Khondoker Md Shoyeb

Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, depends on others for most of its food items. It is hardly possible to find a commodity that Bangladesh does not import.

“The floods once again showed us how dependent we are on Indian onions.” Local onions are better than Indian ones, and are more expensive as well. Import makes the balance, Saha said.

Most of the products that the market deals with -- different vegetables and dry food items such as onion, garlic, and ginger -- are perishable.

Growers prefer to farm commodities in rural areas to make best use of soil fertility. The price circle starts here and gets rolling. The green vegetables, or commodities, are sold at cheap rates from the growers' field. But this price triples or sometimes quadruples, for which, any single factor is not responsible.

The medical representatives are the marketing lifeline for the pharmaceutical companies, as promotion of any sort or advertisements are strictly prohibited. These officers describe the features of medicines to physicians who prescribe those.

The emergence of this business was propelled by expansion of the country's fast growing telecom sector. More mobile operators bring in more retail outlets. Grameenphone set off the trend with Flexiload on April 28, 2005. Later, other operators followed suit.