Dhaka, June 11 -- The BNP government has positioned tourism as part of Bangladesh's emerging creative economy, opening the door for tourism entrepreneurs to access funding from a newly proposed development fund.

Presenting the FY2026-27 budget on Thursday, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury highlighted the creative economy as a key driver of employment generation and proposed an initial allocation of Tk 3 billion for the sector.

Tourism projects will be eligible to seek financing from the fund.

He also proposed mobilising an additional Tk 5 billion from Bangladesh Bank's corporate social responsibility (CSR) resources to support creative economy initiatives.

Alongside the funding proposals, the minister outlined a series of...