Bida digitises outward remittance approval process

The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) has launched its outward remittance repatriation approval service on the Bida One Stop Service (OSS) online portal, enabling fully digital processing for approvals related to royalty, technical know-how, technical assistance, and franchise fees.

Previously available only through offline channels due to technical limitations, the service now offers a streamlined and transparent digital experience, according to a press release.

Investors can submit applications online, track their progress, pay fees digitally, and receive approvals within seven working days, in line with the service level agreement (SLA).

“We’ve closed yet another gap,” said Ashik Chowdhury, executive chairman of Bida.

“Investors can now benefit from a fully electronic and environment-friendly workflow, which brings greater efficiency and accountability to a critical process for both local and foreign industries operating in Bangladesh.”

He also highlighted the recent launch of BanglaBiz, a unified digital platform developed by Bida in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

The portal currently connects the OSS platforms of Bida and other investment promotion agencies.

Once more than 25 services are fully integrated into BanglaBiz by the end of this month, investment processes are expected to become even faster and more user-friendly.

With the latest addition, Bida’s OSS now offers 142 investor services in total.

This development reflects the agency’s continued commitment to improving the ease of doing business and facilitating investment, in line with the Bida Act (2016), the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (1947, amended in 2015), and Bangladesh Bank’s 2018 Foreign Exchange Guidelines.

The Research and Analytics Unit (RAU), under the UNDP’s Transformative Economic Policy Programme (TEPP-II) -- funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office -- provided technical assistance and supported coordination efforts to digitise the process.