Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) executive chairman Lokman Hossain Miah today said that they were working to make the One Stop Service (OSS) 100% operational within three to four months to provide prompt services to investors.
“Recently, in a meeting, I apprised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about the limitations of providing quick services to the investors. Prime minister asked me to ensure services to the investors like the same in Vietnam,” Lokman said.
Lokman was speaking at a luncheon meeting organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) held at a city hotel.
He also hoped that the situation would be improved further within the next three to four months.
The BIDA executive chairman said it is a limitation for Bangladesh to attract investment that businesses had to wait for more than six months to get approvals for starting their ventures in the country while investors in Vietnam get the approvals within only 35 days.
He said that many of the foreign investors were heading towards Bangladesh, but the inflow of foreign direct investment was still comparatively lower in the country than many other competitor countries like Vietnam and Indonesia.
“Vietnam can provide all services to investors within 35 days timeframe while in Indonesia it is 49 days and in India, it is 60 days. Our limitation is investors require more than six months in Bangladesh to get approvals for starting their business,” Lokman said.
Bangladesh is in a very good position and many foreign investors are moving towards the country, he added.
AmCham President Syed Ershad Ahmed suggested that the policy of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) should be simplified further to flourish the business.
“It is important that the government simplifies the process of setting up a business by reducing bureaucracy, providing a stable and predictable regulatory environment, and ensuring hassles-free automated revenue collection process,” he said.
The AmCham President said that maintaining political stability, increasing easy access to finance, focusing on the right areas, improving infrastructure, logistics, and supplying skills at a competitive cost is also important to encourage investment.
In the meeting titled ‘Investment for Smart Bangladesh’, the AmCham president said that more cooperation between the US and Bangladesh might attract more investment with the expectation of export diversification.
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