STAR BUSINESS REPORT

Execution of trade and investment-related policies is often slowed not by a lack of ideas but by poor coordination among government agencies, leaving businesses burdened by bureaucratic delays, according to experts.

While speaking at a roundtable in Dhaka yesterday, they said fragmented policymaking and inconsistent implementation continue to make the country’s business environment challenging despite broad agreement on the need for reforms.

The Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) organised the programme titled “Trade Policy, Industrial Protection, Investment Impacts and Consumer Welfare”.

“A government is a very fragmented system where different agencies often operate with their own interests and priorities, making coordinated reform efforts difficult despite broad agreement on policy changes,” said Ashik Chowdhury, executive chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida).

He said businesses continue to struggle with importing raw materials, clearing goods through ports and navigating multiple layers of bureaucracy, while poor coordination among agencies and operational inefficiencies raise costs for both companies and consumers.

Chowdhury added that the government has forwarded dozens of recommendations to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), including proposals for deregulation and a more predictable VAT structure.

The discussion also focused on Bangladesh’s long-standing protectionist trade policies and their impact on competitiveness.

Presenting the keynote paper, Zaidi Sattar, chairman of PRI, said tariff protection in Bangladesh has continued for decades without clear time limits or performance conditions.

“The industrial policy that we have is not one that you would like to see in the 21st century,” Sattar said, arguing that Bangladesh still follows an outdated “infant industry” protection model long after many sectors have matured.

He said the original purpose of protection was to give industries time to reduce production costs and become globally competitive, but many sectors in Bangladesh continue to rely heavily on tariff support rather than improving efficiency.