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]
Ghosh 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]
Ghosh 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]