To boost revenue mobilisation, finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Friday instructed the revenue board to reward the law-abiding traders and take strict action against the non-compliant ones.
The minister said one of the duties of the customs was to prevent trade-based money laundering.
To this end, capacity building of the customs officials is very vital to fulfil the responsibility, he added.
"The NBR (National Board of Revenue) should reward the honest traders who respect the law and take tough action against the dishonest ones."
"I hope revenue officials will pay serious attention to this issue," the minister told a seminar hosted by the NBR at its headquarters on the occasion of International Customs Day.
He said the main function of customs was to ease trade.
"It's a matter of great pleasure that the customs department has taken multiple measures to follow globally recognised rules and regulations as part of its trade facilitation activities.
Mr Ali said the vision of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was to build Bangladesh a smart nation and the customs would have to become truly smart.
"The cost of business should plummet. For this, we need to focus on full automation of the system," he suggested.
Despite achieving remarkable progress in many socio-economic indicators over the years, the minister said the country's tax-GDP ratio was still relatively low.
"This is another area that, I hope, the NBR will try to put more emphasis on," he suggested.
At the event, NBR chairman Abu Hena Rahmatul Muneem said Bangladesh generated revenue at lower cost compared to neighbouring nations or countries at a similar stage of development.
Bangladesh should invest more in the capacity building of revenue officials, which will certainly help boost revenue collection further, according to him.
Finance secretary Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder, NBR member (customs policy) Masud Sadiq and Incepta Pharmaceuticals managing director Abdul Muktadir, among others, were present at the event.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com