DHAKA, Dec 21, 2018 (BSS) – Bangladesh is likely to improve its rank in the World Bank’s Global Doing Business Report for the next year as the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) is going to introduce the full-fledged ‘One-Stop Service (OSS) Centre’ in January.
“Entrepreneurs will get all necessary permissions for investment from a single window after launching the OSS in January. OSS will make easier starting a business in Bangladesh. So, the position in doing business index will improve,” BIDA Executive Chairman Kazi M Aminul Islam told BSS.
He said the government has set a plan to bring down the country’s position in doing business ranking to below 100 from the existing 176 by 2021 through reforming the rules and regulations of doing business.
“Ease of doing business depends on different particular issues. Many issues of the doing business index are related to OSS. So, proper use of OSS will improve Bangladesh’s ranking in the WB’s global doing business report,” he added.
The ease of doing business index is an index created by the World Bank Group. The index is based on the average of 10 sub-indices – starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
Through the OSS, Aminul Islam said, the potential investors would get all necessary permissions for making investment and starting a business and get all paperwork done for receiving various utility services like power, gas, water and telephone from the centre after becoming fully functional.
“The flow of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Bangladesh will reach a new height after the launching of the service centre as the new web-based system allows a company to start its activities within a short time,” he added.
The BIDA chief said that the services from the centre would also be faster than before as the centre is being established after sharing experiences with many other countries which have already opened one-stop services to expedite investment including FDI.
Describing the one-stop service as a web-based and virtual one, he said previously investors had to apply physically and go door to door to all service providers to get permissions for utility connections and other consents.
“With the launching of the full-placed one stop service centre, investors would apply through a single web-based application. They could also track the progress of their applications online,” he said.
The BIDA was formed in September 2016 through the merger of the Privatisation Commission and Board of Investment (BoI).