BD remains at bottom in knowledge economy indexes: ADB

UNB, Dhaka :
Despite many steps taken by the government to improve the country’s socioeconomic scenario, Bangladesh remains at the bottom levels in the indexes of knowledge economy, innovation, education and ICT among the countries of Asia and Pacific region, says a new study of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Bindu Lohani, ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, discussed the study findings at a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith at the Secretariat on Wednesday morning.
In the knowledge economy index, Bangladesh stands second from the bottom scoring only 1.49 points out of 10 followed by Nepal (1.58), Cambodia (1.71), Lao PDR (1.75), Pakistan (2.45) and India (3.06).
Myanmar achieves the lowest score (0.96 points) in the index.
Taipei (China) gains top position in the knowledge economy index scoring 8.77 points followed by Hong Kong (8.52), Japan (8.28), Singapore (8.26) and Korea Republic (7.97).
In innovation, Bangladesh shared the second position from the bottom with Lao PDR scoring only 1.69 points out of 10 followed by Cambodia (2.13), Tajikistan (2.18) and Nepal (2.23). Myanmar similarly scores the lowest 0.96 points in the index.
Singapore stands at the top position in the innovation index scoring 9.49 points followed by Taipei (9.38), Hong Kong (9.1), Japan (9.08), and Korea Republic (8.4).
Bangladesh becomes fourth in the education index from the bottom among 28 countries of Asia and Pacific region scoring 1.75 points. Only Pakistan (1.44), Cambodia (1.7) and Nepal (1.73) stay behind the country. The top scorers in the index are Korea Republic (9.09), Taipei (8.87), Japan (8.43) and Armenia (6.96).