'Make easy access to govt rules, regulations'

The Regulatory Reforms Commission (RRC) has recommended that the government publish all its rules and regulations on a website so that the public has easy access to them.
RRC Chairman Akbar Ali Khan said this while addressing a discussion titled "Regulatory Reforms Commission: Hope and Aspiration of the Business Community" at the city's Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre (BCFCC) as chief guest yesterday.
He said that if public access to government rules and regulations is not made easy, people end up groping in the dark for them.
Khan said that RRC has also recommended that the government make details of proposed rules and regulations public. In this way public opinion can be created on those before they are formulated into rules.
"We have already sent these recommendations to the chief adviser of the caretaker government," Khan added.
Speaking on RRC's agenda, Khan informed that five areas -- including rules and regulations governing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), NBR, Board of Investment (BoI), SMEs and the environment -- have been prioritised.
He told the discussion that during the first four months of its work, RRC would prepare recommendations for reforms in the country's financial sector. After that they would concentrate on those areas said to cause public harassment, such as public works and utility services.
Khan said that though one year was a short time for such an important task as these reforms, RRC would try to complete its job within the given time.
He said RRC would go all the way and not just stick to conventional methods to complete their task.
Replying to a query Khan said that recommending reforms was his job, responsibility for implementation of those reforms lie with the chief adviser and his government.
"The CA will intervene in case of any disagreement from government high-ups regarding the implementation of these reforms," he told the meeting.
While answering questions from a businessman Khan said that the BoI had failed to render its due services to investors. He also urged the government to form a fertiliser commission to address the mismanagement in fertiliser distribution across the country.
First Secretary for Economic and Political Affairs of the US Embassy in Dhaka, Heather Variava, while addressing the discussion, expressed hopes for a better business environment in the country in the coming days.
International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) organised the discussion meeting chaired by its president Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury.