Seminar “Economic Analysis and Policy”

Dr. Mohammad Ali Taslim

Independent Economics Society (IES), a voluntary student club under Department of Economics, School of Business organized a seminar titled as “Economic Analysis & Policy” on 4^th November 2010 at 4:30 pm at the seminar room of School of Busniess, 83 Suhrawardy Avenue  Baridhara, Dhaka. The chief guest of the seminar was Dr. Mohammad Ali Taslim  Professor of Economics University of Dhaka. He is currently the CEO of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (The Ministry of Commerce), one of the directors of Bangladesh Bank and Former Chairman of Bangladesh Tariff Commission, (The Ministry of Commerce). Professor Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury (Vice Chancellor), Dr. Nadim Jahangir (Professor and Director, School of Business), Dr. A.K. Monaw-war Uddin Ahmad (Professor and Head, Department of Economics) and Prof. Nazrul Islam (Department of Social Sciences and Humanities ) were present at  the seminar amongst many other faculty members and distinguished guests at the School of Business.

In his speech, Dr. Mohammad Ali Taslim cited many common prejudices based on which the policies of this country are made. He sympathizes that the irony of fate is that in most countries like Bangladesh that need the most economic assistance, economists do not have any role to play in the policy making. He ends by strongly emphasizing on the fact that data must be properly collected and analyzed by competent economists before policies are made instead of basing them on popular prejudices as is the prevailing case in our country.

The seminar ended with a vote of thanks from Vice Chancellor, Prof. Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury.

Debating Competition on Investment Climate

The Investment Climate Debate will take place at IFC office premises. The judging panel will be comprised of thee representatives, one from the Academia, one from the Private Sector and one from BICF. The tentative date for this event is from 23 – 25 May, 2010. At his point, we would like to get feedback from you regarding the possible topics for the debate. The topics will be selected from the eight broad thematic areas of the investment climate:

1. Alternative Dispute Resolution
2. Competition Policy
3. E-governance & E-Commerce
4. Improving Government Regulation of Business
5. Land Administration & Management
6. Public Private Partnership
7. Special Economic Zones
8. Vocational Skills Development

IES will take part in the debate to represent Independent University Bangladesh (IUB).

Inauguration of IES

‘Independent Economic Society’ (IES), a new student association under the Department of Economics, had its inauguration on 25th March, 2010, at the Asia Pacific Blossom Hotel, Dhaka. The President of IES, Md. Khaled Shaifullah introduced the club, its background and future aspirations. He said IES plans to create a professional environment and open opportunities for students to work in research projects with different banks and financial organizations to gain professional experience. The inauguration was followed by a seminar titled “Creating a Better Climate for Investment in Bangladesh”, organized by the Department of Economics of Independent University Bangladesh (IUB).

The program was attended by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury, Prof. A.K. Monaw-war Uddin Ahmad, Head of the Department of Economics, Aminur Rahman, Associate Professor and Programme Coordinator of the Investment Climate Research Unit at IUB and as chief guest, Dr. Abul Barakat, Chairman, Janata Bank and Professor of Economics, Dhaka University. Syed Akhtar Mahmood, Senior Programme Manager for the Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF) also graced the occasion as guest speaker.

Mr Aminur Rahman talked about the official establishment of the Investment Climate Research Unit at IUB in October 2009. He also announced the ongoing and future activities of the research unit under the BICF Academic Partnership Program including awarding grants to faculty members for conducting research on Investment Climate issues, organizing seminars and workshops on the Investment Climate of Bangladesh, recruiting interns from the university for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), incorporating Investment Management into the curriculum of the School of Business and so on.

Syed Akhtar Mahmood discussed the many constraints faced by the private sector in Bangladesh and possible measures that can be taken to overcome those obstacles to create a better climate for Investment in Bangladesh. Moreover, Mr. Akhtar Mahmood elaborated on how the academic sector, with its active involvement and participation can contribute to the enhancement of the country’s investment climate.

Chief Guest, Prof. Abul Barakat emphasized on the need for human development before moving on to address other areas of development in Bangladesh. ‘I personally believe that development is not just about GDP or economic growth, it is about human development also, which is defined by three vital elements such as longevity, knowledge and real income where we lack operational practice’, he said.

The seminar concluded with discussions on the possible measures that can be taken collaboratively by the academic sector, business chamber leaders and government and non-government associations in order to successfully combat the many obstacles that continue to hamper the investment climate of Bangladesh.

IES Seminar “Investment Climate”

We are pleased to inform you that the Independent Economics Society (IES) will be holding it’s first seminar along with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on “Investment Climate”.

Chief Guests:

Dr. Abul Barakat
Professor and Chairman
Department of economics, Dhaka University
Chairman, Janata Bank &
General Secretary, Bangladesh Economic Association

Dr. Bazlul Mobin Choudhury
Vice Chancellor
Independent University Bangladesh (IUB)

Representatives from World Bank and IFC and Many others

Date: Thursday, 25th March, 2010
Time: 16:30
Venue: Asia Pacific Blossom Hotel
House # 27, Park Road, Baridhara, Dhaka-1212

Warm wishes,

IES team

Agriculture Transformation of Bangladesh Economy

I chose the topic agriculture transformation in Bangladesh because of its importance both practically and theoretically. Agriculture plays a pivotal role in Bangladesh’s economy and in the lives of the vast majority of its population. While this crucial sector accounts for about one fourth (19.6%) of Bangladesh’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and 63% of the national employment, it faces serious challenges posed by low productivity and the decline of land availability. The situation is further aggravated due to global warming scenarios. The GDP share of individual sub sectors are about 13% for crops, 3% for livestock, 5% for fisheries and 2% for forestry.

Financial Transformation of Bangladesh Economy

The driving force for a nation today is the economic strength. Bangladesh is striving to become one of the middle income countries by 2021. A country’s overall economic performance is measured the total productive power of the economy in a year. While it is expected that the gross domestic product (GDP) of Bangladesh will continue to grow, the growth rate of GDP will determine the pace of the progress. A higher growth rate will enable Bangladesh to utilize is abundant manpower efficiently.

Once agriculture sector had the major contribution in GDP but as Bangladesh is developing, the contribution from agriculture sector is decreasing. And the contribution of financial sector such as industries, banks and remittance (foreign and domestic) is increasing. In 1986 agriculture sector directly contributes around 46 percent, in 1996 around 35 percent and in 2007-08 around 20.87 percent of the GDP. In 1986 industrial sector contributes around 10 percent, in 1996 around 11 percent and in 2007-08 around 17.77 percent of the GDP. Since 1996 economy has grown 5 to 6 percent per year before it was around 3 percent or less.