Why is our business climate getting worse?

It is alarming to learn that, as per the latest Bangladesh Business Climate Index (BBX) report, there is a drop in the national score from 61.95 in 2022 to 58.75 in 2023. Not only is this indicating significant challenges for businesses across the country, but more crucially, it should compel relevant stakeholders to ask a vital question: Why is our business climate getting worse?

We have long discussed Bangladesh’s need to improve its business climate; with it set to graduate from a least developed country (LDC) in the next two years, thereby losing many of the benefits afforded to LDCs, attracting more investment both local and foreign has long been identified as a necessity for Bangladesh to maintain its development trajectory. However, given the struggling business climate that Bangladesh has continued to display post the Covid-19 pandemic, there is legitimate reason for concern, and for the relevant stakeholders to start taking this issue with the seriousness it has long warranted.
While there may be certain policies in place to encourage investment and improve the business climate, it is safe to say that we need much more to be done, reports DT.
The BBX report identifying power outages, difficulties accessing transport and logistics services, increasing production costs, complex tax systems, and challenges accessing finance as the principal reasons for our crumbling business climate should give us pause for thought; all of these issues have legitimate solutions and can become far more efficient.
It starts with having the will to bring about change; the best policies will not bring change if there is no decisive implementation and upholding of said policies. Moreover, our business climate getting bogged down by preventable barriers is a tale as old as time, but we can no longer have such a retrograde status quo defining what it means to conduct business in Bangladesh.