A proposal has been tabled in Parliament to amend the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Act by changing the definition of tourist and allowing ‘duty free’ shops to operate. On Monday (17 January), State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali tabled the ‘Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (Amendment) Bill-2022’ in Parliament. The bill was later sent for examination to the Parliamentary Standing Committee. The committee was asked to submit a report to the Parliament within a month.
The bill has increased the authorised capital of the tourism corporation from Tk 15 crore to Tk 1,000 crore. The paid-up capital is going to be Tk 400 crore. Existing law stipulates that a person may be away from home and for more than 24 hours for leisure or travel, but less than six months while living somewhere else. In the amendment, it has been extended to one year. However, if he is staying for a job, he will not be considered as a tourist.
The bill states that the tourism corporation will be able to operate and manage duty free shops.
In the 1972 Act, the definition of Chairman was ‘Chairman of the Board’. The draft law provides for the chairman of the corporation instead of the board. The existing law provides for a maximum of four members on the board of a corporation. This number is being increased to 11 in the amendment. The chairman of the board will be the secretary of the ministry.
The law is being amended to reduce unemployment, create employment, increase income and expand the scope of tourism corporations through development of tourism industry in Bangladesh.
