Mohammad Amjad Hossain :
Bangladesh celebrated fifty years last year in March having achieved phenomenal success without having a basket case of the United States of America as stated by Mr. Henry Kissinger, former National Security Adviser to President Richaard Nixon of The United States of America at a meeting of a special action group on December 6, 1971.
In fact, Henry Kissinger was replying to the comment made by Mr. U. Alexis Jonson, Under Secretary of State of the State Department who is reported to have said that they would be ”an international basket case”. As a matter of fact, Henry Kissinger had been to Bangladesh as Secretary of State of the administration of President Ford from 31 October to 1st November 1974 to call on Banghabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Incidentally this writer briefly met Henry Kissinger while he was coming out having a meeting with Banghabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who seemed to be angry since the meeting took place after ten minutes of scheduled time since Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was busy receiving garlanding. Incidentally, this writer was assigned from the Foreign Ministry to look after foreign news media. Henry Kissinger was accorded a colourful cultural show at hotel Intercontinental in the evening while External Publicity of the Foreign Ministry entertained visiting foreign news media in the hotel Intercontinental. The World Bank which is usually restrained in this respect, spoke of at that time in its first report about Bangladesh of a “hopeless case” as stated by Mr. Reiner Morbach of Germany, retired Director of German Economic Relation Ministry.
As a matter of fact the United States of America sided with Pakistan during the war of independence in 1971. Perhaps the Indo-Soviet Treaty of friendship and cooperation which was signed on 8 August 1971 Indian military decided to intervene in the conflict in Pakistan since ten thousands refugees from then East Pakistan took shelter in India as a result of oppression by the Pakistan military regime on the people of East Pakistan while administration of President Nixon of United states of America sided with marauding army of General Yahia Khan of Pakistan. Incidentally Bangladesh did not become a basket case of the United States of America nor an international basket case although Bangladesh has had victims of this nature. Like tidal waves, cyclones and floods occasionally.
As a matter of fact, Bangladesh had been receiving food assistance from the United States of America under PL 480 which restricted the recipient country from trading with black-listed countries. Bangladesh, which was desperately in need of hard currency, used to export jute to Cuba, a black-listed country declared by America. The government of Bangladesh was advised in September 19 1974 to cancel further export orders of jute to Cuba in favor of American food aid. Professor Amartya Sen of Oxford University who was the recipient of the Nobel Prize, said, “Only after Bangladesh gave in and sacrificed its trade with Cuba did the flow of American food resumed. By that time, the food situation in Bangladesh had gone from bad to worse, and the country was affected by a famine of a severe nature. This caused embarrassment to the government in power.
Since 2017 Bangladesh has become recipient of as many as 80.000 Rohingya from Myanmar and they found shelter in Bangladesh in refugee camps which the United Nations described the Rohingya as the most persecuted minority in the world.
According to the World Bank, which thought Bangladesh in fact hopeless, but ‘over the last thirty years the country has been developing by leaps and bounds’. Now the World Bank is holding the opinion that Bangladesh has an inspiring story of growth and development aspiring to be an upper and middle income economy by 2031. Asian Development Bank has made partnership with Bangladesh to achieve prosperous inclusive growth in Asia and the Pacific. By now Asia Development Bank gave Bangladesh $ 250 billion loan to support Bangladesh social resilience in 2021. Economically Bangladesh has been developing by leaps and bounds for which readymade garment factories approximately earned $27.95 billion in 2020 and employing approximately four million workers. The apparel export brought $ 27.95 billion in 2021 which makes miracles in international markets. Bangladesh is now considered the most suitable region for fisheries in the world. Income from exporting fisheries rose from $34.o8 billion to $46.60 billion in 2015. Incidentally, migrant workers’ contribution to the country is really phenomenal. Fifteen million migrant workers are working in the Middle East and Germany. Bangladesh incidentally received $17o4.45 million remittances which turned out to be high in 2021.
Bangladesh as a matter of fact has been progressing in the fishing industry. Bangladesh is considered the most suitable for fisheries in the world. Income from exporting raised from $ 34.08 billion to $ 46.60 billion in 2015. Bangladesh is not lagging behind in the pharmaceutical sector. According to BID, the country earned $ ten million from the local market. However, Bangladesh has succeeded to step in foreign market and earned from foreign market in 2018-2019 and earned around $10.30 million by selling pharmaceutical product.
It is interesting to note that Bangladesh is now holding international trade fairs in Dhaka, apart from participating in international trade fairs. Incidentally Bangladesh per capita income has been raised to $ 4,441 in 2020. According to the World Bank, ‘Bangladesh has an inspiring story of growth and development aspiring to be an upper middle-income country by 2031’. Having seen the development in different sectors of the economy in Bangladesh we wish for the success of the country apart from holding general elections according to international standards while stopping the killing of people irrespective of views of any political party.
(Mohammad Amjad Hossain is retired diplomat from Bangladesh and former President Nova Toastmaster International Club of America, writes from Falls Church, Virginia).
