Bangladesh is also changing with global change. That is why Bangladesh is among “the next eleven to watch,” Nizam Chowdhury said “We have had tremendous success in poverty alleviation. We have brought it down to 22 percent from 50 percent,”.
“We started with a 50 dollars per capita income. We are now at 1,666 dollars per capita today. Now we have capacity to announce a national budget of Tk4,02,668 crore. But our main problem is that we are not collecting all the revenue from the citizen. The system has not developed much,” Nizam Chowdhury lamented.
Bangladesh is progressing, but there is a lack of systematic approach. The reason is the social norms, which in turned resulted from the debilitating British rule of 200 years. “The British changed our minds so that we don’t think like free people. We have become a nation of slaves. We still love their customs and practices,” he added.
Bank is ultimately for the benefit of the people. In order to realise the Prime Minister’s 2020 vision there has to be new jobs, which only new investments can create, he thinks
In addition, to help the people of the country through this bank, Nizam Chowdhury’s personal goal is to help people as much as possible. “I don’t have a lot of money. But I think I can motivate people to do something great and the power of that is no less than a million dollars grant,” he happily declared.
In an explanation what is the meaning of the NRB Global Bank’s slogan “Great Experience” he said it simply means whenever a customer will deal with the bank, starting from visiting the branch to completing a transaction, he will have a great experience. Simple enough, but the secret is, Nizam Chowdhury said, that your staff has to have the right expertise to provide that ‘great experience.’
“When people are queuing up at banks and waiting for a long time that bothers me too much. Why they have to wait in line to withdraw their own money? It’s not like there are no queues in America. But managers quickly direct the customers to the appropriate counter and shorten the queue. But here the people behind the counters are not even bothering to look at the customers.”
One of NRB Global Bank’s visions is, of course, to serve the non-resident Bangladeshis. “The expert Bangladeshis are driving the economy forward with 32 billion dollars input in the economy but when they ask for a loan in the country they are told that they do not have a credit line,” said Nizam Chowdhury. “But we said that we will give you the loan,” he added.
43percent people in Bangladesh are unbanked. NRB Global has outreach programs to help people open bank accounts. “We are doing school banking. We are going to various institutions and carrying out ‘open house’. At any given time, there are 54 to 57 thousand crore taka worth of unaccounted money in Bangladesh. People are keeping this money hidden. If this money gets deposited in the banks, then it can help investors, which in turn will create jobs.”
The NRB Global started with a team of 20 people, Nizam Chowdhury informed. He also opened up a power company ‘Max Power’ and another called ‘Kushiara’ in Sylhet. In the last 4/5 years Mr Chowdhury started a bank, an insurance company and two power plants. “Not bad,” he said, “but I am just the initiator.”
To Nizam Chowdhury Bangladesh is prepared to make. “Banks will create entrepreneurs. My suggestion to the people is “no shy just start with small business plans. If it makes sense and you can show it will yield reasonable profit with which you can live a happy life, then you will get the loan. You won’t need collateral at NRB Global Bank.”
Nizam Chowdhury thinks that the main problem is the restrictions put in place that does not really foster a free market economy. The current policy allows for bringing in any amount of money from abroad but puts a cap on how much money could be taken out of the country. This can’t be called a free market economy. Currently, permission from Bangladesh Bank is needed for taking more than 10 thousand dollars out of the country.
NRB Global Bank Limited started its operation on 23 October in 2013 and now 45 branches are providing servicing across the country.
“We are doing CSR like PM’s Relief Fund, education, treatment, Masque, police administration, etc. yet our bank is still now in losing position” told this entrepreneur.
Mr Chowdhury took risks and as a result he has overcome many obstacles and finally succeeded in founding the bank. “Banks, insurance companies, financial institutions are not privately owned in essence. The minute you establish a bank, it becomes public property, even if it doesn’t go to the IPO.”
Banks are ultimately public property; because the public deposit money is in the banks and thereby become owners. He thinks a positive outlook makes all the difference in how you approach something and benefit from something. The forward looking business leader has great confidence on the youth. “60 percent of our employees are 24-29 year-olds. We will progress through them,” he added.
“We started with a 50 dollars per capita income. We are now at 1,666 dollars per capita today. Now we have capacity to announce a national budget of Tk4,02,668 crore. But our main problem is that we are not collecting all the revenue from the citizen. The system has not developed much,” Nizam Chowdhury lamented.
Bangladesh is progressing, but there is a lack of systematic approach. The reason is the social norms, which in turned resulted from the debilitating British rule of 200 years. “The British changed our minds so that we don’t think like free people. We have become a nation of slaves. We still love their customs and practices,” he added.
Bank is ultimately for the benefit of the people. In order to realise the Prime Minister’s 2020 vision there has to be new jobs, which only new investments can create, he thinks
In addition, to help the people of the country through this bank, Nizam Chowdhury’s personal goal is to help people as much as possible. “I don’t have a lot of money. But I think I can motivate people to do something great and the power of that is no less than a million dollars grant,” he happily declared.
In an explanation what is the meaning of the NRB Global Bank’s slogan “Great Experience” he said it simply means whenever a customer will deal with the bank, starting from visiting the branch to completing a transaction, he will have a great experience. Simple enough, but the secret is, Nizam Chowdhury said, that your staff has to have the right expertise to provide that ‘great experience.’
“When people are queuing up at banks and waiting for a long time that bothers me too much. Why they have to wait in line to withdraw their own money? It’s not like there are no queues in America. But managers quickly direct the customers to the appropriate counter and shorten the queue. But here the people behind the counters are not even bothering to look at the customers.”
One of NRB Global Bank’s visions is, of course, to serve the non-resident Bangladeshis. “The expert Bangladeshis are driving the economy forward with 32 billion dollars input in the economy but when they ask for a loan in the country they are told that they do not have a credit line,” said Nizam Chowdhury. “But we said that we will give you the loan,” he added.
43percent people in Bangladesh are unbanked. NRB Global has outreach programs to help people open bank accounts. “We are doing school banking. We are going to various institutions and carrying out ‘open house’. At any given time, there are 54 to 57 thousand crore taka worth of unaccounted money in Bangladesh. People are keeping this money hidden. If this money gets deposited in the banks, then it can help investors, which in turn will create jobs.”
The NRB Global started with a team of 20 people, Nizam Chowdhury informed. He also opened up a power company ‘Max Power’ and another called ‘Kushiara’ in Sylhet. In the last 4/5 years Mr Chowdhury started a bank, an insurance company and two power plants. “Not bad,” he said, “but I am just the initiator.”
To Nizam Chowdhury Bangladesh is prepared to make. “Banks will create entrepreneurs. My suggestion to the people is “no shy just start with small business plans. If it makes sense and you can show it will yield reasonable profit with which you can live a happy life, then you will get the loan. You won’t need collateral at NRB Global Bank.”
Nizam Chowdhury thinks that the main problem is the restrictions put in place that does not really foster a free market economy. The current policy allows for bringing in any amount of money from abroad but puts a cap on how much money could be taken out of the country. This can’t be called a free market economy. Currently, permission from Bangladesh Bank is needed for taking more than 10 thousand dollars out of the country.
NRB Global Bank Limited started its operation on 23 October in 2013 and now 45 branches are providing servicing across the country.
“We are doing CSR like PM’s Relief Fund, education, treatment, Masque, police administration, etc. yet our bank is still now in losing position” told this entrepreneur.
Mr Chowdhury took risks and as a result he has overcome many obstacles and finally succeeded in founding the bank. “Banks, insurance companies, financial institutions are not privately owned in essence. The minute you establish a bank, it becomes public property, even if it doesn’t go to the IPO.”
Banks are ultimately public property; because the public deposit money is in the banks and thereby become owners. He thinks a positive outlook makes all the difference in how you approach something and benefit from something. The forward looking business leader has great confidence on the youth. “60 percent of our employees are 24-29 year-olds. We will progress through them,” he added.
