IT is ridiculous that an investor needs to go to 42 desks of different government offices for starting a business, which deprives Bangladesh of the much-needed foreign direct and domestic investments. The volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) is insignificant in Bangladesh compared to its peers and neighbours. Understanding the issue, the government last year made a move to render faster services to investors and improve the country’s abysmal ranking in “ease of doing business”, 177th among 190 economies. Cabinet approved the One-stop Service Act 2017 on May 8 last year to provide investors 16 types of services faster and under one roof. In February Parliament passed the law, yet investors know nothing about when they would get the faster services.
The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), which is one of the four secretariats supposed to provide one-stop services is uncertain as to when they would start work. The BIDA was supposed to provide the services from June this year, but it had been delayed due to the poor progress of other government agencies. The government offices, such as the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, land registration, the Central Bank, controller of export and import, the revenue board and the authorities of gas, electricity, and water are not ready for the one-stop service center integration. Insiders said that some 18 such government agencies and departments are in the process of joining the one-stop center, but they need several other government offices to get connected to the BIDA.
Once the one-stop center is operational, an investor may get registration of a company within one day and maximum 15 days. Similarly, connections to utilities would be given within a week. Only the approval for construction of a building may take 60 days. Experts asked the government to start the one-stop service immediately to attract investment and create jobs. As the cost of doing business is escalating in China, they want to move their garment, pharmaceuticals, footwear, and food-processing factories to low-cost places, where Bangladesh ranks at the top. It is high time and there is no scope for the delay in implementing the one-stop service center.
