Business associations often lack grassroots representation

BIDA executive chairman Ashik Chowdhury announced the formation of a national advisory council composed of genuine businessmen, noting that current business associations often lack representation from authentic field traders.
Citing a quote from Churchill, he highlighted that the government is more receptive to feedback now and emphasised the need for accurate information flow to the government from credible business leaders.
He said the proposed advisory council, akin to Singapore's ETB, aims to foster a fair and competitive investment environment and will be established within the coming days.
He came up with the comments at a roundtable discussion titled "New Journey," organised by the civic platform Technology Industry Policy Advocacy Platform (TIPAP) at the Biswa Sahitya Kendra auditorium in the city on Saturday.
Speaking at the roundtable, BTRC Commissioner Mahmud Hossain urged civil society to push for the reopening of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), which has been closed, stating that the country has suffered consequently.
He highlighted that while BTRC is a regulatory body its constitutional role is to create a favorable environment for the telecommunication sector.
Hossain also announced plans to introduce a set lock system and provide toll-free access to calls and data, aiming to improve mobile and internet availability for citizens.
He further highlighted the need to strengthen cyber security, roll out 5G by laying fiber to BTS, and facilitate IoT with the release of the 6 GHz spectrum.
Didarul Bhuiyan, one of the coordinators of TIPAP, delivered the welcome speech, focusing on the lack of representation from grassroots traders in various business associations.
Coordinators of the platform Fahim Mashroor and Fida Haque presented 20 reform proposals for the technology sector.
Fahim Mashroor emphasised the importance of providing smartphones, free calls, and app-based services to citizens.
He raised concern about the cybersecurity capabilities of the government institutions, urging improvement in this area.
He also highlighted that freelancers, who are entitled to a 4 per cent incentive, have not been receiving it, and noted that online gambling, especially in rural areas, has become a more pressing issue than Yaba, with mobile financial services (MFS) being exploited for financial corruption.
Instead of policing, Fahim proposed implementing the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) to tackle this issue.
Fida Haque advocated for a two-year moratorium on importing foreign software, arguing that international development organisations and donors should refrain from awarding contracts to foreign software firms.
He suggested that dividing large government projects across multiple institutions could reduce corruption.
Additionally, he called for the development of a national AI and blockchain strategy and insisted that Project Managers should possess PNP certification.
Fida also stressed the need to support hardware alongside software, such as facilitating printed circuit board (PCB) design and app monetisation.
Shahadat Khan, CEO of Talikhata, presented a case study on easing business constraints for small entrepreneurs like a Kamal Mia, stressing that Bangladesh 2.0 could enable such individuals to access and repay loans via QR codes through banking apps.
Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, former president of the Mobile Operators' Organization (MTB), proposed that, with policy changes, the cost of data could be reduced significantly without compromising government revenue.
He also called for the immediate closure of ITC and IOF, noting that considerable funds are being smuggled to India through ITC.
He stressed the need for policy reforms in the telecom sector and suggested limiting telecom licenses to three layers: MNO, ISP, and MVNO, following the examples of India and Malaysia.
He expressed concern over the monopolisation of profits by a few companies, such as Summit, at the expense of MNOs and ISPs, and suggested that recent submarine licenses granted to three companies should be revoked due to political considerations.
During the discussion, Abdul Awal Ujjal, a top-rated freelancer, raised concern about freelancers not receiving remittance incentives from banks, stressing that the curriculum needs to be updated to focus on skill development rather than just earnings.
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