Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman on Saturday said the government is fully committed to implementing deep, structural reforms to improve the ease of doing business stressing that the government holds the political will and strategic vision to make Bangladesh the most competitive investment destination in South Asia.

"Our government possesses the political will, the strategic vision, and the unwavering commitment to make Bangladesh the most competitive investment destination in South Asia," he said while describing the local business community as primary strategic partners.

Speaking at the high-level conference titled "Roadmap for Trade, Growth & Economic Diplomacy 2026: Navigating Risks, Leveraging Resilience" in a city hotel, the Foreign Minister and President-elect of the 81st UN General Assembly said they view every foreign ambassador, not just as a diplomat, but as a crucial partner of their development. 


"We view every business leader here, not just as an investor, or a taxpayer, but a stakeholder in our national success," he added.

Organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), the conference brought together senior government leaders, heads of diplomatic missions, development partners, and representatives from the private sector to chart a forward-looking agenda for Bangladesh's economic engagement.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam, Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir and Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam also spoke at the event.

The Foreign Minister said they must remain connected. "We must remain in dialogue. We must get feedbacks from you.... work with us as we rebuild trust and unlock the true vibrant potential of Bangladesh."

Today, faced with the energy crisis and developments in the international trade, finance and technology, Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman also has a clear vision to transform the challenges to new opportunities with three key goals: stabilise, reform and elevate.

"We need to convert his vision into concrete action as it comes to our work on economic and trade diplomacy," he said.

As the new government begins its work, Dr Khalilur said they have before them the challenge of redesigning their international economic engagements against the backdrop slowing global economic and trade growth, geopolitical tensions, trade policy uncertainties, calamites rising trade barriers and structural shifts in supply chains.

Moreover, the ongoing energy crisis has added a new layer of complications, he said.

"We are not immune to these developments, which have crucial implications for our approaches to overall policy making, in general, and economic diplomacy, in particular," said the Foreign Minister.

This is the very reason why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) decided to organise today's event that brings together our partners and stakeholders for open and purposeful deliberations with a view to helping informed policymaking, he said.

"The challenges we face are critical. The growth prospects in our major markets remain in the positive territory but at a moderate level. This is likely to translate into sluggish consumer demand, which will affect our exports to these markets," Dr Khalilur said.

He said they will need to compete ever more fiercely in order to maintain and expand our export position.

Secondly, he said, financial markets and institutions are increasing affecting production of goods and services and trade theteof.

"Trade flows have become increasingly susceptible to movements in interest rates or changes in investor sentiments," Dr Khalilur said.

Countries like Bangladesh find it harder to raise capital, pay significantly higher borrowing costs and remain acutely vulnerable to swings in market sentiment, said the Foreign Minister.

While advanced economies are able to borrow at roughly 1-4%, the rate for emerging developing countries range typically from 6-12% or even higher.

"Thus, our access to affordable and secure financing remain significantly restricted," the Foreign Minister said.

Like many other developing countries, Bangladesh remains acutely susceptible to factors such as currency volatility, shifts in risk-taking appetite and financial volatility, said the Foreign Minister.

Thirdly, he said, climate vulnerability has introduced another difficulty in access to finance.

According to UNCTAD, which recently carried out an Investment Policy Review of Bangladesh, some climate-vulnetable countries are paying an extra 20 billion dollar annually in interest due to their climate risk.

"External debt and climate crisis are become intertwined," said the Foreign Minister.

Fourthly, he said, the ongoing energy crisis has already caused them to spend more on imported fuel."Increased fuel prices directly affect our cost of production and competitiveness."

"By taking away critical funding that would have gone for development activities, we are likely to witness second round effects of the crisis in the form of reduced funding for development in the years to come," the Foreign Minister said.

The International Energy Association opined that the scope of the current energy crisis could be larger than that of the twin oil shocks of the 1970s, which was a major cause for the 1980s to become a lost decade of development for many developing countries.

The Foreign Minister said trade tech, which is the intersection of trade, investment and technology, is fast redefining the global economy and trade by making cross border transactions quicker and more efficient through the increasing use of innovations like AI, Internet of Things, Blockchain and 5G.

"This poses both a challenge and an opportunity depending on how quickly and effectively countries can take advantage of the fast moving Trade Tech landscape," he said..

The conference is featuring three thematic sessions: 1. The Policy Compass – Advancing Trade & Investment, focusing on policy predictability, market access, and investor confidence, 2. Capital for Growth – Finance, Commerce and Trade, addressing financing reforms and investment mobilisation, 3. ​The New Stage – Government Policy, AI, Creative Industries and Sport, exploring emerging growth sectors and diversification opportunities.

The "Roadmap for Trade, Growth & Economic Diplomacy 2026" is being held at a critical juncture of global transitions, risks and uncertainties, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The event aims to foster greater coordination between policy and implementation, enhance Bangladesh's economic diplomacy, and build stronger partnerships with the international community.

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Companies and organisations will be required to file tax returns on the income generated by employee welfare funds from the current fiscal year and pay a 27.5 percent tax on the earnings. 

The Income Tax Act 2023 incorporates the provision, lifting the tax exemption and amnesty on the compulsion to file returns for funds such as provident funds, gratuity funds and workers' profit participation funds maintained by the private sector.

The law, however, has exempted government-managed provident funds from taxation, raising questions.

TIM Nurul Kabir, executive director of the Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said there were many other avenues to collect tax.

"Employees benefit from provident funds after their retirement. So, the authority should not slap taxes on retirement benefit."

He said while levying the tax, the government has not treated provident funds of the private and public sectors equally.

"It is discriminatory," he said, adding that they would appeal to the tax authority for the withdrawal of the tax on income from provident funds.

Debabrata Roy Chowdhury, director for legal, regulatory and corporate affairs at Nestlé Bangladesh PLC, said the introduction of income tax on trust funds would lower the overall income from such schemes.

"This will have an adverse long-term impact on retired employees of private organisations."

Chowdhury urged the authority to address the issue in line with the spirit of the government's initiatives aimed at ensuring social security for private sector employees.

"The recent introduction of the universal pension scheme for private sector employees is a good example of that."

A senior official of the NBR, on condition of anonymity, said the income of government-managed provident funds was exempted in line with the Provident Fund Act 1925.

He said provident funds under the private sector had been historically exempted and there was no requirement to submit tax returns. As a result, it was unclear whether the funds were properly utilised.

"From now onwards, we will see proper disclosure."

The tax official said the contribution of payroll tax is about 3 percent of the total income tax although it should increase as the economy is growing.

Md Shahadat Hossain, a former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh, said income from investment in savings certificates, where people invest as a source of future earnings, is already taxed.

"From that perspective, the imposition of tax on provident and other employee welfare funds seems okay."

However, Towfiqul Islam Khan, senior research fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said social protection for private sector employees was low.

"Provident and other workers' welfare-related funds provide little social protection. The imposition of tax will increase inequality. But there can't be any discrimination in taxation between private and government provident funds."

Khan, citing the latest income tax law that replaced the Income Tax Ordinance 1984, said the NBR tried to find new avenues to increase tax collection and improve the nation's revenue-gross domestic product ratio, which is one of the lowest in the world.

"We can see the desperation of the tax authority to boost collection. This ultimately reveals the inability of the NBR to catch the tax evaders and illicit money makers."