One-stop services yet to be quick as promised:Bida

None of the organisations that inked deals with Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) to facilitate business in the country have fast tracked access to their services, except for the digital verification of information of national ID cards, said  BIDA Executive Chairman Sirazul Islam. 

If the services are not provided fast, he said on Wednesday, "we will close the gateways because there is a legal obligation to that." 

Through the signing of memoranda with five more organisations, investors have been entitled to 14 more public services at the One-Stop Service (OSS) portal of Bida.

At an online event, Bida made public the agreements to improve the status of the ease of doing business in Bangladesh. The organisations are the Department of Immigration and Passports, Directorate of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), and the City Bank Ltd.

The newly incorporated services enable visa extension, E-1 visa extension, PI visa extension, A-3 visa extension, applicable class visa extension (journalist, player etc.) from the department of immigration; approval of factory machine layout plan, issuance of licences, renewal and correction of licences from DIFE; acceptance and processing of exporter enrollment and registration applications; issuance of certificate of origin, if applicable, from EPB; issuance of membership certificates, renewal of membership certificate and certificate of origin from MCCI and the opening of bank accounts online with City Bank. 

The Bida platform presently gives access to 47 services of 15 organisations. 

The Bida official highlighted the challenges that businessmen face in getting the services. 

To give an example, he said Dhaka South and Chattogram city corporations had signed memoranda with Bida two and a half years ago, but they were yet to integrate their services into the OSS portal. Traders were supposed to get licenses from the city corporations online after sending appropriate documents and paying the required fee.

Md Sirazul Islam said Bida's purpose was to enable investors to quickly access all types of investment services from the same platform, ensuring transparency. 

He asked service providers to connect their online system with Bida's online portal. "Only then the services will be quick."

Bida's Director Jiban Krishna Saha Roy said the OSS was aimed at bringing relevant government agencies together, coordinated and streamlined, to provide efficient and transparent services to investors.  

President of Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahbubul Alam, President of Foreign Investors Chambers of Commerce and Industries Rupali Chowdhury, Managing Director and CEO of The City Bank Ltd Masroor Arefin, President of MCCI barrister Nihad Kabir, DIFE Joint Inspector General Dr Md Mostafizur Rahman and Director General of Immigration and Passports Department Major General Mohammad Ayub Chowdhury were also present.