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Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on Thursday said the success of the national budget will ultimately depend on its effective implementation, urging officials of the Finance Division to work in a coordinated manner to translate the government’s fiscal plans into tangible results.
Speaking at his first meeting with officials of the Finance Division at the Ministry of Finance, Khosru said the budget, prepared through nearly two months of intensive work, has received positive feedback from people across the country.
“A well-prepared budget alone is not enough. Its real success depends on effective implementation,” he said, expressing confidence that the Finance Division would be able to deliver the budget successfully through teamwork and close coordination.
The meeting was chaired by Finance Division Secretary Dr Khairuzzaman Mozumder.
The finance minister also called for changing the public’s negative perception of the bureaucracy, saying his experience over the past four months had convinced him that even the most complex challenges could be overcome through collective efforts.
He urged officials to move beyond conventional methods and adopt innovative thinking to respond effectively to the demands of a rapidly changing global economy.
Khosru stressed that official meetings should encourage active participation rather than remain one-way interactions, saying open dialogue and the free exchange of ideas would lead to better policy outcomes.
He advocated a workplace culture based on mutual cooperation, constructive discussion and “out-of-the-box” thinking, adding that government offices should function like a family where officials focus on finding solutions instead of merely identifying problems.
The minister also underscored the importance of objective and timely feedback from different wings of the Finance Division, saying such inputs would strengthen policy formulation and improve decision-making.
Describing the Finance Division as the centre of the country’s economic management, he urged officials to discharge their responsibilities with professionalism, integrity and dedication in the national interest.
Later, speaking to reporters after attending a meeting at the Secretariat on the integrated development plan for Cox’s Bazar, Khosru said the government has begun preparing a comprehensive master plan to transform the coastal district into an international and regional tourism hub.
He said the government is reviewing the long-standing 50-metre and 500-metre coastal development restrictions to facilitate planned tourism infrastructure while maintaining environmental safeguards.
“Where tourism is developed, hotels, motels, resorts and recreational facilities will have to be established. Development opportunities must be created without compromising environmental conservation,” he said.
The minister said the government has a broader vision for Cox’s Bazar, pointing to major infrastructure projects already underway, including the construction of an international airport, railway connectivity and improved road links with Chattogram.
These projects, he said, would be integrated under a single development framework to transform Cox’s Bazar into a modern, digitally connected tourism city capable of attracting both domestic and international visitors.
Khosru added that Bangladesh’s ambition to become a US$1 trillion economy by 2034 would be supported by Cox’s Bazar as one of the country’s key growth centres through the expansion of tourism, trade and service industries.