Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has directed authorities to ensure round-the-clock operations at all ports across Bangladesh to facilitate trade and speed up import and export activities.
The directive came during a high-level meeting with the country's leading business leaders and industrialists at the Prime Minister's Office in Tejgaon on Saturday.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Prime Minister's Adviser and spokesperson Mahdi Amin said the decision followed a proposal from the private sector to introduce 24-hour commercial operations at Chittagong Port and Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
"The private sector proposed introducing 24-hour services for import and export activities at Chittagong Port and Dhaka airport. The prime minister immediately directed the authorities to take the necessary steps," Mahdi said.
He said all relevant government agencies would work together to ensure that every port in Bangladesh provides 24-hour services in the coming days.
"The move will make import and export activities faster and more efficient," he added.
Mahdi said the meeting also featured extensive discussions on challenges facing the private sector, existing bottlenecks, and the country's overall investment climate.
According to him, the discussions also focused on attracting more investment to the country's economic zones, including those under the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) and the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), while simplifying existing procedures.
Relevant ministers, state ministers, advisers, and heads of various government agencies also shared their views during the meeting, he said.
Highlighting the government's commitment to supporting the private sector, Mahdi said the administration aims to establish a governance framework under the prime minister's leadership that provides strong policy support for businesses.
"We have presented a pro-business, pro-investment budget, and we will implement those policies. The main objective is to harness Bangladesh's demographic dividend by creating more employment and self-employment opportunities for young people and women," he said.
Quoting one of the prime minister's slogans, Mahdi said: "The prime minister always says, 'We will work, we will build the nation, Bangladesh comes first.' Guided by that principle, today's discussion prioritized Bangladesh's interests."
He added that representatives of the private sector welcomed the government's efforts to implement people-friendly policies, including a people-friendly budget.
Mahdi said business leaders expressed satisfaction over the government's immediate decisions on several policy proposals.
"The objective of the discussion is to make doing business easier, encourage greater investment-driven growth, and create more employment opportunities across Bangladesh," he said.