The Bangladesh Tourism Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was placed in parliament to make the existing law more effective, aiming to boost revenue from the tourism sector.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali tabled the bill on Monday.

According to the bill, the authorised capital of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation will be Tk 10 billion instead of Tk 150 million, while paid-up capital will be Tk 4.0 billion in place of Tk 0.5 million.

The bill was tabled in parliament to amend the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation by amending the 1972 Act to reduce unemployment, create new jobs, increase income and expand the scope of tourism corporations through the development of the tourism industry in Bangladesh.

The bill was later sent to the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism for an examination.

The law also proposed a change in the definition of a tourist.

According to the existing law, a person spending more than 24 hours but less than six months away from home for travel or leisure purposes is considered a tourist.

The time has been extended to one year in place of six months in the draft law. However, if the person is away for work, he or she will not be labelled as a tourist.

Jatiya Party senior MP Fakhrul Imam objected to the bill in parliament saying that the existing law has a minimum time limit, which is absent in the draft law.

The bill states that the tourism corporation will be able to operate and manage duty-free shops.

The existing law stipulates that the board of a corporation may have a maximum of four members.

The number has been increased to 11 in the draft law. The chairman of the board will now be the secretary of the ministry.