Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh is already trapped in the middle-income category due to the low productivity of its labour force across the industrial, agricultural, and services sectors, said Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
Dr. Debapriya, also the head of the White Paper Drafting Committee, made these remarks during a roundtable titled ‘Bangladesh’s Aspiration to be a Middle-Income Country: Trajectory, Reality, and Perils’, held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Tuesday. The event was organised by Diplomate World, Bangladesh’s only diplomatic publication magazine.
“Changing a government does not necessarily lead to a change in governance. Without addressing this culture, reforms will not yield any meaningful results,” Dr. Debapriya pointed out.
He highlighted that the manufacturing sector remains overly dependent on the garment industry, stressing the need for incentives to unlock the potential of other sectors, such as jute, leather, and IT, to achieve effective export diversification.
The CPD Distinguished Fellow also noted the deteriorating quality of education in Bangladesh. “The country allocates less than 2 percent of its GDP to education, one of the lowest rates among comparable economies,” he said.
Addressing inefficiencies, he explained that much of the education budget is absorbed by non-productive expenditures, such as salaries, leaving a disproportionately small amount for actual development. “Rather than establishing universities in every district, the focus should be on improving the quality of primary education,” he emphasised.
Dr. Debapriya also discussed the high cost of migration for Bangladeshi workers, which is three times that of Nepal. “This is due to corruption. A syndicate is exploiting migrant workers, draining their earnings without offering any tangible benefits,” he said. He also addressed the challenges caused by unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation, particularly in traffic management, law and order, and the delivery of quality public services.
These issues present another major hurdle for Bangladesh as it seeks to escape the middle-income trap,” he added.
Former diplomats, foreign service officials, and academicians were among those who attended the event.
Meanwhile, Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya has been reappointed to the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) for a three-year term, starting from January 1. A member of the CDP since 2018, Dr. Debapriya has been appointed for a third consecutive term, following his nomination by the UN Secretary-General, according to a press release issued yesterday.
He will continue to serve on the committee in his individual capacity. CDP is a subsidiary body of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), tasked with providing expert advisory services on key issues related to international development challenges. By providing expert analyses and policy recommendations, the CDP plays a vital role in supporting global efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
