A high-level committee has started working out strategy and plan to overcome the possible challenges of Bangladesh’s graduation from the status of a least developed country (LDC).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on April 26 last formed the 22-member committee, headed by Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, for preparation, planning, implementation and monitoring in tackling the possible challenges of Bangladesh’s LDC graduation.
The committee sat in its first meeting virtually on Wednesday. Dr Ahmad Kaikaus presided over the meeting, joining it from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The meeting discussed different possible negative impacts on the country’s economy, socioeconomic and other areas, especially in the export oriented sectors like RMG and pharmaceuticals during the post-graduation period.
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Economic Relations Divisions (ERD) Secretary Fatima Yasmin made a power-pint presentation in the meeting.
The committee decided to sort out the possible challenges in different sectors within a month. To this end, a six-member subcommittee was formed under senior secretary of Commerce Ministry Dr Md Jafar Uddin.
“The subcommittee was asked to identify the sector-wise challenges and prepare an action plan within one month,” PMO Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah told reporters after the meeting.
Noting that Bangladesh would lose different international supports during the post-graduation period, he said duty free and quota free access and concessional loan facilities from bilateral or multilateral sources for Bangladesh would be narrowed for Bangladesh following the graduation.
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Besides, the issue of intellectual property rights would shrink any time after 2033, he said.
In the meeting, the committee also took the decision to arrange a large-scale seminar with experts of different sectors and academicians as early as possible to receive their views and opinions over the post-LDC challenges.
The committee will sit in a meeting every month regularly.
The committee members are Principal coordinator (SDGs Affairs) at the PMO (Zuena Aziz), senior secretary of ICT Division, Senior secretary of Finance Division, NBR chairman, the member (GED) of the Planning Commission, Senior secretary of Commerce Ministry, PMO secretary, ERD secretary, foreign secretary, industries secretary, agriculture secretary, environment secretary, BIDA executive chairman, chairman of Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, liberation war affairs secretary, Planning Commission’s member Sharifa Khan, FBCCI president, BGMEA president, DCCI president, Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) president, director general (Executive Cell and PEPZ) at PMO (member secretary of the committee) joined the meeting.
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Bangladesh has started its LDC graduation journey with the initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She participated in the 4th LDC related summit of the United Nations held on May 9-13, 2011, where “Istanbul Plan of Action” was adopted.
Since then, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took the action plan for the LDC graduation of Bangladesh, and she has been giving directives to this end constantly, said the PMO Secretary.