& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Aminur Rahman / Managing Director,KLM GSA Traveltime

Hoping for a Bright Future
THE Managing Director of KLM GSA Traveltime, who associated himself in airline business since 1970, a little before the Liberation War, bears a pleasantly convincing personality in his own way. If only one person can be given credit to make the world's oldest airline authorities believe that Bangladesh can be a very good market for them, it is Mr". Aminur Rahman.
Mr. Rahman's attachment to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines goes as back as 1978. The then Country Manager of KLM, realising Mr. Rahman's talent, offered him lo take charge of the GSA with a short notice. Thus he performed the assigned responsibility quite successfully upto 1981. Then after an interlude, he was again given the GSA's task in January 1991.
"I was looking for an opportunity to bring KLM in Bangladesh. I went to attend a seminar in June 1991 at KLM headquarters in Dubai and I became very disheartened not to see my country's name in KLM's advance planning upto 1996," says the Traveltime Managing Director. They had no idea about Bangladesh's market-friendly environment. Rather, they always received reports against Bangladesh that it was never ready to come under the KLM's network. This Mr. Rahman came to know from KLM's Middle East and South Asia (MESA) Vice-President Mr. Bram Steller.
The MESA Vice-President was a wared of by him about other airline activities which were operating in Bangladesh. Mr Rahman successfully drew the attention of Mr. Steller and convinced him to physically
come to Dhaka to see | what really Bangladeshi market is like. Other KLM regional offices became surprised to see Mr. Steller taking interest in this country and going to stay here for three days.
"Anu in November 1991, the Vice-President visited Bangladesh. During his stay, I didn't accompany him, he moved around evaluated the market on his own,"says Mr. Rahman. Since then, till the final decision, KLM officials came here to survey the market at least 15 times. Every time they came, went back with satisfactory results which ultimately help them take the decision to set up a full fledged station here. Today. Mr. Rahman doesn't feel hesitated to take pride over the fact that he, on personal initiative, succeeded to bring world's one of the renowned Airline in Bangladesh.
The airline veteran Managing Director is very confittent of KLM's successful operation of the sales system here in Bangladesh He looks forward to set some trends
those have been absent in Bangladeshi airline-related activities. Mr.Rahman enthusiastically showed the training room that has been arranged within the highly impressive KLM office. In the past years, there were no provision for Bangladeshi travel agents and people related to this business lo grow up professionally. Now, it will pave the way to institutionalise the entire airline industry in Bangladesh with ever increasing service by more competent professional hands.
Mr. Rahman, who always comes up with new ideas one after another, didn’t forget to plan the process of employing as many as Bangladeshi people in KLM’s operations. He even considered the university boys and girls in offering them some experience before they start their professional lives. He thanks Mr. Steller for KLM's strategy to run a sizeable portion of its management by the local people. "And. yes,” he says, "many of the Bangladeshi professionals arc doing very well even outside the country."
Mr. Rahman is a believer in competition, and at this time of fast economic growth of Bangladesh economy, he holds high hopes for KLM to successfully operate here which, he believes, will lessen the monopoly of other airlines. Amidst these professional competitions, ultimately, the passengers who will be benefitted - which is present-day marketplace, concluded ihe Managing Director of GSA Travchime Limited.
-M. Kabir