The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has a big role to play so as to ensure that businesspeople can in no way launder money abroad, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said yesterday.

Digitalisation can play a big part in this and though it has been adopted in many areas of customs, the scope is there for further incorporations, he told a seminar organised by the NBR at InterContinental Dhaka marking International Customs Day.

NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem expressed hope on bringing a change to any negative mindset general people may bear towards customs.

Once customs was considered only a mode for revenue generation but now it is playing a big role in the development of the local industry, he said.

"There are various challenges arising for customs. We are going to solve them and move forward. We will improve in all areas where we are lagging behind. We have to take the economy forward by generating more revenue," he added.

Bangladesh yesterday observed International Customs Day as a member country of World Customs Organization with the theme "Scaling up Customs Digital Transformation by Embracing a Data Culture and Building a Data Ecosystem".

Sectors that bear potential in attracting new investments should be more active in identifying those new investors, said Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

All sectors have to act in a way such that both investment can be attracted and revenue collected, he said.

"When the NBR makes a law or policy, we hope that the NBR will discuss it with us so that no problem arises in its implementation," he added.

"We want the country's tax-GDP ratio to increase and development to take place so that we can do business properly. All of us in the private sector want to work together with the government," he said.

"In that case, there needs to be a win-win situation. I want to create jobs not only as a businessman, but also as a citizen of Bangladesh," he added.

Md Masud Sadiq, member for VAT implementation and IT, presented the keynote paper.

The NBR awarded 17 officers and employees working in Bangladesh Customs and VAT a "World Customs Organization Certificate of Merit".

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, Economic Reporters Forum and Benapole Customs also achieved this honour for playing an important role in trade facilitation.

Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, state minister for shipping, Shehzad Munim, managing director of British American Tobacco Bangladesh, and Russell T Ahmed, President of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, were present among others at the event.