Bangladesh has been placed in 110th position among 117 countries that were surveyed under the Global Competitiveness Report 2005-06, indicating no major change in its situation, in terms of business competitiveness compared to that of the previous year. The country was placed 102th among 104 countries surveyed and covered under the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) in the previous year. Many new entrants -- including Mongolia, East Timor, Tajikistan -- were better placed than Bangladesh this year, the report said. The World Economic Forum (WEF) released the report Wednesday, ranking countries across the globe in terms of their expertise in investment and business environment. The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) -- a local think-tank -- released a country-specific shortened version of the report in cooperation with the WEF. Business Competitiveness Index (BCI) is usually used to determine the level of corruption. CPD Executive Director Debapriya Bhattacharya presented the Competitiveness Environment Study Report based on surveys on 93 private companies with capital of over Tk 100 million each at a press conference at the CPD's conference room. "The report did not reflect the observations of the CPD but those of business enterprises that were interviewed during the survey," Debapriya told the newsmen. Persistent corruption, poor infrastructure and indecisiveness on the part of the government are among the reasons for the poor ranking of Bangladesh in the GCI index, the report stated. Debapriaya said credit rating fraud and misuse of funds by the government have increased. The index of the government institutions has, however, improved slightly, he added. According to the report, the private sector enterprises, like those in the public sector, are experiencing a lack of accountability. The government often takes decision on fiscal matters, particularly concerning its taxation structure to favour certain companies, it maintained. According to the survey, there have been slight improvements in annual tax payment, police service and controlling bribes. Entrepreneurs think the government's negative attitude had also been reflected in the agricultural sector, resulting in its deteriorating performance. Among the South Asian countries, both Pakistan and India have developed their business competitive positions compared to their situation in the previous year. Pakistan topped the position in South Asia graduating to 83rd position from 91st, while India moved to 50th place from that of 55th. Sri Lanka's position deteriorated to 98th position this year from 73rd last year. The CPD, in collaboration with the WEF, has been assessing business competitiveness environment of Bangladesh since 2001. The companies representing the sectors like manufacturing, financial institutions, real estates and construction, information and communication technology (ICT) and transport and engineering were among those surveyed for preparing the report. Of the surveyed companies, 90 per cent were located in Dhaka. Among the respondents, 49 per cent were from manufacturing sector, 15 per cent from financial institutions, nine per cent from ICT, seven per cent from real estate and construction, seven per cent transport and engineering and the remaining 13 per cent from other sectors. Issues that were dealt with, by the survey included those relating to role of government and public sector, quality of services provided by public institutions, infrastructure, state of human resources, financial system, domestic competition, company operation and strategy, technology, environmental policy, relative importance of international financial institutions, macro-economic stability, growth prospects and other current matters.
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