STAR BUSINESS REPORT

Digitalising government services is essential not only for improving ease of doing business but also for curbing informal practices, said Lutfey Siddiqi, special envoy to the chief adviser on international affairs.

Some officials tend to resist adapting to digital platforms as they are accustomed to offline systems where they can pocket unofficial payments, he said while responding to reporters at a press meet after the official launching of the BanglaBiz portal. The event was held at the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) head office in the capital yesterday.

“Online systems eliminate opportunities for extra income. But servers must remain fully operational to prevent fallback to offline services,” he said.

“Processes that earlier required multiple physical visits, paperwork, and several days of waiting can now be completed within hours if delivered online,” Lutfey Siddiqi said.

He referred to the success of the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) National Single Window. According to World Bank estimates, NBR’s system has already eliminated around 1.2 million physical visits to government offices.

BanglaBiz is a unified digital platform developed by Bida in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), designed to provide faster, more streamlined support to investors by consolidating key information and services previously spread across multiple portals.

The platform was initially released in September 2025 with partial functionality. The official launch yesterday added more features to accelerate the ease of doing business. The entire business registration process on the platform can be completed in just three working days.