Akij Bashir Group is to establish new standards

Sheikh Bashir Uddin, formerly the managing director of Akij Group, has embarked on a new venture called Akij Bashir Group with the goal of delivering products of the highest quality and upholding the standards that the Akij name is renowned for.

“My objective is to set new standards,” he told The Daily Star in an interview.

Akij Group has been divided into five segments, with one of them being named Akij Bashir Group and headed by Bashir, who is the son of the group’s founder, Sheikh Akij Uddin, and a former managing director of Akij Group.

Akij’s business began in 1952 with jute and grew into a conglomerate with diverse interests ranging from textiles, cement, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, printing and packaging, tobacco, consumer products, food and beverages.

“My father had ten sons, and each has the right to use his father’s brand name. The group was split into two while my father was alive,” said Bashir, who is currently the managing director of Akij Bashir Group.

The group has been in business for over 70 years and has grown both in terms of size and diversity. The business is currently being run by the second generation with the third generation also joining.

The brothers have decided to split the business among the respective shareholders, which was an amicable decision, although no division is painless.

To facilitate the division, the group employed four professional audit houses of the world: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, and KPMG.

After the split, there was an identity issue as Bashir, who was the managing director since 2006 but does not belong to the Akij Group, felt the necessity to make it clear who won what.

To address this issue, the Akij Bashir Group was created, which owns 16 companies dealing with ceramics, particle board, biax films, tableware, bathware, glass, tea, and more. Some of the companies were inherited while others were built by the brothers themselves.

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Four other brothers own Akij Venture, Akij Resource, Akij Insaf, and Akij Assets. While Akij Group wants to hold onto its social and legacy capital, Bashir wants to come up with a new, more challenging name for his group.

The new name may confuse consumers initially, but the assurance of continued quality products will help overcome the challenge.

Bashir has 17 years of experience working with his father and believes he has learned the lessons on how to capture consumers’ trust. He intends to navigate various challenges using these lessons.

The turnover of Akij Bashir Group is currently around Tk 4,000 crore, and it employs approximately 24,000 people. The company dealing with jute is presently the largest and holds the most potential, with two jute companies acquired in the past two years.

Akij Bashir Group, which has been running its diversified export-based jute factory using locally sourced raw materials, has been able to generate significant revenue and foreign exchange. Despite facing challenges such as identity issues and global economic shocks, the company has managed to repay its loans and wages while aiming to expand its business both domestically and internationally.

The group aims to operate at least 25% of its business using renewable energy sources, having already launched a three-megawatt solar plant and contracted for a 12-megawatt solar power plant.

In the current year, the group plans to use a 40-megawatt solar power plant for its operations while reducing heat emissions, waste discharge, and groundwater usage.

The company has turned two of its factories into zero-discharge units, and within three years, it targets to reduce heat emissions by 20%.

Bashir sees agriculture and manufacturing as sectors with significant potential in the country, given the large population and investment in these sectors can lead to significant savings if supported by efficient plans and policies.

–Source: Akij Bashir Group