The government of Bangladesh will honour 44 business leaders with Commercially Important Person (CIP) cards this year for their outstanding contributions to the economy of the country in 2021. Of them, six will get the award in the National Council for Industrial Development (NCID) category, 20 in large industry (production) category, 5 in large industry (services) category, 10 in medium industry (production) category, 2 in small industry (production) category and 1 in micro industry category, according to a media release signed by Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan, senior information officer of the Industries ministry.   Read more: CIP cards awarding: Businesses should prepare to compete in post-graduation period-Tipu Munshi Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque will hand over the CIP cards to the businesspersons for their respective companies at a ceremony scheduled to be held on May 22 at Hotel InterContinental Dhaka, as the chief guest. Moreover, State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Majumdar, Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbubur Rahman and FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin will attend as special guests at the event with Industries Secretary Zakia Sultana in the chair. The CIPs will be able to use VIP lounges at all the airports in the country, receive visa assistance from embassies as well as their family members will also be given priority in booking cabins at public hospitals. Read more: Govt honours 178 businesspersons with CIP status They will also get passes to enter the Bangladesh Secretariat without hindrance, participate in different national programmes and will be given priority in booking tickets for air, railway, and waterways on business trips.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Thursday urged businesses to prepare to sustain in competition with global entrepreneurs after the country’s graduation to the developing economy. The minister said this while addressing as the chief guest at the CIP (Export) and CIP (Trade) -2018 card distribution ceremony at a city hotel. The program was organized by the Export promotion Bureau (EPB), a wing of the commerce ministry. He also emphasized product diversification along with improving high-end and high value products to enhance the country’s export volume at desired level. The businesses have to be enriched with business-technical knowledge and skilled entrepreneurship handling in line with global markets opportunity. To encourage businesses the government introduced commercially important person (CIP) status in 2013 for excellent export performance and domestic trade development as an acknowledgement of the contribution of business people. The CIP honour will encourage businessmen’s new generation to remain in business and create new entrepreneurship, Tipu said. Read: Increased capacity of Ctg Port to cut cost of doing business: FBCCI Commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh presided over the function. FBCCI president Md. Jasim Uddin, vice chairman of EPB AHM Ahsan, ampong others, spoke at the event. The ministry awarded cards to 176 businessmen as CIP for their extraordinary performance in the country’s trade sector and export business in 2018. Among them, 138 persons have been nominated by the commerce ministry for CIPs card for excellence in exporting goods and the remaining 38 people’s nominated CIP cards for outstanding contribution in the trade sector of Bangladesh. They were selected in 20 categories from 250 applications while none was applied from the melamine and furniture sector. Among the categories 1 CIP card rewarded for raw jute, 3 for jute products, 5- leather goods, 7- frozen food, 23- readymade garments (oven), 6- agriculture good, 4- agro processing, 2- light engineering products, 2-pharmaceutical products, 5- handicraft products, 3-specialized home textile products, 41-readymade garments (net), 2-ceramic products, 2-plastic products, 5- textile (febrics), 2- computer software, 23-measeneous products,2- EPZs’ C category products, 38-business leader (trade).      

38 non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) will receive the commercially important person (CIP) status on January 6 next year for their outstanding contribution to the country’s economy.