“The current global economic crisis is precipitated first by the pandemic-induced economic slowdown and then by the unwanted Russia-Ukraine war. The world economy will grow only by 3.2 percent by 2022 which is feared to be further slowed down to 2.9 percent by 2023,” - said eminent economist Professor Dr. Atiur Rahman on Friday.
The former Governor of Bangladesh Bank made the remarks while presenting a keynote paper at the ‘Leadership Conclave 2022’ organized by the Delhi-based Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) at Kolkata.
Atiur hence felt need for prudent leadership at all levels of society to cope with this global economic crisis
This is a 102-year-old chamber with four and a half lakh members. More than a hundred business and other leaders participated in this conclave and some of them were awarded as well. Presided over by Ravi Agarwal, the conclave was also addressed by two other motivational speakers Gourav Arya, Editor-in-Chief of Chanakya Forum and Dr. Vikrant Singh Tomar of UMS (Ultimate Management Solution).
Dr. Rahman further pointed out that appropriate management of the digital transformation is going to be pivotal at both organizational and national levels during the recovery from the global economic crisis.
He also inferred that the South Asian countries could gain a lot through tapping the opportunities of economic cooperation during this phase as this region remains among the least economically integrated ones of the world.
For example, he added, Bangladesh’s export to India could grow by 300 percent by fetching an additional 1 percent of Indian imports.
However, he opined that high cost of connectivity is a major barrier against regional integration in the sub-continent. Given a high level of political willingness to cooperate between the leaderships in India and Bangladesh, the region has the potential of higher level of economic cooperation with the help of prudent leadership which is well grounded.
This leadership ought to be focused more on digital transformation using skilled human resources that must also be humane and tech-savvy. Dr. Rahman also handed over the awards to the winners of the leadership contests.