On 6 September 2022, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) of Bangladesh presented the results and recommendations of its first self-conducted Time Release Study (TRS) in a hybrid TRS Report Dissemination event with over 500 participants, 150 attended in person and 350 joined virtually, representing ministries, high-level officers from public agencies, other stakeholders, development partners as well as the private sector.
This milestones constitutes the successful closing of the support provided by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) and the WCO, under the WCO-SECO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP), which began in February 2021.
During the event, Ms. Suzanne Mueller, the Chargée d’Affaires, Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, expressed that “Switzerland appreciates the efforts of the NBR to take ownership and institutionalise the TRS process to increase the competitive advantage of Bangladesh in the global trade market, by making trade faster and more predictable”.
The NBR acknowledges the value of TRS and commits to conducting TRS regularly every alternate year. The participants highlighted the valuable contribution of the WCO and SECO as well as the importance of addressing the gaps identified in the TRS report through various projects and initiatives, and through implementing the recommendations set forth in the report.
For more information on the GTFP, please, contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.