Tapan Kanti Ghosh is a Bangladeshi retired bureaucrat and former senior secretary of the Ministry of Commerce.[1][2] He was the vice-chairman of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute.[3]
Early life
editGhosh was born in Paikgachha Upazila, Khulna District and completed his SSC from Haridhali Union Secondary School in 1979.[4] He completed his HSC from Brajalal College in 1981. He completed his bachelors and master's from the University of Dhaka in economics.[4]
Career
editGhosh joined the Bangladesh Civil Service in 1989 in the administration branch.[4]
Ghosh was the commercial counselor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Brussels from 2011 to 2016.[4]
In 2016, Ghosh joined the Export Wing at the Ministry of Commerce as a joint secretary and later would be promoted to additional secretary.[4][5] From 7 July 2020 to 2 June 2021, Ghosh was the secretary of the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs after which he was made the secretary of the Ministry of Commerce.[4][6] Khaja Miah replaced him as the secretary at the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs.[6] He replaced Md. Zafar Uddin at the Ministry of Commerce who was sent into retirement.[7] In August, he presided over a meeting of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition which took place at the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection.[8] On 16 November 2021, he was made the member secretary of the committee formed to celebrate the 50th independence of Bangladesh.[9] On 30 December 2021, Ghosh was promoted to Senior Secretary.[4]
On 25 August 2021, Ghosh met with traders and businessmen in an attempt to reduce the price of essential commodities.[10][11] He oversaw the export of more than two thousand tone of Hilsa fish to West Bengal on the occasion of Durga Puja which he described as a diplomatic action.[12] In December 2021, he announced the government was moving towards establishing preferential trade agreement with Nepal.[13]
In 2022, Ghosh proposed the name of Amir Hamza for the Independence Day Award, the highest civilian award in Bangladesh, for his contribution to literature and who was selected.[14] Hamza was the father of Asaduzzaman, bureaucrat and the chief executive of Khulna District Council, who successfully lobbied to have his father's name included with the endorsement of Ghosh.[15][14] Hamza's name was met with criticism due to questions about the significance of his contribution and the fact the Hamza had been sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case.[14] His name was eventually removed the list of awardees following criticism.[16][17]
Ghosh started the refund process for Qcoom.com, an online retailer which had failed to deliver products after payment.[18][19] He was also working with Evaly, another online retailer which was facing difficulties providing orders and paying suppliers, to solve their financial problems.[20] He also moved to reduce/remove the vat on soybean oil to reduce prices of soybean oil in the market.[21] On 13 February 2022, Ghosh announced plans to amend the Company Act.[22][23] On 4 March 2022, he met the commerce secretary of India, B. V. R. Subrahmanyam.[24][25]
References
edit- ^ "Company Act needs amendment, says Tapan". New Age. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh speaking at a workshop on investigative journalism - Business". The Daily Observer. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Our Board of Directors – BFTI". Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Senior Secretary". Ministry of Commerce. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ "Protection, respect and remedy essential for govt and corporates to tackle SDGs | UNDP in Bangladesh". UNDP. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ a b "New secretaries for three ministries". Dhaka Tribune. 2021-05-30. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ বাণিজ্য মন্ত্রণালয়ের নতুন সচিব তপন কান্তি ঘোষ. Kaler Kantho (in Bengali). 2021-05-30. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Commerce Ministry Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh presiding over a meeting". The New Nation. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Tapan Kanti Ghosh named member secretary of the committee celebrating the golden jubilee of independence". Bangladesh Live News. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Govt to get tough against market manipulators: Commerce secretary". Business Insider Bangladesh. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Commodity price manipulators will face stern action: commerce secretary". The Daily Star. 2021-08-25. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Bangladesh to export 2,080 tonnes of hilsha to India". The Daily Star. 2021-09-20. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Preferential trade deal with Nepal soon: commerce secretary". The Daily Star. 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ a b c "Government to review decision to confer Independence Award on Amir Hamza". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Amir Hamza is Bangla's Bob Dylan? Really?". The Business Standard. 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Amir Hamza dropped from Swadhinata Padak 2022, new list published". The Daily Star. 2022-03-18. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Independence Award: Amir Hamza's name dropped from list". UNB. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Qcoom starts refunding money to customers | Business". BSS. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Qcoom refunds Tk 40.24 lakh to e-commerce consumers". The Daily Star. 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Meeting on Aug 11 on Evaly's plea for more time". The Daily Star. 2021-08-09. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Cabinet orders NBR to waive VAT on import, production and distribution of cooking oil, other essentials". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Companies act to be rewritten this year". The Daily Star. 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Companies Act needs amendment to make it time-befitting, says commerce secretary". The Financial Express. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Commerce secretaries of Bangladesh, India to meet on March 4". New Age. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "Bangladesh, India to conduct study on economic partnership pact: Report". businesspostbd.com. Retrieved 2022-03-18.