Salman F Rahman, the prime minister's private industry and investment adviser, said the government would bring a number of reforms in the business sector by April 30 this year to improve the country’s business development index ranking.

He also said after the reforms, the country may get the honour of holding the 115th rank in the ease of doing business world index.

Besides, some business laws would be amended next year to bring the country below the 100th position in the index.

Rahman was speaking as chief guest at a programme, organised by the ‘Shommilito Babosayee Parishad’ of the Federation of the Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), in the International Convention Center Bashundhara (ICCB) in the capital on Sunday.

He said the government was working towards giving trade licence within three to four days through a one-stop service. “Hopefully, we'll be able to introduce this service within the next three to six months,” he added.

He congratulated the ‘Shommilito Babosayee Parishad’ for the upcoming biennial FBCCI election.

Bangladesh is now ranked 176 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business index, according to the latest World Bank annual ratings.

During the programme, the Shommilito Babosayee Parishad, led by panel leader Sheikh Fazle Fahim, announced the names of panel members for the upcoming biennial FBCCI election for the 2019–2021 period.

Sheikh Fazle Fahim served as the director of the apex trade body during the 2015–2017 period and as a senior vice-president during 2017–2019.

The Parishad has taken numerous initiatives to maintain the FBCCI’s continuous growth as an effective, dynamic and business-friendly body and to become a partner of Vision-2041.

Sheikh Fazle Fahim, as a panel leader, said: “We have a strong presence of the Bangladeshi diaspora in the West. So, my work under the FBCCI umbrella would be to market Bangladesh as a brand in the international market. I will be very aggressive in branding Bangladesh as a destination for investment.”

“A new programme called 'FBCCI Tips' will work through knowledge sessions to create awareness among new entrepreneurs. The biggest challenge a new entrepreneur faces has to do with seed money,” he added.

He also said the FBCCI's present board was working to form the FBCCI International University (FIU). “Our objective is to structure its curriculum from top global universities in behavioural science, economics, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM),” he said.  

According to the FBCCI rules, the Federation has two panels—the chamber group and the association group—for the election. The president and vice-president are to be elected from the chamber group, while the post of senior vice-chairman will go to the association group this time in line with the organisation’s charter.  

Panel members from the chambers group are Hasina Newaaz, Md. Masudur Rahman Milon, Alhaj Azizul Hoque, Dilip Kumar Agarwala, Masud Parvez Khan (Imran), Mohammad Anwar Sadat Sarker, Md. Rezaul Karim Reznu, Gazi Golam Ashria, Tabarukul Tosaddek Hossain Khan Tito, Md. Kohinoor Islam, Prabir Kumar Saha, Mohd Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan, Mohammad Bazlur Rahman, Mohammed Riyadh Ali, Md. Hasanuzzaman, Humayun Rashid Khan Pathan, A. H. Ahmed Jamal, Sharita Millat and Sujib Ranjan Dash.  

The names of three more panel members from the chambers group will be announced later, said Fahim.

The Parishad also announced the panel member from the association group.

Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Atiqul Islam, incumbent president of FBCCI Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, former FBCCI presidents Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui, MA Sattar, MA Kashem and Abdul Awal Mintoo were present as special guests.

Ahead of the election, Fahim has already got the support of both the association and chamber groups.

On February 5, FBCCI’s election board announced the date for the biennial election as April 27. The total posts of FBCCI directors are 72. Of them, 30 directors will be nominated, while 42 others will be elected equally from the chamber and association groups.