POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Aug 4 2022 : The Express Tribune, a Pakistan-based media outlet, published an article praising Bangladesh’s economic progress. It has shown the progress of Bangladesh in various fields and asked the leadership of Pakistan to learn from it.
The article was written by former Pakistani government official and columnist Sahibzada Riaz Noor. In the article titled ‘Acceptance from Bangladesh’s leadership’, he wrote, Bangladesh has experienced significant economic transformation over the past few years, which can be attributed to the country’s leadership.
The article highlights the recently inaugurated Padma Bridge. It has been said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has declared Padma Bridge as a ‘symbol of pride and capability’ of Bangladesh.
Sahibzada Riaz Noor writes in the article, Bangladesh Prime Minister focuses on balancing politics with economic policy. He follows the path of market-based capitalist growth. He has learned from other economically advanced countries in Asia. The economic success of these countries is based on four pillars. These are political stability, social development, export-led growth, trade liberalization and economic moderation.
The article praised Bangladesh’s trade liberalization. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s foresight has been mentioned in this regard. As an example, Sheikh Hasina’s speech in a conference has been highlighted. At that conference, an economist started talking to Sheikh Hasina about the benefits of trade liberalization. He then told him, ‘You don’t have to convince me about trade liberalization. When I was in Trieste, an Italian city on the border with Yugoslavia, I saw the border open three times a week and people from both sides were traveling, buying goods and coming back.’ This proves that Sheikh Hasina gave more importance to the economy than the other issues that politicians are attracted to.
The article highlights the differences between the positions of Bangladesh and Pakistan in various socio-economic sectors. It said Bangladesh was 75 percent poorer than Pakistan in 1970. But now Bangladesh is 45 percent richer than Pakistan. In 1970, the population of Bangladesh was one crore more than that of Pakistan. But now the population of Pakistan is 23 crores and the population of Bangladesh is 17 crores. In 2021, Bangladesh’s export earnings were 47 billion US dollars and Pakistan’s export earnings were 28 billion US dollars. Per capita income of Bangladesh is 2 thousand 227 US dollars and Pakistan is 1 thousand 543 US dollars. This year the gross domestic product (GDP) of Bangladesh is 411 billion US dollars and that of Pakistan is 347 billion US dollars. Annual inflation in Bangladesh was 6 percent and in Pakistan 12 to 15 percent. Which has now increased to over 21 percent. Bangladesh Taka is now much stronger than Pakistan Rupee. More important information is the participation of women in the economy of Bangladesh. Moreover, there is a high literacy rate.
Sahibzada Riaz Noor writes in his article about Pakistan, political parties in Pakistan are interested in personal gain. Repeated disruptions to the democratic process have hampered the development of strong and democratic political parties beyond family centricity. Yet it is recognized that economic growth is closely related to political stability, rule of law, strong civil institutions and participatory democracy. All experiments in government since 1958 have empowered feudalism instead of empowering the people. The development path followed in Pakistan has favored the privileged, the rich and the elite.
Sahibzada Riaz Noor wrote, following Bangladesh, Pakistan’s leadership should emphasize economic growth as a national agenda and follow the constitutional path while advocating regional peace. Adequate resources must be allocated for social and economic development without compromising effective defence. Regional advantage should be exploited for economic growth. In this case, foreign trade agreements should be made with India, Iran, China, Afghanistan and other commercial partners considering the need for trade liberalization. Apart from this, product diversification should be looked into for export-dependent economic growth.
At the conclusion of the article, Sahibzada Riaz Noor said, Pakistan’s leadership can learn a lot from Bangladesh’s experience. However, Sheikh Hasina’s priority-based economic growth should be acceptable to them first. This is now critical for both defense and democracy.
