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. Also read: Bangladesh’s LDC graduation: Govt has its plan to face next challenges 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. Also read: Work together to tackle negative impacts after LDC graduation: Speakers 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. Also read: Swedish development cooperation to continue past LDC graduation 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.

Netherlands has put emphasis on an accommodating business climate for foreign investment and trade, as well as adherence to global labour and environmental standards, to attract more foreign investment and business to Bangladesh. The Bangladesh side underscored the need for promoting responsible business conduct in the global supply chain and for continued international support measures after its graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status. Bangladesh and the Netherlands held the Foreign Office Consultations on Thursday virtually and discussed the issues. Both countries shared their concerns about recent developments in Myanmar, including the serious challenges these developments pose for the safe, sustainable, dignified and voluntary return of the Rohingyas to their homeland. Also read: Dutch investors urged to invest in Bangladesh’s aquaculture sector for growth, diversification The two countries also reiterated their continued commitment to justice and accountability for the human rights violations committed in Myanmar. The Bangladesh delegation was led by Foreign Secretary (Senior Secretary) Ambassador Masud Bin Momen while the Netherlands delegation was led by the Secretary-General of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Paul Huijts. The fourth round of Foreign Office Consultations took place amid Bangladesh’s Golden Jubilee and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary celebrations, and the upcoming 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The Netherlands and Bangladesh have maintained an enduring friendship over the course of those 50 years, marked by a significant Dutch role in Bangladesh’s early infrastructural development and water management and food security efforts, now considered key successes for both countries. Also read: Dutch NGOs reiterate support to Bangladesh Both delegation leaders acknowledged the impact COVID-19 has had on their societies and shared their views on post-COVID-19 economic recovery to ‘build back better’. They noted the strong ties between the two countries over the past 50 years and elaborated on political and economic developments as well as the evolving nature of the bilateral relationship, with a shift from development cooperation to economic cooperation. Both sides agreed to continue exchanging views on human rights and rule of law, including in multilateral fora. The delegations held an in-depth discussion on how to further strengthen the economic ties and knowledge exchange in a wide variety of areas, including water management, agriculture, digitalisation and climate adaptation. The Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 was specifically discussed as a key vehicle for integrating cooperation on water management and food security. Also read: Swedish, Dutch envoys for maintaining focus on Rohingya crisis until their repatriation The two delegation leaders discussed developments in the region, including the current focus on increasing cooperation and connectivity between the EU and the Indo-Pacific region. The Netherlands expressed its gratitude for Bangladesh’s hospitality towards the Rohingya people and noted ongoing discussions on humanitarian issues between the international donor community and Bangladesh. The Foreign Office Consultations underlined the willingness of both countries to explore and take up opportunities to further deepen and diversify the bilateral ties.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged people to take a vow afresh not to allow anyone to hinder Bangladesh’s democratic and development progress by playing ducks and drakes with their fate. “On this auspicious occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Independence, we’ve to vow afresh that no one can play ducks and drakes with the fate of the people of Bangladesh. No one can hinder the country’s democratic and development progress,” she said. The Prime Minister was addressing the nation on the eve of Independence Day 2021. State-owned Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar simultaneously broadcast the Prime Minister’s speech at 7:30 pm on Thursday. Private television channels and radio stations also aired the speech. The Prime Minister called upon people to work for building Bangladesh as a developed, prosperous and non-communal Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal) as dreamt by the Father of the Nation. “Let’s build Bangladesh as a developed, prosperous and non-communal Sonar Bangla by forgetting all the differences and being imbued with the spirit of the Liberation War,” she said. Noting that the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Independence just should not be a formality, she said, “On the occasion of the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation and the Golden Jubilee of Independence, we’ve to take vow afresh to take our country to a new height.” Also read: Make a vow to implement Bangabandhu’s dreams: PM Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has achieved an unimaginable success in the socio-economic index as a result of her government’s tireless works over the past 12 years. Last month, she said, Bangladesh received the final recommendation to graduate from the least developed country (LDC) group. “Bangladesh has not only surpassed its neighbours in various indexes like life expectancy, gender equality, universal primary education, women education, women's political rights, women and child mortality, sanitation and food availability, but also exceeded many developed countries in many cases,” she said. But the path of this development has not been smooth at all as the anti-liberation forces inside and outside the country carried out various ill-motivated activities to hinder the progress of Bangladesh. “This process still continues. So, we all will have to resist all the anti-state attempts by playing the role of vigilant watchdogs.” Sheikh Hasina said passing half a century of independence is a significant milestone for the life of a nation. “For us, this Golden Jubilee celebration has become more colorful as Bangladesh Awami League, forming the government, started running the government with the ideology of Liberation War. Today, Bangladesh has stood raising its head in the world as a proud country proving all the negative and pessimistic predictions against Bangladesh wrong, she said. Even a decade ago, Sheikh Hasina said, Bangladesh was presented as an example of poverty. “But today development experts are presenting Bangladesh as a role model for poverty alleviation and development.” Also read: Develop the habit of reading: PM Hasina Presenting the current picture of several socio-economic indicators compared to the 2005-06 fiscal year, she said the per capita income increased to US$ 2,064 now from just US$ 543, while the poverty rate dropped to 20.5 percent from 41.5 percent, the GDP size rose to Tk 2800,000 crore from only Tk 482,337 crore, and the foreign currency reserve to US$ 44 billion from only US$ 0.744 billion during the period. She said the budget size has increased to Tk 568,000 crore in the current fiscal year from only Tk 61,000 crore in 2005-06 fiscal year, while the average life expectancy to 72.6 years in 2019-20 fiscal from 59 years in 2005-06 fiscal, the infant mortality rate has come down to 28 from 84 per thousand, the maternal mortality rate to 165 from 370 per lakh and the power generation capacity has increased to 24,421 megawatt from 4,900 megawatt. “Today's achievement is, in fact, the achievement of the common people of this country,” she added. She said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had declared the Independence of Bangladesh in the early hours of March 26, 1971 just before he was arrested by Pakistani army. His announcement spread across the country through the wireless of the then EPR, she said. The independence of Bangladesh had come as the result of the 24-year continuous political struggle. And Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had led from the front in this struggle from the beginning to the end, said Sheikh Hasina, also the eldest daughter of Bangabandhu. Also read:  PM Hasina leads from front in battle against pandemic: Envoy “Today, we’re proud citizens of independent and sovereign Bangladesh thanks to the birth of that great man named Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib. Today, we’re proud of our own country, language and culture because he was born,” said the PM. Sheikh Mujib is the creator of a country and a state. “So, we’re celebrating his birth centenary and the golden jubilee of independence simultaneously,” she said. On the eve of the Independence Day, the PM extended her sincere greetings to all the citizens of Bangladesh living at home and abroad. Sheikh Hasina thanked the people of Bangladesh for keeping Bangladesh Awami League, the political party that led the Liberation War, in power while celebrating these two important milestones in the national life.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday highlighted Bangladesh’s “indomitable” spirit with success stories in its journey towards higher development trajectory noting that the country becomes successful whatever it chases for the better.

Finance Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal on Saturday said graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status would be a matter of great honour and pride for the country.

Bangladesh has met all the three criteria for graduating out of least developed country (LDC) status, and is waiting for the meeting of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (UNCPD) to confirm that, according to Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

Bangladesh has called on the international community for the continuation of international support measures for an extended period to make its upcoming graduation out of Least Developed Country (LDC) status smooth and sustainable.

As Bangladesh looks forward to graduating out of the least developed country (LDC) status in 2024, it's increasingly emphasising bilateral preferential trade agreement (PTA) and free trade agreement (FTA) to boost its export earnings in the next three to six years.

Uber on Monday marked four years of operations in Bangladesh, during which it has served more than 4 million riders and created livelihood opportunities for over 175,000 driver partners.

Bangladesh on Sunday signed its maiden Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Bhutan to boost bilateral trade between the two countries.