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Bangladesh fared better in various sectors, including production, women empowerment and urbanisation, compared to India and Pakistan in the last three decades, the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) said on Wednesday.
BIDS revealed the information in Annual Development Conference-2021 at Lake Shore Hotel in Dhaka, where BIDS Director-General Binayak Sen unveiled a report titled ‘Bangladesh in Comparative Perspective’. According to it, Bangladesh has overtaken Pakistan in terms of per capita income.
In the 1990s, the per capita income of Bangladesh was increasing at the rate of 2.54 per cent but now it is rising at 5.03 per cent. India’s per capita income was growing at 3.26 per cent while it is increasing by 1.14 per cent at present, it stated.
Similarly, Pakistan’s per capita income growth rate was 1.79 per cent in the 1990 decade. It has now come down to 0.6 per cent, the report noted. Bangladesh is doing better than India and Pakistan in the manufacturing sector, it said.
In the 1990 decade, Bangladesh’s progress in the manufacturing sector was 13.24 per cent. Now it is 18.93 per cent. India and Pakistan are lagging in the manufacturing sector, the report said.
During that time, India’s manufacturing growth was 16.6 per cent. Now it has come down to 12.96 per cent. Similarly, Pakistan is lagging in manufacturing. In the 1990s, Pakistan’s growth in this sector was 15.46 per cent but now it has come down to 11.54 per cent, it added.
Meanwhile, the urbanisation rate of Bangladesh was 19.61 per cent. Now it has increased to 34.17 per cent. The rate of urbanisation in India was 25.55 per cent. Now it stands at 34.92 per cent. But there is no such progress in the urbanisation of Pakistan. In the ‘90s, the urbanisation rate in Pakistan was 30.58 per cent. Now it stands at 37.17 per cent.
Bangladesh’s women employment has also increased compared to India and Pakistan. In the 1990 decade, the employment rate of women in Bangladesh was 24.65 per cent. Now it has risen to 36.37 per cent. The rate was 30.27 per cent in India and fell to 20.79 per cent. On the other hand, the presence of women at the workplace in Pakistan was 14.4 per cent. Now it is 22.63 per cent.
Speaking as the programme’s chief guest, Planning Minister MA Mannan said, “We are working for the rural development. We have paid more attention to rural road development, community clubs, haor development, women empowerment, and development projects for the poor. The prime minister has given me full freedom in this regard. Due to these reasons Bangladesh is moving forward at a fast pace.”
