Given the inherent uncertainty, Bangladesh must continue to utilise the remaining pre-graduation period to advance substantive preparation for graduation including implementation of priority actions under the smooth transition strategy, regardless of whether any procedural engagement is pursued, according to the Bangladesh Graduation Readiness Assessment report.
Securing additional time will require intensive and coordinated diplomacy including early engagement with the relevant committee and focused mobilisation of support for endorsement by the General Assembly, the report said.
It will also be essential to bring major development and trading partners into the discussions and demonstrate that any additional time would be used to accelerate and deepen the implementation of the smooth transition strategy through clearly specified, time-bound measures, rather than simply to defer adjustment.
Bangladesh is approaching a pivotal milestone in its development journey as it prepares to graduate from the least developed country (LDC) category on 24 November 2026, having made considerable progress in income, human development and structural resilience.
In this context, and with a view to ensuring that graduation is smooth, sustainable and fully aligned with national development aspirations, the government of Bangladesh requested the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) to facilitate an independent readiness assessment of the country’s graduation.
Responding to this request, UN-OHRLLS commissioned the present graduation readiness assessment, undertaken through extensive consultations with government representatives, the private sector, civil society, development partners and other stakeholders in Bangladesh.
The assessment was carried out by two independent experts, Mohammad Abdur Razzaque and Daniel Gay, who bring long-standing experience on LDC graduation, trade and development, and who worked in close cooperation with national counterparts and the United Nations system.
This report does not revisit whether Bangladesh meets the formal criteria for graduation, which has already been firmly established by successive triennial reviews of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy and endorsed by the General Assembly.
Rather, it examines the country’s preparedness to manage the transition out of LDC status in a way that safeguards development gains, addresses emerging vulnerabilities and strengthens the foundations for a more competitive, inclusive and resilient economy in the years beyond graduation.
Almost all stakeholders consulted as part of the present graduation readiness assessment expressed concern that preparations for LDC graduation are taking place amid a deteriorating macroeconomic environment, rising vulnerability and a fluid political transition, which together have constrained policy manoeuvrability and implementation capacity.
In this context, most stakeholders were of the view that additional preparatory time, if used in a disciplined and targeted manner, could help to reduce the risk of abrupt adjustment and safeguard hard-won development gains.
At the high-level meeting on forging ambitious global partnerships for sustainable and resilient graduation of least developed countries, an outcome document was adopted in which ministers and officials took note of the Committee for Development Policy’s finding that, given current global uncertainties, a preparatory period of at least five years was necessary for countries to effectively prepare for a smooth transition.
It recognised that, in the light of emerging and systemic risks, an extension of the preparatory period by an additional three years could be necessary, depending on the needs of a country in response to domestic or external shocks and evolving vulnerabilities.
On the question of LDC graduation, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury ruled out any immediate move in that direction, stating that the BNP government has been working in line with its electoral manifesto to strengthen the economy.
Bangladesh, Khosru emphasised, will consider LDC graduation only after achieving adequate economic preparedness.