DHAKA: Experts from Bangladesh and Singapore stressed on how consistent Bangladesh’s economic growth has been and advised more on what needs to be done for further development.
This was part of a joint panel discussion between Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) and Bangladesh’s Cosmos Foundation at the Ballroom of the city’s Orchard Hotel on March 5. “At a point in time, when Bangladesh is powering ahead across a broad spectrum in socioeconomic activities, a lot remains to be done,” he said.
He also added that the panel discussion is an icebreaker on the issue of Bangladesh as an investment destination. “The result of the discussion should be an excellent example what we can achieve together.”
In his opening remarks, ISAS Chairman, Ambassador Gopinath Pillai, recollected memories of being part of the Singapore State Trading Corporation group which had established a garment factory in the early 1980s in Bangladesh, being one of the first foreign organizations to do so.
Drawing the anecdote of Henry Kissinger terming Bangladesh as a “bottomless basket”, he said that although such declarations affected investors, Bangladesh stood up to the occasion.
He furthered that some challenges still persist, such as the population size, resource constraints, vulnerability to climate change, the Rohingya refugee crisis and others.
Mustafizur concluded by stating Singapore is a potential source country to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and for doing business.
“The impending visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Singapore will add a new impetus to our existing bilateral relations,” he said.
Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a former caretaker government adviser and Principal Research Fellow at ISAS, said that Bangladesh had successfully been able to negotiate preferential market access based on norms of spatial and differential treatment at major trade organisations like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for its manufacturers.
Dr Chowdhury, who presided over the programme, said that Bangladesh transformed its economy over time from an agricultural one to a mainly manufacturing one.
Dr Mashiur Rahman, Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said that any observer of Bangladesh can easily notice Bangladesh’s sustained growth and its acceleration of growth from 6 percent to a little over 7 percent.
