Need of the day is transparent public and corporate governance
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Abu Sayed Md. Shaykhul Islam, FCMA
TODAY, the principal goal of Bangladesh is to reduce and finally alleviate poverty. The country now needs to gear up the pro-poor economic activities. Its agricultural growth along with rapid private investments can bring momentum in business and money market and create more and more employment opportunities. This will, in turn, gradually improve the quality of life of the poor people and eradicate poverty. So, economic growth and poverty reduction are interlinked.
Investment and employment generation are also interlinked. The economic activities never get momentum without the active participation of both local and foreign private investments. In a market-oriented economy, private investment is a blessing because it creates employment opportunities and develops a vibrant money and capital market. The desired agricultural growth and private investments in Bangladesh have not been possible as yet due to many reasons. Unaccountable politics and bureaucracy along with inadequate electricity, gas, technical know-how, infrastructure, law and order, political unrest, poor public and corporate governance etc., among others, are the major impediments to our desired economic growth and poverty reduction. Here an attempt has been made to focus on governance issues like lack of effective public services and transparent corporate financial reporting and auditing.
Our leaders and policy-makers are very much hopeful to see Bangladesh as a moderate income country by 2020. For achieving this target, Bangladesh has no option but to create more employment opportunities in the days ahead. The policy-makers, economists, politicians, intellectuals, professionals - all leading segments of the society often suggest for converting 150 million people of the country into 300 million working hands. But where is the scope of desired employment generation in Bangladesh?
The successive governments of the country have been promising to change the lot of the common people by. But, establishing good governance, in reality, this still remains a dream even after 37 years of independence. We fought for the freedom but we have not yet understood that freedom is not free. We have also struggled and sacrificed lives for getting democracy but in reality, we have seen democratically elected autocrats. We have not yet realised that democracy means accountability to the people, not to party men and cadres.
In a republic, the duties of government servants are to follow the set of procedures to serve the people and the country but in reality they often intentionally try to misinterpret the laws, rules and behave like ruler.
Bangladesh's capital and stock markets have not been developed properly as yet due to lack of trust and confidence on the activities and published reports of the corporate bodies. General investors and major stake holders of listed companies have lost their confidence and trust on the capital market after the market crush of 1996, repairing of which could not be possible as yet. The directors of the public companies are becoming rich and richer but their companies are getting sick and the general investors are often being deprived of getting their due return on investment. All of these are happening due to lack of a sense of accountability and transparency of the public service-providers and corporate bodies. Such mentality and culture hinders the growth of the country. So, it is necessary to shift to a culture where the government of the republic must remain accountable to the people and the citizens must remain accountable to the society and the country.
Bangladesh has all positive socio-economic indicators. We are a brave and homogeneous nation. Our climate is good, land is fertile and we have cheap labour and human resources to attract foreign investments. We have also a fair command over English, the international language. We just need to strengthen our public management system and ensure transparent corporate financial reporting and auditing practices for creating a trusted investment-friendly environment in Bangladesh. Our national economy will move towards a positive direction if the agriculture sector develops properly, in one hand, and the private investments get momentum under a consistent monetary and fiscal policy support, on the other.
We have to admit that private investors, particularly foreign ones do not feel comfort with the present bureaucracy and corporate financial reporting and auditing regime. It is also true that the public service management as well as accounting and auditing practices in Bangladesh have significance weakness compared to international standards. The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have identified typical bureaucracy as a major reason that impedes doing business in Bangladesh. They also opined that the bureaucracy is responsible for slowing down the implementation of the reforms recommended by the Regulatory Reforms Commission (RRC) and the Better Business Forum (BBF).
The World Bank's Reports on Observance of Standards and Codes: Accounting and Auditing (ROSD:A&A) found that the statutory framework for accounting, auditing and financial reporting in the corporate sector is not up to the mark. Weak financial statements and audit reports have an adverse effect on the business and investments and also open the door of tax evasion, fraud and corruption. All these hinder the growth of money and capital markets and ultimately the national economy. So, the financial statements and audit reports of corporate bodies will have to be improved to international standards to make our capital market as a trusted destination for the international community.
The successive governments of Bangladesh (GOB) have been trying to improve the investment climate for both local and foreign private investments. The GOB has also given due importance on enhancement of government's effectiveness to serve the citizens and attract foreign investments. A number of reform programmes have been undertaken with this end in view. Needless to say that the successes of a government depend on how efficiently it can offer good governance, fight poverty, corruption and terrorism and boost private investments. From economic points of view, these are very important issues and need to be addressed properly and timely. In this regard we can share the knowledge and experiences of the developed nations without spending much time and money for researches and experiments. The developed nations including neighbouring India have shifted to e-governance to make the public administration more transparent and effective. In fact, this is a demand of time and we can not remain out of this. It is time to address this issue rightly, timely and collectively.
E-governance is not mere computerisation of public administration and services. It is something more than that. It ensures transparency, increases efficiency and helps fight corruption. So, it will certainly bring a momentum in the offices of public service-providers and improve the governance speeding up the government activities. It will also strengthen the information flow between the government and the citizens and improve public private relationship and partnership. Under e-governance, the public management system can be designed in such a way so that the public servants will remain under strict discipline and be compelled to maintain public service standards such as coming to office timely, not involving in party politics and providing effective services to citizens and business community.
In view of the above, public service-provider government, semi-government and autonomous bodies like Board of Investment (BOI), Registrar of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Stock Markets, National Board of Revenue (NBR), Titas gas, PDB/DESA, RAJUK/CDA/KDA/RDA, Land Record offices, Court Record Offices, PDB/DESA /DESCO, WASA, Department of Environment, City/Municipal Corporations, Police and RAB Head Quarters are needed to be brought to the priority list for introducing e-governance because these are very much related with public interests and private investments. Under today's reality, no nation can base its development plan on an individual's morality and efficiency. As such, there must be a system which ensures transparent, efficient and accountable services, and, that is, e-governance.
The present caretaker government has successfully done the voter list and a data base for national identity (ID) card which may be considered as a remarkable milestone for our future socio-economic development because this information can also be used by the law enforcing agencies, banks and NBR and many other organisations. In this process, e-governance can play a vital role, because integrated functions of various government offices/departments at a lower cost will be possible under e-governance which will also improve the quality of decisions, reports etc., thereby reducing inaccuracies. Today, information is power and the flow of information can only be speeded up through web-based automated on-line services. National ID number must be made compulsory for every bank account holder and the NBR should introduce e-filling of tax returns. If the NBR comes under e-governance, it can easily check/reconcile bank balances of the tax payers collecting on-line information from banks/financial institutions without involving so many inspectors. In most cases, inspectors do not get/provide correct information but the said on-line system will certainly give accurate information and plug all the gaps including tax evasion. A segment of the public administration thinks that e-governance is too much technology based and it is not easy to introduce. In reality, it is not a very difficult task and few days' training is enough to work under an environment of e-governance. The government is now under a process of various administrative reforms programmes, where e-governance should get top priority for avoiding colonial mentality of public administration. Only strong will and firm commitment of the policy-makers are enough to introduce e-governance.
Corporate financial statements and audit reports are prepared and published for internal management use as well external users. Among others, the external users are shareholders, investors, creditors (banks, financial institutions etc.), NBR, Stock Exchanges, SEC, RJSC, professional bodies, etc. As such, the financial reports need to be transparent on which the users can rely and base their investment or economic decisions. International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) has issued a number of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The corporate bodies of the developed countries are now in a process of adopting IFRS. In this process, a few adjustments are in process to move from previous Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). IFRS 1 sets out the procedure that an entity must follow when it adopts IFRS for the first time as the basis for preparing general purpose financial statements.
In this context, if we look at Bangladesh's corporate financial reporting and auditing regime, we will agree that International Accounting Standards (IAS), IFRS and even Bangladesh Accounting Standards (BAS), Bangladesh Standards of Auditing (BSA) are rarely followed in the correct from. For this reason, the international community and foreign investors hesitate to rely on our financial statements and audit reports. It is true that the present form and style of the financial statements, disclosures and audit reports, in many cases, can not satisfy the users. This situation is largely responsible for weak capital market and vulnerable financial sectors.
We have to overcome this situation for the sake of global uniform accounting and auditing practices and the economic development of the country itself. Our corporate reports and disclosures must provide complete, true and fair financial information to the stakeholders. It is the duty of professional Accountants and Auditors to adopt relevant IAS and IFRS for preparing financial statements and conducting audits to uphold their professional image, ethics and, above all, transparency.
In Bangladesh, the financial statements and audit reports of corporate bodies are prepared under the guidelines of Companies Act, 1994. Apart from this, SEC and NBR provide rules and regulations from time to time regarding disclosures of corporate financial statements and audit reports. Banks and financial institutions have to comply with the requirements of the Banking Companies Act, 1991 and Bangladesh Bank's guidelines. The Insurance Act, 1938 is followed by the insurance companies. The listed public companies follow the aforesaid acts, rules, guideline etc., as per legal requirements and in accordance with the requirements laid down in the IAS as adopted by ICAB. As per SEC rule, a listed company in Bangladesh has to prepare financial statements namely Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Accounts and Cash Flows Statement under IAS as adopt by Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). As per IAS 1.8, a complete set of corporate financial statements should include (1) a statement of financial position at the end of the period, (2) a statement of comprehensive income for the period, (3) a statement of changes in equity for the period, (4) a statement of cash flows for the period, and (5) notes, comprising a summary of accounting policies and other explanatory notes. The financial statements will also ensure comparability with the statement of the previous year. The main objective is to "present fairly" the financial position (Balance Sheet), financial performance (Profit & Loss Account), and cash flows of a corporate body. In Bangladesh, the Charted Accountants, holding Certificate of Practice (COP), audit the financial transactions and certify whether the same statements have been prepared in due conformance with the GAAP and IAS as adopted by ICAB.
In order to improve the financial reporting and auditing standard, the country needs to promulgate the Financial Reporting Act (FRA), form Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and strengthen the education and practices of accountancy and auditing. The Institute of the Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) and The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) are two public institutes for imparting education and training in the field of professional accountancy and auditing. These two institutes also regulate the professional ethics of their members for promoting international standard accounting and auditing practices in Bangladesh. Both ICMAB and ICAB are member bodies of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and are committed to follow the International Accounting and auditing standards and ethics.
So, the capacity of both ICMAB and ICAB should be strengthened and improved to international standards. The GOB, in association with the World Bank, has taken a detailed programme on this issue under Economic Management Technical Assistance Programme (EMTAP) but the progress seems very slow. The said issue needs special attention of the policy-makers because this has a deep relation with good governance, foreign investment and poverty reduction.
The Poverty Reduction Strategy of the GOB largely depends on the degree of improvements of core economic and public management capacities for its success. Better functioning of both public administration and the corporate bodies are the needs of the day. This can be better done by e-governance. Meaningful public private association and partnership are also required under the better policy support and transparent public management system as well as transparent functioning of corporate sector. The quantum of foreign investments also depends on transparent corporate financial reporting and auditing practices. No progress can be achieved without transparency and accountability of both government and private sector. E-governance along with international standard transparent financial and auditing practices can do miracles to help boost Bangladesh's national economy. So, public administration, particularly public service-providers, NBR and business and capital market promoters should be brought under e-governance without further delay for the sake of sustainable economic growth of the country.
At the same time, corporate bodies, particularly listed public companies and government-owned business organisations must be brought under certain international standard quality and compliance assurance to protect the interest of general public and investors. For this purpose, corporate accounting and auditing should comply with the proposed Financial Reporting Act (FRA), where IAS and IFRS will be followed strictly. It is time for Bangladesh to finalise the FRA and form a Financial Reporting Council (FRC) comprising members from ministries of finance, commerce, industry and NBR, SEC, Stock Exchanges, Bangladesh Bank, Association of Bankers, FBCCI, ICMAB and ICAB. The draft FRA is reportedly lying with Law Ministry. This calls for a special attention for the sake of economic growth of the country. We are already late to cope with the international standard for public and corporate management system. Under the changed global politics and socio-economic scenario, the nation now needs smart leaders, policy makers, and bureaucrats who really believe in automated on-line solutions to enhance the quality of government's services as well as to help improve private investment climate of the country.
TODAY, the principal goal of Bangladesh is to reduce and finally alleviate poverty. The country now needs to gear up the pro-poor economic activities. Its agricultural growth along with rapid private investments can bring momentum in business and money market and create more and more employment opportunities. This will, in turn, gradually improve the quality of life of the poor people and eradicate poverty. So, economic growth and poverty reduction are interlinked.
Investment and employment generation are also interlinked. The economic activities never get momentum without the active participation of both local and foreign private investments. In a market-oriented economy, private investment is a blessing because it creates employment opportunities and develops a vibrant money and capital market. The desired agricultural growth and private investments in Bangladesh have not been possible as yet due to many reasons. Unaccountable politics and bureaucracy along with inadequate electricity, gas, technical know-how, infrastructure, law and order, political unrest, poor public and corporate governance etc., among others, are the major impediments to our desired economic growth and poverty reduction. Here an attempt has been made to focus on governance issues like lack of effective public services and transparent corporate financial reporting and auditing.
Our leaders and policy-makers are very much hopeful to see Bangladesh as a moderate income country by 2020. For achieving this target, Bangladesh has no option but to create more employment opportunities in the days ahead. The policy-makers, economists, politicians, intellectuals, professionals - all leading segments of the society often suggest for converting 150 million people of the country into 300 million working hands. But where is the scope of desired employment generation in Bangladesh?
The successive governments of the country have been promising to change the lot of the common people by. But, establishing good governance, in reality, this still remains a dream even after 37 years of independence. We fought for the freedom but we have not yet understood that freedom is not free. We have also struggled and sacrificed lives for getting democracy but in reality, we have seen democratically elected autocrats. We have not yet realised that democracy means accountability to the people, not to party men and cadres.
In a republic, the duties of government servants are to follow the set of procedures to serve the people and the country but in reality they often intentionally try to misinterpret the laws, rules and behave like ruler.
Bangladesh's capital and stock markets have not been developed properly as yet due to lack of trust and confidence on the activities and published reports of the corporate bodies. General investors and major stake holders of listed companies have lost their confidence and trust on the capital market after the market crush of 1996, repairing of which could not be possible as yet. The directors of the public companies are becoming rich and richer but their companies are getting sick and the general investors are often being deprived of getting their due return on investment. All of these are happening due to lack of a sense of accountability and transparency of the public service-providers and corporate bodies. Such mentality and culture hinders the growth of the country. So, it is necessary to shift to a culture where the government of the republic must remain accountable to the people and the citizens must remain accountable to the society and the country.
Bangladesh has all positive socio-economic indicators. We are a brave and homogeneous nation. Our climate is good, land is fertile and we have cheap labour and human resources to attract foreign investments. We have also a fair command over English, the international language. We just need to strengthen our public management system and ensure transparent corporate financial reporting and auditing practices for creating a trusted investment-friendly environment in Bangladesh. Our national economy will move towards a positive direction if the agriculture sector develops properly, in one hand, and the private investments get momentum under a consistent monetary and fiscal policy support, on the other.
We have to admit that private investors, particularly foreign ones do not feel comfort with the present bureaucracy and corporate financial reporting and auditing regime. It is also true that the public service management as well as accounting and auditing practices in Bangladesh have significance weakness compared to international standards. The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have identified typical bureaucracy as a major reason that impedes doing business in Bangladesh. They also opined that the bureaucracy is responsible for slowing down the implementation of the reforms recommended by the Regulatory Reforms Commission (RRC) and the Better Business Forum (BBF).
The World Bank's Reports on Observance of Standards and Codes: Accounting and Auditing (ROSD:A&A) found that the statutory framework for accounting, auditing and financial reporting in the corporate sector is not up to the mark. Weak financial statements and audit reports have an adverse effect on the business and investments and also open the door of tax evasion, fraud and corruption. All these hinder the growth of money and capital markets and ultimately the national economy. So, the financial statements and audit reports of corporate bodies will have to be improved to international standards to make our capital market as a trusted destination for the international community.
The successive governments of Bangladesh (GOB) have been trying to improve the investment climate for both local and foreign private investments. The GOB has also given due importance on enhancement of government's effectiveness to serve the citizens and attract foreign investments. A number of reform programmes have been undertaken with this end in view. Needless to say that the successes of a government depend on how efficiently it can offer good governance, fight poverty, corruption and terrorism and boost private investments. From economic points of view, these are very important issues and need to be addressed properly and timely. In this regard we can share the knowledge and experiences of the developed nations without spending much time and money for researches and experiments. The developed nations including neighbouring India have shifted to e-governance to make the public administration more transparent and effective. In fact, this is a demand of time and we can not remain out of this. It is time to address this issue rightly, timely and collectively.
E-governance is not mere computerisation of public administration and services. It is something more than that. It ensures transparency, increases efficiency and helps fight corruption. So, it will certainly bring a momentum in the offices of public service-providers and improve the governance speeding up the government activities. It will also strengthen the information flow between the government and the citizens and improve public private relationship and partnership. Under e-governance, the public management system can be designed in such a way so that the public servants will remain under strict discipline and be compelled to maintain public service standards such as coming to office timely, not involving in party politics and providing effective services to citizens and business community.
In view of the above, public service-provider government, semi-government and autonomous bodies like Board of Investment (BOI), Registrar of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Stock Markets, National Board of Revenue (NBR), Titas gas, PDB/DESA, RAJUK/CDA/KDA/RDA, Land Record offices, Court Record Offices, PDB/DESA /DESCO, WASA, Department of Environment, City/Municipal Corporations, Police and RAB Head Quarters are needed to be brought to the priority list for introducing e-governance because these are very much related with public interests and private investments. Under today's reality, no nation can base its development plan on an individual's morality and efficiency. As such, there must be a system which ensures transparent, efficient and accountable services, and, that is, e-governance.
The present caretaker government has successfully done the voter list and a data base for national identity (ID) card which may be considered as a remarkable milestone for our future socio-economic development because this information can also be used by the law enforcing agencies, banks and NBR and many other organisations. In this process, e-governance can play a vital role, because integrated functions of various government offices/departments at a lower cost will be possible under e-governance which will also improve the quality of decisions, reports etc., thereby reducing inaccuracies. Today, information is power and the flow of information can only be speeded up through web-based automated on-line services. National ID number must be made compulsory for every bank account holder and the NBR should introduce e-filling of tax returns. If the NBR comes under e-governance, it can easily check/reconcile bank balances of the tax payers collecting on-line information from banks/financial institutions without involving so many inspectors. In most cases, inspectors do not get/provide correct information but the said on-line system will certainly give accurate information and plug all the gaps including tax evasion. A segment of the public administration thinks that e-governance is too much technology based and it is not easy to introduce. In reality, it is not a very difficult task and few days' training is enough to work under an environment of e-governance. The government is now under a process of various administrative reforms programmes, where e-governance should get top priority for avoiding colonial mentality of public administration. Only strong will and firm commitment of the policy-makers are enough to introduce e-governance.
Corporate financial statements and audit reports are prepared and published for internal management use as well external users. Among others, the external users are shareholders, investors, creditors (banks, financial institutions etc.), NBR, Stock Exchanges, SEC, RJSC, professional bodies, etc. As such, the financial reports need to be transparent on which the users can rely and base their investment or economic decisions. International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) has issued a number of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The corporate bodies of the developed countries are now in a process of adopting IFRS. In this process, a few adjustments are in process to move from previous Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). IFRS 1 sets out the procedure that an entity must follow when it adopts IFRS for the first time as the basis for preparing general purpose financial statements.
In this context, if we look at Bangladesh's corporate financial reporting and auditing regime, we will agree that International Accounting Standards (IAS), IFRS and even Bangladesh Accounting Standards (BAS), Bangladesh Standards of Auditing (BSA) are rarely followed in the correct from. For this reason, the international community and foreign investors hesitate to rely on our financial statements and audit reports. It is true that the present form and style of the financial statements, disclosures and audit reports, in many cases, can not satisfy the users. This situation is largely responsible for weak capital market and vulnerable financial sectors.
We have to overcome this situation for the sake of global uniform accounting and auditing practices and the economic development of the country itself. Our corporate reports and disclosures must provide complete, true and fair financial information to the stakeholders. It is the duty of professional Accountants and Auditors to adopt relevant IAS and IFRS for preparing financial statements and conducting audits to uphold their professional image, ethics and, above all, transparency.
In Bangladesh, the financial statements and audit reports of corporate bodies are prepared under the guidelines of Companies Act, 1994. Apart from this, SEC and NBR provide rules and regulations from time to time regarding disclosures of corporate financial statements and audit reports. Banks and financial institutions have to comply with the requirements of the Banking Companies Act, 1991 and Bangladesh Bank's guidelines. The Insurance Act, 1938 is followed by the insurance companies. The listed public companies follow the aforesaid acts, rules, guideline etc., as per legal requirements and in accordance with the requirements laid down in the IAS as adopted by ICAB. As per SEC rule, a listed company in Bangladesh has to prepare financial statements namely Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Accounts and Cash Flows Statement under IAS as adopt by Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). As per IAS 1.8, a complete set of corporate financial statements should include (1) a statement of financial position at the end of the period, (2) a statement of comprehensive income for the period, (3) a statement of changes in equity for the period, (4) a statement of cash flows for the period, and (5) notes, comprising a summary of accounting policies and other explanatory notes. The financial statements will also ensure comparability with the statement of the previous year. The main objective is to "present fairly" the financial position (Balance Sheet), financial performance (Profit & Loss Account), and cash flows of a corporate body. In Bangladesh, the Charted Accountants, holding Certificate of Practice (COP), audit the financial transactions and certify whether the same statements have been prepared in due conformance with the GAAP and IAS as adopted by ICAB.
In order to improve the financial reporting and auditing standard, the country needs to promulgate the Financial Reporting Act (FRA), form Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and strengthen the education and practices of accountancy and auditing. The Institute of the Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) and The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) are two public institutes for imparting education and training in the field of professional accountancy and auditing. These two institutes also regulate the professional ethics of their members for promoting international standard accounting and auditing practices in Bangladesh. Both ICMAB and ICAB are member bodies of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and are committed to follow the International Accounting and auditing standards and ethics.
So, the capacity of both ICMAB and ICAB should be strengthened and improved to international standards. The GOB, in association with the World Bank, has taken a detailed programme on this issue under Economic Management Technical Assistance Programme (EMTAP) but the progress seems very slow. The said issue needs special attention of the policy-makers because this has a deep relation with good governance, foreign investment and poverty reduction.
The Poverty Reduction Strategy of the GOB largely depends on the degree of improvements of core economic and public management capacities for its success. Better functioning of both public administration and the corporate bodies are the needs of the day. This can be better done by e-governance. Meaningful public private association and partnership are also required under the better policy support and transparent public management system as well as transparent functioning of corporate sector. The quantum of foreign investments also depends on transparent corporate financial reporting and auditing practices. No progress can be achieved without transparency and accountability of both government and private sector. E-governance along with international standard transparent financial and auditing practices can do miracles to help boost Bangladesh's national economy. So, public administration, particularly public service-providers, NBR and business and capital market promoters should be brought under e-governance without further delay for the sake of sustainable economic growth of the country.
At the same time, corporate bodies, particularly listed public companies and government-owned business organisations must be brought under certain international standard quality and compliance assurance to protect the interest of general public and investors. For this purpose, corporate accounting and auditing should comply with the proposed Financial Reporting Act (FRA), where IAS and IFRS will be followed strictly. It is time for Bangladesh to finalise the FRA and form a Financial Reporting Council (FRC) comprising members from ministries of finance, commerce, industry and NBR, SEC, Stock Exchanges, Bangladesh Bank, Association of Bankers, FBCCI, ICMAB and ICAB. The draft FRA is reportedly lying with Law Ministry. This calls for a special attention for the sake of economic growth of the country. We are already late to cope with the international standard for public and corporate management system. Under the changed global politics and socio-economic scenario, the nation now needs smart leaders, policy makers, and bureaucrats who really believe in automated on-line solutions to enhance the quality of government's services as well as to help improve private investment climate of the country.