app.py

import gradio as gr
from transformers import pipeline

# Load the Hugging Face model
model = "deepset/bert-base-cased-squad2"
qa_pipeline = pipeline("question-answering", model=model, tokenizer=model)

# Define the function to answer questions
def get_answer(text):
    result = qa_pipeline({
        "question": text,
        "context": knowledge_base_text
    })
    return result["answer"]

# Define the Gradio interface
def chatbot_interface(text):
    answer = get_answer(text)
    return answer

knowledge_base_text = """
British American Tobacco Bangladesh is one of the largest multinational corporations, operated by British American Tobacco in Bangladesh. They are listed on the stock index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange. It is doing its business over 100 years in this region. It was founded in Bangladesh in 1910. It had established its first depot at Armanitola in Dhaka. After partition in 1947, it was established in 1949. After the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan, it was renamed as Bangladesh Tobacco Company (BTC) in 1972. But in 1998, it is again renamed as British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB). In Bangladesh, British American Tobacco Bangladesh has more than 1,200 people as direct employees and more than 50,000 people as indirect employees (mostly farmers).[2]

British American Tobacco Bangladesh's motto is "success and responsibility go together". Shehzad Munim is the current managing director of BATB. He is serving as the first ever Bangladeshi MD in the history of BATB.[3]

BAT Bangladesh is one of Bangladesh’s most valuable corporate entity in existence for the last 112+ years in the country. As the largest individual tax contributor to the Government exchequer, together with a strong presence in the rural agri-economy, the Company’s socio-economic impacts have been widespread and largescale.
Brands
Benson & Hedges
John Player Gold Leaf
Lucky Strike
Capstan
Star
Royals
Derby
Pilot
Hollywood

The presence of British American Tobacco in this part of the world can be traced back to 1910.

Beginning the journey as Imperial Tobacco 112 years ago, the Company set up its first sales depot at Armanitola in Dhaka. After the partition of India in 1947, Pakistan Tobacco Company was established.

The first factory in Bangladesh (the then East Pakistan) was setup in 1949 at Fauzdarhat in Chattogram and in 1965, the second factory of Pakistan Tobacco Company was set up in Mohakhali, Dhaka.

After Bangladesh’s independence, the Company became Bangladesh Tobacco Company Limited; and in 1998, the Company changed its name and identity to British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BAT Bangladesh) aligning the corporate identity with other operating companies in the BAT Group.

Profiles of the Directors
Mr. Golam Mainuddin
MR. GOLAM MAINUDDIN
CHAIRMAN
Mr.Golam Mainuddin has been the Chairman of British American Tobacco Bangladesh since August 2008.

Full biography  Mr. Golam Mainuddin

Mr. Shehzad Munim
MR. SHEHZAD MUNIM
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Mr. Munim was appointed to the Board of Directors in the year 2010.

Full biography  Mr. Shehzad Munim

Ms. Nirala Singh
MS. NIRALA SINGH
FINANCE DIRECTOR
Ms. Nirala Singh was appointed as a Finance Director to the Board of Directors of British American Tobacco Bangladesh.

Full biography  Ms. Nirala Singh

Mr. A. K. M. Aftab Ul Islam FCA
MR. A. K. M. AFTAB UL ISLAM FCA
INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR
Mr. Islam was appointed as an Independent Director to the Board of Directors in 2019.

Full biography  Mr. A. K. M. Aftab Ul Islam FCA

Mr. K. H. Masud Siddiqui
MR. K. H. MASUD SIDDIQUI
INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR
Mr. Siddiqui joined the Board of Directors as Independent Director in October 2010, representing the Government, a shareholder of the Company.

Full biography  Mr. K. H. Masud Siddiqui

Mr. M. Harunur Rashid Ph.D
MR. M. HARUNUR RASHID PH.D
INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR
Dr. M Harunur was appointed as an Independent Director to the Board of Directors of BAT Bangladesh on 29th March 2023.

Full biography  Mr. M. Harunur Rashid Ph.D

Mr. Md. Abul Hossain
MR. MD. ABUL HOSSAIN
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Hossain has been serving as a Non-Executive Director to the Board since 2019.

Full biography  Mr. Md. Abul Hossain

Mr. Shirajun Noor Chowdhury
MR. SHIRAJUN NOOR CHOWDHURY
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Chowdhury was appointed as a Non- Executive Director to the Board of Directors of BAT Bangladesh on 12th May 2022.

Full biography  Mr. Shirajun Noor Chowdhury

Ms. Zakia Sultana
MS. ZAKIA SULTANA
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ms.Sultana was appointed as a Non-executive Director to the Board of Directors in 20th May 2021

Full biography  Ms. Zakia Sultana

Mr. Mohammad Salahuddin
MR. MOHAMMAD SALAHUDDIN
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Mohammad Salahuddin joined the Bangladesh Civil Service on 25th of April 1994 (BCS 13th Batch).

Full biography  Mr. Mohammad Salahuddin

Mr. Stuart Kidd
MR. STUART KIDD
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Stuart Kidd was appointed as a Non- Executive Director to the Board of Directors of BAT Bangladesh on 25th January 2023.

Full biography  Mr. Stuart Kidd

Mr. Wael Sabra
MR. WAEL SABRA
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Wael Sabra was appointed as a Non- Executive Director to the Board of Directors of BAT Bangladesh on 29th March 2023.

Full biography  Mr. Wael Sabra

Ms. Monisha Abraham
MS. MONISHA ABRAHAM
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ms. Monisha Abraham was appointed as a Non- Executive Director to the Board of Directors of BAT Bangladesh on 29th March 2023.

Full biography  Ms. Monisha Abraham

Mr. Francisco Toso Canepa 
MR. FRANCISCO TOSO CANEPA
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Francisco Toso Canepa was appointed as a Non- Executive Director to the Board of Directors of BAT Bangladesh on 29th March 2023.

Full biography  Mr. Francisco Toso Canepa

Mr. Gary Tarrant
MR. GARY TARRANT
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Gary Tarrant was appointed as a Non- Executive Director to the Board of Directors of BAT Bangladesh on 29th March 2023.

Full biography  Mr. Gary Tarrant

Profile of the Company Secretary
Mr. Syed Afzal Hossain
MR. SYED AFZAL HOSSAIN
COMPANY SECRETARY & SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL


Mr. Shehzad Munim
MR. SHEHZAD MUNIM
MANAGING DIRECTOR
In the 113-year history of BAT Bangladesh, Mr. Shehzad Munim is the first Bangladeshi to hold the position of managing director. He just finished his tenth year as managing director at the helm of BAT Bangladesh.

Mr. Munim was appointed to the Board of Directors of BAT Bangladesh in the year 2010.

In 1997, he started working for BAT Bangladesh as a territory officer, immediately after graduating from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka. He worked in a variety of marketing capacities within BAT Bangladesh as well as abroad.

Because of his exceptional work ethic and business acumen, he was seconded to BAT New Zealand as Group Brand Manager in 2003 and subsequently, he took over the role of Head of Brand Marketing at BAT New Zealand in 2005.

He took on the challenge of creating BAT Australasia's innovation process in 2006 as the Product and Packaging Innovations Manager. In 2007, he returned to Bangladesh as Head of Brand Marketing completing a successful four-year stint in New Zealand & Australia.

In 2010, he has assumed the challenging position of Area Head of Marketing, South Asia, positioned in Islamabad, Pakistan.

In 2013, he became the managing director of BAT Bangladesh. With his visionary leadership abilities to ensure sustainable value creation and to increase the company's contribution to the nation's economic development to achieve the SDGs, in line with the government's vision, he has made a significant contribution to swiftly propelling the organisation to new heights. From this time to now, the company's gross turnover has grown by more than 268% to reach forty thousand crores.

In keeping with his cutting-edge corporate leadership, BATB began exporting finished goods in 2018, which resulted in a notable increase in the company's revenues. This drastic step opens the door to new opportunities for the company. As a result, BATB expanded their manufacturing capacity in 2021 by constructing the Savar Factory in order to meet opportunities and demand on a worldwide scale.

He has been honoured by multiple awards for his remarkable performance over the years; one of them is the "CEO/MD of the Year Award" (for business revenue per annum over 1000 crore) at the first ever Bangladesh C-Suite Award, organised by Bangladesh Brand Forum.

Ms. Nirala Singh
MS. NIRALA SINGH
FINANCE DIRECTOR
In 2023, Ms. Nirala Nandini Singh became the Finance Director of BAT Bangladesh. She has been a financial specialist for more than 22 years and at a reputable international corporation, she has proven her capacity to produce commercial success.

In 2001, Ms. Singh began working with BAT as an internal auditor for the British American Tobacco Caribbean Area. She was given a promotion to Planning Analyst in the same area after two years in 2003, and two more years later, she was still in the same position but covering the Caribbean and Central America.

At The West Indian Tobacco Company Limited, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco, she was elevated to Financial Accountant in 2006 and Finance Controller in 2008.

She returned to her position as head of marketing finance at BAT, Central America and the Caribbean Area, in 2011.

In 2013, she came back to West Indian Tobacco Company Limited, based in Trinidad and was elevated to Finance Director. In her capacity, she oversaw the finance function for the BAT operations in Trinidad. She was also a member of the local board of directors.

In 2013, she got a promotion and transferred to BAT Vietnam as a finance controller. During her tenure there, she oversaw transparency and accountability in marketing decisions and investments. She was a driving force behind analysis and opportunity assessment for marketing investments since she was an integral part of the Finance Leadership and Marketing Leadership teams.

In 2015, she transferred to BAT Central America & the Caribbean, based in Costa Rica, as a finance controller. In her capacity, she managed financial results for Central America and Caribbean Business Unit and efficiently led the team that successful implemented SAP for 22 business entities.

In 2017, she became the Head of Record to Report, BAT Shared Services Europe, based in Romania. She oversaw Global shared services environment, leading a team of 250 people.

From 2020 to 2023, she oversaw the commercial strategy for more than 30 markets as Head of Commercial Finance for BAT Latin America and the Caribbean, which is based in Mexico.

Mr. Jorge Luis Macedo
MR. JORGE LUIS MACEDO
HEAD OF OPERATIONS
Mr. Jorge Macedo Pavon has recently been appointed as the Head of Operations for BAT Bangladesh. He completed his masters in manufacturing (MDM) from EGADE-ITESM, Monterrey, México, and his bachelors in industrial and systems engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiors de Monterrey, México. He began working with BAT Mexico in 2003, and during the subsequent 20 years, he rose through the ranks to become a resilient business leader.

In 2003, he began working with BAT Mexico as a management trainee. During his two years in the position, he implemented over nine projects that led to significant cost reductions and process development.

He was elevated to the position of Manufacturing Supervisor for BAT Mexico's Primary and Secondary Manufacturing Departments in 2004.

In 2006, he was promoted to Transformation Manager. He led the Strategic Leadership Agenda journey, attained the first place to work within BAT, the third best place to work in Mexico ('07 GPTW) and implemented work-life balance and recognition initiatives while serving in this capacity.

For a brief while in 2007, he took on the role of SMD Production Manager, overseeing the accountability of domestic cigarette production and putting strategic plans into action. He had introduced self-directed work teams by this point.

In December of the same year, he began working as a Quality Assurance Manager and within six months, he took over and promoted to the role as Logistics Manager, Supply Chain, May 2008 and he held this position for two years.

After that he was assumed the position of Planning Manager, Supply Chain, in 2010.

In 2012, he was promoted to TaO AMR, Lead for Operations and Logistics Planning for America's region. During this time, he provided the Target Operating Model (TOM) and One SAP (ECC) for Logistics and Operations Planning, successfully endorsed the E2E Supply Chain Integration and SNO Costa Rica Planning Hub (project lead).

His appointment as Regional Planning Manager-SNO (BASS Americas-Costa Rica) occurred in 2016 and in 2017, he was promoted to Canada Head of Supply Chain (Imperial Tobacco Canada), where his duties included secondary supply chain operation and the synchronised supply chain deliverables.

He was elevated to SNO Head of Plan, ENA (BAT-UK) in 2019. Where, he was responsible for the Europe and North Africa Region's multi category supply network planning execution, ensuring product availability to enable commercial growth.

Mr. Sudesh Peter
MR. SUDESH PETER
HEAD OF LEGAL
Mr. Sudesh Peter has assumed the position of Head of Legal at BAT Bangladesh in 2023. He started his journey with BAT in 2011 at Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC as the Corporate and Commercial Counsel and held a range of senior positions for a 12-year period before joining BAT Bangladesh. In 2014, he earned his Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Business with Information Technology and Intellectual Property from Cardiff Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.

As an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Mr. Peter commenced his legal career in the Law Chambers of Mr. K. Kanag-Isvaran, President’s Counsel and later became an in-house Counsel at F. J. & G. de Saram, Attorneys-at-Law, a leading commercial law firm in Sri Lanka. He oversaw contentious litigation and arbitration during his time there, specializing in business, commercial, banking, intellectual property and labour law. Notably, he represented Citibank in the Singapore Oil Hedging Arbitration with the Sri Lankan Government.

Mr. Peter joined Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC, Colombo, Sri Lanka, (CTC) as Corporate and Commercial Counsel in 2011. On account of his marked performance, within a span of a year, he was designated as Litigation Counsel in 2012, in which role he was successful in challenging the excessive graphic health warning regulations and reducing the size of the health warning on cigarette packs for the first time in the world.

In 2015, he was promoted as Regulatory Affairs Counsel in which role he managed External Relations, Regulatory and Fiscal Affairs. in 2017, he was recognized with the coveted Chairman’s Award for outstanding delivery in pricing and excise engagement.

In 2019, Mr. Peter was elevated to Director Legal & External Affairs and Company Secretary of CTC. As a member of CTC’s Leadership Team, he played an integral part in developing and advancing the organisation's strategic leadership agenda as well as extending people leadership to develop and transform key talent in the organization.

Mr. Saad Jashim 
MR. SAAD JASHIM
HEAD OF TALENT, CULTURE & INCLUSION
Mr. Jashim joined BAT Bangladesh in 2006 as a Territory Officer after completing his Bachelor of Business Administration from Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka. In 2008, he moved to the role of HR Executive, Industrial Relations & Welfare, and, since then, has performed a number of business partner roles across all functions of BAT Bangladesh. In 2013, he took over the role of Organisational Effectiveness Manager in BAT AsPac before taking over the role of HR Business Partner - Marketing in 2015. He eventually moved to the role of Senior HR Business Partner Operations & Corporate in 2016. He was appointed as the Head of Talent, Culture & Inclusion in February 2019.

Mr. Syed Mahbub Ali
MR. SYED MAHBUB ALI
HEAD OF MARKETING
Mr. Syed Mahbub Ali began his career with BAT Bangladesh on October 2000 and over the course of more than 22 years, he worked both domestically and abroad within BAT. He has extensive experience in all facets of marketing, including trade marketing, business & brand portfolio strategy development, activation, marketing planning, route to market strategy development, total customer investment, P&T, and project management. Currently, he serves as the Head of Marketing of BAT Bangladesh. Before taking this role, he served as Commercial and Business Transformation Director at BAT Japan, one of the largest new category markets in the BAT APMEA region.

He started off as a Territory Officer for BAT Bangladesh. Over the years, he had several positions in trade and brand marketing. In 2009, he oversaw the first-ever successful milestone entry into the sub-value segment as Brand Manager (Domestic Value for Money Brands), reclaiming BAT Bangladesh's market leadership.

He was seconded to BAT Vietnam as RTM Project Manager in 2013 following years of consistent performance in several roles within BAT Bangladesh. In the middle of 2014, he relocated to Bangladesh as Group Brand Manager. Under his direction, BAT Bangladesh's low segment volume increased during this time, and JPGL Switch became the first successful new variant launch in the AP consideration area. By employing effective communication to foster knowledge, acceptance, and compliance, he played a crucial role in ensuring that Bangladesh's transition to a 50% graphic health warning proceeded well. He also served as chair of the BAT Bangladesh gender diversity platform "Symmetry" for two years at this time.

He was named the Head of Trade of BAT Bangladesh, the largest Trade team in the BAT group, in the middle of 2016. Later, in January 2020, he was appointed Head of Trade and Planning and joined the BAT Bangladesh Leadership Team. He contributed to the creation of the new SLA and the establishment of a clear priority for the organization during COVID as a member of the BD leadership team.

During the pandemic, he compassionately handled a large workforce and made sure that vital business deliveries were made, which was crucial to the growth of the business. Along with automating the trading systems, he also worked with DBS teams to develop highly affordable solutions that were quite helpful during the pandemic. Additionally, he promoted ground-breaking trade solutions including microcredit for retail and the B2B2C model to advance trade loyalty systems.

Mr. Numayer Alam
MR. NUMAYER ALAM
HEAD OF COMMERCIAL
Mr. Numayer Alam, head of Commercial of BAT Bangladesh, has over 20 years of working experience in BAT with around 6 years of leadership role experience in Marketing & Sales of Bangladesh & East Asia Area (Vietnam, Cambodia) Business.

Back in 2004, Mr. Alam started his journey with BAT Bangladesh as a Territory Officer. In 2006, after two years of strong performance, he was first elevated to the position of Area Manager and subsequently moved to the role of Channel Development Executive in 2007.

Following a successful three-year stint in this capacity, he was promoted in a cross functional position of Enterprise Programme Manager (PMO) in 2010 where he closely worked with the Leadership Team in shaping organizational leadership agenda, and two years afterwards, he was promoted and assigned in a Global Project Deployment Role as the Project Manager – Bangladesh for the TAO (Target Operating Model and OneSAP) programme in 2012.

The most challenging years of his career were from 2014 to 2016, when he held three very distinct senior & important positions in quick succession. After completing the global project role, he came back to Marketing function and took over the role of Regional Manager of Dhaka in 2014 where he led the biggest business nationally and then moved to Strategy, Planning & Insights Manager in 2015. Based on his strong commercial and leadership strengths, he was elevated to the role of Head of Strategy, Planning & Insights in 2016 where he actively worked in long term business simulations and strategies.

His unwavering work ethic, leadership inclusivity and commercial acumen created a great opportunity for him to embark on a new journey as Head of Trade Marketing at BAT EAA (Vietnam & Cambodia) in 2017 and later took over the role of Head of Brands also. Under his leadership, the Vietnam business has witnessed strong volume, share and turnover growth which was driven by key strategic works around route to market, trade activations, portfolio enhancement and talent development.

In 2022, he returned from Vietnam and joined the BAT Bangladesh Leadership Team and currently serving as Head of Commercial. For his outstanding performance in the field of trade marketing, he was awarded ‘Sales Director of the Year’ by the Bangladesh C-Suite Awards 2023.

Mr. Sarzil Sarwar
MR. SARZIL SARWAR is the HEAD OF INFORMATION & DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Our Statement of Business Principles forms the basis on which we run our business in terms of responsibility.

The principle of Mutual Benefit
The principle of Mutual Benefit is the basis on which we build our relationships with our stakeholders. We are primarily in business to build long term shareholder value and we believe the best way to do this is to seek to understand and take account of the needs of all of our stakeholders.

The principle of Responsible Product Stewardship
The principle of Responsible Product Stewardship is the basis on which we meet consumer demand for a legal product that is a cause of serious diseases. Therefore, our products and brands should be developed, manufactured and marketed in a responsible manner. We also aspire to develop tobacco products with critical mass appeal that will, over time, be recognised by scientific and regulatory authorities as posing substantially reduced risks to health.

The principle of Good Corporate Conduct
The principle of Good Corporate Conduct is the basis on which all our businesses should be managed. Business success brings with it an obligation for high standards of behaviour and integrity in everything we do and wherever we operate. These standards shall not be compromised for the sake of results.

Our people are our strength and the key to our continuing success.

At BAT Bangladesh, our people are a major reason why we continue to perform well and excel. We employ around 1500 people directly work with over 40 thousand farmers and approximately 1.3 mn retailers.

Our focus is on driving high performance; developing the next generation of leaders; valuing the diversity of our employees; encouraging and rewarding entrepreneurial behaviour; and creating an engaging culture where individuals and teams can be successful.

Top Employer
Top Employer

We are the only Bangladeshi Company to be certified as the “Top Employer” for 4 times (2023, 2020, 2019, 2018)

Women Empowerment Initiative
Women Empowerment Initiative

One of the top priorities for the Company has been to enhance gender diversity. To ensure this goal, it has designed various platforms and training that supports female development with inclusivity. Not just limited to training, countless conversation platforms are also conducted where leading women within the corporate sphere share and give insight of their journey to inspire the rising young women, instilling confidence and the courage to dream.

Our Ethos
The accelerated pace of the transformation both in our organisation demands that our people are ambitious, courageous and resilient; and that they continue to drive and own results.

As our organisation evolves, we continue to focus on these traits and drive an enabling culture through our ETHOS, a framework that guides behaviours across the entire BAT Group.

Our Ethos is about being Bold, Fast, Empowered, Responsible and Diverse to create a future-fit culture at BAT. It is the thread that must run through everything we do and how we do it. We believe it empowers our people, fosters a vibrant and rewarding workplace and promotes sustainable long-term value.

We are bold
We are bold
Dream big – with innovative ideas.
Make tough decisions quickly and proudly stand accountable for them.
Resilient and fearless to compete.
We are fast
We are fast
Speed matters. Set clear direction and move fast.
Keep it simple. Focus on outcomes.
Learn quickly and share learnings.
We are empowered
We are empowered
Set the context for our teams and trust their expertise.
Challenge each other. Once in agreement, we commit collectively.
Collaborate and hold each other accountable to deliver.
We are diverse
We are diverse
Value different perspectives.
Build on each others’ ideas, knowledge and experiences.
Challenge ourselves to be open-minded recognising unconscious bias.
We are responsible
We are responsible
Take action to reduce the health impact of our business.
Ensure the best quality products for our consumers, the best place to work for our people, and the best results for shareholders.
Act with integrity, never compromising our standards and ethics.
"""

# Create the Gradio interface
iface = gr.Interface(
    fn=chatbot_interface,
    inputs="text",
    outputs="text",
    title="British American Tobacco Bangladesh",
    description="- powered by IDT",
    theme="default"
)

# Run the Gradio interface
iface.launch()