Ease of doing business in Bangladesh: Investors now need seven days to start a business

Bangladesh has announced major reforms at various levels to make the country look “attractive” to investors by enhancing service delivery.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 31 Jan 2017, 02:06 PM
Updated : 31 Jan 2017, 02:06 PM

All process of starting a business would be completed by seven days in place of 19.5 days now as government agencies promised to remove red-tapes to facilitate investment in the country.

In line with the reform, the agency like RAJUK would give construction permits within 60 days instead of current 278 days and processes of getting electricity connection would be completed by 28 working days in place of 404 days.

Certified copy of registered deed will be made available right at the time of registration while a copy of the deed will be sent to the AC land for mutation immediately after registration.

Process, time and cost of paying taxes and trading across borders would be reduced with the international best practice and in a coordinated way.

These are some of the reforms the newly-created Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) announced on Tuesday at a press briefing as it eyes to lure both local and international investments by doing better in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing’ business ranking.

Bangladesh is currently ranked 176th among 190 countries in the WB ranking. But the new state entity, which was formed by merging the Board of Investment and Privatization Commission, eyes to secure a place below 100 by 2021.

They discussed all the 11 indicators that the World Bank takes into consideration when it prepares the doing business ranking with the 26 relevant government agencies, business leaders and think-tanks in a strategic workshop on Friday and Saturday and came up with those reforms plan.

“It {those reforms} starts from now on,” Kazi M Aminul Islam, Executive Chairman of BIDA, said at the press briefing flanked by business leaders and government officials. “We have to go far and go fast to achieve our target to be a developed country by 2O41”.

Apex business body FBCCI President Abdul Matlub Ahmad, and Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Abul Kasem Khan hailed the reform announcement at the press briefing.

Implementation the primary challenge

The World Bank study that ranks the business environment of a country are based on 11 indicators: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labour market regulations.

The reform initiative has been taken in line with standards referred in those indicators to improve Bangladesh’s position in the ranking. However, implementation of those plans has been seen as the main challenge.

Chairman of the National Board of Revenue Md Nojibur Rahman speaking at the workshop on Friday at a Bahubal resort in north-east Habiganj district said: “It's easier to make legislation but difficult to implement. I see a disconnect between policy level enthusiasm and field level implementation”.

World Bank’s Senior Private Sector Specialist for Trade and Competitiveness Lars Nikolajs Grava, who helped BIDA strengthen its capacity, also told bdnews24.com after the workshop that the most challenging task for BIDA would be “coordinating among the government institutions and making sure that reforms are on track”.

The BIDA executive chairman, however, is sanguine about the implementation of the reform.

“Basically, we did not give anyone any responsibility. The ministries have taken on their responsibilities. They saw the challenge, and they lend their hands,” he said at the press briefing.

He, however, said there would be “robust mechanism” to monitor those promises, and the progress report would be discussed every month.

A task force headed by the Secretary will monitor the progress at each ministry level. A cabinet committee headed by the cabinet secretary will review the secretaries’ report. And above all a national committee headed by the prime minister would oversee the whole activities, he said, adding that they would award the best performing agencies.

The DCCI president told bdnews24.com that private sector could be included in the steering committee that would monitor the progress of the promised reforms.

“It’s easier for us to point out the gaps and loopholes when we sit in the committee and then it can be better monitored,” he said.

He also suggested two more workshops similar to Bahubal one with the participation of the officials who will implement those reforms on the ground.

“Sometimes they feel delinked with the top bosses as what the NBR chairman had indicated. So, such type of workshop can be motivating for them,” he said.