‘Bangladesh on track to be transformed by 2041’

Planning Minister MA Mannan on Saturday said that Bangladesh is well on track to reach the logical and sequential conclusion of the current spate of transformation for the nation to be at equal terms with the rest of the world.

The planning minister made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a day-long conference organised by the Department of Social Science and Humanities of Independent University, Bangladesh in the capital on Saturday.

The conference was titled: “Bangladesh in 2041: Notions and Narratives of Diversification and Transformation.”

Renowned economist and policy expert Dr Rehman Sobhan, chairman of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), delivered the keynote speech.

Johannes Van der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh, Charles Whiteley, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, former governor of Bangladesh Bank Prof Dr Atiur Rahman, and Az Matin Chowdhury, Chairman, Board of Trustees, IUB, also spoke at the program, said a press release.

“The year 2041 will be the year when we will have our own strengths recognised and utilised in furthering development. As the numbers suggest, it seems quite possible and we take pride that this has happened in our time, that is, these last 10-11 years,” Mannan said.

In his keynote presentation styled, “Bangladesh’s transformation and challenges, the pathway from national liberation to 2041”, Prof Rehman Sobhan laid emphasis on what he termed as the remarkable liberation of entrepreneurial talents, which was unleashed five decades ago through Bangladesh’s liberation.

IUB BoT Chair A. Matin Chowdhury said, “We spoke about what we went through in the last 50 years and how we get to the next stage. The direction has to come from our teachers and our students. As a country, we already have the momentum going. It’s important that we don’t let this momentum go.”

In addition to the inaugural session, the conference comprised of 14 thematically organised panel discussions accommodated within four sessions.