Home ›› 04 Jun 2023 ›› Business Connect
Syed Md Nasir Uddin is now a renowned businessman in the packaging industry. With more than 30 years in the tin and plastic can business, as the managing director (MD), he has now taken the annual turnover of his companies — Xclusive Can Ltd and Q Pail Ltd — to more than Tk 200 crore.
His business career, however, started thanks to an advertisement in a local newspaper in Chattogram. But three decades ago, that ad played a decisive role in creating a now-successful entrepreneur with a thriving business.
That ad by a well-known multinational company (MNC), seeking a vendor for supplying paint cans, lit a fire inside Nasir and it led him to dive into the unknown banking only on his guts and the support of his family.
Soon after seeing that ad and mulling his idea in 1991, Nasir was on a train going to Dhaka from Chattogram to look for jobs. On that train, he incidentally met with a then-senior official of that MNC, who advised him to start a business and produce cans instead of looking for a job.
After returning to Chattogram, Nasir met that official, who arranged a visit to the state-owned Bangladesh Can Company which was a modern factory that manufactured and supplied tin cans to them at that time. This only pushed Nasir’s interest higher.
Despite his inexperience, the MNC decided to take a chance on Nasir after seeing his enthusiasm. However, even though he got the paint can supply work, Nasir then faced the biggest obstacle on his path –lack of capital to start his business.
His father then came to his rescue and gave him Tk 1,25,000 from his retirement benefit, with which he set up a small factory in Chattogram city’s Muradpur area.
Afterwards, he borrowed some money from relatives and established the business properly. In 1992, his factory started producing tin cans and supplying them to the said MNC.
Around the same time, he also applied for a loan from a state-run bank. A year later, when the bank approved it, Nasir’s business was already up and running.
Looking back
At present, almost all paint items in Bangladesh’s market are packed in good-looking printed plastic containers. But until the early 1990s, all these were sold by Berger and other companies in tin or metal cans, Nasir said while talking to The Business Post recently.
It was almost impossible to sell paints without packing them in tin cans. At the time, the state-run Bangladesh Can Company at Nasirabad industrial area was the only factory that was making tin cans in the country, he said.
“Berger was not getting the desired services and competitive prices from it. So, it took the initiative to develop alternative can makers and suppliers in the private sector under a Vendor Development Programme.
“We developed our tin can-making factory under that initiative but on a very limited scale. Under that programme, Berger continued to help us in many ways. This programme was a part of Berger’s business strategy which they usually adopt in their production facilities in other countries,” he said.
Nasir recalled, “I come from a middle-class family. I’m seventh among 10 brothers and sisters. In our society, families want sons to be doctors or engineers. But they can’t accept it if we fail to do that and start a business for livelihood.
“It was the same for me. I had to often fight with my family. Most of my brothers and sisters were good students and some of them became doctors, engineers and military officers. But no one used to see business as a dignified profession.”
He had started his journey from scratch and now his successful business is the result of strenuous effort, commitment and hard work. “There was no miracle or shortcut that brought me to where I am now.”
Nasir said, “When my first factory started operating, I understood that even though it was small, running it was impossible with little money. I was struggling. At that crucial time, one of my close relatives gave me a big loan.”
“That helped me in a big way to go forward. Apart from the bank loan, it was my first big monetary help or capital sourcing. I’ve always felt too much indebted to him,” he added.
“I now have more than 1,200 workers in my factory. I think of them as my family members. I do everything while thinking about them. If they are happy with their lives, then I am happy too,” he said.
Nasir also recalled the then Khatunganj branch manager Md Yusuf of Social Islami Bank Ltd, who visited his factory, saw the prospect of his business, objectives and past banking and repayment statements and helped him get a sizable amount of loan several years after his factory came into operation.
“This amply contributed to meeting my investment deficit and helped change the pace of my business,” he added.
Loss of Ctg’s importance as a business hub
Talking to The Business Post, Nasir said, “Since the country’s largest maritime port with friendly policies and facilities is in Chattogram, it became one of the country’s major industrial hubs and big industries have established bases here.
“GSK, Hoechst, Reckitt, Singer, Unilever, Berger, British American Tobacco, Ispahani, etc. have set up their factories in Chattogram over the decades.”
“But at the very end of the 1990s, due to the government’s wrong and imprudent policy and above all, for lack of due patronisation, many big companies including Unilever, GSK and Reckitt later shifted their head offices to Dhaka,” he said.
“In 2000, Berger set up its highest capacity plant in Dhaka and moved its head office from Chattogram. On the other hand, in patronisation of these foreign companies, a new vendor group grew up at Gazipur, Savar and Rupganj, all on the outskirts of Dhaka.
“Afterwards, many multinational companies in the paint sector like Asian and Nippon also set up their plants in or around Dhaka,” he said.
Nasir continued, “When almost all my customers and big companies were leaving Chattogram and becoming Dhaka-centric, we also rented a small space adjacent to Tongi Bridge and set up a factory there to make plastic items on a limited scale.
“We started to supply plastic containers to Berger’s Savar plant, Asian Paints’ Joydebpur factory and RAK’s Habiganj plant. After that, I started receiving orders for making plastic articles from other companies for curd containers, bathroom and kitchen cleaners, lubricants, cosmetics, etc.”
He said they also decided to establish a permanent factory when orders and business kept increasing. “We bought one bigha land at the BSCIC industrial area in Tongi. Then we bought the necessary machinery for production and built the factory structure around them.
“As a result, there was a great positive change in almost all aspects, including product quality and quantity, and workers’ safety and environment. All our customers also started to share their satisfaction with us about our factory environment after inspecting it.”
Escaping liquidation
Nasir said he learned a new lesson from the 2008 economic meltdown. “I used to believe that only the businessmen in Bangladesh do not care about keeping a commitment.
“But during that global economic storm, I found out that foreign businesses, even those from developed countries who are reckoned to be honest, also don’t hesitate to break commitments and act dishonestly if they fear any loss.
“I realised that this is true for every businessman, no matter where he is from. Everyone only worries about their profit,” he said.
“At that time, I had an oral agreement with all my raw materials suppliers that we would open LC for a big quantity at a time and they would send me the goods after every 15 days and in three equal instalments. But as the prices of the items were falling drastically, they thought that we may feel reluctant to accept the goods afterwards.
“So, all three of my suppliers — Exxon Mobil from its Singapore plant, Sumitomo from its Abu Dhabi factory and SK Energy from Korea — sent all the goods at one go to Chittagong Port instead of three instalments. They did not even give me a phone call to inform me beforehand,” he said.
“As a result, all the goods arrived at Chittagong Port and the shipping agents were continuously pressing me to release the goods. Meanwhile, the suppliers sent all the negotiating documents to my bank to get their payments quickly,” Nasir said.
“The bank had given us an LC limit of Tk 5 crore to buy raw materials but raw material worth Tk 12 crore was already at the port. I could not release the goods from the port as I had no money and their value was more than the bank’s sanctioned limit.
“Because of that, the demurrage at the port was rising every day in huge amounts. My company faced a huge loss because of the unethical business attitude of those renowned international companies,” he added.
“I would have gone bankrupt if Prime Bank Agrabad Branch’s then manager Mamunur Rashid and then deputy managing director (DMD) Mahbubul Alam, two angels of men, did not come to my rescue by taking prudent, bold and timely steps,” Nasir recalled.
Environment-friendly compliant factory
In 2015, Nasir took the initiative to buy private land only 3 km away from their factory in Tongi to build an environment-friendly compliant factory.
“As the factory was planned to be a special one in all respects, I named it Xclusive Can Limited. As the BSCIC industrial area’s plot was small, we went outside to buy that 4-acre piece of land to build it,” he said.
The construction work of the new factory was completed in late 2019. The fully compliant factory is architecturally and aesthetically pleasing and ensures great care of the health and safety of the workers, machines and assets, Nasir said.
“In this factory, we are making plastic and tin containers both mainly as packaging material for cosmetics, pharma, food, toiletries, etc,” he added.
Taking a pause, Nasir said, “About the financing of our green factory, I have to mention the names of then manager Qamruddin Taher of Chattogram’s Wasa More Branch, the then MD Shahidul Islam and three DMDs Aktar Hossain, Abdul Aziz Zumma and Imtiaz Uddin Ahmed of Shahjalal Islami Bank, who took a risky but prudent decision to support our initiative.
“If these people didn’t share my view, our iconic project would not have seen the light of day ever. I believe that the bank deserves appreciation for taking the bold decision to take a chance on me.”
“The tin can we make is completely biodegradable. So, I find a mental satisfaction that my business will ultimately not pollute and destroy our environment and harm its habitants.
“But our second business, which is plastic article production, is not environment-friendly. This business is endangering the world and people. I am very concerned about this and have been thinking about alternatives,” Nasir said.
He said, “This is the era of plastic civilisation because of the versatile use and benefits of plastic. Most of the people involved in the plastic industry do try to follow the 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) policy.
“But there is still a fear that if the 3R policy does not work properly, then the future of this earth will end in destruction and it will be caused by our ever-unsatisfying greed.”
What’s ahead?
“Our next target is to diversify our business from B2B to B2C, meaning we will concentrate on producing items to sell directly to consumers,” Nasir told The Business Post.
“We have also taken the initiative to enter the food sector to make food items for consumers,” he added.
But from the recent dollar crisis and its spiralling impact on the country’s economy and business, it has become evident and imperative that we have to make our industries export-oriented. We have to take an all-out effort in this regard, otherwise, our economy will not sustain long,” Nasir stressed.
“We are also striding towards that goal. Our next project, which will be in the Mirsarai Economic Zone, will be built keeping these objectives in mind,” he added.
