Govt moves to bulldoze business red tape with 22-member reform task force

The government has launched a high-powered 22-member task force to tear down the regulatory barriers choking businesses and investment, signalling a major push to dismantle unnecessary rules, approvals and bureaucratic complexities that have long made doing business in Bangladesh costly and cumbersome.

The Cabinet Division issued a notification on Sunday forming the task force, with the Finance and Planning Minister as its chair.

The move comes as businesses and investors continue to grapple with layers of licences, clearances, approvals and administrative procedures across government agencies, often resulting in delays, additional costs and uncertainty.

The task force brings together key ministers, senior policymakers, regulators, investment authorities and the country’s leading business organisations, giving it broad institutional and private-sector representation.

The ministers of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Industries and Commerce; and Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs have been made members. Advisers to the Finance and Planning; Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology; and Science and Technology ministries have also been included.

The Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Investment and Capital Market Affairs, the Cabinet Secretary, the Governor of Bangladesh Bank and senior officials from relevant ministries and agencies are among the other members.

The private sector has also secured a seat at the reform table, with the presidents of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) included in the task force.

An Additional Secretary of the Finance Division (Macroeconomics and TDM) will serve as its member-secretary.

Under the notification, the task force will approve sector-specific reform roadmaps for deregulation and improving the ease of doing business and monitor their implementation.

It will issue directives to simplify or eliminate unnecessary procedures involving licences, approvals, clearances, taxes, customs duties, banking, capital markets, construction, environmental compliance and local government services.

A key priority will be the introduction of a genuinely seamless service system, including a single-window mechanism, service-level agreements, deemed or automatic approvals and online tracking of applications.

The task force will also identify and resolve inter-ministerial and inter-agency bottlenecks that hold up business and investment decisions, while determining where amendments to laws, rules, policies, circulars and administrative orders are needed to remove regulatory obstacles.