Govt Unveils Tk 661cr BanglaBiz to Slash Business Approvals From Years to 3 Days

In a landmark move to dismantle one of Bangladesh's biggest barriers to investment, the government has launched a Tk 661.50 crore digital transformation project to create a unified business services platform, promising to slash business registration and regulatory approval times from years to just three working days.

The ambitious initiative, branded 'BanglaBiz', will consolidate all existing One Stop Service (OSS) portals into a single integrated digital gateway, eliminating bureaucratic hurdles that have long frustrated both local and foreign investors.

The project is now awaiting final approval from the Prime Minister's Office, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.

Once operational, BanglaBiz will bring together the investment-related services of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) and Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority under one digital platform, enabling investors to complete virtually all major regulatory procedures through a single portal.

Officials said the platform is expected to transform the country's investment landscape. Entrepreneurs, who currently often wait between two and three years to obtain initial business registration and mandatory regulatory clearances, will be able to complete the entire process within three working days.

At the heart of the platform will be a Single Sign-On (SSO) system, allowing businesses to access services from multiple government agencies through a single account. Investors will also have access to a real-time 'Know Your Approvals' dashboard to monitor the progress of licence and permit applications, while every enterprise will receive a lifetime Unique Business ID (UBID), enabling seamless information sharing among government agencies and eliminating repetitive paperwork.

The first phase of the initiative, titled the 'Business Starter Pack', was launched in February this year. The government plans to integrate the most frequently used services over the next nine to 12 months before bringing all investment-related services onto the platform by 2030.

The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) is providing technical support for the project, while the recently enacted Invest Bangladesh Act has laid the legal foundation for the country's most comprehensive digital investment reform to date. Nahian Rahman Rachi, Executive Member and Head of Business Development at BIDA, said the Development Project Proposal (DPP) had already been submitted and was awaiting approval from the Prime Minister's Office.