'People did it all'

Hailing Bangladesh's emergence as a developing nation as a 'historic achievement' at a time when the nation is gearing up to mark the 50th year of its independence, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina credited the people and her government’s relentless effort over the last 12 years for this achievement.

“The people of the country did all these things. Remaining in the government, we just gave policy support to create a scope. It’s a historic and proud moment for the nation,” she said adding, "This is a matter of great joy and pride for the entire nation."  

Prime Minister said this at a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) attending virtually from her official Ganabhaban residence Saturday afternoon.

Briefing the media about the United Nations’ final recommendations on Bangladesh’s graduation from the LDCs, the prime minister said, "Yesterday, Bangladesh received the final recommendation from the United Nations to move from a least developed country to a developing country. We are fully qualified to be promoted to the rank of developing countries." 

"This comes at a time when we are celebrating the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the greatest Bengali of all time, and are on the verge of celebrating the golden jubilee of independence," said the premier.

The prime minister dedicated the achievement to the next generation of Bangladeshis who will "take the country further and transform it into a developed and prosperous nation”.

She credited the people and her government’s relentless effort over the last 12 years for this achievement.

“The people of the country did all these things. Remaining in the government, we just gave policy support to create a scope. It’s a historic and proud moment for the nation,” she said in her speech.

“The Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu, had turned Bangladesh into a least developed one pulling the war-ravaged country in just three-and-a-half years’ time. Bangladesh Awami League - a party founded in the hand of the great leader - established the country as a developing nation in this Golden Jubilee year of independence,” she added.

Extending congratulations to the Bangladeshi citizens both at home and abroad, the prime minister added that their coordinated efforts have made the milestone achievement possible.

Hasina said she feels proud of this achievement as she herself remained engaged in the process of the strides in development.

“The UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) reviews the issue of a country’s graduation from LDC based on income per capita, human assets, and economic and environmental vulnerability,” she said.

Highlighting various economic indices, she said Bangladesh’s GDP has now risen to $330.2 billion, and export income to $40.54 billion, while foreign reserves have already reached $44.03 billion.

Bangladesh has already been self-reliant in food, fish, egg, meat, and vegetable production, and it is also the third in the world in terms of paddy production, she added.

“Today’s Bangladesh is not as it was an “era ago”, she said.

Highlighting her government’s progress, the prime minister further said that 99 percent of people have been brought under electricity coverage, digital services have been expanded up to marginalized people in villages, and a revolutionary change has taken place in the ICT sector through the Bangabandhu satellite.

“Considering all these achievements, Bangladesh is now a changed country in the world,” she said.

Speaking on a pandemic-hit year, Hasina said that year 2020 was a critical year not only for Bangladesh but for the whole world due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

However, she also mentioned that the government has been able to keep the national economy moving by taking various steps, such as by providing financial assistance and stimulus packages to affected groups. 

The prime minister said the vaccination drive has already begun across the country with a total of 2,850,940 people getting vaccinated as of Thursday last.

The prime minister focused on the continuation of successes and underscored the need for making the achievement on the graduation of the country from the LDC to a developing one more sustainable and consolidated.

Speaking on the ongoing mega projects, such as the Padma Bridge, metro rail project, construction of Karnophuli Tunnel, and the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, she said some of those are expected to be launched this year or early next year.

She further added that the country’s economy will receive further momentum once the construction work on the 100 Special Economic Zones and over two dozens of Hi-tech Parks and IT villages are completed.

The prime minister conveyed her strong optimism that Bangladesh would soon be established as a developed, prosperous and dignified country at the world stage if the pace of the development continues.

The youngest daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana, was also present at the press conference from Ganabhaban. Earlier, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal handed over the UN recommendation to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Ganabhaban.

With the final recommendation from the UN panel, Bangladesh received a five-year transition period. That means Bangladesh will formally graduate to the developing nation category in 2026.

Taffer Tesfachew, chair of the CDP subgroup on LDCs, announced the decision of its recommendation during a media brief Friday night following the five-day triennial review meeting. 

The second triennial review meeting of the UNCDP’s LDC category was held from February 22-26.

After the recommendation by the UN committee for Bangladesh to become a developing nation, the proposal will be sent to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for endorsement in June.

The UN General Assembly is scheduled to approve the proposal in September this year.

Bangladesh has been on the UN's LDC list since 1975. According to the UN, a country is eligible to graduate from the LDC category if it has a gross national income (GNI) per capita of $1,230 or above for three years, a Human Assets Index (HAI) of 66 or above, and an Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) of 32 or below. Graduation requires fulfilling these criteria in two consecutive tri-annual reviews.

Bangladesh satisfied all the necessary conditions for the first time in 2018 and has continued to meet the mark ever since. The South Asian nation is now set to rank among developing countries along with Nepal and Lao DPR.

The South Asian nation's GNI per capita was $ 1,827 in 2020. The HAI is 75.3, while the EVI is 25.2.

The United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP) has recommended Bangladesh’s graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status for fulfilling its all three eligibility criteria for the second time alongside Nepal and Lao PDR.

Bangladesh has met, for the second consecutive time, all the three eligibility criteria of graduation like income per capita, human assets, and economic and environmental vulnerability.

The UNCDP, however, deferred the decision on Myanmar and Timore-Leste to the 2024 triennial review.

The UN panel deferred recommending Myanmar for graduation due to concerns on negative impacts of the state of emergency declared by the military on its development trajectory and graduation preparation.

The panel also deferred recommending Timore-Leste due to continued concerns about the sustainability of the country’s development progress.

For the first time, no country was found eligible for inclusion in 2021.

In view of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, the CDP recommended that Bangladesh and two other countries get five years, till 2026, to prepare for the transition to a developing country instead of three years.

Bangladesh was well ahead in the gross national income (GNI) criterion: its per capita income was nearly US$1,827 in 2020 against the threshold of US$1,230.

In the Human Assets Index (HAI), the country’s (Bangladesh) score stands at 75.3 points, well above the required score of 66.

In the Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI), the score of a country has to be less than 32 while Bangladesh’s score is 27.3 points.