23 more services coming to BIDA’s One-Stop Service centre
Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) is moving towards deals to incorporate 23 more dedicated services for investors on its website within the next two months, aiming at improving Bangladesh's ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business index and attract foreign investment.
"Online services are an urgent priority, especially considering the pandemic. Our stakeholders in the private sector have been communicating their need for faster, easier and more transparent digital services," said BIDA Executive Chairman Md Sirazul Islam.
The 23 services will be made available on the One-Stop Service (OSS) section of the BIDA website through letters of intent with 10 ministries and organisations.
"After we sign the letters, we will have to work hard to integrate your interface with BIDA's OSS. I am very happy to find out that out of these 10 authorities, six have already prepared their application programming interfaces."
As for the ranking, Bangladesh plans to rise to a double-digit spot from the current three-digit one within two years.
Bangladesh had first advanced one place to take up the 176th position in the 2019 assessment before making a jump to become 168th among 190 countries in the 2020 index.
But prospects look glum as gross inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) has fallen 13.8 per cent to $3.73 billion in the first 11 months of last fiscal year, largely owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bangladesh needs to increase private investment -- and especially foreign investment -- to raise productivity levels, diversify exports and accelerate economic transformation, the World Bank said last month.
The country is not attracting near enough FDI to help propel a new phase of economic transformation.
China is joining the EU and the US as a leading source of FDI in Bangladesh and recent anecdotal evidence indicates that some East Asian manufacturers are turning to Bangladesh to diversify their production and overcome rising international import tariffs.
Bangladesh would have much to gain from the capital, technology, innovation and managerial know-how that may accompany FDI.
But it is well behind emerging economies in the region such as Cambodia, India, Myanmar and Vietnam when it comes to FDI inflows per capita or as a share of GDP, the WB said in a document.
Launched on February 24 last year, the OSS is still limited to the initial 18 information-related services of itself, the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, the National Board of Revenue and Sonali Bank.
It was scheduled to bring in 11 more services by June of the home affairs ministry's security services division, Office of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports, Chittagong Development Authority, Dhaka Electric Supply Company, and Bangladesh Power Development Board.
BIDA says it is still working on them.
The new additions are said to make as much as 52 data and payment-enabled government to business services available on the OSS.
BIDA's goal is to integrate as many as 154 services from 35 agencies with technical support from the International Finance Corporation.
Bangladesh has turned starting a business less expensive by reducing name clearance and registration fees and abolishing the fee for certifying digital certificates, according to BIDA.
The government has taken several initiatives to improve reforms to ease the process of doing business, Islam said.
This includes developing action plans, forming taskforces, coordinating reform initiatives among relevant government agencies, providing reform support to line agencies, conducting dialogues with private sector stakeholders and monitoring reform progress.
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