This letter is in reference to the article titled 'BIDA opens online one-stop service for investors' published in the Financial Express on January 8, 2019.
The article mentioned that the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) has started its online one-stop service (OSS) on trial basis and its formal launch may occur around the end of this month.
BIDA officials have gone on record saying that the OSS is receiving good responses since it went online on January 5. Already more than 1,800 individuals have requested for user registration and password from the platform.
I am sure that the OSS will get more hits and responses from increasing number of domestic and foreign investors as time passes. Most investors are still unaware of it. This is a service that investors have been demanding for years. Such services are available in other countries of South Asia as well. Such a platform can help the economy get more investment and ensure that the decisions behind the investments are being taken on accurate information.
Entrepreneurs are currently getting 15 types of services through the OSS. Officials have assured that all kinds of services related to investment will be available on the digital platform. As such, potential investors would not need to pay a single visit to government offices for business project registration, seeking office permission, work permit, name clearance, company registration etc. along with updated statistics, laws, guidelines and other information.
In the past, it was reported by media that when most potential foreign and local investors go to some government departments to obtain approvals and information, they often face harassment and are asked to pay bribes by some unscrupulous officials. If the OSS offers all the services online, investors would not have to go to these offices anymore.
Also, investors who live outside Dhaka can avail of the services without being forced to come to the capital. The web link of the OSS is available on the homepage of the BIDA website -- bida.gov.bd.
Prior to the OSS, investors waited for somewhere between a month and four years to get all approvals and licences before they could initiate their business projects. It is expected that the OSS will reduce this waiting time to 45 days at the maximum.
I am certain that once the OSS is launched formally, there will be a significant increase in the number of investments in the country.
Akibul Javed,
Indira Road, Dhaka
