DHAKA, April 03, 2021 (BSS) – Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister, Salman F Rahman today stressed the need for simplifying the process of operating lawsuits or improving the “litigation management” in a bid to expand trade and commerce and attract more investment.
“Due to the lengthiness in disposal of litigations, attraction of investment especially foreign investment is being deterred. It takes around eight to 10 years time to dispose of any civil case including land related case which put a big impact on trade and commerce and wooing more investment,” he said.
The PM’s adviser was speaking as the chief guest at a webinar on “Country Competitiveness of Bangladesh: Key Reforms in Doing Business.”
The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) organized the webinar where Secretary of Law and Justice Division Md. Golam Sarwar joined as special guest.
DCCI President Rizwan Rahman gave the welcome address while NKA Mobin, senior vice president of DCCI gave the vote of thanks. Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar presented the keynote paper.
Salman said all the concerned stakeholders need to use One Stop Service (OSS) efficiently. At present, 45 services are being offered through the OSS. “We should have policy reforms throughout the taxation system,” he added.
For generating more revenues, he emphasized on further widening the tax net and extended thanks to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for adding 55,000 new tax payers to the tax net last year.
Salman also suggested that if the tax net could be enlarged further, tax rate can be slashed without keeping pressure on the existing tax payers.
Regarding ports’ efficiency, the PM’s adviser mentioned that the country’s ports are now more improved, adding that the Bay terminal, Matarbari deep sea port, 2nd international airport in Cox’s Bazar, railway connectivity with Cox’s Bazar will be operational in the near future.
“Moreover, ICD Kamalapur will be shifted to Gazipur under PPP initiative,” he said.
Salman said another bridge over the River Meghna is under consideration while the government plans to allocate a dedicated fund for research and skills development.
“But, the entire judicial system needs major reforms. We have to resolve the disputes in a faster manner. Still the mediation and arbitration system are not being used widely in the country due to not having a standard civil litigation management timeframe,” he noted.
Mentioning that enforcing contract is necessary for the improvement in the ease of doing business index, Salman also emphasized on reducing communication gap between stakeholders on legal reforms.
Secretary of Law and Justice Division Md. Golam Sarwar said for improvement in the doing business index, the government has already done various reforms.
“We should rejuvenate the private sector with proper policy reforms in arbitration, contract enforcement and resolving insolvency related issues. Enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency are inter-dependent and to facilitate these we need a pragmatic judicial system,” he added.
The law secretary also said the government is going to implement e-judiciary project to foster effective and speedy disposal of cases, including commercial disputes.
“Steps have been taken to amend the existing Insolvency Act 1997. For effective settlement of commercial disputes, the government is planning to establish commercial courts in Dhaka and Chattogram,” he added.
In his welcome address, the DCCI president Rizwan Rahman said to overcome the transition of economic graduation and alleviate the rank of Bangladesh within 100 in doing business index, improvement of competitiveness is a pre-requisite.
The improved competitiveness of Bangladesh will support investment growth, export diversification and employment growth, he added.
Abul Kasem Khan, chairman, BUILD, General Manager of Foreign Exchange Investment Department, Bangladesh Bank Jagannath Chandra Ghosh, Director of BIDA Jibon Krishna Saha Roy, representative, JETRO Bangladesh Kazunori Yamada, Chairman and CEO of PRAN-RFL Group Ahsan Khan Chowdhury and Managing Director of Oryx Bio-Tech Limited David Bo also spoke on various pertinent issues and reforms on the occasion as the distinguished discussants.