Staff Correspondent

Experts at a workshop on Tuesday stressed that recommendations of the Regulatory Reforms Commission should be implemented to improve the regulatory regime, which, they said, is a barrier to attracting investment.

They reckoned the current atmosphere to be ‘not good’ for business and investment, and insisted that Bangladesh would have to take measures to facilitate entrepreneurs from home and abroad for boosting the national economy.

‘This is high time to do something to improve business climate in the context of a globalised world. Because the time is not determined by us in Bangladesh,’ observed the chief executive officer of the Regulatory Reforms Commission, Auporba Biswas. ‘It’s not a congenial atmosphere for business.’

He felt that regulation itself was a big barrier to business and improvement in regulatory regime would create confidence among local and foreign investors. Auporba, a civil servant of joint secretary status, also blamed the government officials’ attitude towards businesspeople for deteriorating business climate.

SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility organised the interactive session with journalists on ‘Regulatory Reform: The Challenges and Opportunities Going Forward’ at the office of Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund managed by the International Finance Corporation. Referring to failures of earlier reform commissions, the CEO of the present commission, however, expressed the hope that the recommendations being made by the commission would be implemented by the future governments.

Currently, the commission, constituted in late 2007, finalises its recommendations in each meeting, makes them public and send them to the Chief Adviser’s Officer for taking necessary measures. A number of peripheral recommendations, like posting official rules on government website, are in various stage of implementation. Syed Akhter Mahmud, a programme manager of the fund, pointed out that this was the first systematic commission assigned to bring about regulatory reforms and its recommendations were free from political controversies.

He acknowledged that delay in taking decision on investment proposals prompted potential investors to shy away from a promising destination such as Bangladesh. ‘Starting in Bangladesh is quite promising in bringing regulatory reforms,’ said Peter Ladegaard, an investment policy officer of Foreign Investment Advisory Service. Referring to Kenyan experience of regulatory reforms, he recommended that regulators in Bangladesh should be asked to justify why certain regulations would be kept on the book. ‘Otherwise, they will stand invalid.

This will be an easier method to accomplish reforms,’ he added. The Regulatory Reforms Commission has decided to prepare an inventory of rules and regulations and asked officials of different ministries and divisions to submit in two weeks the number and contents of those rules and regulations, said Auporba.

Earlier, the commission had asked 80 chambers, alongside all ministries and divisions, to forward their recommendations while only 20 chambers responded. Headed by former secretary and caretaker government adviser Akbar Ali Khan, the commission has also decided to hold consultative meeting with traders and business leaders at the divisional headquarters to take their inputs.

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