The International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) held its fifth Annual Conference on Sunday, 28 February 2010 at the Marble Room, Sheraton Hotel, Dhaka. There were two sessions, with the first session being the Annual Conference 2009, while the second session, which was exclusively for the members of IBFB, was termed as the Annual general Meeting (AGM).
The first session, chaired by Mr. Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury, President, IBFB was attended by Barrister Shafique Ahmed, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs who was the Chief Guest, along with HE James F.Moriarty, US Ambassador to Bangladesh as the Guest of Honor, while Mr. Hafizuddin Khan, Chairman, Transparency International- Bangladesh (TIB) was a Special Guest.
It was revealed during the first session that the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs is going to take all necessary steps towards approving all laws that will help to simplify taxes and in facilitating business. This was stated by Barrister Shafique Ahmed during his speech. Mr. Ahmed also said in order to attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the Government recognizes the need for a friendly business climate and will undertake all necessary steps to achieve this goal, including infrastructure development and meeting the power and energy needs of the country. He also informed everyone present that due to litigation, taxes worth around Tk 700 crore could not be earned as revenue. He urged all businessmen to not only think about making a profit, but also to benefit the people and the Government, and in this regard, he hoped that they will abstain from unethical practices.
Mr. Moriarty said corruption severely hampers the development of a country and undermines democracy and good governance. To curb corruption, the U.S Government, through USAID, has developed a wide range of programs. Furthermore, he stated that although corruption seems like an easy issue to address, in reality it is more complex and requires many people across all sectors of society to work together to build a strong foundation for a just and fair system of governance.
Mr. Hafizuddin Khan also felt that corruption has severely hampered the growth of the country as tax evasion is still rampant while red tapism still exists. He hoped that all social players will start to play their parts and only then can corruption be defeated.
In his opening statement, Mr. Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury stated that as an alternative to the RMG sector, Bangladesh should now look for other industries to compensate the foreseeable fall in economic growth like Pharmaceutical industry and emerging sectors like ship building, ceramics, plastic etc. The northern region of the country can play a vital role for agro-based industries as it is virtually the “food basket” of the country. At the same time, it is imperative that development of diversified agro–based and specialized industries accompanying infrastructure development in the region will eventually contribute to large scale rural employment. Since greater Dhaka and greater Chittagong are full and cost of land are unbelievably high, the Government should give special package, such as exemption of VAT, for 10 years to inspire the setting up of heavy industries in the northern region.
During the second session, the election by the Nomination Committee of IBFB was conducted and the results were also announced.
The program also consisted of a Cultural Show exclusively for the IBFB members and took place in the evening.
