The function was organised by Mercantile Bank Limited to celebrate its 7th founding anniversary at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre.

The recipients are Hasan Azizul Haque for Bengali language and literature, Qayum Chowdhury for education and culture, Shamoli Nasrin Chowdhury for research on Liberation War, Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed for economy and economic research, Rokia A Rahman for industry and commerce, Dr Zamal Nazrul Islam for science and technology, Ataus Samad for journalism and Niaz Morshed for sports.

Abdul Jalil MP, chairman of the bank, formally handed over the awards to the recipients.

The chairman also launched Mercantile Bank VISA Card on this occasion.

Jalil said the bank will open six more branches and launch five banking products this year.

"We are also planning to introduce debit card for our valued clients to keep pace with modern banking system," he said, adding that the bank will introduce ATM service in six more branches of the bank.

Presently the ATM service is available in four branches out of its total 29 branches.

In his welcome speech, Managing Director of the bank Shah Md Nurul Alam said the deposit of the bank stood at Tk 2700 crore while the asset value stood at Tk 2500 at the end of 2005.

The bank also earned a net profit of Tk 386.83 million in 2005, he added.