A total of 38 government and private agencies signed agreements with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to be connected with the National Single Window (NSW) system.
The system is meant to provide services related to export and import through an electronic and online platform.
The NBR and the International Finance Corporation, an arm of World Bank Group, jointly organised a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony on 'National Single Window' at a city hotel on Tuesday.
The National Single Window will deliver a user-friendly, electronic system that streamlines and automates procedures for international trade-related permits, licences, certificates and customs declarations.
It will have a link with 39 ministries and agencies in Bangladesh.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith was present at the signing ceremony as the chief guest while Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and President of FBCCI Md. Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin were present as special guests, with NBR chairman Md. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan in the chair.
Speaking on the occasion, the finance minister said, "For trade and investment, support from the NBR and related agencies is crucial. This agreement will facilitate better communications with various ministries and agencies."
He said all types of activities, including trade chalans, should be brought under NSW.
Customs modernisation alone cannot bring about the expected results in trade facilitation, he said.
"Through this NSW, Bangladesh will be connected with international trade. It will be considered a milestone in the use of information technology in businesses," Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said.
The NBR is implementing the NSW with support from the World Bank Group under Bangladesh Regional Connectivity Project with customs modernisation and NSW implementation components involving $74.1 million.
The DFID-funded Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund is providing technical assistance to design and develop technical and functional specifications while IFC is implementing it.
The MoU outlines the general principle of collaboration, roles of different parties, preliminary commitment for business process and policy reform to make NSW system effective and sustainable.
According to the NBR, a total of 0.3 million traders, importers and exporters are expected to be benefited from reduced time and cost for trade in the fifth year of the operation of the solution.
During the same year, the average processing time for import is expected to be reduced to 122 hours and average processing time for export is expected to be reduced to 88 hours.
A single window is defined as a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil all import-export and transit-related regulatory requirements.
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