Foreign investors can now apply online for visa, permits

The Board of Investment yesterday launched its new streamlined application procedure for visa, work permits and representative offices for foreign investors, aiming to boost investment in Bangladesh.

Prospective foreign investors will now have to fill in just a one-page application instead of the previous 16 pages, said Syed A Samad, executive chairman of BoI. “We have made the registration process as clean as possible.”

He said the BoI will now be able to provide fast-track services to investors.

If everything is all right in the application, the recommendation letter for visa will go straight to the relevant foreign mission without delay, said Nabhash Chandra Mandal, executive member of BoI. The step had earlier taken weeks or months, he said.

The move will improve the country's investment climate and reduce time and registration cost by 40 percent, said Kyle F Kelhofer, country manager of International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group that financed the automation of BoI.

Many foreign companies have been looking for simplification of the investment registration process, according to Johan Frisell, ambassador of Sweden.

He said the country has immense potential given its steady economic growth and low-cost labour.

But it still has to address some challenges such as energy, roads, infrastructure to attract more foreign investment, Frisell added.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, who inaugurated the automated system, said the country is expecting a 25 percent rise in foreign direct investment this year. In 2014, some $1.6 billion was received in FDI, according to Amu.

Bangladesh is an investment-shortage country. The country needs to increase its investment to 34.3 percent of GDP, nearly 6 percentage points higher than its current level to achieve the targeted economic growth of 7.3 percent for the current fiscal year, according to Asian Development Bank.

The gap can be filled by $3.5 billion in FDI, said Mandal.

Matlub Ahmed, chairman of Nitol Niloy Group, also spoke at the event held at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.