The government has adopted a new five-year plan to improve the country's investment climate and business competitiveness and prepare for the challenges it will face after graduating from the least developed country (LDC) category in November this year.
The new programme has been undertaken under the third phase of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) of the World Trade Organisation, according to a statement from the commerce ministry.
The commerce ministry today organised a validation workshop on the new EIF programme at the ministry to make its officials aware of the plan.
At the workshop, Commerce Secretary Ataur Rahman Khan said the economy has been passing through an important period as, on the one hand, the country has to prepare for LDC graduation and, on the other hand, it is facing non-tariff barriers to exports and challenges in improving the investment climate.
The 12 key recommendations made by the EIF in its earlier programme have been incorporated into the newly formulated country document, which will help improve business competitiveness and support the ongoing reform initiatives, the secretary also said.
The document gives importance to improving the business environment by enhancing the ease of doing business, liberalising the tariff regime, and relaxing related rules in collaboration with the ministries concerned.
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Additional Commerce Secretary Khadiza Nazneen said the WTO provides assistance to LDCs and graduating LDCs to improve business competitiveness through its arm, the EIF, while the UK, the European Union, and Sweden support the programme.
Bangladesh has already implemented different recommendations under EIF-funded projects in two phases from 2009 to 2024.
The five-year third phase of the EIF-funded project may begin this year as the country is eligible for the fund, Nazneen also said.
EIF-funded Project Consultant Md Hafizur Rahman said 52 projects were initially identified, but later 12 were prioritised, considering implementation capacity and assurances of funding from foreign donors.
Bangladesh has been preparing to face the challenges of LDC graduation and retain preferential trade benefits, as the country may lose $17.5 billion worth of exports annually because of the graduation.
Currently, 73 percent of Bangladesh's trade enjoys LDC-specific preferences, and Bangladesh is the largest beneficiary of LDC-specific trade benefits, accounting for 67 percent of the preferences provided to all 44 LDCs by developing and developed countries.
