Highlights of the National Conference on “Call for Action Against Corruption”

On January 29, 2023, CGS organized the Call to Action Against Corruption (CAAC) conference. The event highlighted the outcomes of the regional consultations and project surveys. All participants, including notable members of Bangladesh’s civil society, legislators, ϐinancial institution ofϐicials, academics, journalists, and SME entrepreneurs validated the ϐindings and shared their opinions along with further proposals for combating corruption in Bangladesh. The following are some important statements made by the distinguished attendees: Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), and chief guest at the event praised CGS for undertaking extensive research on the subject topic. He noted that the study’s ϐindings demonstrate a long-running trend in the SME sector. According to him, there must be a distinction between corruption in public resource allocation and corruption in private resource allocation. He also added that a rise in average income does not necessarily lessen economic corruption.

Dr. Debapriya went on to highlight how regulatory organizations enable corruption because they are afraid of losing the power that had been granted to them. Those charged with empowering SMEs are not elected by the SMEs themselves. As a result, these regulatory bodies are not accountable to them which is essential to address corruption. Haϐiz Ahmed Mazumder MP, Bangladesh Awami League politician, addressed the fact that corruption has plagued the people of Bangladesh for a long time and that any solution to the problem will be welcomed.Dr. Md. Moϐizur Rahman, Managing Director (MD) of SME Foundation, indicated that the SME Foundation is having difϐiculty

Those charged with

in providing services to SMEs due to a shortage of people and

empowering SMEs are

resources. According to Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury (Parvez),

not elected by the SMEs

President of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) and

themselves

previous President of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), no one was currently offering policy support to SMEs in Bangladesh. As a result, Bangladesh’s SME sector was underperforming in comparison to many other successful nations. He also emphasized the absence of usable data on the SME sector, as well as the SMEs’ lack of skills and marketing expertise, which causes them to fall behind. In addition, he added that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) system is the most difϐicult hurdle for all economic sectors in Bangladesh.Former Chairman of the NBR, Dr. Muhammad Abdul Majid, spoke on the pervasiveness of corruption in Bangladesh at all levels. He discussed the need for a new SME ministry as well as a new SME bank to provide specialized and accountable services to SMEs. Former Cabinet Secretary of Bangladesh and Secretary General of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Ali Imam Majumder, emphasized the importance of growing the SME sector in order to build the nation.Former Minister and Vice Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Advocate Nitai Roy Chowdhury, discussed the court system’s failure to safeguard SMEs from corruption. Ruhin Hossain Prince, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), said that simply criticizing corruption is insufϐicient and that the connection between illegal business and illegal politics is harming the potential of SMEs. Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury, Founding President of International Buisness Forum of Bangladesh ( IBFB) and Former Mayor of Chittagong City Corporation, emphasized

Simply criticizing corruption

the various chambers of commerce’s lack of anti-corruption

is insufϔicient and that the

initiatives in the SME sector. He also proposed that the

connection between illegal

Anti-Corruption Commission be given greater constitutional

business and illegal politics

authority to prosecute corruption.

is harming the potential of SMEs

Other participants of the event include:

Politicians: Alhaj Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury, Chairman, Bangladesh Islami Oikkyo Jote, Professor Abdul Mannan, Bangladesh Awami League; Business Leaders and Owners: Abdul Haque, Former President of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA), Mantasha Ahmed, Founder President, Association of Fashion Designers of Bangladesh (AFDB) and President of Bangladesh-India Business Council of WICCI, Mamunur Rashid, Senior VP, Manager Dhaka Bank, Taslima Miji, Managing Director, leathering, Professor Dr. Sarder A Nayeem, Chairman & Chief Surgeon, Japan Bangladesh Friendship Hospital (JBFH), Md. Zahirul Haque Bhuiyan, Secretary General, Bangladesh Dokan Malik Samity and Managing Director, Darkin Trade & Distribution Co. Ltd, Nasiruddin A. Ferdous, Director of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI), and Abida Sultana, Owner of Bridal Creation; Journalists and Editors: Musa Mia, Associate Editor, Business Daily Banik Barta, Nayeemul Islam Khan, Editor, Daily Amader Notun Shomoy, Academicians and Government Representatives: Makshudul Alom, Consultant at Ministry of Commerce, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Parvez Karim Abbasi, Assistant Professor Department of Economics