There is no red-tape in Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) but red carpet for the investors, said Paban Chowdhury, Executive Chairman of the economic zones authority, at the inaugural; ceremony of BEZA's one-stop service (OSS) centre in the city on Monday evening.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Private Industry and Investment Salman F Rahman formally launched the platform as the chief guest at the function, organised by BEZA at a city hotel. Paban Chowdhury presided over the event.
Now, the BEZA is providing 11 government services online and 107 services from its office through its OSS centre.
Speakers at the programme said, the number of such services, that include licensing, permit, approvals and registration from different government agencies, will continue to rise in coming days.
Principal Coordinator of SDG Affairs at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Md Abul Kalam Azad, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Md Nojibur Rahman, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito, Chief Representative at Bangladesh Office of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Hitoshi Hirata and President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Sheikh Fazle Fahim were present as special guests.
Speaking on the occasion, Paban Chowdhury said there is a global standard legal framework, investment-friendly policy support, very competitive incentive package for the investors in Bangladesh.
"We now invite foreign investors to take the benefits of the OSS centre, the land bank of about 20,000 hectares and the services from our dedicated team to help grow their business in Bangladesh," said the BEZA chief. There is no red-tapism in BEZA but red carpet for the investors, he asserted.
Japanese Ambassador Ito said the OSS will help Bangladesh draw good amount of foreign investment.
"Currently many Japanese investors are showing interest to invest in Bangladesh," he added.
At the inaugural ceremony, BEZA also signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) and Department of Environment (DoE) for the OSS operations.
Under the One-stop Service Act 2018, BEZA prepared a guideline in November 2018 to launch the OSS with the support of JICA.
Now an investor can get licence and approval through the physical OSS, as well as from the automated portal at https://ossbeza.org/.
When the OSS will be made fully-functional, investors will get 123 types of services under 27 categories from one place within a short time.
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