Concerted efforts needed to improve in Ease of Doing Business Index: BIDA Chairman

Members of the DCCI Board of Directors of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) led by its President Osama Taseer called on Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Md. Sirajul Islam at BIDA headquarter on 23 September 2019.

During the discussion, DCCI President Osama Taseer said that the private investment needs to be scaled up to 32%-35% to come out of the stagnant situation caused by poor ranking in different indexes. At present the private investment is 23.4%. Despite, the FDI to Bangladesh increased to US$3.6 billion in 2018 from US$2.58 billion. In order to boost private investment and drive the economic growth, Bangladesh needs to improve its position in competitive indices. He again stressed for policy reforms and said that complex regulations and bureaucratic hurdles increase the transaction costs of doing business in Bangladesh. He also requested the BIDA Chairman to establish a window of One Stop Service (OSS) facility to DCCI. Moreover, the national FDI strategy needs to be aligned with the industrial policy, export policy, foreign exchange regulations, import policy and other government strategies, he said. In order to develop SEZs, coordination among BEZA, PPP and BIDA needs to be developed, he said.

Executive Chairman of BIDA Md. Sirajul Islam said that concerted efforts is needed to improve in the Ease of Doing Business Index and to come out of this stagnant situation BIDA starts one stop service facility for the investors. He also stressed on maintaining compliance and sustainability in the industries for the sake of environmental issues. He said diversification of goods is important for our export competitiveness. He further said that we have to reform and mordernize existing Company Act in line with the modern technology.

Senior Vice President of DCCI Waqar Ahmad Choudhury said that in order to sustain 8% plus GDP growth we have to develop our infrastructure and the capital market. And for infrastructure development we need to create a strong bond market for long term financing.

DCCI Directors Ashraf Ahmed, Enamul Haque Patwary, Hossain A Sikder, Md. Rashedul Karim Munna, Nuher L. Khan also spoke on the occasion. They urged for ensuring utility connections to Economic Zones, single digit interest rate for SMEs, reforms of Company Act and lower interest rate on private sector lending. They also urged to expedite quicker winding-up procedures.   

DCCI Directors Andaleeb Hasan, Ashraf Ahmed, Enamul Haque Patwary, Hossain A Sikder, Md. Rashedul Karim Munna, Nuher L. Khan, Shams Mahmud, SM Zillur Rahman, Executive Member, BIDA Navash Chandra Mandal were also present during the meeting. DCCI press release