Recording_151

0:00

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

We definitely wanted to come and say hello. I knew you'd invited for dinner and I knew we had a BSC tonight with 30 plus attendees. We had to see one of the owners last night, kind of foodie. We only had two nights here. I mean, I could probably have two dinners in the evening, but Tim might have a go.

0:20

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Well, we hate you from the rest of us. So the last time the guy said you would and this time he said you can't, we had a crying session. Chris always makes a very practical, you know, tech tech tech. Too tech, I tell you. The last time he said, okay, this time I can't, the next time I would. So I held him for it and we had exchanged a couple of bales and said, oh, this time I really can't.

0:41

S… Speaker 4 (Recording_151)

It's too hard anyway. But luckily we have 10 minutes during the day to breathe. Just 10 minutes. Today is a busy stay actually.

1:16

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

presentation to give you an idea of our company. This time also it might be quite familiar to Mr. Chris, but for the others, this is for the benefit of others, which is very quickly taken through. Well, 1.30, yes, 1896 to 2026, you might be surprised to know that we're the only company which started in this territory.

1:44

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

There are a few other companies, but they start from the Indian territory. We are the only company who can start with 18. What do you mean in this territory? Bangladesh. Because like Ushpahani, they started in 1850 something, but they started in India. Which is today India. Today India.

2:06

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

But the 1880 magazine was also India, this part, this territory, the geographic environment. So, and as you can see, we started out with tea, so 1.30 is with tea leaves, and the anchors are holding it. Just for the benefit of the others, very quickly, we were known as James Miller PLC before, and the name JF has actually been derived from J for James.

2:37

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

F for Finlay, I mean, that's from science. It's very, very simple. Sometimes we have an issue. It's a small name, you just can't play around with that. That Finlay is spelled longer. That should be L-A-Y-M, the second one. Finale. That should be spelled longer longer. Don't cancel the whole break. It hasn't changed over the years or whatever.

3:08

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Someone's going to get their ass kicked later. Thank you for that. And we are an ISO 9125 certified company. And our tagline for the company, as some of you are also mentioning, is your experiences and professional things around the world.

3:31

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

We, as we walked in from seeing all the flags started from Japan to the USA and that's our domain. So that's why we started in global since 1996. And so Finlay is a 30 year old company and it was started off with some Scottish gentleman who came to Chittagong and they started their tea business, tea plantation.

3:58

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

but later found out that Sillet and the northeastern part is a better area for growing tea. So all our tea gardens at the current moment in time is in Sillet. And later on, they used to live in Chittagong, but the tea gardens were up there. So they were getting bored. So they said, let's get into shipping and lander agency, P&N, and so on and so forth. So all of these business units are not less than 50 years. Can I ask a question? Sure.

4:28

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

I was in Sri Lanka at the end of February, early March, and there was a Scot that started the tea pioneering in Sri Lanka as well. Do we know what the sort of timeline was for tea in Sri Lanka, starting in tea here, and were they related or connected, and did they set off at the same time and settle in different parts? Sri Lanka probably started about 20 years before, because Sri Lanka itself has got the perfect environment for growing tea.

4:57

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

More project, right? Yeah.

5:00

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

And the quality is also better. It depends on rain, but not too much rain again. So you need to have a nice balance. So maybe they saw it working there and thought, where else can we look in the region? Thank you. And so we have shipping, land redundancy, P&I, the correspondence of all the clubs in the world, lower redundancy, crewmanning. And crewmanning right now, as you know, with the...

5:29

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

war in Iran are stuck in Australia but now they're moving to Indonesia. So in 2004 actually the owners thought that they would sell the strategic move.

5:56

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

in several other countries as well. And they sold off the shareboarding of Dennis Kunle to local businessmen. The chairman was one of them. And the company was divided into two. One is a service related, the other one is tea related. So all the tea related are under another entity called

6:23

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Consolidated tea and lands company. Lands because we've got a lot of lands. Real estate. A lot of real estate in terms of tea gardens. Insolent. Insolent. Just to give you an idea, we've got 40,000 acres of land, which is a lot of people cannot...

6:45

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Comprehend what's 40,000? Comprehend what's 40,000. So we say it's 10,000 Wemble stadiums. Or football stadiums. And also one acre is a football pitch for the stadium, that's right. That's how I always make it in my head.

7:00

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

So, so there's a lot of this many 10,000 football stadiums one after the other The smell of the area is lovely, it really is You've been to Lugan? Yeah, I went to Yogan, but we went to Solace again this year for the picnic in January and the whole smell of the regions We went to Lalakal So you have not seen the most beautiful gardens as yet? Yes

7:30

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So next time, you have two days not going to work for you. I know. The problem is my wife says, how long are you going for? Well, I'm going to do this, this, this, this. I'll be back in April. Is that the right? Not happening. Maybe if you bring it along, you make sure you stay a little longer. Your two gardens are in Shulam Gals in Mungal. It's wrong. It's in Mungal. How much is the answer you have? How many rooms do you have for guests?

7:58

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

We've got bungalows. We also have a guest house. Because we would like to have a picnic there.

8:08

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

With how many people? That's why I'm asking. Oh, we'll work it out. It's a hundred percent, hundred people. Nearly hundred. We try to keep eco-friendly, so maybe ten. Seriously, we don't allow too many people in there because it starts getting... No problem, we can stay somewhere else in the Srimangal. There is one hotel there.

8:30

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

which is in Sultan, right in the middle of Varga. Actually, there is a dispute. They said it's less than us. So it's been on for several decades now.

8:45

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

And we have more than 25,000 workers in the gardens. So it's a big, big... Are you struggling to entice younger people to work there? That's a fantastic question. Because in Sri Lanka, the young are just not doing it. See, how it worked is... Too much like hard work. A, hard work, and B, you know, it comes down to the generation after generation. I've seen my grandfather. He was in the tea gardens. Oh, good morning. My father was...

9:16

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Thank you so much. Good morning. Tim Davis, West of England. There you go.

10:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

There are only new speakers, right? But nowadays, you have TV speakers. And when you have the TV, you see... Wow, they've got buildings. This is this, this is that. But they have cars, they have vehicles.

10:15

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Okay, I'll get my son educated, or girlfriend educated, sent to school. So what has happened? I don't want my child to grow up and become a teen papa. And then... They can do more. They can do more, and it's a hard life, the whole day in the sun. So that's a problem, and the problem creates a necessity as a mother convention.

10:44

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So now we are looking at semi-automated ways of... I was going to ask, it must be coming, must it? It is coming, but the difficulty is, you know, it has not been perfected yet, but how does...

10:58

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Plotters, how the work is there. They make a decision in a split second, even less than a split second. This one is the right one, this one tomorrow. So I don't pick this today, I'll pick this tomorrow, this day after tomorrow. So they do quick calculations, right looking at the leaves. And they have your fingers like steel down there as well. Yeah, and they just keep going. Put it in the bag. On the bag, in the bag.

11:22

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

It's real hard work. It's real hard work. And then it's closed. It is. It's been a hill, so you have to have this special balancing act and whatnot. It's a tough job. No doubt about it. And we have tea in a very, you know, just like as in with the simple machine. Sometimes it can be picked and drunk that day, can't it? You know, a couple of hours later. Yeah, it just has to go through. And we are the only company who has the old factory in the gardens.

11:52

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

So our tea is the freshest because it goes to the garden, comes out, gets back and boom. Do you do green tea? I think we have an assortment. Because green tea is getting more and more popular now. We have two types of green tea. One is the green tea green tea and the other one is the Japanese green tea which is absolutely different.

12:18

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

The way the tea... I feel like I'm a tea man now. I love tea. I don't drink coffee, so you keep going. I love tea. Yeah. And it's good for healthy tea, definitely. Because it allows you to have a better system of water distillation. Okay, coming back. So they put the green teas. And literally, green leaves you can see, it goes through a machine and then they burn with fire.

12:48

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Literally. And then they become dark, and then they become coarser, harder, and then chipping and everything. It comes out as greens and then the filters and whatnot. So small dust comes to this bag, a little more bigger on this one, the right one on that one. So like four or five different types of tea comes out from the same channel.

13:13

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So they are sold at different prices. They are like different territories of the countries as well. Some like the dust, some like the bigger grain. And the green tea is not burnt, it's steamed. It's steamed? Steamed, yeah. You know, it's steamed. And that's why the taste is different and the quality of the tea remains.

13:45

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

because it's not gone, because burning at half degrees centigrade actually takes away the basic inherent qualities of any material. So green tea is like that, but Japanese green tea, the leaves are entirely different. We started off in Japan, and they came and they started off our factory, and we bought the machines from them as well. So it's no touch kind of a thing, you just put the leaves and you just see it coming out.

14:16

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Absolutely the automatic system. So I think we have some of those. Shinra is the name, brand name. It's given by me, by the way. Okay, so we thought of a couple of years back expanding our footprints out of Bangladesh. And this is our office in Shanghai. We just started off this year and we've got our own people in Shanghai.

14:48

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

No, I mean in terms of the work you do. Okay, so the entire idea is to do marketing.

15:00

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

from principle to principle, and that's what we're offering, especially in shipping, BNI, surveys, and so forth. So being our own person, being there, you know, we get a head start. And working in China, I don't know if any of you work in China or not.

15:20

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

There's no WhatsApp, there's no Google, there's nothing. You have to reconstruct yourself. Literally. You've been to... No, I've just worked a lot. Oh, okay. So, yeah. WeChat, Baidu, there's no Google, and you don't have access to so many apps. It doesn't work. It doesn't work.

15:50

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

So that's our office, I thought we would share that. We also have plans. Is it literally three months old or did you start in 2026? Oh, 2026, yeah. The process will be a bit long because we do get the work permits of our employees. Initial reaction? Two or three months in? Very possible. And we also have the straightforwarding. So that's what I also have to do.

16:17

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

And very, very positive from these people. And then they're following up. Emails and emails. But you say, look, I'm going to see you tomorrow for coffee. OK, come on, let's have lunch or let's go for dinner or let's go to Berlin or whatever. So that, that's really what it is. You've got a fantastic guy there. One guy who's gone from here. And under him, he made it. And he did drugs to stay away in a place like China. You don't understand anything. And you just get out of Shanghai. Even in Shanghai, it's so difficult to.

16:47

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Speak English. You already speak English? No. Only the young generation. Anyone speak English? Not even. And another big, big market. We are the fourth largest importer of fruits in the world. Yeah, fourth largest. Fourth largest importer. Fruits. Importer or exporter. Importer.

17:14

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

We can't expect much. We don't have much to eat. How is it mangled? There is also a cultural thing. If somebody is sick, and if you don't take apples and grapes...

17:31

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

You don't want it to get well. So it's inherent in our system. Let's take one kg of orange, one kg of apple, one kg of papaya. But grapes is like, it's called the heaven's fruit, right? Like Mr. Hospital food in the UK. Yeah, exactly. And that's what we report on. Because we don't grow grapes, we don't grow apples, we don't grow oranges. They're trying.

17:57

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

They are far far away from them. The soil is orange. I thought you could grow oranges here. Yeah, but they are like very soft. And just to add on this topic is that when people are dying, when they are dying, they put...

18:17

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

A grape in the mouth. Yes. Because that is the connection between earth and heaven. You're going to get grapes there. Maybe it will turn into wine. But you get grapes here and that's the last thing in the world. You know that? Yes. As you say, you learn a lot more tidbits. It's the one that's not telling all these things. So that's that.

18:46

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

We're tough in China. And we went to some golfers, taken places, we took the ferry, it was like a jungle, just to make a sales call. Shanghai, my brother used to go out of business a lot. The new city as is, if you go back 20 years, it was a jungle. And the old city on the other side of the river is where Shanghai was, and that's basically nothing now. Enormous. Enormous. Pudong area, they call it. And our office is right near that, so we got to the smack heart of the... Amazing cities.

19:23

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Can I just ask, what is the relevance of the clan line vessel there? Anything? This one? Yeah. You know, the agents of the clan line in the past. Sorry? You were the agency for just one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the old traditional, which have now gone.

19:49

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Well, I'm in New Zealand and Australia.

20:00

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

So I guess when the cups come, there's a lot of commotion going on in the corner. So this is an English breakfast tea. We have these hotels here. Did you do it? Yeah. Not this one. That one exactly? Yeah, that one was in Deca. Oh, right, right. Right, yeah.

20:28

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

It's a mystery. Is there competition to get them in the hotels? Well, there is competition. It's like you get one, you get them all. Yeah, because not just that. I mean, the guests will pick it up and say, what's this tea? Personally, I'm not a big fan of what they put in the hotel because you have it and then you leave.

20:48

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

I know, but if you particularly like it, you might choose one or two. Nowadays, of course, anything you like, just take a picture. Yeah, exactly. And you remember it. I was thinking, what was that tea we had? That was quite nice. But see, back in London, you're not going to go and buy a product, right? I think you might, if you really like it. But it has to be there. I think if you go to a hotel and you like something, like the tea, because tea is very different around the world, isn't it?

21:16

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Sometimes it doesn't taste anything like the Mako. But if you do find one that you like, you may well try and source it back then. Once we start sporting that would be a great thing for us and we work on that as well. But now Dilma of Sri Lanka is facing that.

21:42

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

So this is the English breakfast tea. It has got 2.5 grams. So when you wake up in the morning, you see the cake. I always drink English breakfast tea. So that's that. And this is the green tea I was talking about. And this one is masala tea.

22:09

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

The difference between our masala and the others is that we put real masalas, no flavors, no additives. What are our masalas? Cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.

22:27

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

You won't try this one. I'll stick to what I like and enjoy. I was just looking at my last order. I owe the green tea from the specialist company. And it's eight pounds for 40 grams. Eight pounds for 40 grams? Wow. He's a rich man. We can talk on the side. Leave a regard. Most people can't afford it.

22:58

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Shall we? This is one of the slides that we love because it shows how diverse the kind of principles that we're dealing with across the world. Anyone missing on them? Please do. Please help us. Because you already helped us once. London. London? One missing, only London.

23:31

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

What is the one on the left hand side? I can't read that. Korean. One is in London. Thank you so much. This is actually an anomaly presentation. Who is this world? I know you are the... Because I personally visited with Gary. Gary Stevens. First time he visited and you always visited me.

24:02

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Thank you for pointing that out. And we are the shipping agency agents of SWAYA. SWAYA is the single last one. And we also act as an OPA. We've been the agents who watched since 1933. They had a bit of a shake-up in London, the agency in the last month. First of April.

24:30

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Just touch on that a little bit. Now, so the management is under Lloyd's list because it's ever hard. Yes, it's changing. And the amount of information that they have, amazing. Simply enormous. And we're getting data on, we have these webinars every other day. The hormones, how much is going out, hormones coming in, and the graphs actually straight, you know, it's there, now it's right there. Yeah. So, and then how many...

25:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Cruise vessels, cruise vessels, how many cargo, how many container, you can name it instead. If I say to you on the agency side, that's say number of cargo surveys five years ago compared to now, is it less than now because there are more independent surveyors or is it still the name of Lloyd's agency? It used to appear at all the Lloyd's insurance certificates. Let's say you had...

25:28

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

each on insurance in Korea, and they need to survey in Chiligong, Lloyd's agency. They didn't know, they didn't have that network. Obviously, now there are more independents. That has changed really. It used to be just a sort of... It was Monopoly. But now it's not like that. And they also used to write Lloyd's slash SGS.

25:54

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Now sometimes we see SGS, slash roads. So it all depends on how you keep in touch. You used to have a paper report for it's issued and then include that with the claim. Right. So, yeah, it's more competitive, but for bigger projects, bigger projects.

26:16

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

The good companies, big companies, they rely on a voice more than the beyond heavens. And we also have a panel of surveyors, that's one for you. So you're on emergency backup now? This is like emergency, emergency, we're going to generate it. It's your own, is it all? The building. The factory is still thriving.

26:51

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

It is, it is. And it's going to be as long as, you know, we're actually going to close off the channel. It might become bigger with all these other ports. Oh, yeah. You know, deep-sea ports there. Yes, yes.

27:15

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

external expert we have. We have a panel of external expert, you know, like we have the master manager in our panel, the chief engineer in our panel, you know, the civil engineer in our panel. So in Wired Sajima P&I, we have, you know, every year we do their evaluation, performance evaluation. We have ISO certified company, you know, as part of the ISO requirement, we also, you know, evaluate their performance every year.

28:00

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

Can I ask you how big is the team and I mean I understand the European like respondents but are you also involved in how matters or is it just because I see that

28:14

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

In respect of the vessels, do you specialize in certain segments or it doesn't matter whether it's bulk or whether it's tanker, whether it's cargo? Yes, it's true. Because if any casualty occurs, we are the monster. Some are exporting in a tank, some are exporting in a bulk area.

28:37

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

So, on the gravity of the situation, we appoint them. If the casualty is like serious nature, we appoint an experienced mastermind of Chifinjitian. I see that. And how many people do you have? In Mastermind, we have 10. And Chifinjitian, we have 7.

29:02

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

What about distant ports like Paira or something? Do you have people that are available for... No, Paira, Paira. We have more difficult places. Yeah, more difficult. But we have offices in Khulna. It's Mongla. Mongla is the second port. Yes, yes, yes. Mongla, except that there are some other places more difficult like Paira, for example. We have offices in Mongla. We have a set of port here. So the people who are working in Mongla, they also do the work.

29:35

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

And we also have, by the way, an office in Lenneport for the Lenneport. You know, the last one, one and a half years, we saw our relationship in trade with India. They were just sitting out and not coming in. But we have that as well. Even Mataramadi, you know, the deep sea boat. Yes. Sometimes, you know, just a day before you study.

30:00

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

Success from the UK club. Sending a survey over there. So we have a panel of ex-party over there. We have sent from here to Matapari. So Matapari is under the Chitaan code. So every, you know, in every area.

30:22

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

shipping area we have in our offices. I understand that you also have an office in Naka. We all went for the green tea. That's interesting. We're all drinking green tea. It's very popular now. It is. It's getting cold and a high selling party is the green tea.

30:47

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Do you like it? I love green tea. Do you export? You can't drink green tea. We export black tea. Black tea. Not green tea yet. No, not green tea yet. But it's £8.80 as well. Yeah, exactly. That's what we've got. It's £80.80. So, is this cattle carrier? Yes. I have struck it.

31:15

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

representing this vessel is capital carrier. Livestock vessel is owned by Kuwait government. Kuwait government? Kuwait government. So CalTP, Kuwait Livestock company. So we are representing this company more than 38 years. So the manning size of this vessel is 38 crew. That's a big crew. It's a big crew. Very good. So only crew and not a terminal officer. So all 38 crews are Bangladeshi. Yeah.

31:44

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

So we do many, this company. They have only one now. Basically they have all the vessel. There was a vessel Al Mesila. They sold it to another buyer. They bought it, Al Kuwait. Actually Al Kuwait was manned by the Philippine crew. Very interesting. It was manned by the Philippine crew.

32:08

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

So they are not happy with this Philippine crew. Manashiku is very energetic, very obedient. They follow the instructions of the officer. It's the high number of crew because of the cargo carrier. Yes. Supervision. So, feeding. Tearing, you know, everything. And what's the voyage? An Australian museum? Yes. Fremantle to Middle East. Sometimes, you know, they call it a museum as well.

32:35

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Sometimes in Poland. This is the season because, you know, the Eid al-Azhar, which is the second largest Islamic season, you get the Hajj, right? During Hajj, you have to sacrifice a lamb or goat or camel or whatever. So most of the people do lamb and they come from Australia and Australia. So that's mainly lamb. Yeah, like three million.

33:08

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

There's a bit of pressure in New Zealand, in Australia, on whether it's humane to export. Well, people are eating it. And they don't just bury the thing. They eat it, they put it in freezers and send to different countries. We used to get, Bangladesh used to get, until I think we ate teas, this meat from South Africa.

33:31

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So they would send after the sacrifice, they would freeze them and then send it in ships. And they would come here and the government would soon be visible. Now we're a little better off, so we don't know. I'm all for a humane kind of behavior, but I remember reading an article in one of the tradewinds, perhaps a year or two back, talking about certain types of new engines, saying that they can be harmful with the acoustics to whales and stuff like that. So IMO is going to be checking whether or not I'm carrying them. And I was thinking, it's just ridiculous.

34:13

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Yeah, so that's that. And also another thing, like a footnote, is that one of the reasons why we got this, not only the quality of hardware that our boys do, but also, you know, they, for 38 crew, they will be saving about $200,000 per year.

34:34

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Now, if we add five vessels, we're talking about a million dollars, we'll do nothing. And just sign an agreement with us. See, and that sells. Everybody's trying to make money. And if you're doing nothing, just sign an agreement, you save 100 dollars. So that's earned, right? Everybody is saving his number. We also have an online travel agency.

35:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

We started off the first of this year, but as you know, the entire world is going through some kind of recession and stuff like that, and so on and so forth. And so we just have to probably wait it out for another year, year and a half when it really takes off.

35:22

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Are you targeting that at bridge regulations? It's online, so anybody can just get it. But we are now focusing on corporate. Corporate events? Corporate clients, which are in the program. And also locally. In Dhaka, Chirigonga, a lot of passengers, there are, I think, a total of 18 flights a day. In Dhaka, Chirigonga, all full. Which flight do we take?

35:52

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

I took this morning to US Banker. You can't get tickets. And they sell, they check up the price, almost 12,000. If you go back to the last slide, I thought that was another typo, but it's not ABTA, it's ATTA. It's the Association of Bangladesh Travel Agents.

36:15

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

On the right. We have ABTA on the right. You have ABTA? ABTA, Association of British Travel Agents. Oh, okay. You have the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh. It's a protection to the consumer, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. And this is another private business that we have. We are the cargo superintendents of World Food Program for the last 25 years, 1772.

36:46

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

34 years. And especially with the Rohingya refugees. Big vessels. They're still there, huh? They're still there. Mr. Trump is still a little humane with them, I guess, because most of it is from the USA. I'm surprised he hasn't cut that already. Yeah, maybe it's too small for him.

37:13

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

But they were the words that they would when they took office the second time around. One of our local clients here picked up an ancient group the other day, which were mainly trying to escape from. They were stranded there. 400 of them had set up and picked up 10 to 10. Many more have actually been there. Because when they first arrived here, they were terrifying the local people.

37:42

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

They're twice the size and they're being quite aggressive. Right now I think it's 1.2 million. A lot of people. I don't know if any of you have been there or not, but it's like a Jumeirah beach because they've got these beautiful cottages and slopes and everything. Take a photograph from...

38:12

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

a drone, it looks like literally a result. It was quite high-spiritual. It's all managed by the Navy. The Bangladesh was quite keen to have them originally because it was quite a big payment wasn't it? Yeah, you're right. It needs to be like an economic decision. Also probably to get a peace prize. I didn't say that.

38:44

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So, now we just would like to touch a little bit on our sister concerns and other group businesses, because especially Mr. Manmar, the CFO and myself, we get involved with these businesses, taking decisions and so on and so forth. This is one of the three green ship recycling yards of Bangladesh.

39:43

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

That looks different from the photographs you see from the old days of them dragging them up

39:53

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

to see such a big ship being beached coming from the water of the beach.

40:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

It's surprising how quickly they stop. You think they just keep going and they just stop. How long does it take to completely... Oh, it depends on the size. I would say on average. On average. Like that ship, you can take about six months. Everything. We'll see that tomorrow. Depending on the size of the... Oh, okay. Each and everything.

40:30

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

It's used for taps, wires, everything. It's like a city. It's incredible. You know the wires? Yeah. The electrical wires and what else? How small it can be? Nuts and bolts. Copper. We had a very few cases recently of an engineering fire and the insurers, a little bit naively, just all the scrap price of the eggs.

40:59

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

we revised that actually the scrap price on an engine roof fire is considerably less because of the damage to the metal and what have you within the engine roof so it doesn't go for the same type of value because every single bit is stripped down this whole area becomes complete scrap no rubbish just remove it whereas before there are bits here we can take advantage of so it immediately affects the price we're thinking it's the same ldt still steel as ever no it's a big difference

41:30

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

We just want to share, you know, Moribay, you remember Chris South from West of England? Yes, sir. He visited our office and we, together with Mr. Moribay, we went there. Yes. He bought some antique in the shop, all from the scrap vessel. From the ship, it was an antique from the ship.

41:54

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

The shield recycling actually gets a lot of bad press. That's not fair because if you did not recycle it, imagine how much amount of earth you would have digged up to get the steel. Actually, what would you do with it?

42:12

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

and make the same sink and make the same pipes and make the same... You know, the lighter vessels that you see, they're all made from these things. So if you hadn't this recycler, then what would you have? Do you appreciate all recycling except chip? Why? Because only thing is that if you're not taking precaution, then human beings are at risk. It's a dangerous job. It's a dangerous job.

42:38

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

So if you take care of that, as for the Hong Kong public service you mentioned, then you're okay. And that's why it's important that you stay. It has increased the cost for insurers significantly. Yes. But I mean there are many insurers who are actually willing to go with it because it all goes hand in hand with sustainability. You will see more and more insurers they need to issue. Do you have your own sustainability reports?

43:07

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

that actually you have to issue and probably this is not only you know this is more and more incentive to go green in whatever respect there might be by the way do you do you ensure do you know anybody who ensures each vessel like this from total loss for example if cyclone comes what's it sitting there now you mean yeah how can she become

43:38

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

I mean, we could certainly inquire with. We looked through that because we got an inquiry a couple of days back. Yeah, two days back. Two days back, and we talked to some of the local ones, and they said, you know, because this is the season where we're coming. So, you never know. Our ship might be just taken off, and then a 10-number signal can just wreck the entire thing. We certainly know some of the insurers that cover the scrap wages, whether they would be prepared to cover the static risk.

44:14

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

You are never approached for this type of thing actually. This is basically very new. In Bangladesh also, none of them. Only after meeting. Yeah, after meeting. Until finishing the scrapping. At six months. I think they would obviously want to exclude any accidents happening. Yeah, sure.

44:38

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

I also think that they would like to see some warranties, like how do you secure these vessels before monsoon season, for example. If I were to ensure this would be my concern. I mean, if you try to ensure against the risk, how you are going to make sure from your own side that you have done due diligence in securing the vessel where she is, knowing that the weather will be like this because it's not.

45:00

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

It's unforeseeable. It's something that is going to happen. So, of course, we can inquire, but I think that it would be nice to have some procedures, like how the yard is operating and what kind of precautions the yard is taking in securing the vessels. I can't see how you can physically secure it unless you're like that on a beach. I do not go either. No, you can. You can. God, you know, the only way is...

45:27

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

You just beach it. And don't expect that the water level rise. There's nothing you can do about that. Yeah, you can't do much of that. Because you can't hold it with ropes. No, you won't be able to hold it. You had five, six or seven angles all around and you couldn't work on it then. Yeah. So, we really appreciate if you can get back to it. Because the easiest answer for the insurance companies here is... No, we don't do it. Because of the rough value. About the towns.

45:59

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

A lot more than that. Several millions. It's 8 figures.

46:43

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So we'd love to get some information from you. And this is an ICD, Inland Containment Depot.

46:53

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

This part you see, which is blank, right now as you speak, this is also filled with containers, empty containers. And this is owned by our chairman and the other chairman of the department. Mr. Mamma is the chief financial officer for this people as well. And we also have another one coming up next year, 2027 July, which is another 43 acres.

47:26

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So this isn't because we talked about this. Like I said, you know, we're expanding our business' international market. We'll start over China, the next is Singapore and the Middle East. Well, Middle East now has double question marks and the USA. We're also talking and looking at the options with our supply shipping.

48:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

for us to invest in the container and bulk vessels that will become higher. What's going on higher power in the US? 50. 48% is in the Middle East. And in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is number one. And then the UAE, Qatar and... It's the working population. Yeah, working. And they're the ones who are spending about $3 billion a month. They stopped doing that for a while, didn't they? They did.

48:39

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

But during the interim government they did. And the two major seasons is before the Eats turns coming. And the next one is the end of this one. It's very interesting because yesterday over the dinner I have learned that container, maybe I completely misunderstood, but I have learned that container vessels has not been a big market in Bangladesh.

49:10

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Do you know which companies are now investing in containers? Because, I mean, if it's a new market, this means that there is new, you know, the knowledge is needed within this segment, right? We're talking about container vessels, per se, and from here to Port Lang and to Singapore.

49:33

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

If we have small, you know, like 800, 1,000 tubes capacity vessels, then we can take it there. Right now we are doing it, but we are using others vessels. So we want to get into that sector, having our own vessels, and deploying it from here to these two or three points. Not the, you know, big mother ships. And most of our exports are gone.

50:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So there's like 5% or more of the tariffs. That's cool for it with the tariffs. Is the tariffs settled down more to the final? Yeah, it's very clear cut. If you get the cotton from the USA, zero tariffs. That's fantastic. And why wouldn't you get it from there? Maybe a little costier, about 90% or 90%. But if you don't get it from the USA...

50:25

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

If it's China or Turkey or Pakistan origin, then you have to pay 9%. This isn't very easy. I think that's a pretty good deal from the American side, one item. Because China was the traditional market for importing. Yeah, and also Turkey and Pakistan, India to some extent, but the quality of Turkish and Pakistan is very good. In fact, even China imports.

50:52

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

It was surprising because I was in the making.

51:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

Sanitary napkins and two other hygiene products. And the cotton that this guy used to use, we used to import it from China. But those cotton were actually imported by China from the U.S. And they did it to, you know, the trade balance thing. With China and the U.S. So we were quite surprised this day, why not? So what we integrated in premium. So what are our core strengths? Essentially, it's the expertise.

51:29

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

for 130 years. It's there in the culture, it's there in the walls, it's there everywhere. And also the ability to handle local and international clientele, I think, you just don't get it right. A company coming in tomorrow, saying that we've got all these principles across the world, it's not that easy. So it's built over time, so that's what this company has. And professional and ethically run organization.

52:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

I was having another presentation yesterday and I stopped here for Ethics or Ethical Iran Company. What do you mean by that? I asked the question, it should be given, right? So we as a nation are ashamed that all organizations don't afford it. And so we have to pinpoint that, unfortunately.

52:35

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

If we don't, then any Tom Dick and Harry coming in here and they might think, you know, these guys are also part of the birds of the same flock. So we do that and we live by that. And that's one of the core values of strength of our company. It means so many things though, doesn't it? So it's very tough to actually... Treating your people well, being humane, being green, being honourable.

53:05

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

And be clear on all the transactions. And you come to this country so many times, you know, all the forces in the government offices. You just have to make them happy. Tea doesn't work. So you have to really make them happy and there's no right to see. We are like colleagues and friends. Well then the term came, oh, speak money, I'll get it done fast. We all know this stuff, so what can you do? Otherwise your father stays there.

53:42

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

But if he's giving 10, I'm trying to give 2 and a big hug. So that's how we try to minimize. Otherwise, we won't get done. We would like to call a spade in spade. We don't want to say that we are saints. We are not. We can't. Nobody can. Ask any multinationals. So many multinationals left in this country. Why? Because of this practice. They should write the doctors to write this. Sorry, Tuesday. That was definitely...

54:25

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So we do that and also in our association with the government, the organizations, like a few days back you attended this NBR thing, the VAC. Government, not the government, sorry. No, not the chairman. We are chairman, we are chairman.

54:49

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So they listen to us when we say things. So that's one cool part. Thank you. So what we'll do is very quick.

55:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

We have some time. I think we are on time right now. We are on time? Yes, because 10.30 is next week. Here, in this building, right? No, no, no, in BSC. Oh, BSC, sorry. No, not close. No, no, no, no. How long? 10 minutes, right? So we have got how many minutes. Okay, we will take us 5 minutes very quickly. So this is the introduction to lawyers. This is what you were talking about. Yes. Yeah.

55:31

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So we have this new integration with Lois List. That's what we're talking about, the core values of the company. And we try to instill into everybody. You have to remind them about this, the core values. And we are running...

55:51

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

From time to time, we're running these employing sites. We give them a questionnaire and ask them questions of how you've been treated by your boss, what are the issues here and there. So they answer them, the HR keeps them. So this is the SOP, like we said, IHCR certified monthly meetings, the usual stuff. We represent more than 100 leading insurance companies.

56:34

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

We also act as claim adjusters and recovery agent on behalf of many marine cargo insurers in the global market. That's a lot of insurance companies. Like AIG China or AIG Korea. And so this is the initial service that we perform.

57:10

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So Mr. Burwa, if you want to stop me any time, please do. We also do rotor vessels and these are mainly coming through Manglapore. But you will be amazed at how much the surveyors pay for one vehicle. Can I take a guess?

57:38

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

It's done per vehicle or per shipments? Per vehicle. Per vehicle, one thousand dollar. No. One hundred takas. One hundred takas. But how can you... What money is getting out there? Insane. This is insane. It's like, oh, we do Rono vessels. That's all. And we make a loss of fifty thousand takas on each vessel. That's true. Because they don't want to serve it. But they also have to have a certificate. So what do you do? They go to Tom, Dick and Harry. We have it.

58:13

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

We have slashed our prices from 200 or 350 Taka. 300 Taka. It's crazy. I have inherited from Kuluna to Bangla how much money it takes to pay for your bus. Yes. Minimum to 300 Taka. And every time they come to me in the roadways, I said, how much you can lose? So the other service, you know, all the typical ones. These are the important ones.

58:44

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

The ALES survey. The ALES survey. The ALES survey. The ALES survey. Yeah, we'll do the same survey for the P&I as well, you know? Yes, of course. Sometimes the member, you know, sends a mail to any philosophy which is a survey. That would be handled by the P&I, not by the agents. By the P&I. P&I. And you also do for insurance company?

59:06

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Yeah, sometimes you get the... No. Short tank? Short tank? Yeah. Short tank very good. But you know, we have got... If you know the High Court order, we have received a judgment from the Honourable High Court that the R.A. survey would be prevailing, not the short tank. As far as the carrier stability is concerned, the carrier, they don't have any responsibility if they can't leave the ship's tackle once it's off.

59:34

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

So from this, you know, just pronouncing the judgment, we don't, you know, we say to the club of members, don't care of the short texture. Always do the alleged writing. On the non-marine, fire, motor. Yeah, on the fire side, we came across a lot of it. Yes. Special type of service.

1:00:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

For me, there's 5% of our business. Also, investigation on behalf of overseas health insurance like the one with the airport. We have about 70 applications. And still now, like last week, we had a telecom with one of the insurance in the UK.

1:00:30

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

They want some information and said, can you do a service? They said, there's nothing. There's nibbling coming up now. So anyway, so that's a kind of situation. We prepared ourselves that the fire was there. We said, okay, business is coming. Okay, so I think this is all. You want to see it?

1:01:00

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

These are actually the usual practice which we are following. We are issuing our preliminary report after doing the survey within 24 hours. Then our preliminary report 2 that includes the cause of the loss and that is within 72 hours. Thereafter we issue our formal survey report after obtaining all kinds of information. These are the list of our clients.

1:01:28

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

They are located in Singapore, they are in India. All of the opposition parties we are faced against. We cox, Webster and all the recovery agencies. Cedric is a powerhouse company now. They have just bought after which it's called the Justin Team. We have got pretty good names on that.

1:02:05

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

So presumably if you approach by, for example, Webster's and subsequently by a club in relation to the same matter, you would take whoever approaches you first, I presume. You wouldn't have an allegiance, particularly, given you... First. You work for both of them. Yeah. First come first. So whoever comes first, that's understandable. I have to touch it.

1:02:23

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

But in fact, you know, the lawyer's team is... Yes, yes, yes, I understand. Some people are not happy with that. Some say no. You know, we always disclose the fact. Yes. In fact, we always tell the class that, you know...

1:02:42

S… Speaker 3 (Recording_151)

We maintain the Chinese world. If the class agree or the members agree, then okay, fine. Are you a fan of Chinese rules or not really? No, what we tend to do is, if we go to a correspondent and they say we've already been instructed by the Charters, by cargo or someone else, we will look if there's another correspondent there. And if there is, we'll use them. If there isn't, and there are some ports in the world where...

1:03:06

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

which are difficult ports where there is only one correspondent, then, yes, we have to use the Chinese war system, subject to the other club or the other... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And one of the things that Sarabhan just mentioned is that we take, first of all, approval, and the point that we mentioned about the ethics, and when we say Chinese war, we really mean a Chinese war.

1:03:35

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

It's true. We ensure that. And anybody can come and just ask what the hell is going around. Nobody will know what's going around. So that's what I mean by that. Some people just really don't like it. Others are quite relaxed. Some people don't feel comfortable. Can't believe that it's possible. So that's the thing. Thala Selenia is the one who built this Bangabandu one satellite. Germany not that many. We don't work for SOTA in France. They're quite big.

1:04:09

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

For us, we don't have that. For us, Sassam. Yes, Sassam. Anyone in Norway? No. Where is that? Norway, Norway. Norwegian Hull Club, School and Dirt. Recently, we have received a business from Poland. An insurance company. Just go back one. Which one? We did a survey on our company.

1:04:49

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

We were in all the bigger projects. The tunnel, the metro rail, the terminal, water bridge.

1:05:00

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

So, we are like everywhere. So that's that. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'll just rush like that. So what do we have? We've got TH40U, right?

1:05:23

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

It's actually Chinese that's the problem. I'll take five minutes for the team and I want to introduce my colleague to all of you, PNI, if you allow me. Please, yes. You want to take them or you want to bring them here?

1:05:41

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

I've got more time. I don't know who you are. Tim is helping you get more time. I met your colleagues last time. I suggest we move on. Tim can stay. If you have an extended version of that. Okay. When you come back, you file him a desk and you ask him what was the cost of his border. And if you've got a comfy chair after an hour, or Wi-Fi for you, you've got your laptop.

1:06:10

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

yeah okay so so you're here no yeah yeah i'll come now i'll come to the departments and speak to you that'd be good good opportunity we can take a group photo you sure yeah yeah yeah when do you plan to come back uh later in the year i'm honestly not quite sure

1:06:43

S… Speaker 1 (Recording_151)

I'll send you here. I didn't take today my cards. Don't worry. You arrived on yesterday? We arrived on Monday, but since Monday, it's very pretty good. If you're game time, you get full jet lag.

1:07:13

S… Speaker 2 (Recording_151)

Thank you.

_Zvinyorwa

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