The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) on Monday signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with 11 service-providing institutions to integrate them with its One Stop Service (OSS) portal, in a move aimed at further easing business operations and facilitating domestic and foreign investment.
The MoU signing ceremony was held at BIDA’s conference room in Agargaon, according to an official press release. The agreements were signed with four commercial banks—Rupali Bank PLC, Dhaka Bank PLC, Bank Asia PLC and Bengal Commercial Bank PLC—and seven city corporations: Rajshahi, Khulna, Mymensingh, Barishal, Cumilla, Gazipur and Narayanganj.
Under the MoUs, the participating banks and city corporations will integrate their respective systems with BIDA’s online OSS platform. This will enable investors to access key services such as opening bank accounts, obtaining trade licences and availing financial and municipal services through a single digital interface in a faster, more transparent and less cumbersome manner.
BIDA Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, who attended the event as chief guest, said the authority’s objective was to create an ecosystem in which entrepreneurs—from small business owners to large industrialists—could obtain all required government services through a single website and login. He noted that BIDA was seeking to move away from the practice of investors having to submit the same information repeatedly to multiple government offices, adding that countries successful in attracting investment had ensured data integrity and seamless information-sharing across government agencies.
He further said that while achieving full digital integration would be challenging and time-consuming, Bangladesh was moving forward with strong commitment. Emphasising the importance of effective implementation, he noted that launching digital systems alone was insufficient, and that continuous monitoring, identification of investor challenges and improvements based on feedback from partner institutions were equally critical.
The executive chairman also congratulated the newly onboarded institutions and acknowledged the efforts of BIDA officials and staff involved in implementing the OSS initiative. The programme was presided over by Air Commodore (retd) Md Shaharul Huda, executive member of BIDA.
BIDA launched its online One Stop Service portal in February 2019 in line with the One Stop Service Act, 2018 and the relevant rules notified in 2020, with the aim of delivering all major investment-related services from a single platform.
With the addition of the 11 institutions, BIDA has now signed MoUs with a total of 52 organisations. At present, 142 services from 47 agencies are available through the OSS portal. More than 215,000 applications have been processed through the system so far, and services from additional institutions are expected to be integrated in the near future.
