Md. Mizanur Rahman ACS :
When Bangladesh emerged from the ashes of the brutal war of independence in 1971, it was among the poorest nations in the world and on the edge of becoming a failed state. It was, however, difficult to predict Bangladesh would turn-out to the most promising nations today. Now, the whole world is astonished to see the miraculous advancement of Bangladesh. Those, who once used to criticize Bangladesh, today are admiring seeing the development. Nobel Laureate Professor Dr. Amartya Sen praised Bangladesh for its remarkable achievements in different areas; education, women’s empowerment, reducing birth, maternal and infant mortality rates, and early marriage, health and sanitation facilities for marginalized people, etc.
Recently World Bank has published a report that showed that the poverty of Bangladesh has been reduced to 9% from the previous 19%. The country’s GDP is now 8.15%. The current per capita income is USD 1888, which is expected to be 16000 by 2041 as our government pursues the “Vision 2021”. The current inflation rate is below 5%. The country has ranked better in the United Nation’s Human Resource Development Index. Recently Bangladesh has cemented its place in space with the launching of “Bangabandhu Satellite”. In 2015, Bangladesh advanced from a “Lower Income” country to a “Lower Middle Income” country. In March 2018 Bangladesh got the official recognition of “Developing Country” status.
In the upcoming year, the major challenges of the Bangladesh economy will be compounded by several factors such as sluggish private investment, negative export, tepid revenue collection, increase of non-performing loans, poverty, overpopulation, unemployment, corruption, poor governance, etc. It is true that the country’s existing infrastructure is not capable to keep pace with its economic growth. The country needs to create more job opportunities to manage the unemployment problem. Bangladesh is facing the effects of climatic change. Here, the working condition is not quite satisfactory. The export basket of Bangladesh is still very small and there are very few buyers. Export should be diversified and has to be targeted towards a large number of countries. According to Bangladesh Bank, the total amount of non-Performing loan stood at a record 1,16,288 crore taka. Income inequality is still rising. Millions still live below the poverty line; corruption is still available in our public institutions. Many rich people tend to avoid income tax. For the last few years, revenue generation is far below the expectation. Without adequate domestic resource mobilization, implementation of SDGs will be quite difficult.
Bangladesh entered into the developing countries from the least developed countries with the combined efforts of millions of people. If Bangladesh wants to be a ‘middle incom’ country’, then it must emphasize on merit, not muscle strength. Every step from now on should be taken by merit. To achieve the status of ‘middle income country’ Bangladesh needs to achieve competency in four categories; competency in health, education, defense, and foreign trade.
The existing medical system of our country is largely dependent on “Allopathy”. But, it’s not possible to give the proper service to the vast population with this “Allopath”. Though “Allopath” is very expensive and it is not affordable to most of the general people. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 70% of the total population of India use non-traditional medicine. In India, the “Department of AYUSH” has been established combining Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha & Homeopathy. Because without these, it is not possible to give the proper treatment to the poor people. So, a decision should be taken quickly on this. Like Allopathic doctors, Homeopaths and Ayurved doctors should be appointed at each Community Hospital in the country. Currently, “Herbal” products have more than $60 billion business worldwide. Bangladesh is inherently an herbal country and our country can use it.
Bangladesh should achieve competency in education also. The brightest example here is Tajikistan. When the Soviet Union withdrew its workers from Tajikistan, the first president of Tajikistan-NursultanNazarbayev, brought skilled personnel from Japan and trained its people. Our country is very much fortunate that 47% of the total population is below 35. If these young people can be properly utilized, they can change the full scenario of the country. But, the biggest challenge is how to turn its population into human assets. Recently, China and India have begun to bring their talented students back from abroad with special fervor. Bangladesh should think about this carefully. For this, special incentives must be announced. Recently the Government has established Bangabandhu Maritime University, which is the world’s13th specialized Maritime University in this particular sector. This specialized University will add value to increase the reputation of our country in the world. To do comprehensive research on the sea, a course named “Sea and Coastal management” should be introduced.
‘Defense’ is the muscle of any country. The defense force should be modernized. They have to acquire the strength to face the enemy. The defense force has to remember that Bangladesh may be a small country, but it is a country of eighteen crore people. From the very beginning, Bangladesh is contributing to the UN’s peacekeeping missions. Like other developing countries of the world, the defense forces need to acquire the necessary skills to face any challenges.
Finally, the country should achieve competency in Foreign Trade. Bangladesh has huge opportunities to boost export to Asian countries. But due to the narrow export basket and infrastructure bottleneck, it is losing our competitiveness to some countries such as Vietnam, Pakistan, etc. The country needs to emphasize reducing the trade deficit. Though, over the last few years, the trade deficit with India has been reduced. It needs to look for new alternatives to the U.S and European markets.
No doubt, the country still has a long way to go to fulfill the dreams of the father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
(Mr. Mizanur is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB). Email: [email protected])
