Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr. Atiur Rahman speaking at a workshop in the city yesterday. -AA
Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr. Atiur Rahman said, "Bangladesh as a country has excelled in attaining the MDGs and enriched by that experience and equipped with the necessary plans as well as resource envelope we are well on track to attain the SDGs."
He made the comment while speaking yesterday as the chief guest at a workshop titled 'Implementing SDGs in Bangladesh: From Plan to Action'. The workshop was organized by the Department of Development Studies of Dhaka University with support from UN FAO for the senior officials from the ministry of agriculture.
Other speakers at the program included Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture Sirajul Haider, Asssistant FAO representative Dr. Nur A. Khonaker, Deputy Chief of GED Planning Commission Monirul Islam, and Professor Taiabur Raham from Dhaka University. Dr. M. Abu Eusuf, chairman of the Department of Development Studies of Dhaka University chaired the event.
Dr. Atiur said that journey of Bangladesh from a war-torn newly independent primarily agrarian country in 1971 towards today's vibrant digital economy with strong manufacturing base has been really amazing. The country today has become a global trend setter of sustainable inclusive development. He added that a perspective plan (2010-2021) and two five year plans (6th and 7th) have moved the country from investment-driven and resource dependent framework towards a broader socio-economic transformation vision".
He pointed out that the implementation period of the 7th Five Year Plan and the first five years towards attaining the SDGs are overlapping. A total of 32 trillion BDT will be invested in between 2016 to 2020 to implement the 7th Five Year Plan. The role of the private sector will be of critical importance as 77 percent of this investment will have from this sector- he added.
Discussing the ways forward to effectively attaining the SDGs, Dr. Atiur pointed out that development of agriculture sector will be a crucial tool in reducing poverty and extreme poverty. At the same time financial inclusion drive must continue and digital innovations will be most effective in this regard. He opined that there are still a lot do for Bangladesh to become a high income country with double digit GDP growth rate and zero hunger and poverty.
These include increasing the investment to GDP ratio (from 30 to 45 percent), reform initiatives for further digitization and inclusion and effective utilization of the labor force.
-AA Business Desk
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