The global recession has brought in some important learning for Bangladesh and it can be safely said we have waded through the economic meltdown with flying colors. The high and mighty institutions of the West had been predicting a sharp downfall in economic activity in Bangladesh during the global financial turmoil; they signaled that our poverty condition would be steep and might also create political stress on the country's newly elected government. Some steps taken by the government were judicious and its attempt to balance growth, employment and remittances has been effective. While these strategies were clearly taken with a firm understanding of global and local reality, certain other measures may also be taken to further strengthen our economy and our economic possibilities in the global market place. This article discusses some common sense approaches that we can introduce for the betterment of our society, its citizenry and for the amelioration of our collective plight.

The Government as facilitator

It must be understood that the role of the government is not to compete in business but play the second fiddle as the policy formulator and enforcer. In recent months, it has been noticed that the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) intends to play a strong role in resuscitating the weak enterprises like Bangladesh Biman, Bangladesh Railway, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, etc. While the attempts to buoy up these enterprises are noble initiatives, the reality globally remains the same. We have seen 'perestroika' in Soviet Union, de-nationalization in the UK in the early eighties and grand but slow transition to free market economy in China and India and all this should be put in perspective. After all the Government cannot have 'the killing instinct' that a business house is known to have.

Some Latin and Central American nations, inspired by the strong leadership of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, are walking back into the path of nationalizing private organizations. This to me is an experiment that has not boded well in any part of the world. Given the global context and competitiveness the government needs to come out of the perspective of running things and rather invest on capacity building in forming effective policies and monitoring the efficiency and implementation of projects in the hands of the private sector. The more recently coined public-private partnerships may be an effective and tested tool that the GOB can introduce within its operative mechanism. We must also be vigilant that public-private partnerships can only be formulated in areas where no security threat of any kind may be extended.

The Business Case of Petroleum Exploration

In recent months, we have seen strong statements by our Prime Minister regarding starting the oil exploration activity; we have also seen a number of street demonstrations against letting the foreign bidders to sign-off sweet deals that may ultimately be detrimental to the welfare of the nation. It is a fact that the transnational corporations (TNC) have been known to take advantage of the lack of knowledge of different countries, especially the developing countries in Africa, and struck extremely one-sided revenue sharing agreements which is tantamount to extortion under the guise of legal agreement. Bangladesh must review each contract and open it for scrutiny under the Right to Information Act, or otherwise face public action litigation from citizens of Bangladesh and the environmental groups. The practical perspective would be to take a common sense approach, strike a balance of fairness and profitable association and impact of oil exploration on the economy and the society. Passion, we must have and protecting our national resources is a must but we also need to realize that if we do not convert the national resources in due time, we may lose the growth battle globally and fail to achieve the MDGs. Alternative energy sources are being heavily researched and perhaps within two decades the world will find alternative resource for the production of energy and then our effort at saving our national oil and gas reserve may turn vain as the resources may lose their economic value due to availability of substitute products (a speculation that is worth taking into consideration).

Growth of North Bengal and its impact on Bangladesh

Dhaka and Chittagong are quickly becoming mega cities without the necessary facility of a livable environment. The city dwellers in Dhaka and Chittagong and perhaps in some other cities are looking for a respite and escape from the concrete jungles that unplanned urbanization has brought in. The government is focusing on improving the lives of the city dwellers by introducing small changes but due to the pressures of migration of people to Dhaka and Chittagong from other parts of Bangladesh the urban living standard is spiraling down. On the other hand, a significant land area remains fairly unutilized in various parts of North Bengal and cities like Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Bagura, Pabna, Lal Monirhaat play a next to minimal role in the advancement of the nation. The GOB, along with the private sector, may create their presence in these districts, allowing for enhanced economic activity and regeneration. The vast tracts of open land and many historic sites are available there for promotion of tourism in creative fashions. The GOB can provide at least 5-10% special tax and even cash incentives for companies to establish factories, business services and facilities for tourism in this region to spread the economic development across Bangladesh and not just let it all be concentrated in Dhaka and Chittagong.

Learning from Canada and other regions

Bangladesh can learn from Canada where the Canadian government offers sizeable incentive for people to locate in frontier provinces like Quebec where due to extreme weather conditions people do not want to locate otherwise. The government of Canada seeing that such vast expanse of territory being so thinly utilized introduced innovative investment plans for companies to set up infrastructure and run businesses creating local economic generation by drawing local benefits from local natural resources usage. They have also opened their provinces for international investment and migration, which has attracted a sizeable number of global citizens to avail themselves of Canadian citizenship. These are innovative schemes that many countries across the globe have introduced to strengthen their economic bases. Bangladesh can introduce a variant form of these special incentives and ensure that a good number of companies and people of Bangladeshi citizenship actually move their investments and infrastructure to the northern regions of Bangladesh. These plans cannot be done by simply looking through the lenses of over-population and relocation. For this exercise to function appropriately and offer a clear and sustainable economic regeneration, the GOB may also take into consideration converting an airport in the region into an international airport, strengthen rail road connections and establish local entertainment centers, standard schools, colleges and universities so that one may not need to come to Dhaka and Chittagong. Due to centralization of bureaucracy, a citizen of Bangladesh from other cities are compelled to come to Dhaka for a number of citizens' services; the GOB must roll in citizens' services across the northern and other regions to reduce wastage in travel time that puts added cost on transportation and other associated costs. Globally, the tide for e-governance is being felt and our neighboring countries are implementing these ICT--driven solutions. Since the GOB is a big proponent of building a 'digital bangladesh,' special initiatives may be taken in this regard to decentralize and e-enable citizens' services.

Conclusion

In a recent book 'Getting China and India Right' Anil K. Gupta and Haiyan Wang speak about a multi-polar world based on rising economic might of China and India. They mention that China and India have become forerunners in the changed economic climate and that the changed reality has spawned due to four compelling realities simultaneously. These are: rapidly growing mega-markets; platforms for global cost reduction; platforms for global innovation; and springboards for the emergence of new fearsome competitors. From a Bangladeshi perspective, we need to develop our own China and India strategies and the GOB may significantly invest on China and India cell at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sponsor public and private research and development funding for our companies and citizens to facilitate their business presence in these countries, especially since these two countries combined will be transacting a good share of global economic activity within a decade. The authors of the above book comment that the 'China-India trade today is $52 billion (in 2008) and, over the next 12 years... China-India bilateral trade in 2020 could be larger than China-US trade today.' While calculating this figure they have used half the current rate of trade growth; therefore, a formidable China-India presence is imminent within the next decade. Foreseeing a great business linkage opportunity unfolding in the coming years, the GOB, our local businesses and organizations must build a clear presence for these countries; the Government must play its facilitative card adeptly for creating a better and healthier economy and, thereby, ensure a sustainable future for 15 crore plus Bangladeshis.

Ziaur Rahman is CEO, IITM.

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