7-8 February 2006, Dhaka, Bangladesh



This two-day workshop, organized by the Board of Investment (BoI) in collaboration with FIAS and the South Asia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF), brought together public and private sector stakeholders to discuss new strategies for governing economic zones and reducing administrative barriers to investment in Bangladesh (press release).

Presentations on Day 1 focused on findings and recommendations from the FIAS/SEDF project on Piloting Reform through the Development and Management of Economic Zones, a project consisting of 6 key components:

• Options for an Economic Zones Strategy,
• Policy Best Practices Benchmarking Study,
• Institutional Needs Assessment of economic zones and industrial estates,
• Core Functions Review of key agencies,
• Study Tours to build awareness,
• Industrial Land Market Study.

Presentations on Day 2 brought out key highlights from the FIAS/SEDF project on Administrative Barriers to Investment, a project which proposes solutions to 5 key barriers identified by investors:

• bonded warehouse licensing,
• capital machinery import clearance,
• duty drawback,
• location and environmental clearances,
• foreign loan documentation.

The informative workshop discussions served as key inputs to the finalization of the projects on Economic Zones and Admin Barriers, both of which are central to the preparation phase of the proposed World Bank-led, multi-donor funded, Private Sector Development Support Project (PSDSP) in Bangladesh.

For selected press coverage of the workshop, please click here.

Agenda ( 73KB)

Day 1: Enhancing Economic Zones in Bangladesh Export Processing Zones in Bangladesh: Past, Present, and Future ( 395KB) Brig. Gen. Md. Zakir Hossain psc, G (Retd), Chairman, BEPZA Industrial Estates in Bangladesh: Past, Present, and Future ( 154KB) S.R. Osmani, Chairman, BSCIC Key Findings of the Economic Zones Project in Bangladesh ( 148KB) Fatima Shah, Task Team Leader, FIAS A Strategy for Economic Zones in Bangladesh ( 248KB) Kishore Rao, Managing Director, BearingPoint Infrastructure Needs Assessment ( 128KB) Ajit Kumar, Consultant, BearingPoint PSD Core Group Efforts ( 80KB) Craig Wilson, Program Manager, Investment Climate Assessments, SEDF Economic Zones Study Tours Review ( 819KB) Mamdood Hossain Alamgir, Director, BOI
Break-Out Group Presentations: Recommendations of Breakout Group 1: Modernizing the Policy/ Regulatory/ Institutional/ Legal Frameworks for Economic Zones ( 83KB) Md. Nazrul Islam ndc, Member, Executive Council, BOI Recommendations of Breakout Group 2: Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure Provision ( 92KB) S.R. Osmani, Chairman, BSCIC Recommendations of Breakout Group 3: Establishing a Special Economic Zones in Bangladesh ( 87KB) Brig. Gen. Md. Zakir Hossain psc, G (Retd), Chairman, BEPZA Background Materials: Piloting Reform Through the Development and Management of Economic Zones - Excerpts from Draft Final Report ( 88KB) Study Tours UAE, Jordan, Malaysia, South Korea - Observations and Recommendations by PSD Core Group Participants ( 74KB)
Day 2: Reducing Administrative Barriers to Investment in Bangladesh Introduction to Administrative Barriers ( 80KB) Craig Wilson, Program Manager, Investment Climate Assessments, SEDF Working Group Insights on the ABR Review Process ( 123KB) Jalalul Hai, Deputy Director, BOI & Coordinator, ABR Working Group Findings of the First ABR in Bangladesh ( 169KB) Iftekar Ahmed, Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute Introducing Regulatory Impact Analysis into the Reform Process ( 128KB) Peter Ladegaard, Regulatory Governance Specialist, FIAS
Background Materials: A Review of Administrative Barriers to Investment - Excerpts from Draft Final Report ( 33KB)