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Says former executive chairman
Ahsan Habib
Thu Sep 8, 2022 09:00 AM Last update on: Thu Sep 8, 2022 10:38 AM
The One Stop Service (OSS) of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) is yet to meet expectations due to non-cooperation of some entities, said Md Sirazul Islam, whose tenure as its executive chairman ended last week.
The entities include the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, north and south Dhaka city corporations, Chattogram Development Authority, Department of Environment and six electricity distribution companies.
"Bureaucracy became a swear word due to their slow services but their objective is to ensure rules and regulations in all the sectors," he said.
BIDA had sat with the service providers several times but the situation has not improved, he said, adding that the business situation would not improve until they become cooperative.
However, the business climate should be helpful and favorable for the private sector as they account for around 80 per cent of economic development, he said.
About the OSS, Islam said BIDA facilitates 58 services for the private sector, out of which 18 were in the hands of the investment development authority.
"All of the services are provided online at astonishing speeds," he said.
The other 40 services are in the hands of 15 authorities and that is where the problem lies, he said.
Islam took over the helm of BIDA -- Bangladesh's principal agency for investment promotion and facilitation -- on September 4 of 2019 for three years.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) dropped 39 per cent worldwide in FY 2020 due to the pandemic while Bangladesh saw a decline of 11 per cent to $2.5 billion.
In FY 2022, the FDI bounced back and it may reach to $2.6 billion as of March.
If the trend continues, it will reach $3.2 billion at the end of the fiscal year which would be the second highest FDI in the history of Bangladesh.
"I took the responsibility of BIDA at an unusual time as most of it was gloomy for the Covid-19 pandemic," he said, reasoning how his performance should not be based on investments made at that time from home and abroad.
"In my tenure, I tried to improve the investment ecosystem," he said.
Islam's career in public service began in 1983 and he spent several years working at the Election Commission Secretariat.
"Once Bangladesh's ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business index was very poor so we focused on improving the situation and worked extensively," he said.
Some visible improvements came in the country's port management, tax payment, land transfer system, electricity connection etc. "Now, the business climate has been improved," he said.
However, some challenges still prevail and where BIDA should put focus on a priority basis. Before his leave, he had selected 10 main challenges to work on.
The government should amend some rules and regulations which are old such as a bankruptcy act, he said, adding that the rule covers only individual people but needs to include the corporate sector.
Commercial disputes are now a common thing and BIDA has already suggested creating a dedicated court in Dhaka and Chattogram to expedite associated processes, said Islam.
Though there is an alternative dispute resolution system in the country, its activities are not at an expected level, he said.
Among the challenges, many service providers ask for undergoing many unnecessary processes and this is one place where BIDA should work on, he said.
The process takes time and it is possible to manage it, said Islam, who is also a former secretary to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, adding that the land registration process should also be made easier.
The taxation system also should be made easy so that people are encouraged to pay it. "Our entrepreneurs do not want to evade tax, rather they want to pay, so the process should be made easy and harassment free," he said.
All the tax systems should be brough into the digital sphere as any manual process can increase the hassle for people while monitoring also becomes tougher, he said.
The entrepreneurs have reservations about the imposition of advance income tax as it sometimes forces them to pay high tax compared to what the actual tax requirements are, he added.
