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Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Monday said that increasing the efficiency of the National Board of Revenue is essential for business growth.
At the same time, he called for increasing competitiveness of local businesses in light of the country's upcoming LDC graduation through maintaining labour and environmental compliances.
The adviser said this while speaking as the chief guest at a seminar styled 'Reforms in Customs, Income Tax and VAT Management to Address the LDC Graduation Challenges' at the National Economic Council.
The Support to Sustainable Graduation Project (SSGP) of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) organised the event.
ERD secretary Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky chaired the event while commerce adviser Sk Bashir Uddin and NBR chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan also spoke, according to an ERD statement.
Dr Salehuddin said the private sector must be proactive alongside the government in meeting graduation challenges.
He also accentuated the need for the implementation of the recently finalised smooth transition strategy (STS) effectively.
Commerce adviser Bashir laid emphasis on increasing the efficiency of local businesses to face the potential challenges of the LDC graduation.
At the same time, he also called for bringing small-and-medium enterprises under the VAT net and introducing a uniform tax rate system.
Meanwhile, the NBR chief said the "National Single Window" would be fully operational by next March while the entire tax system be automated very soon.
Chattogram Port Authority chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman, NBR members AKM Badiul Alam, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry senior vice-president Razeev H Chowdhury and Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association president Kabir Ahmed spoke at the event as panellists.
Export Promotion Bureau vice-chairman Md Anwar Hossain, among others, was present at the seminar.
Private-sector representatives at the seminar called for deferment of LDC graduation for a few years to give Bangladesh enough time to prepare itself.
Former member of Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) and SSGP component manager Dr Mostafa Abid Khan delivered a keynote.
Referring to the findings of the World Development Indicators-2023 published by the World Bank, Dr Khan cited that import-export costs in Bangladesh are significantly higher than India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
The study also found that the efficiency of customs clearance process, competence and quality of logistics services, quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure in Bangladesh is relatively inferior to those countries.
Highlighting the findings of various impact assessments done in recent times, Dr Khan said if the time for customs clearance at the local ports could be reduced by a day, the country's overall exports would increase by 7.4 percent.
He also pointed out that easing customs procedures could boost the competitiveness of domestic products by at least 5.0 per cent.
Dr Khan also pointed out that the recently finalised STS has outlined some priority actions, including timely implementation of National Tariff Policy-2023, carrying out policy reforms outlined in Annex 3.1 of National Logistics Policy 2024 and immediate rollout of the National Single Window (NSW) scheme.