Govt working to simplify businesses for small traders: State minister

The government has taken necessary measures so that the small traders and businessmen can do their businesses easily, State Minister for Commerce Ahasanul Islam Titu said today (14 May).

"The government is working to simplify further the process so that small traders can do business easily. It's our duty to make any business venture successful and established. The government is also working to create market access opportunities to the businessmen," he said.

The state minister said this while addressing as the chief guest at a seminar titled: "Business Related Barriers and Possible Way Out" held at the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) in the capital's Motijheel area.

The seminar was jointly organised by the country's apex trade body, civil society think tank Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and German development agency GIZ.

Putting special importance on building industry and investment-friendly environment in the country to build a prosperous and developed nation by 2041, Ahasanul said the Ministry of Commerce would work in an integrated manner with all the concerned stakeholders including FBCCI, research and development organisations and academicians in this regard.

He said the entrepreneurs had not dare to take risks, the rapid industrial development could not take place in Bangladesh.

The state minister also emphasized on business process re-engineering to meet the future challenges including LDC graduation and fourth industrial revolution.

In his speech at the seminar, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Lokman Hossain Miah said the BIDA has been working sincerely to ensure a business-friendly environment in the country. "Currently, the businessmen are now getting more than 150 services of 38 agencies under one umbrella through one stop service of BIDA," he added.

FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam said there is an opportunity for Bangladesh to expand trade as being a hub in South Asia and the ASEAN countries.

"The market size in Bangladesh is not limited to some 170 million people. Considering the market size of Myanmar and North Eastern states of India, the market size of Bangladesh will exceed with a population of 200 million." He added.

The FBCCI president also called for removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers in international trade, taking licenses for establishment of domestic businesses and further expansion, removing HS code related complexities related to tax and unloading of goods.

Speaking as a guest of honour at the seminar, Deputy Head of Mission of German Embassy in Dhaka Jan Janowski highlighted the opportunities and possibilities for investors in Bangladesh and expressed the hope that more investment would come here.

While presenting the key-note paper, Research Director of CPD Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem advocated for reducing the complexities and lengthiness in getting certificates for starting businesses.

He called for taking initiatives to issue certificates for a three to five- year period to remove the complexities in renewing the certificates every year.

Dr Moazzem also emphasized on digitizing the licensing process entirely to reduce harassment of the entrepreneurs.

Former Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, former member of Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission Dr Mostafa Abid Khan and PRAN-RFL Group Chairman and CEO Ahsan Khan Chowdhury spoke as panel discussants.

The speakers in the seminar pointed out the challenges on regulatory barriers to business, import registration certificate (IRC), Employee Retention Credit (ERC) etc. processes and thus called for resolving those.