Bring foreign investment, get 1.5% commission: PM tells Parliament

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said that if foreign investment can be brought to Bangladesh, a 1.5 percent consultancy fee or commission will be given. He gave this information in response to a question from BNP member of the reserved women's seat, Zaharat Adib Chowdhury, during the question and answer session in the National Parliament on Wednesday (June 10).

The Prime Minister said, "There was an issue among foreign investors earlier - why would they invest here if they cannot get their dividends? We have solved this problem through law. We decided in a meeting held three-four days ago - if any Bangladeshi or foreign citizen can bring foreign investment to the country from abroad, then we will give them a 1.5 percent consultancy fee or commission of their investment, we will give them incentives."

In response to a question from BNP MP Mobasher Alam Bhuiyan, the Prime Minister said that various steps have been taken to simplify the investment process to attract domestic and foreign investors. The import and export registration process is being done online in a faster manner. The export policy has been updated and the import policy order 2026-29 is under process of updating. Steps have been taken to remove customs barriers in the import for export purposes and all importers are being allowed to import through contracts without LCs, regardless of the value limit.

In response to a question from Anisur Rahman, a member of the ruling party, the Prime Minister said that the current government believes in the equal development of the country and efforts will be made to work equally in the areas of opposition party members. She also said that steps will be taken accordingly after accepting constructive criticism.

In response to a question from Mir Ahmed Bin Qasem, a member of the Jamaat, the Prime Minister said that women members of parliament will work in specific areas from their party positions; however, they also have full rights as a public representative in the constituency.

In response to a question from Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, a member of the BNP, the Prime Minister said that so far, 60,044 families have been given family cards and 20,748 people have been given farmer cards in the pilot stage. Agricultural loans up to Tk 10,000 have been waived in the crop, livestock and fisheries sectors. Monthly honorarium is being given to the people working in 4,908 mosques, 990 temples, 144 Buddhist monasteries/pagodas and 396 churches. Work has started on planting about 3.14 crore saplings in the upcoming monsoon season, distributing free school uniforms to 200k children in the next fiscal year and implementing the ‘One Teacher One Tab’ scheme.

In response to a question from Jamaat MP Sabikunnahar Munni on the reserved women’s seat, the Prime Minister said, “Everyone knows what happened in this country during the dictatorship. Economy is such a matter, the results of which cannot be achieved in a day. Just as the impact of bad policies is gradually falling on our shoulders, similarly, we will have to wait for some time to get the benefits of the positive steps taken by the current government.' At that time, he said that Bangladesh Bank has already formed a fund of Tk 60,000 crore, from which creditworthy crisis-affected industrial enterprises will be provided with loan assistance at 9 percent interest.