***The young business leaders promise to take their efficiency and skills to global standards. They want to inspire and enrich lives of the Bangladeshi consumers by bringing innovative products and services. They set resolutions to bring changes to the lives of their employees and contribute more to the environment. They want to learn new things in the New Year and wish to see actions from the government that will bring about changes the country needs so much.

_BUSINESSES have begun a new year.

It is a time for them to reflect on the past and consider the future plans amid eagerness and passion. They now look into the past mistakes and analyse good and bad aspects of their lives to set their goals for the next 12 months.

The Daily Star spoke to seven young business luminaries in Bangladesh to know about their companies' performances in the outgoing year and their resolutions for the New Year.

The young leaders -- from development organisations to telecom companies, security service providers and online marketers to stock brokers -- all termed 2012 a year of 'ups and downs'.

During the year the country witnessed political upheavals, banking scams, a prolonged labour unrest and a deadly fire at a garment factory that killed at least 112 workers.

They said the year was also challenging as the economy had to combat with a number of negative factors such as a dismal stockmarket, soaring inflation at the beginning of the year, perennial energy shortages and poor infrastructure.

But the young leaders are hopeful that 2013 will bring hopes for the economy and political leaders will reach a consensus to hold a free and fair general election.

Hasan Mehdi, head of mobile division of Samsung Dhaka branch

South Korean electronic giant Samsung has made plans for the New Year to maintain robust growth in handset sales, especially in the smartphone segment.

“We are now a number one brand for 'real' smartphones in the country," Mehdi said.

This year, Samsung Mobile wants to truly inspire and enrich lives of the Bangladeshi consumers by bringing innovative devices, the official said.

“We shall continue to bring innovation to address diverse consumer needs of maximum utility, greater productivity and superior lifestyle,” said Mehdi, an MBA degree holder from the Institute of Business Administration at Dhaka University.

In 2012, sales of Samsung smartphones saw significant growth in Bangladesh. It strengthened smartphone portfolio, creating great choices for consumers, he said.

Before joining Samsung, Mehdi worked as the head of business development of the corporate strategy division at mobile operator Robi. He also worked for Nestle Bangladesh as a brand executive for three years.

Samsung saw 2012 as a year of 'promisebuilding' for the comingyears and 'confidencebuilding' for the local market, said Mehdi.

It opened a huge number of outlets and introduced two-year warranty for smart devices in the outgoing year.

Samsung will also put constant efforts on a number of areas such as product development, consumer education, experience facility and differentiated service in 2013, said the official.

Eshita Sharmin, marketing manager for Bangladesh at bikroy.com

Bikroy.com, a Dubai-based e-commerce website, has set a target to become the first option in terms of online buy and sales in Bangladesh.

"We would like to familiarise the audience with an online marketplace, the best way to 'Buy, Sell and Smile',” said Sharmin.

The 2012 was an eventful and exciting year for them as bikroy.com was officially launched in Bangladesh as the first bilingual classified ad website, said Sharmin.

It grabbed the top position among the classified ad sites within six months of its launch in the country, she said.

Online trading websites are not new in Bangladesh, but the launch ofbikroy.com will help the country bring a momentum in e-commerce, said the official.

Before joining bikroy.com, Sharmin worked for Blueberry Technologies LLC in the UAE as a business development manager. She also worked at Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd (Citycell) in different capacities.

In the upcoming year, the company wants to provide best selection ads and improve its service quality for the customers in Bangladesh, said Sharmin.

On her personal resolution, Sharmin said she wants to learn new things everyday in 2013.

“I want to learn something new in my personal life — may be a new language, or just how to fix my computer — simply something new,” said Sharmin, a BBA degree holder from North South University in Bangladesh.

Md Obaidur Rahman, regional adviser for Asia at Save the Children, Denmark

Save the Children Denmark has set a resolution for this year to help the vulnerable adolescents and youths in Asia get access to decent employments.

“We want to help them get decent jobs by offering education and training," Rahman said.

Around 61 percent of the world's young people live in the Asia-Pacific region, said

countries such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The 2012 was an important year for popularising, creating demand and grounding the theme of EYE in many Save the Children country programmes in Asia, said Rahman.

Around 180,000 vulnerable adolescents and youths in Bangladesh got empowered through education, training and apprenticeship programmes, he said.

"Decent employment and active social and political participation of the youth, particularly vulnerable youth, have become the main developmental challenges in Asia,” Said Rahman.

He has been working in the fields of education for youth empowerment, corporate social responsibility and child labour for

Rahman, who runs the 'Education for Youth Empowerment (EYE)' of Save the Children.

The overall vision of the project is to empower vulnerable youths in the rural and urban areas through education and training to help them become active economic, social and political citizens.

The EYE project is operating in a number of

more than 15 years in Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Somaliland, Ethiopia and Egypt.

Before joining Save the Children, Rahman worked for International Labour Organisation's regional office in Dhaka, and for a UNDP-supported project implemented by the social welfare ministry.

He obtained master's degrees in development studies from North South University and from the international relations department of Dhaka University.

Expansion to new countries by building networks, fundraising and measuring impact will be the main strategic priority for the EYE project in 2013, he added.

Partnership with the private sector has increased through creating a 'win-win' kind of programming — where both the parties can see the value of mutual engagement.

Engagement with regional institutions like Saarc, Asean and Bimstec will be in focus to create a youthcentered policy framework in Asia region, said the official.

Md Ashaduzaman Riadh, head of research at LankaBangla Securities

LankaBangla Securities Ltd set a resolution to launch a full-fledged web portal to bring a revolution in financial information presentation.

The stock broker will launch the 'LankaBangla Financial Portal", a full-fledged financial information hive for the investors, Riadh said.

The company has revolutionised the way of financial presentation in 2012 through its monthly financial publication "Market Pulse”, said Riadh adding that “we will take it to international standards in 2013.”

The outgoing year, however, was a turbulent year for Bangladesh's

capital market, said the official.

"My life was also tagged to the capricious volatility of the benchmarkindex, DGEN," he added.

But the outgoing year was great for academic accomplishments for the official.

“It was a great year for me — a year of academic accomplishments and career growth. I was fortunate to complete a Chartered Financial Analyst Programme at CFA Institute in the USA,” said Riadh.

"For me, 2013 will also be a very challenging year with a lot of changes to be brought in this still immature stockmarket research sector," he added.

On his personal resolution, Riadh said he would try to promote the CFA institute code of ethics and standards of professional conduct for improving integrity among the professionals.

“I feel that is going to be the best thing I can contribute to my environs in 2013 as it will help bring back the investor trust on the capital market,” said Riadh who also did BBA from Dhaka University.

Sadequa Hassan Sejuti, MD of Future Solution for Business

Future Solution for Business, a local e-commerce company, aims to take Bangladeshi companies to the global arena with the help of information technology.

“This year, we plan to set up 64 e-centers across the country,” Sejuti said.

The company, currently serving its customers through its seven e-centres in Mongla, Narsingdi, Tangail, Sirajganj, Jamalpur, Rangpur and Sylhet, has also a database of around 8,000 registered customers.

The outgoing year was a great success for the company.

Amar Desh Amar Gram, an e-commerce concept of FSB Ltd, introduced the first-ever online marketplace for sacrificial animals for Eid-ul-Azha, with the aim to cater to the busy city dwellers and non-resident Bangladeshis in the outgoing year.

The company is also going to presentthe 18th Dhaka International Tirade Fair on a web portal, with the aim to sell all the products to be showcased at the show through an

online marketplace.

It also received several awards in the outgoing year.

The company got ICT Summit Eurasia 2012 award and WITSA Global ICT Excellence Awards-2012, said Sejuti.

US President Barack Obama won the WITSA Global ICT Excellence Awards in 2010.

FSB Ltd also wants to bring more innovative products in 2013 as it has a vision to connect the rural people to a global platform.

SMAshrafAbir, CEO ofMCC Ltd

Multimedia Content & Communications Ltd, a leading mobile application and multimedia service provider, wants to become a top-rated company by launching innovative products this year.

“Everyday 3.5 million people across the globe use our mobile applications,” Abir said. “We want to increase the numberto25millionin2013.”

In Bangladesh, the company aims to roll out more innovative applications such as health, education and travel based services for smartphone users, he said.

“Taking this lead we would want every user to get a global picture and therefore thrive to develop more local content-based initiative for maximum utilisation of technology," he said.

Last year was booming, not only for MCC but also for the entire IT Industry in Bangladesh, saidAbir.

The company launched different mobile-based services in 2012 and created its own space in the mobile application market, he added.

Abir was recognised for his contribution to ICT industry as he won Manthan South Asia Award 2009 & 2010 and World Summit Youth Award 2011.

Sharif Shaham, marketing director of Elite Force

Elite Force, a leading private security service provider, has made a resolution to increase its employees' salaries by at least 10 percent in 2013.

It has also made promises to become socially responsible, offer cleaner work environment, give faster response to the clients and provide better training for its 13,000 employees.

“These resolutions are backed by actual projects, which will help us reach the target of fulfilling these goals," Shaham said.

Shaham is the youngest member of the management team at Elite Force and he joined the company in 2005.

The year 2012 was great for the company as it got an award as the best security company in Bangladesh and registered a 32 percent growth, he said.

The outgoing year was one of the finest years for him. “This was my first year as a married man. It was great to have shared my life," said Shaham.

The year had its ups and downs too, he said. Although the country suffered from power crisis, political disturbances and a few accidents, it was still able to set a record in foreign currency reserve.

The economy improved a bit and hopefully the year 2013 will unfold into a much more prosperous year for Bangladesh.

“I hope we will see action that brings about changes the country needs so much,” said Shaham.