Bangladesh has set up an ambitioustarget of attaining middle-income status by 2021. To achievethis objective, the economy needs to grow at a sustainedrate of 7.5-8 percent annually and this would in turnrequire an increase in private investment to at least 26.6percent of GDP from 22 percent in 2016-17. Despite the factthat the government has implemented several policy reformssince 2008, investors still face a number of challenges inestablishing and operating a business in Bangladesh. This isreflected in the World Bank Group’s Doing Business report,which finds that Bangladesh ranks 177th amongst 190countries, making it one of the lowest-ranked economies inthe South Asia region. Businesses seeking to operate inBangladesh have to cope with multiple approvals from severalinstitutions and agencies. A potential private investor hasto navigate more than 150 government services to obtain thenecessary approvals to start and operate a business inBangladesh. The processes are regulated by over 36 agenciessuch as the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority(BIDA), Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies andFirms (RJSC) and the Department of Environment (DoE), withlittle inter-agency coordination. Navigating theuncoordinated, non-transparent and cumbersome workings ofthe agencies imposes a high cost on domestic and foreigninvestors. In addition, the uncertainty and unpredictabilityof service delivery hampers business activities andoperational planning. These challenges affect Bangladesh’scompetitiveness and reputation as an investment destination.
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