The country's apex trade body has urged the revenue authority to avoid issuing gazettes out of the blue as it affects investors' confidence.

“Businesses should be engaged before bringing in any change to rules,” said Md Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Unpredictable policy environment erodes the confidence of the business community, he said at a seminar at the capital's Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel on Friday.

The National Board of Revenue organised the event to mark the International Customs Day, which was observed in 182 countries on the day.

This year, the theme for the day was: A Secure Business Environment for Economic Development.

A total of Tk 75 lakh crore will be required to attain the Sustainable Development Goals, Mohiuddin said.

Ensuring a business-friendly environment would facilitate increased trade and investment and thereby lead to higher revenue collection to finance the development schemes, he added.

“The tax and duty rates should be stable,” said Mashiur Rahman, Prime Minister's Economic Affairs adviser. He said repeated changes in duty classifications leave importers on a wobbly ground. At the same time, a reasonable level of protection is necessary to promote industrialisation in Bangladesh. Rules and regulations should be framed in view of production, industrialisation and revenue collection, he said, while stressing on the need for diversification of industrial production.

“So, customs officials don't just collect revenues; they have important roles in industrialisation.”Rahman also said the efficiency of revenue officials and their business-friendly attitudes are vital. “There is no meaning of enforcing laws by shutting down production,” the adviser added.

Many countries used duty protection for industrialisation, said Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on finance.

“If we impose duty properly on the import of powdered milk, we will not need to import milk after 3-5 years,” he said, adding that dairy farming is expanding. He also touched upon the topic of illegal capital flight out of the country.

“It is alleged that a neighbourhood in Canada has been christened the 'Begum Para'.

The money was sent there through under- and over-invoicing of exports and imports,” Razzaque added. Finance Minister AMA Muhith asked the customs department to be alert to prevent the entry of illegal items.

He said the government aims to double the tax to gross domestic product ratio to 20 percent by 2021 to increase the size of the national budget.

At present, the tax-to-GDP ratio stands at 10-11 percent.“It is a big target. But it is possible to achieve it seeing the way people are responding,” said Muhith. 

Many countries have a higher tax-GDP ratio, the minister said, adding that some countries have a tax-to-GDP ratio of 30-32 percent. “We may not go upto that level, but it is possible to achieve our target,” he said, citing the growth of registered taxpayers to 31 lakh from 14 lakh from a couple of years ago as an encouraging sign.

“This is a very a good sign. We should be proud of it,” he added. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and NBR Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan also spoke.