Finance
Economic Growth Bangladesh is becoming an 'economic power' in South Asia
Dhaka, March 5: Over the past decade, Bangladesh has set an "example of a strong economy" in South Asia by relying on export earnings, according to an article in the US-based news outlet The Wall Street Journal. On February 26, Bangladesh received the final recommendation of the United Nations to move from the list of least developed countries to developing countries. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina conveyed the good news to the people at a press conference the next day.
Referring to Bangladesh's success, the Wall Street Journal article said that over the past decade, Bangladesh has seen an unprecedented jump in export earnings compared to neighboring India and Pakistan. Bangladesh's export earnings have risen by 80 per cent in dollar terms, relying on the burgeoning ready-made garment industry.
On the other hand, exports to India and Pakistan declined at the same time.
The article, titled 'Bangladesh is Becoming a South Asian Economic Bull Case', by Wall Street Journal's Hong Kong-based financial market analyst Mike Bird, compares Bangladesh's progress with that of South Korea, China and Vietnam.
Bird writes that this model of Bangladesh's development success is in line with the success of these emerging economies in Southeast Asia.
The article highlights the large youth population of the country behind the recommendations of the developing countries, the continuous competitive advantage in wages and the strong and growing position of the women's labor group as compared to other countries in South Asia. However, it is also mentioned that Bangladesh is still far behind Vietnam or Cambodia.
However, the Wall Street Journal has commented that the success of Qatar in developing countries is an indication of more success for Bangladesh in the future. According to UN rules, if a country is able to meet the criteria for crossing in two consecutive triennial reviews, it gets the final recommendation for crossing from the least developed country. Bangladesh has achieved the criteria for the second time.
Bangladesh, which has been in the least developed country Qatar since 1975, fulfilled all the conditions of CDP in 2018 to become a developing country. The CDP reviews migration from LDCs on the basis of three indicators. Bangladesh has come a long way in fulfilling the conditions in all the three indices.
