Development miracle indeed

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres praised the growth of Bangladesh in many vital sectors and termed it as a “Miracle” in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the UN headquarters, New York.

The UN chief also said that Bangladesh and the UN share some common areas of interest such as climate, financing and SDGs. He further said that the common priorities of the UN are also the common priorities of Bangladesh. In this connection, Sheikh Hasina pointed out to the UN chief that Bangladesh was a role model of development and requested him to appoint more Bangladeshis in higher posts in the UN. She mentioned the contribution of Bangladeshi contingents in various countries.   

While in the UN, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seized the opportunity to demand for appropriate global action for universal and affordable vaccine access to all for a Covid-free world, expressing her grave concern over growing trend of "vaccine divides" pointing out World Bank reports suggesting high and upper middle-income countries received so far 84 per cent of vaccines against less than one per cent by low-income countries. 

This is highly encouraging that the global leaders have pledged financing, dose donations, support for country readiness and delivery, and scale-up of global manufacturing to enable equitable access to Covid vaccines. Reportedly, to improve access for the lower-income economies, the US will contribute an additional 500 million doses of Pfizer vaccine, to be delivered through COVAX, beginning in 2022. Sweden will provide an additional $243 million through 2021 and 2022.

No denying Bangladesh is the emerging South Asian model for economic development, a success story for the UN that is being discussed at various colloquiums across the continents. Economists and development experts do not hesitate anymore to consider it as a rising star among the South East Asian economies. They were impressed by the way the economy of the country performed in 2020, registering a growth rate of 2.4 per cent, whereas India’s GDP shrank by 7.3 percent during this period. The comparison is relevant when we take the availability of resources of the two neighboring countries into consideration.    

The positive rate of growth during the ravages of Covid-19 is considered phenomenal by experts at home and abroad, commenting that only a few least developed countries in South East Asia could match Bangladesh’s record in this respect.  Bangladesh gained success in many other human development areas as well, such as life expectancy, which was 72.6 years in 2019, a gain of over 7 years since 2000.  The mean years of schooling are up and the country’s human development index (HDI) value has climbed upward significantly since 2000. One estimate says that Bangladesh ‘s HDI is better than that of both Pakistan and Nepal.

 On reviewing the country’s achievements on its 50th anniversary, a World Bank report maintains that the bank now classifies it as a lower-middle-income economy. The World Bank further said that it deserves praise and can offer important lessons for other low-income countries.  All the indicators of development lead to the fact that other Southeast Asian countries are already facing steep competition from Bangladesh.   

It is being said by experts that Bangladesh’s economy largely revolves around the readymade garment sector, which accounts for 84 percent of its total exports. This needs to be added here that the performance of some of the RMG factories during the lockdown is highly praiseworthy. If the major seaports had functioned round the clock to support RMG export, we would have seen more revenue from this sector.

The second source of foreign currency earnings is huge volumes of remittances coming in from overseas Bangladeshis. This must be mentioned that the remittance figures kept inflating during the pandemic despite facing many adversities.    

Bangladesh did not reach the stage of ‘miracle’ overnight. The vibrant private sector deserves full credit for keeping the wheels of the economy turning all the year round. The concerted efforts of the business leaders and development partners, supported by business-friendly policy of the government, helped us achieve the coveted status of ‘Middle Income’ country.