Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said paper works to merge Privatisation Commission and Board of Investment were almost complete and awaited implementation, reports UNB.
“Paper works are almost complete to merge Privatisation Commission and Board of Investment. It now awaits implementation,” she said in her introductory speech at a views-exchange meeting with senior officials of the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka yesterday.
She again directed the officials concerned to complete the process soon and reiterated that the merger aimed to boost investment and industrialisation in the country.
“I think, there’s nothing for privatisation now. We want to see how these [state-run industries] can be utilised for investment in the country,” Sheikh Hasina added.
According to a recent Dhaka Tribune report, prime minister ordered the officials concerned at a recent ECNEC meeting to expedite the process of BOI and PC merger.
Another Dhaka Tribune report published in April last year said the government had decided to merge the two autonomous bodies, which is under the PMO, to reduce state expenditure.
Quoting PMO sources at that time, the report said the PMO had already sent a letter to Cabinet Division to start the process.
After the decision last year, the government formed a seven-member committee to draft necessary laws on the merger.
Since formation of the committee, the work for merger got stuck as there varying opinions among the PMO senior stakeholders regarding the matter, the recent Dhaka Tribune report said quoting a PC source.
The merger is also to increase efficiency in the bodies as they have been known for their ineffectiveness for years.
The unified BoI and PC may be named as “Bangladesh Investment and Industries Development Authority.”
For long, there have differences between ministries and the PC regarding privatisation of state-owned enterprises under the ministries. The commission has always alleged that the ministries have never taken any initiative to ensure profits for the firms that have been making losses.
In 1993, the government formed the Privatisation Board which was turned into the Privatisation Commission in 2000. At present, a total of 70 officials and workers work at the commission.
The PC failed to make a fresh list of divestment of State-owned enterprises (SoEs) since 2009, although the government spent Tk17 crore annually, no public firms were divested during the period. It may also be noted that PC deposited more than Tk700 crore in the national exchequer since 1993.
PC’s works have been stuck because of non-cooperation from the ministries which have SoEs.
By now the cumulative loss of SoEs has stood at a huge sum. Other than reflection in the Economic Review of the Ministry of Finance, it has no visible effect and actions.
The BoI, on the other hand, was established in 1989 to draw increased volumes of local and foreign investments in the country. But many from the private sector have expressed their utter disappointment over the Board’s performance in attracting FDI.
BoI began its journey with 495 employees. Of them, 359 posts now lie vacant.