That Bangladesh is going to be a ‘developing’ country overcoming its least developed country (LDC) position is certainly a piece of good news. The country has attained all the three criteria to attain this status, keeping behind its long period of fighting against poverty. When the country gained its freedom in 1971, many were suspicious about its economic prospect, and then US foreign secretary Henry Kissinger derisively called Bangladesh a ‘basket case’.

But over the decades, this impoverished country not only proved the naysayers wrong, it is now on the threshold of becoming a developing country and is realistically aspiring to become a developed country. It is on the threshold to become a developing country because Bangladesh still has to maintain the current pace of economic development for six more years and if it is successful in that it will be given the formal recognition by the United Nations of a developing country in 2024.

That is why the news of fulfilling the criteria in per capita income, human resources development as well as economic vulnerability is certainly celebratory, but this should not make the economic policy makers in Bangladesh complacent in any way.

There is a general perception among the people here is that Bangladesh could have performed even better if it could maintain political stability and overcame the all-pervasive corruption. There is truth in this and politicians ought to be mindful about it and work for achieving the much-needed peace and fight corruption by showing zero tolerance. The mindset that malfeasance in the functioning of the government can be tolerated at certain level is wrong. Still, perilously misleading is terming bribe as ‘speed money’ and the state should be okay with it.

Not at all, for balanced economic development, it is fundamentally necessary to ensure equitable distribution of wealth in society, not allowing some people to become filthy rich encouraging corruption in society at a ‘tolerable’ limit. Apart from these, economic policy makers also need to work hard for expanding local as well as foreign direct investment to make Bangladesh’s economy more vibrant and fruitful.

For investment, it is as much necessary to overcome the country’s notoriously slothful bureaucracy as it is to develop the vital infrastructure for spurting economic activities. Moreover, there is also the crucial need to keep thriving sectors such as the RMG, manpower as well as agriculture. Bangladesh has overcome its economic frustration; now it is time to consolidate its economic base to secure the future of its coming generations.