Brief on BUILD
About BUILD
Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) is the country’s pioneering public-private dialogue platform jointly promoted by the three leading chambers of the country, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), and Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).
Established in 2011, BUILD is uniquely positioned to provide research-driven policy recommendations to the government on behalf of the private sector. Since its inception, BUILD has played important roles in the public-private policy dialogue process by identifying investment, trade and business constraints and recommended policy level changes to help unlock many growth potentials for the private sector and the economy.
BUILD conducts additional research to develop policy recommendations for private sector-led development. It works as a strategic partner of the Private Sector Development Policy Coordination Committee (PSDPCC) at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and provides all secretarial support through Policy Coordination Unit (PCU) at the PMO. The Private Sector Development Policy Coordination Committee (PSDPCC) is a high-powered public-private sector committee chaired by the Principal Secretary of the Government.
BUILD currently contributes through seven thematic Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) platforms focused on taxation, SME, financial sector, logistics infrastructure, trade and investments, ICT and 4IR, sustainability, and green growth. These PPDs create the bridge between policy planners and the private sector on a regular basis working towards deeper engagement of the stakeholder dialogue and discussion process for improving policies. Each of the PPD is headed jointly by the senior public and private sector representatives.
Given the ever-changing need, these engagement platforms between the public and private sector create a deeper understanding of the improved planning process and policy design for the economy. BUILD’s recommendations from PPDs are forwarded to the Private Sector Development Policy Coordination Committee (PSDPCC). PSDPCC provides guidance and direction on the various recommendations.
Our Background
In recent years, global analysts have observed that Bangladesh has significantly improved in terms of its investment potential. This is captured in several international studies, including the World Bank’s Doing Business 2011 and the Global Competitiveness Index (2010-11), two reports in which Bangladesh’s rankings improved for the first time, and the World Bank’s 2010 Investing Across Borders report, which commended Bangladesh’s 100% openness to FDI, the highest in the region. These studies all recognised the potential offered by Bangladesh’s large domestic market size and recent developments in financial markets and the macroeconomic environment.
However, despite these significant achievements, many concerns remain. Bangladesh adds 2 million people to its labour force every year, while it only creates about 1 million genuine jobs, including migrants. In addition, although Bangladesh has performed well in terms of manufacturing exports, the growth has produced very few productive jobs for individuals entering the labour force. In comparison, Bangladesh’s competitors have a much more diversified export base. Finally, Bangladesh’s record in attracting FDI despite the low cost of labour has been dismal.
The government of Bangladesh, therefore, needs an effective partner to help it provide an effective environment for private sector growth, thereby unlocking the private sector’s tremendous potential to develop and grow to meet the nation’s development goals and to create the jobs necessary to transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country by the 50th year of its birth. With this background, BUILD came into existence to become the government’s partner and platform to promote private sector development, investment, jobs and, therefore, growth in Bangladesh.
Our Objective
BUILD’s targets are ambitious — it estimates that it will support the government to achieve the following impacts. However, BUILD’s most significant impact is when this permanent change is brought in the way the government and private sector work together to achieve the nation’s development goals and ensure a brighter future for Bangladesh.
Jobs
Creating at least 2 million smart, sustainable jobs
Investment
Facilitating at least USD 10 billion in investment
SMEs
Generating at least 40,000 new small and medium-sized enterprises
BUILD is an acronym
BUILD is the acronym for Business Initiative Leading Development. BUILD was established on 17 October 2011 as a joint initiative of the DCCI, MCCI, and CCCI.
Our Work
BUILD provides a sustainable platform to facilitate structured dialogue between the government and the private sector under an institutional framework. BUILD’s reform recommendations are backed by sound research and analysis to focus on concrete and demonstrable business-friendly policies.
BUILD listens to the private sector’s voice to identify the constraints, initiates research, analyses the problems, and validates all related key information before recommending the required reforms or changes in business policies and procedures. Furthermore, BUILD monitors implementation and tells the stories of the beneficiaries for better dissemination of the results of the reforms.
BUILD works very closely with the Government of Bangladesh. BUILD submits all its recommendations for reforms to the Private Sector Development Policy Coordination Committee (PSDPCC), chaired by the Principal Secretary and represented by the secretaries of all the related ministries. The Secretariat of PSDPCC is the Policy Coordination Unit (PCU) working at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
BUILD acts as the united voice of the private sector to ensure that the significant issues impeding the development of the private sector are addressed in a meaningful way, emphasising private sector-led growth in achieving Bangladesh’s vision.
How We Work
BUILD has established a mechanism to lead the private sector towards presenting their concerns in a structured manner and get the solutions across the table. BUILD has seven thematic working committees, each with its own ability to implement recommendations since each is co-chaired by a private-sector leader and a high-up official from a relevant Ministry of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB). Working Committee meetings are attended by the country’s leading Chambers and Associations as well as key officials from various government agencies. BUILD is supported by a robust independent Secretariat that undertakes much of the analysis and advocacy to support the dialogue process and assists in ensuring that BUILD develops specific, measurable, and results-based recommendations for the government to implement.
BUILD sources knowledge of private-sector constraints straight from businesses individually, at public forums/events and through dialogue. BUILD’s research wing investigates these regulatory issues and develops possible solutions in the form of implementable recommendations, which are validated with relevant GoB agencies and the private sector, before placing them in front of Working Committees. Recommendations that are inter-ministerial in nature and cannot be implemented at the Working Committee level are then forwarded to the PSDPCC for further discussion and implementation.
BUILD has been recognised as the primary source of recommendations for meetings of the PSDPCC established at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), a high-level forum chaired by the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, and it is one of BUILD’s most remarkable achievements to have been identified by this forum as the most crucial source of reform recommendations.
| Area | Public Sector Co-Chair | Private Sector Co-Chair |
|---|---|---|
| Area4IR and ICT | Public Sector Co-ChairManaging Director (Secretary), BHTPA | Private Sector Co-ChairPresident, BASIS |
| AreaFinancial Sector Development | Public Sector Co-ChairDeputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank | Private Sector Co-ChairPresident, DCCI |
| AreaLogistics Infrastructure Development | Public Sector Co-ChairSecretary, Prime Minister's Office | Private Sector Co-ChairChairperson, BUILD |
| AreaSME Development | Public Sector Co-ChairSecretary, Ministry of Industries | Private Sector Co-ChairPresident, CCCI |
| AreaSustainability and Green Growth | Public Sector Co-ChairSecretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change | Private Sector Co-ChairPresident, BGMEA |
| AreaTaxation | Public Sector Co-ChairChairman, National Board of Revenue | Private Sector Co-ChairPresident, FBCCI |
| AreaTrade and Investment | Public Sector Co-ChairSecretary, Ministry of Commerce | Private Sector Co-ChairPresident, MCCI |
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