DHAKA, July 17, 2018 (BSS) – Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said it
is important to bring the vulnerabilities during transition period into the
mainstream sustainable development discourse as a growing number of LDCs are
meeting the graduation threshold including Bangladesh.
“I urge the development and trading partners to continue their support to
the graduating and the recently graduated LDCs for a sustainable graduation,”
he said.
The Planning Minister said this while delivering his speech as the
Representative of the Bangladesh Government on behalf of the Least Developed
Countries at the General Debate of the High-level Political Forum on
Sustainable Development on Monday at the United Nations Headquarters in New
York, said a Ministry press release today.
Kamal said in his speech that the LDCs are highly vulnerable and exposed
to various kinds of shocks and crises, which include those related to
environment and climate change.
He also urged the global community to reinvigorate efforts at all levels
for mobilizing resources and technical capacities to build resilience against
shocks and adapt with changed circumstances.
Referring to an IMF report, AHM Mustafa Kamal, commonly known as Lotus
Kamal, expressed his deep concern about the global economy. IMF report
suggested that the world debt is growing fast, which currently amounts to 164
trillion USD or 225 percent of total world GDP. Global Debt-GDP ratio has
been increased by 12 percent comparing to the figure of 2009.
He said that this kind of increased global debt scenario can bring back
the global recession with unemployment, increased commodity prices and other
adverse situation for the LDCs and newly graduated economies. “The advanced
economies are not having significant growth either, as they were experiencing
previously.”
The Minister said that economic globalization is being under threat
because of the inward-looking and protectionist tendencies in some developed
countries’ policies, especially, in trade policy. He also urged the global
community to be aware of the growth in anti-globalization thinking, which
will hurt the LDCs most.
Kamal also noted that the LDCs and newly graduated economies are facing
serious threat from different directions, including increased debt burden,
lesser amount of ODA and other impediments to their future trade expansions.