Anyone who can bring foreign investment into Bangladesh will be given a consultancy fee or commission of 1.5 percent of the investment, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has told parliament. He said the measure would encourage Bangladeshis living abroad to invest at home, and enable capable individuals beyond them to attract foreign investors — an initiative taken to raise foreign investment in the country. He spoke on Wednesday in reply to a question from Jaharat Adib Chowdhury, a BNP member from a reserved women’s seat, during the question hour chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad.
“There used to be an issue among foreign investors — why invest here if they cannot take their dividends out? We have resolved that problem through law,” the prime minister said. “At a meeting three or four days ago we decided: if any Bangladeshi or foreign national can bring foreign investment into the country, we will give them a consultancy fee or commission of 1.5 percent of the investment — we will give them that incentive.” Replying to BNP MP Mobashwer Alam Bhuiyan, he said various steps have been taken to simplify the investment process: import and export registration is now issued online and faster by the Office of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports, the export policy has been updated, the Import Policy Order 2026-29 is being updated so foreign investors can enter the market easily, tariff barriers on imports for export purposes are being removed, payment procedures are being eased, and all importers will be allowed to import under contracts without letters of credit regardless of value.
Replying to ruling-party MP Anisur Rahman, the prime minister said some opposition MPs had told the opposition leader they had not received allocations given before Eid through the local government ministry, and that he had instructed the minister and state minister to act quickly so that any opposition MP left out would be covered. “Through this I want to make clear that the present government believes in equal development of the country. Just as ruling-party MPs will develop their areas, the government’s full cooperation will be there for opposition MPs — we will try to work equally in their areas too,” he said. When Anisur Rahman asked whether the government would act to stop the opposition’s “propaganda” on the streets, the prime minister said the question was not clearly understood; after the Speaker rephrased it, he replied: “This government is elected by the people, believes in democracy and is accountable to the people. If there is constructive criticism, we will accept it and take steps accordingly.” Replying to Jamaat MP Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem, he repeated that reserved-seat women MPs have no designated constituencies under the constitution or law, that the party has assigned them areas to work in, and that opposition MPs retain their full rights in their own constituencies, offering direct cooperation on development needs.
Replying to BNP MP Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, the prime minister said several election-manifesto programmes have been taken up on a priority basis: 60,044 families have so far received family cards at the piloting stage; 20,748 people have received farmer cards; agricultural loans of up to 10,000 taka in the crop, livestock and fisheries sectors have been waived; monthly honoraria are being paid to those serving at 4,908 mosques, 990 temples, 144 Buddhist viharas/pagodas and 396 churches; about 31.4 million saplings will be planted in the coming monsoon; there are plans to distribute free school uniforms to 200,000 children at government primary schools next fiscal year; and work has begun on implementing a “One Teacher One Tab” plan in schools. Replying to Jamaat reserved-seat MP Sabikunnahar Munni, he said: “Everyone knows what happened in this country during the autocracy. The economy is something whose results do not come in a day. Just as the effects of bad policy fell on our shoulders gradually, some patience will be needed to reap the benefits of the present government’s positive steps.” He told parliament that Bangladesh Bank has already formed a 60,000 crore taka fund, from which industrial enterprises that have faced difficulties but have genuine credibility will receive loan support at 9 percent interest.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report