NBR launches digital tools to cut business cost

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday launched a customs intelligence hotline, a national enquiry point and a piece of software to conduct automated auction as part of efforts to cut barriers to international trade and reduce cost of doing business.

The national enquiry point (NEP) and the hotline will be available on the website of the Bangladesh Customs. The NEP will assist importers, exporters and other stakeholders to get answers to their customs-related queries online.

If any person has any information on smuggling of goods to or from Bangladesh, he/she can share it with the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate secretly through the hotline.

The automated auction process will speed up the sales of confiscated and unreleased goods at customs offices, the tax administrator said in a statement.

State Minister for Finance MA Mannan launched the tools at a programme jointly organised by the NBR and USAID Bangladesh Trade Facilitation Activity Project at Le Méridien Dhaka.

NBR Chairman MdMosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, Acting Mission Director of USAID Bangladesh ZainahSalahi, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin and NBR Member for Custom Modernisation Khondaker Muhammad Aminur Rahman were also present.