The impending graduation of Bangladesh to developing country status is the achievement of the people, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Thursday.
The PM was addressing a reception accorded to her at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.
“This achievement is the achievement of the people of Bangladesh,” she said. “I think country’s people are the main source of all power. They can achieve anything.”
On March 15, the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP) officially declared the eligibility of Bangladesh to graduate from the group of least developed countries (LDC).
Thursday’s function was arranged as part of a five-day government program to celebrate the step.
“The achievement is for those who work united and who contribute to Bangladesh’s development,” Sheikh Hasina said. “We have to maintain this pace of development. This march must not be stopped.”
The PM urged the people to work for Bangladesh so that they can live as a proud nation.
“We want to walk keeping our heads high,” she said. “We liberated our country through a struggle and we’ve proved that we can stand on our own feet.”
Hasina said had the people of the country not brought the Awami League to power, it would not have been possible for her and the government to work for the country and attain this “remarkable” achievement.
“To me, power is nothing but an opportunity to serve the country and its people. I never believed that power is for personal gain,” she said.
At the program, Finance Minister AMA Muhith presented the UN certificate confirming the move to the prime minister, who also unveiled a commemorative stamp and a commemorative note on the occasion.
UN Under Secretary General Fekitamoeloa Katoa also gave a speech, while a written statement of UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner was read out. Video messages were relayed from the UN Secretary General, World Bank chief, ADB chief, USAID chief and JICA chief.
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According to the UN’s graduation thresholds set at the triennial review in 2015, gross national income (GNI) per capita of a developing country must be $1,242 or above. Bangladesh’s GNI per capita rose to $1,610 at the end of fiscal year 2016-17.
The GNI per capita reflects the average income of a country’s citizens, and is derived from the total value of a country’s final income in a year divided by its population.
On the other two indexes — human assets and economic vulnerability — a country has to score 66 or above and 32 or below respectively.
Bangladesh’s score in the human assets index stood at 72.9 and its score in the economic vulnerability index was 24.8, meaning the country meets all the criteria.
Bangladesh, however, will have to maintain the thresholds for the three indices until the country’s final graduation from the LDC category, which the UN will declare in 2024.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
