LOCAL newspapers reported on how the UN clarified that least-developed countries like Bangladesh will have to focus on structural transformation and human development to achieve the sustainable development goals in the post-2015 period. LDCs apparently have to go much further than their current economic growth to complete a virtuous circle of sustainable economic and human development, said the Least Developed Countries Report 2014 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The report also added that for such an improvement, structural transformation combined with increases in labour productivity within sectors, and a shift of labour from low-productivity sectors to high-productivity sectors are required. Media reported that to assist the LDCs’ progress towards the sustainable development goals, UNCTAD proposes a post-2015 development agenda for the LDCs, comprising both domestic and international policy measures. They also added that domestically, LDCs should focus especially on resource mobilisation, active industrial and prudent macro-economic policies. Industry insiders showed that even though the garment sector accounts for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s exports and has so far been the key focus of the industrial policy, the policy should also pay attention to other potential sectors such as plastics, leather and shipbuilding.
Another report said that even though Bangladesh achieved many indicators of MDGs, it failed to generate quality jobs which were important for increasing per capita income and poverty reduction despite its economy grew on an average 6 per cent in last few years. It also added that the government also failed to transform its economy through increasing the role of industry and services sectors in generating employment, increasing productivity and enhance GDP growth, adding that the economy is still dependent on agriculture.
Seemingly, the government is working to better the economy but the real achievement is not that encouraging or real. Unabated corruption in the government and various sectors of the country has held the country back from progressing further. Regulation and practical enforcement of healthy strategies for economic development is rarely maintained and the state must bear the responsibility for that. Developed nations must also keep the promises they made to genuinely help LDCs to overcome their problems by giving sound advice as well as helping in structural planning, instead of merely handing over aid and blaming the LDCs for failing to reach their goals.
UNCTAD has, in its report, made it clear that if things remain the same, Bangladesh will not come-out from its LDC states before 2026 because mainly of the governments’ ineptness, incompetence and whole scale corruption. Thus graduation to ‘Developing Country’ level needs a sea-change in governance or else the tall-talk of becoming a ‘middle-income’ country shall end in mere day-dreaming.
