Mahbubur Rashid
Bangladesh is set to become a developed country by the year 2041. Before that, the country must cater to the basic needs of its citizens and make social, cultural and recreational facilities available for them all to attract the foreign investors and tourists.
Once, Asia was a region defined by poverty. One of the most important issues for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) when it was established in 1966 was agricultural assistance to safeguard people against hunger in a region with a large and increasing population. Nearly half a century later, Asia's amazing growth and successful poverty reduction have exceeded the most optimistic forecasts.
As an Asian country we feel proud that Bangladesh stepped into a new journey as it qualified to graduate into a developing nation from a Least Developed Country (LDC) after 45 years.
The United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UN CDP) recommended the graduation in its final evaluation recently.
Bangladesh is scheduled to officially become a developing country in 2026 as the UN committee recommended that the country should get five years, instead of three, to prepare for the transition due to the impact of the Covid-19 on its economy.
Until 2026, the country will continue to enjoy the trade benefits as an LDC.
The recommendations will be sent to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for endorsement in June and the UN General Assembly is scheduled to approve the proposal in September.
The development comes when Bangladesh gears up for celebrating the golden jubilee of its independence.
Bangladesh has met, for the second time, all the three eligibility criteria for the graduation involving income per capita, human assets index (HAI), and economic and environmental vulnerability index (EVI).
If we want to be a developed nation by 2040 what are the conditions we have to fulfil?
We need to have an independent judiciary, sovereign parliament and the efficient, effective and transparent administration.
After meeting the above conditions then we can look into the affair of social development which bring compound effect of social and economic changes.
Drinks like alcohol, beverages, whisky and red wine which are internationally recognized must be available even in the grocery shop then the illegal trade of these items could be stopped.
Besides, the country must fulfil the other criteria to become a developing country those are considered to be preconditions.
Here, we can mention eight key conditions for economic development.
1. Infrastructure investment: Sufficient infrastructure for energy, roads and railways helps countries develop industry and attract foreign direct investment (FDI). A good quality road network gives people access to schools and clinics, and enhances job opportunities;
2. Investment in education and health to develop human capital;
3. Macroeconomic stability;
4. Open trade and investment regimes, an active private sector;
5. Public governance: Corruption is not only unjust. It smothers growth by diverting people's energy to unproductive activities. Good governance also means better transparency and accountability among governments and state-owned enterprises;
6. Social inclusiveness: In a society with great disparities between rich and poor, economic growth goals may not be shared by its citizens. Income inequality nullifies incentive to improve one's prospects by getting an education or vocational training, preventing quality enhancement of the labor force. To avert this scenario, decisive steps are needed to strengthen public education, redistribute income by tax reforms, reduce rural-urban inequality, and provide farmers and small and midsize enterprises with access to finance;
7. Vision for the future: In this area, South Korea and Singapore have shown how governments can make crucial contributions to national development. While the private sector is a key economic growth engine, governments have a responsibility to examine their national comparative advantages, design a development strategy, and share this strategy with their citizens. They should carefully allocate public finances to priority areas, while giving appropriate guidance to business. Of course, this is not to say that governments should embrace inward-looking policies to protect domestic industries and
8. Political stability, security and good relations with neighbouring countries;
Besides, recreation is an integral part of human life. And life cannot be vitalised without recreation and amusement. After a day-long work, one becomes exhausted and needs some time to spend in one’s own way.
In developed countries, recreational facilities are an integral part of their citizens. There are many ways of recreation and amusement. At the weekend, they usually go to the seashore and pass time there. Many of them go to bars for drinking wine and dance.
Wine of different brands is abundantly available in wayside grocery shops. But, in Bangladesh there is no such facility.
Those who are staying or working here want to avail themselves of those facilities but due to their absence, they fly to Singapore, India, Hong Kong or Dubai at the weekend.
In Asia, Thailand is the number one backpacking destination in the world for recreation where all kinds of recreational facilities are abundantly available. There are bars, night clubs and other facilities in that country that attracts millions of visitors from the world at the weekend and earns much in exchange for the recreational facilities.
The Middle Eastern city of Dubai can be cited here as an example. People from across the crowd the Gulf city to avail themselves of the recreational facilities. Being a city of Muslim country of the UAE, it can be compared with a western country where all kinds of facilities are present to refresh and vitalize one’s body and mind.
Medical science suggests if anyone can keep their mind free of mental worries that cause depression, they can remain healthy. So, recreation is a means to keep the mind fresh. Because it is food to satisfy mental hunger.
Some people, especially the rich, industrialists, people from the cultural arena arrange recreational parties at a limited scale at their own houses. But that type of arrangement is an ‘offence’ in the eye of law in our society.
Houses of many people were raided and wine and liquor along with other things were seized recently. They have been brought to book. If wine or liquor were available in the open market, none was found interested in buying that secretly and illicit business of the items could be stopped.
Anyway, I have deviated from the original point that recreation and amusement in any form are needed to keep the body and mind of a human fresh. So, keeping wine at a limited scale at home for personal refreshment should not be considered an offence.
