It is universally accepted that, the role of the Government should be the role of a facilitator and not the controller; and thereby, the withdrawal of the role of the government from the ownership, management and control of commercial and industrial enterprises including the service sector will leave more space for the government to put focus on other important areas such as general management of economy, social and public sector, basic health and education, law and order situation, defence, environment and other areas of public-non entrepreneurial activities. In brief, privatization of the state- owned enterprises is regarded as the most efficacious policy all over the world and Bangladesh is not an exception in this context.

Since early eighties, investment in Bangladesh has emphasized the need for deregulation, de-nationalization and de-control. The government has also recognized the importance of private sector - led growth in our economy. Process of privatization of state- owned enterprises (SOEs) started with transferring them to their former Bangladeshi owners and sale/transfer of shares to the investors and buyers.

With a view to further stimulating the implementation of the privatization program of the Government, the Privatization Board was established on the 20 March, 1993 by an ordinance. Later on, to put a massive thrust on the ongoing privatization process as well as to invigorate and strengthen the privatization programme , the Privatization Board was transformed into a Commission in 2000. This Commission was vested with more authority to privatize the industrial, commercial and service oriented state- owned enterprises.

By now, lots of positive regulatory changes have taken place to create favorable investment climate. The Government also formulated the Privatization policy in 2001 and the Privatization Regulations in 2007.