A Pathway of Development : Bangladesh Facing Constrains Unlike Developed Countries in Initial Stage | by Md. Nadim Uddin

The word which we are listening all time is development deemed to be a buzzword of today’s economic world. Development is now key talk and vibrated issue which is pronounced in every single time around us. In fact, Bangladesh is lying transitional period of development where process of development is continuously running to be arrived at a recognized developed country.

So far, the development is recorded in Bangladesh by the contemporary rising phase of GDP growth, uplifting situation of foreign trade, doing well in millennium development goal and contemplating of sustainable development goal achievement by 2030. It is noted by Dr selim raihan, professor of department of Economics at university of Dhaka, and said that the surprising sequence of development in Bangladesh is taken into consideration of the cross road of economic development which was passed out every developed country to be developed. Our country is making the same to phase out from least income country status. As a result, the UN’s Committee for Development Policy (CDP) on March 15 officially declared Bangladesh eligible for graduation from the LDC and will phase out from LDC fully by 2024. According to World Bank definition, Bangladesh is now low middle income country (developing) and will attain subsequent amount of economic growth to be developed country (consideration only per capita growth).

Today we discuss only World Bank definition to compare the growth rate between Bangladesh and developed countries at their initial stage of development where Bangladesh is confronting now several problems to achieve smooth growth rate but developed countries weren’t at their earlier stage of development. Undoubtedly, the demographic transition to development is likely not easy as like as we may easily pronounce. Because today’s developing countries are facing numerous constraints that current developed countries might not face in their earlier stages of development. Notwithstanding, transforming Bangladesh as a developed country wouldn’t be easily enough for which most of the developing countries are now doing significant activities for embarking their economic growth but Bangladesh doesn’t. Likewise, China per capita GDP has increased as thirty percent total GDP of USA. So far, here we can identify some significant differences between developing countries like Bangladesh and developed countries in their initial stages that show us why Bangladesh is facing formidable difficulties in trying to generate rapid economic growth and require a special analysis of the development prospect.

Mostly, most of Asian and African countries were ruled as a colony by European countries. Colonial rulers exploited much more where none of the rulers intended to settle and much less absorption where they felt requisition for living along the long run trend. Unfortunately, the dominance of foreign countries, more precisely UK and Pakistan, had been undergone about two times as unsettlement in order to inducing massive extraction of resources from Bangladesh. In consequence, The excessive extraction of valuable resources and squeezing out physical endowments by colonists were immensely enough giving designation this area as ‘bottomless basket’. Still, we are also carrying the Colonial legacy by adopting their colonial laws and bureaucratic systems. Therefore, now occupying development and economic growth are often less well endowed with natural resources than currently developed nations were at the time when the later nations began their modern growth.

In twenty first century, the matter impulses the world is nothing but climate change or global warming. In spite of having no liability of greenhouse emission of developing countries, in most cases, they are suffering. But in earlier stages today’s developed countries enhanced their wealth without concerning about environment deterioration. In particular, Economic growth is inversely related to environmental protection. Generally, Turbine of economic growth emits more carbon dioxide and exacerbates eventually global warming. In consequence, due to deterioration of environment, developing countries are underperforming of producing more goods and services so that environment isn’t being deteriorated further. Whereas, The impact of climate change is continuously carrying out of our country. Likewise, “displacing many people from their home is caused of rising sea level, seasonal change is wrapping in whole year and hindrance of economic activity due to flash food, cyclone”, those are major interruptions today in expanding economic growth. There is no confusion that we are now enjoying demographic dividend where people are now engaging in different types of works that augments the capability to choose and enlarges development as well as well-being. Contribution of the workers of our informal sectors in GDP is larger than any other developing country. Though we are now favored/facilitate with demographic dividend, population of our country is also increasing tremendously and is diffused more than 1 percent. But In initial stage of development of today’s developed countries population growth was only 1 percent where they utilized their maximum amount of human resources thus likely went out to development. Growth is hampered in our country due to unutilized excess population that also creates multiple problems of sustaining extensive opulence. Yet, Bangladesh is unable to exploit the full potential of the demographic dividend as it cannot create adequate number of jobs for the working-age population, according to economists and population scientists.

Historically, Migration of manpower played an important role for any countries well-being. Similarly, Bangladesh country has emerged as a major exporter of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labor but most of the export to more than 22 countries is unskilled labor. Unskilled surplus labor contributes less in GDP and is easily dismissed from his/her work place by developed countries whereas today’s developed country didn’t face such dismissal at their beginning stage development caused by shortage of labor force.

Another difference usually comes in our mind is the difference of strong institutions. The most dominance economists of modern era “Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, James A. Robinson”, in fact’ referred in their writes up given title “reversal of fortune” that the strong institutions may enforce to achieve larger growth. The developed countries also typically enjoyed relatively strong political stability and more flexible social institutions with broader access to mobility. By contrast, the most of domestic, political and social institutions in Bangladesh are politicized and are unable to take decisions freely. It can be noted by fostering such institutions is that, poor institutions along with corrupted officials is facilitating the extraction of resources rather than providing incentives to productivity and outputs. Consequently, Bangladesh is losing vital economic resources due to absence of strong institutions while many of them is corrupted and politicized which is major hindrance to “catch up” developed countries’ growth.

Utmost, today growth expanded at a phenomenal rate of our country. In spite of having above-mentioned constraints, Bangladesh is doing well in different economic indicator likewise she was one of the export surplus country in 2016-17 financial year while 112 countries fallen in export deficit. Economist has predicted that “it will be possible for this country to achieve 11 percent growth if can utilize full potentiality and resources. For this, the constraints and restrictions that we have mentioned above must be overcome for carrying out smooth economic growth and only in this way, our country could converge to be a developed country otherwise is diverged by remaining developing status.

The writer is an under graduate student at the University of Dhaka.