Finance Minister AHM Musatafa Kamal has declared an incentive package of Tk 1,000 crore to help the tourism industry to recover from the pandemic losses. In his budget speech in Parliament on Thursday, the minister said the country’s tourism industry was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said 10 government-funded projects are under implementation for the development of potential areas for tourism in Bangladesh. Also read: Budget FY23: Women, children get higher allocation Besides, the government has taken steps to set up Sabrang Tourism Park, Naf Tourism Park, and Sonadia Eco-Tourism Park in Cox’s Bazar district with international standards accommodation and recreational facilities to enrich the tourism sector. “To achieve economic prosperity through the development and growth of tourism, steps are being taken for the physical infrastructure development and beautification of the tourist areas of different districts and upazilas by branding 36 districts having tourism potential,” said Kamal. Documentaries and television commercials are being prepared featuring Bangabandhu’s contribution to the development of the tourism industry and for the preservation of the attractive spots where there are precious memories of the Liberation War, he added.

Planning Minister MA Mannan on Saturday said that lack of credible, authentic data held back the implementation of the government's pandemic stimulus package, delaying allocation for the marginal groups. “We need to upgrade the household database accurately so that the government can make quick decisions for implementation of any kind of program like stimulus and other development activities,” he said. The minister emphasized that the 100 percent success of the project depended on authentic information on the target group along with accessibility of researchers and relevant people who would work for them. MA Mannan was speaking in a webinar titled ‘COVID-19 Stimulus Packages: An Analysis of Institutional Capacity, Transparency, and Accountability’,  organized by Asia Foundation, Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID) and the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) "Immediate response measures are more important in any emergency or crisis situation for a government than waiting for data collection," MA Mannan said. In the Covid-19 pandemic case, the government has done just that. As in  other countries of the world, it has been done through the banking sector. “There may have been some misunderstandings at first in identifying who would benefit from this. But later they were fixed. In most cases the beneficiary is properly identified. The main goal of the government is to solve the problem,” he added. Other speakers at the webinar said incentive packages announced by the government have played a very effective role in tackling the effects of Covid-19 pandemic on the economy and aided its recovery. Read: Dhaka smells more ‘assaults’, wants to counter propaganda abroad with facts They also said formal sector business groups have benefited more from the incentive packages though it was very essential for the informal sector.  One of the reasons they pointed out was institutional weakness. As a result, institutional capacity for effective implementation of crisis management initiatives needs to be enhanced along with reform policy. In response, the planning minister said there is a shortage of skills both at the government and the society level. The government has taken various initiatives to address this deficit and regularly updates and verifies continually. Dr. MA Razzaque, Chairman, RAPID, presented a study paper on the topic. He said the government's stimulus packages have certainly had a positive impact. Bangladesh was ranked 22nd among the top 53 economies in the world last December. This January, however, it has deteriorated to 29th. He said despite some limitations Bangladesh has been praised by the world for tackling Covid-19 pandemic and keeping the economy in a positive growth track. “The organized group, especially the export sector has got more benefits. They also have easy access to government policy makers. In comparison, medium, small and micro enterprises in the informal sector did not get it right. It is too late to reach the incentives in the tourism sector,” the study revealed.  Dr. Md. Kawser Ahmed, member (secretary) General Economic Division of the Planning Ministry, Dr. Md. Khairuzzaman, additional secretary, Ministry of Finance, also spoke at the webinar. Sharmeen Rinvy, ERF president presided over the function while its secretary SM Rashidul Islam, moderated the webinar.      

Speakers at a dialogue have said labour-intensive small entrepreneurs should be given priority during the disbursement of the Tk 20,000 crore incentive package announced by the government for the small and medium entrepreneurship.

A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was held on Thursday over the incentive package to overcome the adverse impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the country’s economy.