The Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), in collaboration with the World Bank, hosted the launch of the World Bank’s flagship regional report “South Asia Development Update” at the PRI premises on Tuesday.
According to the report, growth in South Asia is projected to be robust at 6.6% this year—but a significant slowdown looms on the horizon.
Reforms to promote trade openness and technology adoption could help the region create jobs and catalyze growth.
Franziska Ohnsorge, chief economist for the South Asia Region at the World Bank, delivered the keynote presentation, highlighting key findings from the report.
“Increasing trade openness and growing adoption of AI could be transformative for South Asia,” said Franziska.
Policy measures to facilitate the reallocation of workers across firms, activities, and locations can help channel resources to productive sectors and are critical for boosting investment and job creation in the region, she added.
The discussion was chaired by Zaidi Sattar, chairman, Policy Research Institute (PRI), while Sadiq Ahmed, vice chairman of PRI, delivered the opening remarks.
Ahmed underscored the timeliness of the report’s theme, noting: “The challenge of job creation is of utmost priority and key to maintaining economic and social stability in South Asia, where the incidence of unemployed and underemployed educated youth is alarmingly large and growing.”
He emphasized that the reform agenda outlined in the report requires careful prioritization due to fiscal constraints, and highlighted trade liberalization as a top policy priority for Bangladesh to drive growth and employment.
Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), and Habibullah N Karim, vice president of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), attended as panelists.
Khatun emphasized the need for reforms in trade issues and the importance of regional trade agreements for Bangladesh's future trade integration.
Karim highlighted the need for the informal labor market to adopt AI and AI tools.
Concluding the session, Zaidi Sattar posed a critical question: “Should countries innovate first and regulate later, as seen in the U.S. and China, or regulate first and then innovate, as in Europe?”
He noted that global experience suggests the former approach is more effective and should guide South Asia, including Bangladesh.
He argued that trade openness that lowers output and intermediate input tariffs in tandem can play a pivotal role in driving innovation and achieving the broader goal of job creation.
