Bangladesh to create roadmap soon as new developing nation
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The government will probably make a roadmap soon for Bangladesh’s smooth transition from a least created country (LDC) to a growing one in the next five years.
It is also place to sign preferential trade agreements (PTAs) with Sri Lanka and Nepal to reap the trade benefits available during the transition period, say finance ministry officials.
The national taskforce working to ensure Bangladesh’s smooth transition to a developing nation will sit soon to draft the roadmap, a senior official at the ministry told The Daily Star on February 28.
Secretaries of all ministries concerned are members of the taskforce headed by the main coordinator (SDG affairs) of the Prime Minister’s Office. They'll discuss the roadmap and ways of implement the measures advised by the UN Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP), said the state, seeking anonymity.
A team from the UNCDP is scheduled to go to Bangladesh next month to aid in the preparations of the roadmap and strategies.
The UNCDP is arguing for adoption of a bunch of international support measures in favour of the graduating LDCs.
The team will monitor the measures taken by the government and also give tech support team for preparing the roadmap and strategies, mentioned the state.
The state also said they will take up some time-bound action plans and send progress reports to the UNCDP annually so that it could monitor and evaluate the country’s steps through the transition period.
The government has recently submitted the country report about the transition to the UNCDP, outlining its plans for the transition period.
In the survey, the government said it will sign PTAs with Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Bangladesh has also been negotiating with Indonesia to sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to improve bilateral trade and also utilize export potential in the Southeast Asian region, the state pointed out.
The Economic Relations Division (ERD) has adopted a project titled Support to Sustainable Graduation Project to handle the activities of the national taskforce and in addition provide it with secretarial support. The roadmap and strategies will be formulated under the project.
On February 26, the UNCDP, predicated on assessment, recommended Bangladesh’s graduation to a developing country from a least developed one.
Considering the Covid-19 fallout, the UNCDP designed for the first time expanded the transition period for Bangladesh to five years right from three years.
The UNCDP will evaluate the country again in 2024 mainly to see whether there is any setback throughout the market or the graduation.
At a virtual discussion on the country’s LDC graduation on February 28, Debapriya Bhattacharya, a member of the UNCDP, explained the committee has advised that Bangladesh should prioritise areas in policy formulation to aid its development through the transition period and beyond.
In a display, he also highlighted the key policies where the UNCDP suggested assortment of more tax, measures to improve private and foreign direct investment (FDI), creation of jobs, and improvement of healthcare and the grade of education.
The UNCDP also suggested product diversification as the country is relying too much on garment items, said Bhattacharya, also a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
Source: https://www.phnompenhpost.com