Business leaders on Tuesday demanded that decisions taken by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority should be well-coordinated among government agencies for expediting service delivery to investors. BIDA should ensure better interaction with investors, both local and foreign, to identify the problems in ease of doing business, they said at a luncheon meeting organised by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry held at its Police Plaza office in Dhaka. MCCI organised the programme in honour of newly appointed BIDA executive chairman Md Sirazul Islam. MCCI president Nihad Kabir said that the authorities should also ensure prompt response to the queries of the business communities. She also requested to increase the number of private sector representatives in the BIDA governing body. She praised the authority as the country had recently emerged as a top-20 country in improving in the doing business ranking. Apex Group chairman Syed Manzur Elahi said that the government agencies should put emphasis on speeding the delivery of services to investors saying that there was a lack of coordination among the agencies. Investors are given different decisions on the same issue from two different agencies, he said, adding, for example, if an investor received clearance from one government office, it remained pending at another, causing delay in the business process. Apex Footwear Limited managing director Syed Nasim Manzur said that the government should form a taskforce consisting of representatives from local and foreign investors to ensure better and frequent interaction with existing and potential investors to identify the bottlenecks in doing business and investment climate. He also suggested the introduction of on arrival visa online for the investors. ACI Group chairman Anis Ud Dowla said that BIDA should expedite the privatisation process of sick public enterprises and end the hassles of foreign investors at airports. AK Khan and Company Limited chairman Salahuddin Kasem Khan stressed maintaining of deadlines in the government’s decision making process to improve business climate. Responding to the recommendations, BIDA executive chairman said that they would take all possible steps to ensure better coordination among the government agencies. He said that BIDA would also emphasise on working towards reducing the cost of doing business. Sirazul sought support and cooperation from businesspeople in improving the investment scenario of the country. MCCI vice-president Golam Mainuddin delivered the vote of thanks in the programme.
Source – Newage
