The government has decided to lunch Bangladesh National Trade Portal (BNTP) by the end of this year to curb corruption and ensure transparency in trade and commercial activities.
Commerce ministry will formally launch the proposed BNTP to facilitate the country’s trade and commerce and thus stimulate overall economic growth.
Trade licenses will be issued and renewed by the Chief Controller of Import and Export using the trade portal facilities for curbing corruption in the process.
“If we can launch the trade portal, it will help provide us up-to-date data and information on trade and commerce related services to the businessmen at home and abroad,’’ said a senior official of commerce ministry.
The proposal has already been finanlised at a commerce ministry meeting with commerce minister Tofail Ahmed in the chair.
The chief controller of export and import will operate through online licensing module. International Finance Corporation (IFC) will give technical and consultancy support to develop the portal under the condition of a 9-month Asia Development Bank (ADB) project titled “South Asian Regional Integration,” according to the project proposal.
A steering committee will be formed by the commerce ministry, which includes members of the business associations.
After lunching of the BNTP, funds will be allocated in the next budget for the operation of the trade portal and business community will have easy access to all the important trade related information, said a commerce ministry source.
The country’s total export earnings stood at $17.43bn in the first seven months of the current financial year 2013-14 with a growth of 15.08% year-on-year, despite last two months’ sluggishness due to political unrest.
Riding on the performance of readymade garment sector, the export earnings in July-January in the FY14 crossed the government-set target for the period by 3.04%, showed the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Sunday.
The RMG sector fetched $14.17bn in export earnings in July-January, growing by around 17.50% compared with the same period of the last FY13 but jute sector continued to struggle.
Total export earnings in July-January of the FY13 were $15.15bn with a growth of 8.83% year-on-year.
“As part of our move to further facilitate our trade to the businesses and traders, trade portal will be lunched soon, commerce secretary Mahbub Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune.
He also noted that the export and trade will be boosted further as soon as the international traders will be involves with the local trade portal.