The government on Tuesday awarded 54 leading business people in seven categories CIP (commercially important person) status for their outstanding performance in setting up industries, manufacturing, job creation and overall economic development of the country.
At a ceremony at the BIAM auditorium in the capital, industries ministry handed over CIP cards to the rewarded business persons.
At the programme, CIPs urged the government for consulting with the businesses communities before taking any policy decisions regarding industries and economy of the country.
They also demanded for ensuring facilities allocated for the CIPs as most of the time they faced harassment in receiving CIP treatment at government offices due to ignorance of the officials about the status of CIPs.
In reply, industries minister Amir Hossain Amu assured that the government would hold discussion with the business people before finalising any decision related to the issues.
He hoped that Bangladesh would become one of the leading rich countries before 2041 if it could utilise the marine resources extracting from the sea, the territory in the Bay of Bengal that the country won from Myanmar through the arbitration by International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas.
Bangladesh will also become a middle income country before 2021 if industrialisation and economic development continue at the current pace, he said.
CIPs have been selected under seven categories. Among them 11 are from ex-officio category, 21 from large-scale industry, 10 from medium industry, 5 from small industry, 5 from services sector, and one each from micro-industry and cottage industry.
The CIP cardholders will enjoy a number of facilities for the next one
year including permission to enter Bangladesh Secretariat, priority in reserving seats in Biman, train, bus and other modes of transport for business-related travels, availing of the letter of introduction from the foreign ministry to get visa easily in case of foreign tours and using the VIP Lounge-2 at the airport, priority in getting cabin facility at government hospitals and participation in different national programmes.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Industries secretary Moinuddin Abdullah, additional secretary Farhad Uddin, among others, spoke at the function.
-With New Age input
