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BSS-39
BANGLADESH-REVIEW-DEVELOPMENT-MEDIA
Leading HK newspaper says Bangladesh can celebrate its development
DHAKA, April 21, 2019 (BSS) – Century-old Hong Kong newspaper South
China Morning Post today said the pace of development reached Bangladesh to a
state for celebrating its continued “rise” while the World Bank ranked it as
one of the world’s five fasted growing economies as well.
“It is undoubtedly a time for celebration for Bangladesh,” the daily said
in an article titled “The Rise and Rise of Bangladesh” in its today’s issue
referring to the World Bank’s recent “Bangladesh Development Update” that
ranked Bangladesh as one of the five fastest growing economies.
The article said in a short span of time, Bangladesh has become “one of
the world’s economic success stories” with major contributions from the
readymade garments industry, remarkable agricultural production and
infrastructural development.
It said during its 1971 emergence “it was beyond anyone’s imagination
that a tiny piece of land in the South Asian region called Bangladesh will
perform so tremendously that it will exceed several domestic as well as
international agencies’ targets on economic performance”.
“In 2018, it fulfilled the United Nations criteria for graduating from
“least developed country” to a “developing country”, well in advance,” read
the article authored by Rahul Choudhury, a visiting research fellow of
Singapore National University’s Institute of South Asian Studies.
It noted that with around 4,500 factories, Bangladesh is the second-
biggest exporter of ready-made garments in the world, a major factor that led
Bangladesh to this stage of economic growth.
Simultaneously, the article noted, the growth of the textile sector
alongside pharmaceuticals, non-metallic minerals, leather and chemical
products, agriculture and foreign remittance also contributed to the
development.
“The index of industrial production played a vital role, increasing by
18.5 percent in 2018,” it said.
It said the macroeconomic policies enabled Bangladesh to maintain by and
large a stagnant inflation rate, between 5 percent and 5.5 percent, for quite
a long time while the gap between rural and urban inflation “has been
narrowing in the last three years”.
The article, however, cautioned that the country should “note and address
many challenges that its economy continues to face” pointing out the issue of
attracting foreign direct investment as one of the major difficulties.
It also noted that income inequality and poverty as “two prominent
obstacles to Bangladesh’s economic growth” saying policies need to be devised
to address these concerns.
BSS/PR/MRI/RY/AR/1950 hrs