Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed on Monday said increasing the efficiency of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is essential for the growth of business in the country.
He also called for increasing the competitiveness of local businesses in light of the upcoming LDC graduation through maintaining labour and environmental compliances.
The adviser was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar on ‘Reforms in Customs, Income Tax, and VAT Management to Address the LDC Graduation Challenges’ held at the NEC Conference Room in the capital.
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Support to Sustainable Graduation Project (SSGP) of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) organised the event.
Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin and the Chairman of the National Board of Revenue Md. Abdur Rahman Khan spoke as special guests. ERD Secretary Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky chaired the event.
The finance adviser said that the private sector must be proactive alongside the government in meeting the LDC graduation challenges.
He also emphasised on effective implementation of the recently finalised Smooth Transition Strategy (STS).
Speaking on the occasion, Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin emphasised on increasing the efficiency of the local businesses to face the potential challenges of LDC graduation.
At the same time, he also called for bringing the small and medium enterprises under the VAT net and introducing a uniform tax rate system.
NBR chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan underlined the importance of reducing the tax expenditure.
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He also informed that the National Single Window would become fully operational by next March while the entire tax system would be automated very soon.
ERD Secretary Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky said that the government is committed to ensuring effective and time bound implementation of Smooth Transition Strategy (STS).
He also mentioned that a series of stakeholder consultations will be organised for successful implementation of the STS.
Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority Rear Admiral S M Moniruzzaman, Members of NBR AKM Badiul Alam, Sr. Vice President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry Razeev H Chowdhury; and President of Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association Kabir Ahmed spoke during the event.
Members of NBR Hossain Ahmed and Mohammad Belal Hossain Chowdhury as well as the Vice Chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau Md. Anwar Hossain were also present in the seminar.
Private sector representatives participating in the seminar called for deferment of LDC graduation for a few years. This, they said, would give Bangladesh enough time to prepare for LDC graduation.
Former Member of Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) and Component Manager of SSGP Dr. Mostafa Abid Khan delivered the keynote presentation of the event.
Referring to the findings of the World Development Indicators 2023 published by World Bank, Dr. Khan pointed out that the cost of import and export in Bangladesh is significantly higher than India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
The same World Bank study also found that the efficiency of customs clearance process, competence and quality of logistics services; as well as the quality of trade and transport related infrastructure in Bangladesh are relatively inferior compared to those countries.
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Highlighting the findings of various impact assessments carried out in recent times, Dr. Khan said that if the time for customs clearance at the local ports could be reduced by a day, the country’s overall exports would increase by 7.4 percent.
He also pointed out that easing the customs procedures could boost the competitiveness of domestic products by at least 5 percent.
Dr. Khan also pointed out that the recently finalised STS has outlined some priority actions including timely implementation of National Tariff policy 2023; carrying out policy reforms outlined in Annex 3.1 of National Logistics Policy 2024; and immediate rollout of the National Single Window (NSW) scheme.
Additional Secretary of ERD and Project Director of SSGP A. H. M. Jahangir delivered the welcome address at the event.
Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from LDC status on 24 November 2026. Following LDC graduation, the country will gradually loose access to International Support Measures (ISMs) including duty-free and quota-free market access in some major export markets, as well as opportunities for providing export subsidies.
In this context, major reforms in income tax, VAT management, and customs procedures are expected to boost the trade competitiveness of the country.
The recently finalised Smooth Transition Strategy (STS) has also outlined various priority actions related to increased revenue mobilisation; timely implementation of National Tariff policy 2023; immediate rollout of the National Single Window (NSW); fulfilling commitments under the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement; enhancing the capacity of land and seaports etc.
The importance of revenue mobilisation as well as reforms in tax policy and customs clearance procedures have also been repeatedly emphasised in various studies, seminars, workshops and Focus Groups Discussions conducted by the Support to Sustainable Graduation Project of ERD in recent years.
In this context, the seminar was organised to develop a roadmap for implementing the customs, VAT and income tax related recommendations coming from STS as well as various LDC graduation related seminars, workshops and FGDs.
Senior officials from government ministries, agencies and research institutions, representatives from relevant trade associations and think tanks attended the event.