Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
The word ‘globalization’ generally means increased economic integration through trade and investment. This is a process requiring the integration of national economies and some say that in that process the “loss of nationality” of enterprises and products occurs. Since the Uruguay Round of World Trade negotiations which ended in 1993, the markets for most goods have been integrated with the exception of oil and agricultural products. However although financial flows have become totally global, labour markets have not seen the same fate. Rather labour is not free to move and in fact confronting great Although wealth is being accumulated as never before, it has marginalised many developing countries and increased inequality between rich and poor nations. Procedures linking trade with employment is hardly successful in developing countries. When developing countries with fragile institutional architectures attempt to deregulate economies, the vulnerable, sections of community may be hurt leading to social instability. This is a ‘Catch 22’ situation.
Rich countries continue to impose trade barriers on exports from developing countries which cost dearly in terms of income. The World Bank estimate that protection in rich countries costs developing countries more than USS 100 billion a year, twice the value of aid flows.
There is a view that globalisation may create insecurity because the regulatory order of IMF, World Bank and World Trade Organisation appear to have supported global capital and multinational corporations. That is why whenever finance ministers from G-7 countries meet at the annual meeting of IMF and World Bank, anti-globalisation protesters assemble to voice their anger towards policies of apparent discrimination towards developing nations. The protests occurred on 20 April in Washington.
Bangladesh embarked on an economic liberalisation reformed process from 1979 to 1990. Simplification of tariffs began in 1986. The third period 1990-2001 has been characterised by greater openness of the economy through accelerated trade liberalisation, extensive financial and fiscal reforms. The import weighted duty rate was 21 percent in 1995 down from 47 percent a decade ago. The year 2002 began with great strides in privatisation of state-owned enterprise which have made loss of millions of dollar every year.
During the 90s, Bangladesh has been able to increase exports by a factor of four permitting to finance a significant proportion of imports. The investment has been increased to 15-17 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). A growth of cycle has been registered in the economy. GDP has increased about 6 percent plus much faster than population growth. This has contributed to improving per capita income. Bangladesh has been going through a stage which may be described as ‘economy take-off. It appears that open economy is better than closed economy and that globalisation has helped Bangladesh to accelerate its economic growth.
However there are challenges ahead for Bangladesh. First the economic base is narrow and 93 percent of exports is on a few low valued aded products. Second, the readymade garment export exports which constitute 68 percent of total exports have to face stiff competition when the quota system is abolished in 2004. Third, bureaucratic redtapism and unskilled labour with poor knowledge of English language are often seen as hurdles to foreign investment. Finally, political conflicts on a national scale often with hartals may give a wrong signal to the much-needed foreign investment.
There is another aspect which needs to be taken care of in the days of globalisation. Economic and social inefficiency need to go hand in hand. Government should give higher priority to both economic and social issues because social well being contributes to greater economic growth.
Today, world bodies like WB. IMF, WTO, etc. establish the rules of the economic game for the majority of the world’s population. They have acquired supranational powers to dictate and supervise the economic policies of any developing country, affecting for good or evil the daily life of very one of its citizens without being accountable to anyone. Government have no alternative to the rigorous policies of the IMF and the World Bank. If a government rejects them, it becomes a world parish, with no access to international credit. The African leaders have an expression to describe this inextricable situation. They call it TINA, meaning, ‘there is no alternative’. So gradually, a kind of anoymous global economic and financial dictatorship is being established.
Millions of men and women in the urban areas of underdeveloped countries are entering the global employment market in fierce competition for an ever-smaller number of jobs. If the employers wish to modernise their enterprises, improve their productivity and the quality of their products in order to become competitive global exporters, they will have no choice but to invest in new plants and more technologically advanced machiniery, which will not created sufficient jobs. Many will lose their jobs, or will find a low-quality job, or will never find work at all, In the underdeveloped world today, being a labourer, an employee or a professional is practically a privilege, and will continue to be so far many long years to come. In the poor mega-cities around the world, thousands of young people are wondering what to do. Broadly, globalization impinges on the poor as the more vulnerable group as employment and employability threaten in the competitive borderless world.
The challenges going forward i.e. the task ahead is to begin the process of building global political institutions that must be responsive to everyone on the planet. It is the central job of all responsible politicians and citizens of all countries to help move the process of creating global political structures forward. Institutions like the UN, the World Bank and IMF, the International Criminal Court and the WTO need to be made truly pluralistic. Being an effective part of a social movement for social justice will involve using all possible links to connect ourselves worldwide with community based organisations, NGO’s, academics, governments, donors and its members to encourage discussion and actions around a common cause for social justice. Understanding the implications of globalisation on people’s lives, the alternatives that are possible , the institutional actors involved, the meaning of social justice in different contexts and for different groups and designing the necessary activities to try and bring about changes from the local to the global levels, will be the outputs of these discussions. We need to work with our governments to help them resist or develop alternatives to implementing policies imposed on them externally that are damaging to our citizens rights, it is also, necessary for them to recognise the increasing loss of power of governments that limits their capacity to defend and promote those rights.
A universal and complex phenomenon like globalisation has far-reaching implications-positive and not so positive. But there is only one way forward-more integration, more interactions, more interrelations and more globalisation. The nations, corporations, societies and individuals that gear up and take advantage of the possibilities will be the winners while those that only debate the downsides could be left out of the race.
