Managing Director of Pacific Jeans Limited Md Nasiruddin won the Business Person of the Year award while Zinet Fatema Jahan, proprietor of Jahan Metal, was named the Outstanding Woman in Business of the Year.

Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) was adjudged the Best Financial Institution of 2006 while Acme Laboratories Ltd the Best Enterprise.

This was the seventh consecutive year that the Bangladesh Business Awards, jointly introduced by The Daily Star and DHL Worldwide Express, were announced to give the champions of corporate Bangladesh their due recognition.

Finance and Planning Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam gave away the accolades as the chief guest at a gala ceremony in the Ballroom of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel.

Anwarul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), announced the winner of Outstanding Woman in Business award while Rokia Afzal Rahman, president of Women Entrepreneurs Association, Bangladesh, announced the name of the Enterprise of the Year 2006.

Craig Grossgart, vice-president (South Asia-International) of DHL, announced the name of the Best Financial Institution of the Year while Bangladesh Bank Governor Salehuddin Ahmed read out that of the Business Person of the Year.

Business leaders, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, professionals, diplomats and government high officials attended the function.

As the names of award winners were announced, the audience responded with cheers and applause to hail the business heroes. Two giant screens displayed their business successes in brief.

Congratulating the winners, the finance and planning adviser said economic development has to be led by the private sector.

He said there is no doubt that the innovativeness of the private sector is laudable, but the production and export base is very narrow. "In order to find place or compete in the international market we cannot depend on a narrow export basket. I urge the business people to diversify their products," he said.

He said the business community should not only concentrate on manufacturing products but also attach more weight to research and technology transfer for diversifying their product-base.

Talking about the ongoing anti-graft drive, the finance and planning adviser said the government measures are not targeted at any particular sector like business.

In her reaction, Zinet Fatema Jahan, the recipient of the Outstanding Woman in Business award, said she wants to press ahead with her present business.

Receiving the award on behalf of Acme Laboratories, its Managing Director Mizanur Rahman Sinha said the company plans to go global, maintaining the international pharmaceutical standards and regulations.

Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited Managing Director Yeasin Ali said right at the outset, its sponsor directors had decided to share a good portion of its profit with the underprivileged people. "They did not take any dividend in the first five years," he added.

"We strongly believe that banking business and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are co-related, and in the present context of global trade, no business is possible without performing those responsibilities," he observed.

Pacific Jeans Limited Managing Director Md Nasiruddin said his company now can compete with any global brands and can also offer any design demanded by the buyers.

Earlier, The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam stressed the need for de-bureaucratisation of the private sector. Bureaucratic controls take a heavy toll on the private business houses, he noted.

Terming the private sector the engine of growth, Anam emphasized that it should be unshackled.

Craig Grossgart also spoke on the occasion while Desmond Quiah, country manager of DHL Express Bangladesh, delivered the vote of thanks.