Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has formed the Private Sector Advisory Council for the first time in the country.
Through this, the country's business representatives will be able to provide timely and structured feedback to the highest levels of government on the business and investment environment and reform priorities.
The first meeting of the council was held at Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's office on Saturday (April 4) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
The members of the council selected by the Prime Minister are - ACI PLC Managing Director Dr. Arif Daula, Apex Footwear Limited Managing Director Syed Nasim Manjur, Runner Group Chairman Hafizur Rahman Khan, PRAN-RFL Group Chairman and CEO Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, Bay Group Managing Director Ziaur Rahman, Incepta Group Chairman and Managing Director Abdul Muktadir, DBL Group Managing Director Md. Abdul Jabbar, Rangs Group Managing Director Sohana Rouf Chowdhury and Pacific Jeans Group Managing Director Syed Mohammad Tanvir.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmud, Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, State Minister for Energy Anindya Islam Amit, Prime Minister's Advisor Mahdi Amin and BIDA Chairman Ashiq Chowdhury were also present at the meeting at the Prime Minister's invitation.
Tarique Rahman delivered the opening speech at the meeting. This was followed by an open discussion among the council members. Various issues related to regulatory environment, energy, human resources, tax policy, logistics, export diversification and foreign direct investment were raised.
Council members applauded the government's initiative in establishing this forum and its commitment to creating an open and business-friendly environment by engaging with the private sector.
The meeting was informed that the council will now prepare a brief proposal based on the private sector's feedback, along with a targeted and effective action plan to address the immediate business environment challenges.
The Prime Minister suggested that the proposal should include evidence-based legal, policy and regulatory examples from other countries to keep Bangladesh globally competitive. In this, BIDA (Bangladesh Investment Development Authority) will act as the coordinating agency from the government side and will provide necessary support for the effective implementation of the proposed action plan in coordination with the concerned ministries and government agencies.
At the meeting, BIDA Executive Chairman Ashiq Chowdhury said, “The formation of the Private Sector Advisory Council is one of the most important reforms proposed by BIDA. Its objective is to create an effective mechanism for providing consistent and structured feedback from the private sector at the highest levels of government. We are grateful to the Prime Minister for taking the lead in this regard and bringing together business representatives to advance the country's reform and investment agenda.”
