International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (ICCB) has highlighted two challenges in the way of Bangladesh’s development. “The main one is to maintain the economic growth continuously and another challenge is related to eradicating inequality,” said ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman while presenting the Executive Board Report at the ‘ICC Bangladesh Annual Council’ held at a hotel in the city, said a press release.
Among others, ICCB Vice President Rokia A Rahman, Bangladesh Insurance Academy (BIA) President Sheikh Kabir Hossain, Envoy Group Chairman Kutubuddin Ahmed, Square Textiles Chairman Tapan Chowdhury and on his right DCCI President Osama Taseer, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) former first Vice President Mohammed Hatem, Ha-meem Group Managing Director AK Azad and ICCB Secretary General Ataur Rahman attended the meeting.
Mahbubur Rahman said if the country continues its economic growth, it has to ensure the equal distribution of the benefits of the growth among all. “That means the government has to give more importance on social service delivery like health service and education service,” he added.
He said lack of regulatory predictability businesses faces regulatory uncertainty on various fronts.
“Regulatory predictability matters because it makes property rights insecure, thereby constraining investment. This leads to uncertainty for businesses – medium-size firms seem to bear the brunt more than large or small firms – and with inconsistencies in policy implementation, it can adversely affect employment growth,” he added.
He said Bangladesh’s regulatory system needs the establishment of a technical regulatory oversight body at the center of government to oversee, lead and report on regulatory reforms.
“Attaining the target depends on how quickly Bangladesh can resolve the challenges experts suggests that foreign and local investments should be increased and the activities of Economic Zones should start immediately,” Mahbubur Rahman added.
In order to become an upper middle-income country by 2031 and achieve high-income country status by 2041, Bangladesh will require huge investments in physical capital, human capital, and innovation enabled by reforms in areas such as financial sector, business regulation, and to address the infrastructure gap, he added. To bring stability and discipline to the financial sector, Mahbubur Rahman said, Bangladesh has to ensure Bangladesh Bank’s autonomy on regulation, integrate risk-based supervision in the central bank’s supervisory framework, tighten rescheduling guidelines and stop ad-hoc rescheduling.