The UN classifies all countries across the world under three criteria, Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Developing and Developed. Bangladesh had remained in the list of LDC since 1975. But, the Bangladesh profile shows the country has already achieved the eligibility criteria for transition into the list of developing countries.
To transition from LDC, a country must fulfil three essential criteria- per capita Gross National Income (GNI), Human Resources Index and Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI). Per capita income of $1,230 is the minimum requirement for transitioning into a developing nation, and Bangladesh’s income per capita currently stands at $1,274.
Bangladesh holds 72 points in the Human Resources Index, while the minimum requirement is 64 points. For the UN recognition, Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) must be below 32 points, and Bangladesh’s current score is 25.5 points. In July 2015, Bangladesh came out from a low income to a lower-middle income country. This distinction based on per capita income of a country is used by the World Bank.
Just because we have fulfilled some technical criteria set forth by the UN does not mean that we are actually transforming into a developing country. While we have made giant strides in reducing childhood deaths and improving the standard of living of most people we face much bigger challenges; which can’t be solved by investment alone.
The banking scandals are one example of what we need to shed to be truly developing – the corruption; which exists primarily in the public sector of our economy must be under halt. We can invest billions to build highways and flyovers but if we can’t reduce corruption the overall costs of development go up. Cleaning up the financial sector is essential towards reducing the costs of funds for true investors. Bangladesh’s woven garments are losing competitiveness on the global market mainly for longer lead time, poor backward linkage, and insufficient gas and port facilities – so more investment in these is essential if we are to remain competitive in the international market. We would lose GSP facilties and we have to overcome it improving efficiency and reducing cost of doing business.
We have to also continue the democratic process to avoid chaos. It needs an inclusive election to avoid factors which may cause economic slow down These are merely some of the factors which are holding back our nation from achieving its true development potential.
