In spite of tremendous strides made in recent years, Bangladesh still finds itself in the United Nations’ list of least developed countries.
However, it is a sign of hope that we are set to graduate out of LDC status soon.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development projects that our pre-eligibility will be met by 2018, and all three criteria for full eligibility will be satisfied by 2021, with, finally, graduation taking place in 2024.
Right now, Bangladesh is tackling the daunting challenges of financing large infrastructural projects, which are key to graduating out of LDC status. However, we are facing some real struggles with ensuring an uninterrupted energy supply, improving the quality of human capital, and dealing with dwindling investment in some sectors.
It is imperative that we ensure our exports become more competitive globally -- we must focus on broadening our narrow export base and pay attention to innovation.
Bangladesh must also focus on reducing trade logistics costs so that our position in several related economic indices -- like the World’s Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index -- can be improved.
There is reason to be proud of the improvements we have made in all three criteria which are used to assess a country’s status: Gross National Income, Human Assets Index, and Economic Vulnerability Index.
However, we cannot be short-sighted. Adult literacy, one of the main components of the HAI, remains a challenge, and inadequate adaptation to climate change may reverse the progress we have made in terms of reducing economic vulnerability.
Let us keep our eye on the ball. The Bangladesh economy has tremendous potential, and there is no reason we should be held back from realising it.