Press Release

On 10 June 2024, Business Leading Initiative Development (BUILD) organised a stakeholder consultation on European Union Circular Textiles Policies on Trading Partner Countries at its Conference Room to identify practical measures to support Bangladesh’s textile industry in adapting to the EU’s sustainable and circular textiles strategy. BUILD, in association with Chatham House and Circle Economy, supported by GIZ, Laudes Foundation and European Environment Bureau (EEB), has commissioned the study in this respect.

For Bangladesh, the textile industry, especially ready-made garments (RMG), plays a vital role in the national economy and labour market. The export of ready-made garments increased by 3.67% in 2023 to $47.39 billion, up from $45.71 billion in 2022, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data. The EU has undertaken a strategy for promoting sustainable and circular textiles and the fashion industry. The summary of key findings and analysis of the study was presented by Dr Patrick Schroeder, Senior Research Fellow, Environment and Society Program, The Royal Institute Affairs, Chatham House. The discussions focused on potential opportunities and challenges, changes to upstream trade patterns, future textile exports to the EU, and recommendations for policy development.

While delivering the keynote, Dr Patrick Schroeder said we must assess the sector’s landscape before providing feedback on potential impacts and necessary adaptations for Bangladesh’s textile industry. We also need to figure out strategies for enhancing collaboration between EU and Bangladesh stakeholders to promote a sustainable and circular global textiles sector.

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The Trustee Board of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD), led by its Chairperson Mahbubul Alam, paid a courtesy call on Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, on 22 April 2024 at the Prime Minister’s Office. BUILD Trustee Board Member and Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ashraf Ahmed attended the meeting.
 
The principal secretary to the prime minister said that we need to get out of the shell of traditional engagement methods with donors and other key stakeholders and stressed public-private engagement, capital markets, and foreign direct investment. We are proud to have held several consultations with private sector players while drafting and successfully formulating the logistics policy, which needs to be branded worldwide.
 
Mahbubul Alam, who is also the President of FBCCI, said that on behalf of the BUILD Trustee Board, I have the great pleasure of conveying our heartiest congratulations to the leadership of the Prime Minister’s Office for the formulation of National Logistics Policy on 8 April 2024. He underlined implementation, demonstration and coordination as the critical parts of the policy’s success. The formulation of the National Logistics Policy was the ask of the private sector, and we stand ready to extend support for the implementation of the policy, he said.
 
He reiterated that the Prime Minister’s Office and BUILD maintain excellent relations, which is marked by more extensive engagement in private sector development for the country. BUILD is formally engaged with PMO through the Private Sector Development Policy Coordination Committee (PSDPCC), which is the only strategic public sector platform for private sector-related policy review, coordination, identification of investment barriers and fostering public-private cooperation. He also requested the date of the next PSDPCC meeting, which will be held at the end of May 2024.

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Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD), in association with the National Board of Revenue (NBR), organised a Dialogue on Customs Act 2023   on March 6, 2024, at its Conference Room at Motijheel. The dialogue focused on key provisions of customs-related issues in the Customs Act 2023. The Act included international best practices such as the WCO revised Kyoto Convention, WCO safe framework of standards and WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. The new Act has 269 clauses, which was 286 in the previous one.

Dr S. M. Humayun Kabir, Member, Customs Audit, Modernisation and International Trade, NBR, was present as the Chief Guest and said that change is a continuous trend. We are planning to hold a series of dialogues, and this will help us change our mindsets.

Having referred to some of the provisions of the new Act, such as consultations with the stakeholders before bringing any changes in the Act( section 262), AEO rules for the compliant traders, policies for voluntary disclosure( clause 171(2), release of products through self-clearance(clause 90(3), extension of time refund application ( clause 34), he said that we made these changes for simplification of procedures and better services to businesses.

Md Abdul Kafi, former Commissioner of Customs Excise and VAT, NBR, moderated the session and highlighted some critical historical perspectives of the customs issues from his long experiences of working in this area.

BUILD CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum gave an introductory speech and informed us that there is a target of USD 111 billion in exports by 2027. Customs should be modern enough to handle massive exports and imports to meet the target.

Raich Uddin Khan, First Secretary (Customs, Policy and Budget), NBR, made a presentation highlighting different new provisions such as electronic declaration, risk management, Non-Intrusive Inspection(NII), post clearance audit, advance ruling, National Enquiry Point, advanced passenger information etc. Rules, manuals, procedures, and SOPs will be prepared soon for implementation of the new Act.

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Mahbubul Alam, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), the apex trade organisation of the country and the former president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), has taken over as the Chairperson of the Trustee Board of the Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) for the year 2024-25.

He succeeded Nihad Kabir, a senior advocate and a former president of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI). She was the Chairperson of BUILD in 2022-23. The transition took place on 4 February 2024, as the outgoing Trustee Board (2022-23), led by Nihad Kabir, handed over the responsibilities to the new board at the 33rd Trustee Board Meeting held at the BUILD Conference Room in Motijheel, Dhaka.

The newly formed Trustee Board for 2024 includes Ashraf Ahmed, President of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Kamran T. Rahman, President of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Omar Hazzaz, President of The Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Afsarul Arifeen, Secretary General of DCCI, Farooq Ahmed, Secretary General of MCCI, Engr. Mohd. Farque Ahmed, Secretary of CCCI. Ferdaus Ara Begum will serve as the Member Secretary to the Trustee Board.

Abul Kashem Khan, Director of FBCCI and the Former President of DCCI, will continue as a nominated trustee board member from the DCCI, while Saiful Islam is a nominated trustee board member from the MCCI.

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The potential of diversifying exports in the markets of the UK and China was asserted in the meeting of BUILD held at the Conference room of MoC, co-chaired by the Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh and Md Saiful Islam, President of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI). The meeting emphasised the ease of doing business and reduced regulatory burdens and documentation processes. The meeting reiterated attracting new investments, fostering technological advancements, and promoting diversified product exports, particularly in the key markets where market access benefits are available.

The 10th Trade and Investment Working Committee of BUILD was held on 3 December 2023, where two policy papers titled “DFQF Market Access to China-Policies and Measures to Increase and Diversify Exports” and “UK’s DCTS: Policy Measures to Escalate Export to the UK” were presented. Ministry of Commerce (MoC) and BUILD jointly organised the meeting.

BUILD CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum reported on the progress of the 9th meeting, highlighting the implementation of eight out of 27 proposed reforms, with nine currently in progress. Acknowledging the collaborative efforts of the MoC, Local Government Division, and Register of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC), she expressed gratitude for the successful implementation of 5-year trade licences, Export and Import licences and the initiation of online Trade Licence services and information dissemination through websites of RJSC etc.

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Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Abu Farah Md Nasser said that our key focus is to take proper, visible and fast actions to ensure good governance in the banking sector to address monumental challenges faced by the banking sectors due to control inflation and volatility in the foreign exchange regime and higher non-performing loans.

The Deputy Governor was speaking at the 11th Financial Sector Development Working Committee (FSDWC) Meeting organised virtually by Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) on 22 November 2023. Abu Farah Md Nasser, Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank (BB), and Barrister Sameer Sattar, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), co-chaired the meeting.

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The 14th Private Sector Development Policy Coordination Committee (PSDPCC) took place at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on 14 August 2023 under the chairmanship of Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Principal Secretary to the PMO. The meeting discussed several policies and regulatory simplification requirements for meeting export diversification targets in the national plans and export road maps. PSDPCC is the only strategic public sector platform for private sector-related policy review, coordination, identification of investment barriers and fostering public-private cooperation.

Organized by Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) and the PMO, the meeting initially did stocktaking of the 13th PSDPCC meeting and mentioned the reforms proposed already and implemented. BUILD CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum made the keynote presentation, mentioning that out of 72 proposed reforms from the fifth to eleventh PSDPCC meetings, 37 reforms were implemented.

BUILD CEO presented three policy papers entitled “Simplification of Issuing and Renewal Process of Trade Licence”, “Simplification of the Duty-Free Import Process of Raw Materials for Partial Exporters”, and “Implementation of the Work Plan Elaborated in Relevant Policies and Export Roadmaps to Facilitate Export Diversification”. She informed the meeting that the Local Government Division has already been allowed to issue a trade licence with a tenure of 5 years. However, it is not fully implemented across the country, and she urged for an awareness campaign so that all trade licence issuers issue trade licences for five years.

While chairing the meeting, the Principal Secretary said that we would regularly review the overall investment scenario in the private sector and set out ways to improve and identify bottlenecks in private sector development to remove bottlenecks and build cooperation between public and private sectors. He instructed LGRD to investigate the issue of the trade licence so that the trade licence is renewed after five years.

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A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) and the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER) of BRAC University at the BRAC University on 9 August 2023.

BUILD — the first-ever national public-private dialogue (PPD) platform in Bangladesh — promotes private-sector development and creates an enabling environment for businesses. With a commitment to sustainability and green growth, BUILD undertakes various initiatives to facilitate the transition towards a low-carbon economy. C3ER is a recognised centre of excellence dedicated to conducting research, advocacy, capacity development, and knowledge management in the field of climate change and environmental issues.

BUILD and C3ER will work together in the areas of research and development, training, and dissemination of research findings and developmental initiatives. Through united endeavours, BUILD and C3ER will forge ahead to steer private sector advancement, intricately woven within the tapestry of sustainable and green growth, all encapsulated within the broader framework of climate change imperatives.

Through this MOU, both sides establish a robust framework that facilitates exchanges and collaboration between the parties in the areas of research and development, training, and dissemination of research findings and developmental initiatives. The scope of institutional cooperation shall encompass a wide range of activities, including joint research and development initiatives, collaborative fundraising efforts to support targeted research projects, and effective dissemination of research outputs to ensure policy uptake and impactful outcomes.
Dr Ainun Nishat, Adviser and Professor Emeritus, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER), BRAC University, and Ferdaus Ara Begum, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD), were present at the MoU signing event.

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Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) organized a dialogue on Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) and Containing Inflationary Pressure in Bangladesh on 30 July 2023 at BUILD Conference Room. The dialogue covered new areas in the MPS for 2nd half of 2023 (H1FY24), and comparison of the inflationary situation and challenges of monetary policies and the new tool on interest rate corridor(IRC) as followed by different countries in the world.

BUILD CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum delivered a keynote highlighting the challenges of MPS and interest rate corridor and focused on ways to address inflation through different central bank tools. She further said that inflation is linked to many factors, such as the state of the economy, the level of inflation expectations, the credibility and independence of the central bank and the confidence of businesses in the business-enabling ecosystem.

Mr Mohammad Nurul Amin, former MD of NCC Bank, presented the keynote paper and said that establishing a policy of interest rate corridor as a monetary tool is a paradigm shift. In that respect, he added that the reference interest rate for bank deposit and lending rates naming SMART is a transition from monetary targeting framework to an interest rate targeting framework. He said that MPS is contractionary to contain inflation, as announced by specific policy initiatives, but fiscal measures are expansionary. He raised the point of whether we will go for a market-driven treasure rate or follow the donors’ prescription to follow IRC.

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The fourth Meeting of the 4IR&ICT Working Committee chaired by Mohammad Rezaul Karim, Managing Director of BHTPA, was held on 24 July 2023 at Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA). The meeting discussed the potential of Assembling Industrial robots in Bangladesh to create new job opportunities.

BUILD CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum delivered a keynote presentation on the potential of assembling industrial robots in various sectors of Bangladesh. She discussed the social and economic impacts of robot integration, including job displacement, skills development, and ethical considerations. Bangladesh can exploit global value chains by becoming an ‘assembling’ hub. The implementation of the Industrial Policy 2022 supports the importance of robot assembling, and various agencies are involved in this initiative. The policy paper recommended conducting a demand analysis for the type of robots needed, updating robotics strategies, investing in education and skills development, using robots in risky areas first, and promoting university-industry collaboration.

Dr Mehedi Anwar emphasised the need for 5G to use advanced technology effectively. Mr Syed Tamjidur Rahman stressed collaborative activities and knowledge sharing in the technology sector. Dr Shamim Ahmed Dewan highlighted the importance of aligning demand with assembling robotics and developing a skilled workforce. BIDA Director Golam Mohammed Bhuiyan acknowledged robotics as a potential investment sector, while Mr Enamul Hafiz Latifee from BASIS discussed the increasing demand for robots in certain industries and the need for tax incentives. Mr Masum Billah supported using CSR funding for academic research. Several officials from different organizations were present and shared their views on the occasion.

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