BANGLADESH on Friday night received recommendation by the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UN-CDP) to graduate from the status of least developed countries after a five-day meeting of the UN committee, says Taffere Tesfachew, chief of the CDP subgroup on LDCs. Bangladesh, for the second time, met all the three eligibility criteria for graduation involving income per capita, human assets, and economic and environmental vulnerability. It became eligible for graduation for the first time in 2018.
Indeed, Bangladesh’s graduating from the LDC is likely to face numerous challenges in integrating with the global economy because of the phasing out of benefits linked to LDC status. There will not be many trade facilities after the graduation from LDC status and a major preparation has to be taken to face the trade competitions. So, Bangladesh, along with its international development partners and fellow LDCs, needs to intensify the technical and diplomatic efforts towards securing positive outcomes from these global processes now.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh also sought to retain zero duty benefit and the market access for five years after its graduation to a developing country as the pandemic took a heavy toll on the national economy. According to news report published in a national daily on Saturday, it also sought another two-year additional time at a meeting with CDP on January 15 for the preparation to tackling the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
It is to be noted that at present 12 LDCs, including Bangladesh, are poised for graduation to developing country status within a few years. Hopefully, many of these efforts will get reflected in the outcome documents of the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO, which is to take place in June 2021 and the fifth United Nations Conference on LDCs, to be held in January 2022. At the WTO, the LDC Group has already made a number of submissions, including an omnibus proposal for according all existing preferences for 12 more years to all graduating LDCs.
As reported, Laos and Myanmar achieved a designated standard in the assessment of UN-CDP for 2021. Though Myanmar achieved the standard, it has not been recommended; saying the imposition of emergency by the military may have a negative impact on the country’s development. The issue of recommendation to leave LDC has been postponed until 2024.
Now Bangladesh should take utmost care so that graduation does not become disruptive force in its development trajectory. Consequently, it should prepare appropriate strategies and take action plan for ensuring smooth integration into global economy following its graduation.
