An 8-member preparatory committee, formed at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in July last year, submitted its final report, incorporating the guidelines, to the PM. Prime minister's principal secretary was its convenor and PM's APS (Development) member-secretary.

Khaleda thanked the committee members for a good job and hoped that private entrepreneurs would be encouraged to invest in physical infrastructure construction following adoption of the guidelines.

"Private investment didn't come in the physical infrastructure sector previously in the absence of a guideline," she said.

The sectors of physical infrastructure ready for private investment include telecommunications and IT, oil, gas, electricity, port, road and railway, water supply, industrial park, health, education and tourism.

The report was prepared following a number of seminars and workshops with experts from public and private sectors and donor agencies.

Relevant laws in other countries were studied during the process. In preparing the report the law ministry was consulted and many of the recommendations of Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) were accommodated.

Infrastructure Investment Facilities Centre (IIFC), an ERD affiliate, offered consultative support for preparing the report.

The report recommends the formation of a 10-member multiparty committee, with prime minister's principal secretary as the chairman, for identifying infrastructure projects in the private sector through defining the method of easy identification.

It would comprise representatives of public and private sectors, including relevant ministries, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

The experts in the report suggested approval of projects in two stages. The ministry concerned will give the approval if the project cost is bellow 10 million US dollars and the ERD will give the approval if the cost comes to 10 million dollars or above.

After she was briefed about salient features of the report on the guidelines, the prime minister directed officials concerned to send the investment guidebook to the ministerial committee on economic affairs.