Bangladesh stands 176 out of 190 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, stepping up only a notch in the last one year. The country is lowest in the ladder amongst South Asian countries.
However, the government hopes to remedy the situation by setting a goal of bringing Bangladesh to the 99th position by 2021. As a result, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) is trying to bring in more foreign and local investors in order to accomplish the goal.
The World Bank index is based on ten factors: trade permit, building permit, property register, loan facility, security of micro investors, tax payment, implementation of trade agreements with foreign nations and development of bankrupt businesses.
As a primary step to achieving the government’s goal, concerned authorities are leaving no stone unturned to attract investors.
BIDA is planning to bring all the necessary investment services under the umbrella of a ‘one stop service.’ The organization was supposed to start the service the previous year but it had been unable to do so because it lacks the resources to do so.
Initially BIDA plans to provide five services through the ‘one step service’ but that is nowhere enough to at least the 20 services they must provide in order to reach the goal.
The initial services that they are planning to provide are: property and lease agreement registry, environment clearance, Tax Identification Number (TIN), Visa services, work permits for foreigners and Business Identification Number (BIN), mutation services and infrastructure permit.
A BIDA official said that they have started work on those one stop services since Jan 5 of this year. However, the services will not be enough as investors will need the following services: project registration, gas connection at factories, telephone and internet connection, office registry and trade licence services, which the institution aims to provide gradually.
Moreover, the biggest obstacle in the way of investors is getting clearance from the environment department. In an attempt to make the process easier, BIDA wrote to the department and was assured that the clearances would be provided within a week.
Good governance and political stability was prime in tapping investment, says former caretaker government advisor Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam.
“There is a lack of good governance in the country and even though it’s not apparent, investors have a lot of reservation about the political instability of the country,” he told Bangla Tribune.
According to him, if investors’ apprehensions are not laid to rest, it will not be possible to attract investors. Moreover, land prices are on the hike every year and that’s one more reason for investments not booming.
On the other hand, BIDA Executive Chairman Kazi Aminul Islam said, “We are working to bring in investors and Bangladesh will be able to enjoy the benefits.”
A report by International Finance Corporation (IFC) shows that out of 189 countries Bangladesh stands at 188 for providing power line, 188 for property registry, 140 for foreign trade, 144 for permitting development projects and 131 for providing loans.
According to a Policy Research Institute (PSI) report, in 2013, Bangladesh had Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) worth 1.6 billion dollars but the number hasn’t improved much over the years.