PM orders simplifying project approval process to attract investment

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today (4
May)directed the authorities concerned to simplify the project approval process
to attract both local and foreign investment.
He also assured necessary support for investors
willing to invest in long-closed state-owned factories, said a press release
issued by the Prime Minister's press wing.
The directives came at a two-hour-long meeting
beginning at 10:30am at the Prime Minister's Office in the Bangladesh
Secretariat, where the current condition of closed factories in the textiles
and jute sector and the next steps were discussed.
The prime minister said the government is
committed to creating an investment-friendly environment and stressed the need
to remove existing complexities in the investment process.
According to an official present at the meeting,
it often takes a long time to get final approval for projects, which
discourages both local and foreign investors.
The need to obtain clearances from multiple
agencies also acts as a major obstacle.
In this context, the prime minister instructed
that the approval process be made simpler and more time-efficient.
"Approvals from ministries or agencies that
are not essential should be removed from the process," he said.
He also emphasised easing access to loans to
encourage private investment in closed state-owned factories and asked the
ministers concerned to take prompt and effective steps in this regard.
Commerce, Industries, Textiles and Jute Minister
Khandaker Abdul Muktadir Chowdhury, the Prime Minister's Political and Industry
Affairs Adviser Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Economic and Planning Adviser Dr Rashed Al
Mahmud Titumir, State Minister for Textiles and Jute Shariful Alam, Principal
Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment
Development Authority Ashik Chowdhury, Chairman of Bangladesh Textile Mills
Corporation Brig Gen SM Zahid Hasan, and Chairman of Bangladesh Jute Mills
Corporation Kabir Uddin Sikder, among others, were present at the meeting.
Officials from the relevant ministries and
agencies also attended the meeting.
















