The government plans to issue trade licences through a single online portal, so that businesses no longer have to deal with separate offices run by union parishads, municipalities and city corporations, Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir has said.

Under the proposed system, an entrepreneur would apply, upload documents and pay the prescribed fees online, and obtain the licence without visiting several offices, the minister said at the first meeting of the National Task Force on Deregulation and Business Facilitation, held at the Finance Division in Dhaka.

The meeting was chaired by Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, who heads the panel formed to cut red tape and compliance costs as Bangladesh prepares to graduate from the least developed country category.

Muktadir said the government was also considering extending the validity of trade licences and renaming the document as a "business registration certificate" or a similar title, to reduce administrative delays.

To end repeated visits by different agencies, he said the government was weighing a joint inspection system led by Invest Bangladesh, under which building-safety, fire-safety and environmental checks would be carried out on the same day.

The commerce minister also said foreign employees should not face unreasonable delays in renewing work permits and security clearances, noting that they work for registered, taxpaying companies, and called for coordination with the Home Ministry to make the process smoother.

The task force identified five priority sectors for an initial round of simplification, with the changes to be extended to other areas later. Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman, Invest Bangladesh Chairman Ashik Chowdhury and officials from the National Board of Revenue, the securities regulator and trade bodies also attended.