FE Report

In a developing country like Bangladesh, the poor and underprivileged sections of the society are often deprived of the basic human rights of access to education and healthcare.

Responding to such socioeconomic disparity, a private commercial bank, the Mercantile Bank Ltd, is currently planning to establish a charitable hospital for the treatment of the poor people.

The bank says it also has a plan to establish a school exclusively for the education of the indigent students.

The latest move is part of a series of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities carried out by MBL in recent years. According to statistics of the bank, it spent Tk 15.115 million in the year 2008.

"The Mercantile Bank Ltd, among other things, is committed to the welfare of the society through these activities which extends to every aspect of national development including education, health, disaster management and sports," Monindra Kumar Nath, Deputy Managing Director of the bank said.

One of the greatest accomplishments of the bank was its sole sponsorship of Amar Ekushey Granthamela-2009 held earlier this year for which it donated Tk 3.2 million.

Earlier, the bank sponsored Dhaka International Trade Fair-2008 along with other business houses. The bank granted Tk 2.1 million for the construction of the grand entrance of the fair.

Major CSR initiatives of the Mercantile Bank also include the construction of two permanent Murals of Bir Uttam M A Rob and Bhasha Sainik Justice Abdur Rahim in the city at a cost of Tk 900,000.

Each year the bank donates 1.0 per cent of its operating profit or Tk 40 lakh (which ever is higher) to its CSR arm - the Mercantile Bank Foundation. Accordingly the total amount of donation to the foundation in 2008 stood at Tk. 10.0 million.

"The foundation established in the year 2000; strives to preserve and promote cultural heritage and support artistic expressions," the bank said.

In upholding this spirit, Mercantile Bank Foundation assists research activities on Bengali literature through Bangla Academy. It also supports the writers and publishers through purchasing their books and distributing these to different educational institutions on the occasion of national and other important days.

Every year, the foundation also provides awards to eminent personalities of the country for their contributions. Beginning in the year 2002, the annual 'Mercantile Bank Foundation Award' has so far honoured a number of renowned personalities in the country for their contributions to Bengali language and literature, education and culture, research on liberation war, economy and research on economy, commerce and industry, medicine, science and technology, journalism and sports.

In addition, the foundation is also providing financial support to various educational institutions, hospitals and clinics in various parts of the country.

The Mercantile Bank's CSR initiatives extend widely to the sports arena as well. Last year, as the sponsor of the National Swimming Championship Competition-2008, the bank donated Tk 1.0 million for staging the tournament.

Simultaneously, the bank also sponsored the International Junior Tennis Championship and a Golf Tournament during the same period. In addition, it also provided a donation of Tk 700,000 to Bangladesh Swimming Federation for staging the Indo-Bangla Swimming Competition.