currently, RFL manufactured bicycles are being exported to 15 countries, including England, The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Belgium.

But, but, we only make undies

And cannot even make sewing needles

 

[Bilal9]

But, but, we only make undies

And cannot even make sewing needles

Let's not break out into Tik-Tok dance routines at this news of just one export item by only a handful of companies making bicycles.

We can mock @bluesky bhai for lamenting about needles, but the fact remains that Bangladesh uses over 10~12 lakh sewing machines in the apparel industry, and after three decades of using them, we still do not have one single industrial sewing machine brand of our own (not even an 'assembled' brand). Or even boiler brand, which is used in all larger apparel sewing factories.

Even the common AC motors, internal cogs/housings for these sewing machines are all imported, when they should have become indigenous years ago, which has already happened in Pakistan. Bangladesh is a country of thieves and "dhor" idiots, who neither have the brains, nor the higher level initiative to use resources at hand to make a profit as entrepreneurs. We are big talkers though.

All we care about, is getting some sort of a academic degree so we can call ourselves professors so we can talk big about economic theory, attract 'prestige' and have people massage our fragile egos. Too much theory, too little practicality.

This country still imports basic items like bike bearings, handlebars and crank wheels from India - unlike roadside shops in Pakistan which make basic items like those from scratch.

This is the sad part, that even Pakistani roadside shops have more value addition for a basic local product NOT meant for export, than Bangladeshi export products.

Value addition is where it's at, one has to maximize the dollar amount of work added in Bangladesh itself.

Unfortunately - spinning, weaving, stitching cotton/cloth value addition is very low grade basic value addition, as is making bicycles, because the price difference between end product and the price of raw material or import components added isn't worth a heck of a lot. Unless you can cut out the component supplier (like Pakistan did), you will always be at the mercy of the component supplier, which in our case is India.

If we made the cromoly or aluminum tubes or we made the derailleurs/shifter mechanisms for bicycles, in Bangladesh from scratch - the value addition would be something to wrote home about. Right now value addition level in apparel as well as bikes is abysmal, AL propaganda not withstanding.

That is why we have to pay our stitching women poverty level salaries to make up the differences and have 4 months of salary in arrears.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

Let's not break out into Tik-Tok dance routines at this news of just one export item by only a handful of companies making bicycles.

We can mock @bluesky bhai for lamenting about needles, but the fact remains that Bangladesh uses over 10~12 lakh sewing machines in the apparel industry, and after three decades of using them, we still do not have one single industrial sewing machine brand of our own (not even an 'assembled' brand). Or even boiler brand, which is used in all larger apparel sewing factories.

Even the common AC motors, internal cogs/housings for these sewing machines are all imported, when they should have become indigenous years ago, which has already happened in Pakistan. Bangladesh is a country of thieves and "dhor" idiots, who neither have the brains, nor the higher level initiative to use resources at hand to make a profit as entrepreneurs. We are big talkers though.

All we care about, is getting some sort of a academic degree so we can call ourselves professors so we can talk big about economic theory, attract 'prestige' and have people massage our fragile egos. Too much theory, too little practicality.

This country still imports basic items like bike bearings, handlebars and crank wheels from India - unlike roadside shops in Pakistan which make basic items like those from scratch.

This is the sad part, that even Pakistani roadside shops have more value addition for a basic local product NOT meant for export, than Bangladeshi export products.

Value addition is where it's at, one has to maximize the dollar amount of work added in Bangladesh itself.

Unfortunately - spinning, weaving, stitching cotton/cloth value addition is very low grade basic value addition, as is making bicycles, because the price difference between end product and the price of raw material or import components added isn't worth a heck of a lot. Unless you can cut out the component supplier (like Pakistan did), you will always be at the mercy of the component supplier, which in our case is India.

If we made the cromoly or aluminum tubes or we made the derailleurs/shifter mechanisms for bicycles, in Bangladesh from scratch - the value addition would be something to wrote home about. Right now value addition level in apparel as well as bikes is abysmal, AL propaganda not withstanding.

That is why we have to pay our stitching women poverty level salaries to make up the differences and have 4 months of salary in arrears.

Why is that?

It’s because our education system is utter crap!

It churned out useless people in the 80s and 90s - who are not employable outside the wretched civil service.

Zia and Ershad regimes ripped out the British system and replaced it with a so called “Islamic system”.

My mother, a teacher, educated under the old British system - laments the toxic combination of “Bengalification” and “islamisation” of BD’s education system.

Beautiful English literature and poetry was replaced with utter crap of Jasim Uddin et el

Hasina has seen the error and started reforming the sector - but it’s a long slog. Because of the dearth of good teachers - educated under Ershad and BNP.

Instead of reading English classics, kids grew up reading the trash of Humayun Ahmad and Imdadul Haq Milan



@EasyNow
@UKBengali

 

[bluesky]

But, but, we only make undies

And cannot even make sewing needles

Yes, you are very right about needles for sewing machines. BD people have not been allowed or encouraged by the BAL govt to produce industrial goods.

But, why so? It is because the BAL traders want to import industrial items from both India and China. In the process, Hasina Bibi can get her top commissions from the importers and then go out to multiple Seminars to lecture about the development of 4IR technologies.

BD remains such an underdeveloped country that it cannot even produce 1IR goods like HTB, HSB, Anchor Bolts, locomotives, train coaches, or rail lines, yet that idiot Hasina lectures on the importance of 4IR products,

I just wonder why any person has to be so insincere in her approach. She was asking the Japanese Ambassador to make BD help develop by 2041. She is so illiterate and soooooooo stupid!!!

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

Yes, you are very right about needles for sewing machines. BD people have not been allowed or encouraged by the BAL govt to produce industrial goods.

But, why so? It is because the BAL traders want to import industrial items from both India and China. In the process, Hasina Bibi can get her top commissions from the importers and then go out to multiple Seminars to lecture about the development of 4IR technologies.

BD remains such an underdeveloped country that it cannot even produce 1IR goods like HTB, HSB, Anchor Bolts, locomotives, train coaches, or rail lines, yet that idiot Hasina lectures on the importance of 4IR products,

I just wonder why any person has to be so insincere in her approach. She was asking the Japanese Ambassador to make BD help develop by 2041. She is so illiterate and soooooooo stupid!!!

You ungrateful urchin!

We couldn’t even make basic utensils in the 90s.

Now we make most household appliances from scratch. All thanks to Hasina.

Your BNP destroyed the economy last time.

Factories had to close 2 days a week due to power shortages.

 

[EasyNow]

Yes, you are very right about needles for sewing machines. BD people have not been allowed or encouraged by the BAL govt to produce industrial goods.

But, why so? It is because the BAL traders want to import industrial items from both India and China. In the process, Hasina Bibi can get her top commissions from the importers and then go out to multiple Seminars to lecture about the development of 4IR technologies.

BD remains such an underdeveloped country that it cannot even produce 1IR goods like HTB, HSB, Anchor Bolts, locomotives, train coaches, or rail lines, yet that idiot Hasina lectures on the importance of 4IR products,

I just wonder why any person has to be so insincere in her approach. She was asking the Japanese Ambassador to make BD help develop by 2041. She is so illiterate and soooooooo stupid!!!

This hilarious needle issue exposes BNP babus like you.

Why would BD, a garments powerhouse, risk using anything but the highest grade German or British needles?

The stupidity to say that BD should import raw materials to make needles. When we can use that metal to make high value addition buttons, zippers and accessories.

Metal Zipper Production Unit | Faiza | The Largest Metal Button Zipper Sewing Thread Manufacturer

www.fizbd.com

Not everyone in BD is dumb like you shills.

You compared BD manufacturing with roadside producers in other countries. You disrespect BD craftsmen when simply BD does not have ample access to raw materials like others.

The callous, careless attitude to throw your own people under the bus to prove some BNP agenda.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

This hilarious needle issue exposes BNP babus like you.

Why would BD, a garments powerhouse, risk using anything but the highest grade German or British needles?

The stupidy to say that BD should import raw materials to make needles. When we can use that metal to make high value addition buttons, zippers and accessories.

Metal Zipper Production Unit | Faiza | The Largest Metal Button Zipper Sewing Thread Manufacturer

www.fizbd.com

Not everyone in BD is dumb like you shills.

You compared BD manufacturing with roadside producers in other countries. You disrespect BD craftsmen when simply BD does not have ample access to raw materials like others.

The callous, careless attitude to throw your own people under the bus to prove some BNP agenda.

Bangladeshi BNP is no different to our British BNP.

Two cheeks of the same arse.

 

[UKBengali]

This is what is happening in BD.

Local companies are setting up industries and keeping the jobs and technology and money inside BD.

Better to create jobs a little slower than allow too many foreigners to set up factories in BD like some other countries like Thailand and Vietnam have done.

I see a pretty much exact replica of the Asian "Tiger Economies" of the late 20th century at play in BD.

 

[fallstuff]

Bangladeshi Driver License data managed in India.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

We

Bangladeshi Driver License data managed in India.

Ditto British data

I am not happy about it.

At some point it needs to be brought back!!!

 

[Bilal9]

Bangladeshi Driver License data managed in India.

India'r pa chata obhyash gia kon level e namsey, chinta kora jai na.

Ekta desher sovereign citizen der confidential information onno deshe pachar kortesey.

This conflates and is counter to all Int'l privacy law norms.

Shalara non-disclosure agreement sign korlei ki ar na korlei ki.

Gadha ar pagoler dol amader oshikkhito murkho administrator, who are probably Indian fifth columnist in any case.

Lots of top level Indian administrators working as head of govt. agencies in Bangladesh.

Thank You Hasina.....

Indian ra dibey amaderkey oder information?