Planning Minister M A Mannan on Thursday said the government agencies have to play their role in a friendly manner while providing services to businesspeople.
The minister said this in response to businesses' demand to continue the policy of assistance for attracting more investment.
“The government should give more priority to the infrastructure sector. Government is committed to working hand in hand with the private sector in order to be competitive in the world,” Mannan said.
The planning minister took part in a pre-budget discussion jointly organized by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI), Samakal and Chanel 24 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) on Thursday.
The businesses stressed improving ease of doing business, policy reforms, continuation of policy assistance, required policy adoptation, tax simplification, reduction of corporate tax, boosting CMSMEs, incentives for export diversification, implementing a sustainable bond market and focusing on logistic industry.
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The discussion focused on concerns that need to be addressed in the next budget to make it more business and revenue friendly.
DCCI President Rizwan Rahman proposed to reduce the corporate tax rate by 2.5% for both listed and non-listed companies in the next budget.
He also urged to reduce tax on income of corporate dividends from existing 20% to 10%. An integrated tax administration system is crucial for a simplified tax management system, he said.
In order to strengthen CMSMEs, he proposed to introduce turnover-based loans instead of collateral-based loans for the CMSME sector.
He later urged that increasing investment, employment generation, private sector participation in the industry development, widening tax and vat net, export diversification, infrastructure development and continuation of business-friendly environment should get more focus in the upcoming budget.
Syed Manzur Elahi, Chairman of Apex Group and Former Adviser to the Caretaker Government said, “We need to improve ease of doing business and reduce cost of doing business for a conducive trade and investment ecosystem in the country.”
Md. Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, MP, former President FBCCI said that CMSMEs are the backbone of the economy. The CMSMEs should have access to the fund of the stimulus.
He also echoed the proposal of reducing the corporate tax rate to be at par with the average of other regional countries.
Md. Jashim Uddin, president of FBCCI said that exporters should get incentives as logistics is a huge backlog for them.
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He also called upon the NBR to consult with the private sector prior to changing any rules or SROs because sudden changes sometimes become a hassle for the business community.
He also said that we should facilitate sub-contracting to boost backward linkage industry.
Asif Ibrahim, Chairman, Chittagong Stock Exchange Ltd., Former Member of NBR Alamgir Hossain, Arif Khan, Vice Chairman of Shanta Asset Management Ltd., Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO of Standard Chartered Bangladesh, Dr. Md. Habibur Rahman, Chief Economist of Bangladesh Bank, Taskin Ahmed, Deputy Managing Director, Ifad Group, Mostafa Kamal, Chairman of Meghna Group of Industries, Shahidullah Azim, Vice President of BGMEA, Md. Saiful Islam, President, MCCI, Navidul Haque, Vice President, Bangladesh Independent power Producers Association, Mahbubul Anam, Managing Director, Expo Group, M A Zabbar, Vice President, Bangladesh Economic Zone Investors Association, Syed Ali Jowher Rizvi, Chairman, Alliance Holdings Ltd. also took part in the discussion.