Bangladesh may come out of LDC status in 2024: CPD
Income is not only the
criterion for graduating from the LDC�s group; human asset index and
economic vulnerability index are also important. Of these three criteria, Bangladesh will have to fulfil any two
Debapriya Bhattacharya
research director, CPD
STAFF REPORTER
Bangladesh could graduate from the status of a least developed country (LDC) status in 2024, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) yesterday.
By the time of the 2018 review, Bangladesh has a fairly good chance of meeting both the income and human asset index (HAI) criteria, said CPDs distinguished fellow, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya. He was speaking at a press briefing on UNCTADs LDCs Report 2015Transforming Rural Economies.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is the UN body responsible for dealing with development issues, particularly international trade.
Towfiqul Islam Khan, a research fellow of the CPD, made a PowerPoint presentation on the report. The CPDs executive director, Prof. Dr Mustafizur Rahman, the CPDs research director, Dr Fahmida Khatun, and others also addressed the programme.
Bangladesh might get LDC preferential } treatment till 2027 for ensuring a smooth transition, Bhattacharya said.
Income is not only the criterion for graduating from the LDCs group; HAI and EVI are also important. Of these three criteria, Bangladesh will have to fulfil any two, he explained. He also said Bangladesh should try to bolster the HAI criteria, which would go a long way in fulfilling the graduation criteria.
He, however, observed that even though Bangladesh has made progress, it has lagged behind Nepal and Bhutan. Dr Mustafizur Rahman said Bangladesh must prepare a graduation strategy, which would be monitored by the CPD.
To get the recommendation for graduating from the list of LDCs, Bangladesh will need to meet the criteria by 2021, he pointed out.
Towfiqul Islam Khan said poverty-oriented structural transformation of rural economies requires upgrading agriculture, diversifying into productive non-farm activities, and fully exploiting the synergies between the two. He also said agricultural productivity can be raised by improving input use and quality, strengthening agriculture research and extension services, and investing in infrastructure.
Among the 48 LDCs, Bangladesh ranks first in agricultural land productivity, fourth in employment in industry, sixth in real GDP per capita growth, and 15th in net primary school enrolment rate.
However, Bangladesh ranks lowest (at 48th) in land and labour ratio, 22nd in growth of service exports, 20th in agricultural labour productivity, 16th in youth literacy, and 16th in primary completion rate among the LDCs.
The newly adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a global commitment to eradicate poverty by 2030. Nearly half the population of the 48 LDCssome 400 million peopleremains in extreme poverty, compared with less than a quarter in any other developing country. The LDCs are thus the battleground on which the 2030 Agenda will be won or lost. This is where shortfalls from the SDG targets are greatest, where improvement has been slowest, and where the barriers to further progress are highest.
The presentation said rural development would be central to the quantum leap for the rate of progress required for the LDCs to achieve the SDGs.
More than two-thirds of the people in LDCs live in rural areas, where poverty is most widespread, and infrastructure and social provisions are poor. Rural development is essential not only for poverty eradication, employment generation and economic development, but also for sustainable urbanisation, the report observed.
UNCTADs LDCs Report 2015, therefore, focuses on the transformation of rural economies. Assessing the LDCs progress in agricultural productivity, the extent and nature of their rural economic diversification, and gender issues in rural transformation, it shows that agricultural productivity began to increase in the LDCs in 2000, following decades of stagnation or decline, but has risen strongly only in Asian LDCs.
Rural economic diversification varies widely between the LDCs, but only a few have passed beyond the stage in which non-farm activities are centred on agriculture, and urban linkages are limited.
Women comprise half the rural workforce in the LDCs, but face serious constraints in realising their productive potential, slowing rural transformation.
The 2030 Agenda highlights the need and provides the opportunity for a new approach to rural development centred on poverty-oriented structural transformation (POST), to generate higher incomes backed by higher productivity.
