STAR BUSINESS REPORT

Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir yesterday said the government will implement sweeping reforms to ease Bangladesh’s complicated business environment, as high logistics costs, low operational efficiency at ports and lengthy licensing procedures are undermining the country’s industrial competitiveness and export potential.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the International Industrial Packaging Expo 2026, he said investors currently need as many as 27 different licences and approvals to start a business in Bangladesh, making the process excessively lengthy and complex.

“We do not have the luxury of stopgap measures,” he said, stressing the urgency of improving competitiveness ahead of Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category.

The expo was jointly organised by Exponet Exhibition Private Limited and the Bangladesh Flexible Packaging Industries Association (BFPIA) at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital yesterday.

Muktadir said Bangladesh’s logistics cost-to-GDP ratio currently stands at around 16 percent, compared to the global average of approximately 10 percent. He also pointed out that the lack of operational efficiency at ports ultimately increases business costs.

The government plans to bring more internationally reputed operators into port management and container terminal operations in a bid to improve efficiency and reduce turnaround time, he said.

A Danish company has already begun operating at one of the container terminals, he noted, adding that similar partnerships would be expanded further.

Muktadir also highlighted the heavy fiscal burden created by loss-making state-Turning