In collaboration with Punjab Planning and Development Board, CDPR and IGC hosted a seminar on Tracing Bangladesh’s Development Trajectory: Identifying Lessons for Pakistan on 27th December at the P&D Board, which was led by Dr. Sadiq Ahmed, Senior Policy Advisor for Bangladesh. The seminar was attended by notable officials from Planning and Development (P&D) Department, and was moderated jointly by Dr. Ijaz Nabi, Chairman P&D Mr. Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, as well as Joint Chief Economist P&D Dr. Aman Ullah Khan.
The Consortium for Development Policy Research (CDPR) and the International Growth Centre (IGC) hosted an intimate round-table discussion on 26th December at the CDPR office which was attended by senior members of the private sector. The objective of the discussion was to illustrate and discuss Pakistan and Bangladesh’s Performance in comparison to each other; both pitfalls and the opportunities.
Dr. Sadiq shared key insights from Bangladesh’s growth experience highlighting what led to the country’s rising performance at a time when Pakistan’s growth started stunting. He attributed the growth mainly to the following three key areas; human capital development, investment in gender empowerment and building exports. His presentation was followed by a rich Q&A session where participants enquired about the role Bangladesh’s private sector played in facilitating the country’s growth and had a candid conversation on whether similar actions could be taken by Pakistan given the country’s unique constraints and circumstances.
The dialogues emphasized potential development avenues for Pakistan, such as improving the readymade garments and textile sector to expand its export market. It also raised the dire need for developing Pakistan’s social sector, which includes health, education, and gender empowerment. The urgent need for intervention is apparent in how over 40% of Pakistan’s under-five children are stunted (Hyder & Ersado, 2023) which depicts how nutrition programs must be streamlined on federal and provincial levels immediately. Social sector development could in turn, maximise Pakistan’s human capital, which is one of its greatest potential strengths. Climate finance and climate change mitigation are also shared concerns between the two countries, which require immediate policy action.
The discussion drew upon the following presentation:
Bangladesh Development Performance — Progress and Emerging Challenges December 2023