Budget success depends on effective implementation: Finance minister

Highlights:

• FM urges innovative, people-focused governance
• Calls for stronger coordination in Finance Division
• Master plan underway for Cox's Bazar tourism
• Coastal development rules under review
• Cox's Bazar eyed as future growth hub

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury today (23 July) said the true success of the national budget would depend on its effective implementation, expressing confidence that the Finance Division would be able to implement the budget successfully through coordinated efforts.

"The budget has received appreciation from all sections of society. However, no matter how well a budget is prepared, its real success depends on successful implementation," he said while addressing his first meeting with officials of the Finance Division at the Ministry of Finance.

Finance Division Secretary Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder chaired the meeting.

The finance minister said the negative perception about bureaucracy among the public needs to be changed through efficient and people-oriented service delivery. Drawing on his experience over the past four months, he said collective efforts could overcome any challenge.

He urged officials to move beyond conventional approaches and adopt innovative ideas (out of the box) in line with the rapidly changing global environment, said a Finance Ministry press release.

Amir Khosru also called for creating a more participatory working environment by encouraging officials to express their opinions freely instead of limiting meetings to one-way discussions.

He stressed the importance of open dialogue, mutual cooperation and "out-of-the-box" thinking to improve policy implementation and institutional performance.

The minister said officials should treat the workplace like a family and focus on identifying solutions rather than merely highlighting problems.

He also underscored the need for objective and timely feedback from different wings of the Finance Division, saying such inputs would help the government make informed policy decisions.

Describing the Finance Division as the driving force of the country's economy, the minister urged all officials to discharge their responsibilities with sincerity and professionalism in the national interest.

Later in the day, speaking to reporters after a meeting at the Secretariat on the integrated development plan for Cox's Bazar, the finance minister said the government had taken an initiative to prepare a comprehensive master plan to transform Cox's Bazar into an international and regional tourism hub.

He said the government was also reviewing the long-standing 50-metre and 500-metre development restrictions in coastal areas to facilitate planned tourism development while ensuring environmental protection.

"Where tourism is to be developed, hotels, motels, resorts and recreational facilities will have to be established. Development opportunities must be created while protecting the environment," he said.

The minister said the government had already undertaken major infrastructure projects in Cox's Bazar, including the construction of an international airport, railway connectivity and improved road links with Chattogram.

These infrastructure developments would be integrated under the master plan to transform Cox's Bazar into a modern digital tourism city, he added.

Amir Khosru said Cox's Bazar would emerge as one of the country's major growth hubs and make a significant contribution towards Bangladesh's goal of becoming a US$1 trillion economy by 2034.

He said the expansion of tourism, trade and the services sector would further strengthen Cox's Bazar's contribution to the national economy.