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DHAKA, Oct 5, 2024 (BSS) - Reiterating his call to all concerned for not to 
wasting public fund anymore, Adviser to the interim government on the 
Ministries of Finance and Commerce Dr Salehuddin Ahmed today asked the 
chartered secretaries to pursue transparency and accountability in their 
operations to ensure good corporate governance.

"The work you (chartered secretaries) usually do is very important for 
ensuring transparency and accountability in corporate governance and you must 
pursue it," he said.

The Finance Adviser was addressing the '11th ICSB National Award for 
Corporate Governance Excellence, 2023' as the chief guest held at a city 
hotel this evening.

Mentioning that the current interim government is worried to some extent over 
the entire governance of the country including in the political and 
economical front, he said such situation should be dealt with efficiency.

Reminding all concerned not to waste public fund unnecessarily, Dr Salehuddin 
opined that many public fund was wasted unnecessarily in the past since there 
were no such transparency and accountability. "The role of ICSB is very much 
important in this regard to ensure transparency and accountability in 
corporate governance,"

He asked the chartered secretaries to work with more care and through ethical 
practice to boost confidence over the companies by people so that those could 
woe more local and foreign investment.
 
Alleging that rampant corruption and wastage of public fund happened in the 
country over the years, the Adviser said they want to give a strong message 
to the culprits that it would not be possible anymore to get clean chits 
after committing corruption.

"Rather, punishment will be given to the corrupts following proper process to 
avert reoccurrence of such incidents," he said adding that they want to 
remove the barriers which stand in the way of a potential Bangladesh.

The Adviser also asked the chartered secretaries to do their operations 
through due diligence and thus unearth the corrupts and made them 
accountable.

The Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) awarded 41 
companies at the event for their outstanding corporate governance practices 
as well as transparency and accountability in overall management. 

According to the fixed standards of ICSB, the companies were mainly judged in 
terms of how perfectly they promoted corporate governance, transparency and 
accountability in overall management of their team during the year 2023 and 
ensuring compliance of Corporate Governance Code of Bangladesh Securities and 
Exchange Commission (BSEC). 

The theme of the award is 'Promoting Governing Excellence'.

Khondoker Rashed Maqsood, Chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange 
Commission (BSEC), Dr Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder, Secretary, Finance Division, 
Ministry of Finance, Md Selim Uddin, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Md 
Abdur Rahman Khan, Secretary, Internal Resources Division & Chairman, 
National Board of Revenue (NBR), spoke as special guests.

M Nurul Alam, Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee and Senior Vice 
President of ICSB presided over the program. 

Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, presented trophies and certificates to 41 winning 
companies under 14 categories who are listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange 
PLC. and Chittagong Stock Exchange PLC. Companies were recognised with awards 
in the Gold, Silver and Bronze categories. 

Eastern Bank PLC won the Gold trophy in the General Banking category while 
BRAC Bank PLC secured silver and City Bank PLC Bronze. 

In Islami banking category no company was considered. IDLC Finance PLC won 
the Gold award in the Non-Banking Financial Institutions category while IPDC 
Finance PLC bagged Silver and DBH Finance PLC received Bronze award. 

In the General Insurance category, the Gold trophy went to City Insurance PLC 
the Silver to Green Delta Insurance PLC and the Bronze to Sena Insurance PLC. 
In the Life Insurance category Pragati Life Insurance Limited bagged Silver 
award and National Life Insurance PLC received Bronze trophy. 

Square Pharmaceuticals PLC took home the top honor in the Pharmaceuticals and 
Chemical category. The IBN Sina Pharmaceutical Industry PLC won Silver and 
The Acme Laboratories Limited and Navana Pharmaceuticals PLC both received 
Bronze trophy. 

In the Textile and RMG Company category Paramount Textile PLC bagged the 
Gold, Matin Spinning Mills PLC got Silver and Square Textiles PLC and Shasha 
Denims Limited both received Bronze trophy. 

Unilever Consumer Care Limited won Gold, Olympic Industries Limited won 
Silver and Agricultural Marketing Company Ltd received Bronze respectively in 
the Food and Allied Company category.

IT Consultants PLC got the Gold trophy in the Information and Communication 
Technology category, ADN Telecom Limited won Silver and BDCOM Online Limited 
and Aamra Technologies Limited both received Bronze trophy. Walton Hi-Tech 
Industries PLC got the Gold trophy in the engineering category, Singer 
Bangladesh Limited won Silver and BSRM Steels Limited won Bronze trophy.

LafargeHolcim Bangladesh Ltd won the Gold, RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Limited 
bagged won Silver and Index Agro Industries Limited and Marico Bangladesh 
Limited both received Bronze trophy in the Manufacturing category. 

In the Fuel and Power Company category, United Power Generation & 
Distribution Company Ltd secured Gold, MJL Bangladesh PLC won Silver and 
Linde Bangladesh Limited received Bronze trophy. Unique Hotel & Resorts PLC 
won the top honor in the Service Company category while Eastern Housing 
Limited bagged Silver. 

In the Telecommunications category, Grameenphone Ltd. bagged Gold award and 
Robi Axiata PLC received Silver and Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC secured 
Bronze trophy. 

A K M Mushfiqur Rahman FCS, Vice President of ICSB shared the insights of 
Corporate Governance Awarding Charter. 

Mohammad Shafiqul Islam Bhuiyan, Council Member of ICSB delivered a vote of 
thanks on behalf of the Institute. 

The event was attended by dignitaries, government officials, professionals, 
chairpersons, directors, managing directors, and senior officials from the 
country's leading corporate houses, along with members of the Institute and 
journalists.