Bangladesh’s ocean economy, as an emerging sector, stands for 3.1% of the country’s overall GDP, so creating a national blue economy development and implementation roadmap has been very essential, said DCCI President Rizwan Rahman on Sunday.
He was presenting the keynote paper on the contemporary economy in a meet the press organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) to share DCCI’s plan of action for the year 2022 at the DCCI auditorium, Matijheel in the capital.
Rizwan Rahman said that this year the Chamber will prioritize the CMSME sector including export diversification, blue economy, economic diplomacy, infrastructure, private investment & FDI, export diversification, skills development, digital engagement, taxation and LDC graduation.
He said the world is still suffering from Covid outbreak therefore strengthening CMSME sector should get priority especially in terms of easy access to finance.
"To have a strong position in the economic diplomacy he suggested to develop negotiation skills on international trade, WTO matters and relevant International laws for win-win FTAs and PTAs. Our major export destinations are Europe and America covering almost 67% of our total export whereas Africa and Middle East are untapped", DCCI leader said.
But after the LDC graduation export will face a challenge and for that we have to formulate export diversification strategy engaging all stakeholders, he told. Tariff rationalization, reduction of non-tariff barriers in cross-border trade and minimizing anti-export bias are also important in this regard, he added.
He mentioned that in 2020-21 private investment came down to 21.25% of GDP but in 2021 FDI was USD 2.51 billion. In order to revive private investment and FDI he suggested for rationalizing corporate tax structure, equipping economic zones and readiness, a national roadmap.
He also stressed for automation of overall taxation, VAT, audit, arrears management, investigation and inquiry, appeal, revenue account management, taxpayer account management and revenue information management.
DCCI Senior Vice President Arman Haque and Vice President Monowar Hossain were also present on the occasion.
Answering to a few questions of the journalists, he said that only the automation can remove corruptions and hassles as well as can ensure transparency and accountability.
Regarding corporate tax rate he said that DCCI still advocates for reducing Corporate Tax rate at a progressive rate of 5% and 7.5% respectively in 2022-23 and 2023-24 and it should be at par with the regional average tax rate.
After graduation our cost of doing business will increase, at least 6 to 7% tariff will be increased, so we should look into diversified products as well as diversified export market.
Regarding smooth disbursement of stimulus especially to the SMEs, he said that more than 53% has been disbursed but if Bangladesh Bank can specify the percentage of loan that CMSMEs should get then the banks will follow it accordingly.
