Salman F Rahman, the private industry and investment adviser to the Prime Minister, stated today that the challenges facing Bangladesh’s economy stem from global factors rather than domestic mismanagement.
Speaking at the One Stop Service (OSS) implementation progress review meeting at the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority’s (Bida) headquarters, Rahman highlighted the impact of international events on the country’s economic situation.
“The country’s economy is facing many challenges. These are not due to our mismanagement but are a result of the international situation,” Rahman said. He emphasized that Bangladesh efficiently managed the Covid-19 crisis, but the problems began after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Rahman pointed out that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes led to a stronger dollar, putting pressure on Bangladesh’s reserves. “Prices of commodities, fertilizers, and fuel increased significantly, causing added stress on our economy,” he noted.
To mitigate these pressures, Rahman underscored the need for increased investment, both domestic and foreign. He stated that the successful implementation of Bida’s OSS could facilitate this investment. “We have received complaints that despite going online, people still need to visit physically and submit paper documents. These issues will be discussed today to expedite the remaining services,” he said.
During the meeting, Bida Executive Member Mohsina Yasmin presented a report on OSS implementation progress. However, journalists were asked to leave before the detailed discussion, which continued for about two and a half hours. After the meeting, Bida released a statement announcing that memorandums of understanding (MoUs) have been signed with 48 organizations, adding 101 services from 41 organizations to the OSS. Including Bida’s own 23 services, a total of 124 services are now provided through the OSS.
Mohammad Salahuddin, secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office, stressed the importance of investment in overcoming current economic challenges. “We need to remove all obstacles to increase domestic and foreign investment, and everyone must work together for this purpose,” he said.
Bida Executive Chairman Lokman Hossain Miah, who presided over the meeting, compared the investment service timelines of other countries, stating, “Vietnam provides investment-related services in 29 days and Indonesia in 48 days. We hope to add all investment services to the OSS in the next 2-3 months, enabling us to provide these services within a month.”