Dhaka, April 8 -- Power supply, access to finance, corruption, the informal sector, and tax rates are the five major obstacles to doing business in Bangladesh, according to a fresh report by the World Bank Group.

The report, released on Tuesday, highlights the constraints faced by promising small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and how these barriers are stifling growth.

It warns that these hurdles are enabling a few dominant business groups to control most sectors while emerging firms struggle to expand-and weaker ones eventually shut down.

The findings were presented on the second day of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority's (BIDA) investment summit, during a session jointly organised with the World Bank Group.

Martin Holt...