The state of doing business in Bangladesh

Doing business in Bangladesh is increasingly becoming difficult. That is what the global survey report, "Doing Business 2012", released by the World Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) late last week says. The country now ranks 122nd out of 183 countries covered by the survey on the state of doing business, slipping four points down the ladder from last year. As far as ease of doing business is concerned, Bangladesh ranks fifth in South Asia, better than neighbouring India, Bhutan and Afghanistan. The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal are far ahead in the ranking. India's scorecard, though poor, enjoys a certain edge over many countries because of its huge market size. Entrepreneurs, local and foreign, do not mind bearing some difficulties in that country just because of marketing prospects. The WB-IFC survey, that takes into cognizance 10 factors to prepare the main 'Doing Business' index, lends a few pluses to Bangladesh but the minuses, led mainly by severe power shortage, overshadow the former. Contrary to what is being claimed by the government, the power situation of late has deteriorated further. According to the survey, getting power connection to an industrial establishment now takes more than a year. It took 109 days in the previous year. There has been no cut in the time required for land and property registration. Another factor discouraging the businesses most is the time taken and money spent on getting relevant agreements implemented. Besides, the survey contradicts what is being claimed by official and some other circles about the improvement in the external trade situation, for it shows the cost involved in export and import of the businesses has gone up. The WB-IFC survey takes into cognizance only a few of the issues, financial and otherwise, facing the businesses in Bangladesh. There are factors beyond those involving bureaucracy, law and order, finance and politics that have been troubling them for long. Despite some improvement in the situation following relentless media focus and donors' insistence, the businesses are still unnecessarily required to move from one table to another, and grease the palms of the unscrupulous officials, to get things done. Extortionists of all kinds take toll from them, often under direct political patronage. In fact much of these problems could be largely resolved only if the government took some extra initiatives or paid more attention to improving overall governance in the country. Unfortunately, successive governments have paid more lip service than taking any tangible move in that direction. In fact, Bangladesh businesses deserve laurels for successfully withstanding many of the problems and making substantial contribution to the economic growth, which has been rather impressive over the past two decades or more. One cannot just wish away all the problems encountered by the country or by any particular section of the society overnight. There are many problems that are very much interlinked and any attempt to find a partial solution is bound to backfire. The countries that occupy the top slots of the 'Doing Business' yardstick are ensuring one important factor, good governance for their respective citizens. However, the performance level may vary from one country to another. Once that is in place, much of the problems would go away automatically. Poor governance has been the hallmark of Bangladesh's 40 years of existence. It is time to make a departure from that tradition and make a new beginning. There is no denying that it would be a tough call. Yet, there is no room for shying away from that goal.