Bangladesh recently celebrated its 50th founding anniversary. In 1972, Henry Kissinger, the US Secretary of State, described Bangladesh as a "bottomless basket" for an independent country. On the other hand, in 1976, Norwegian economist Just Faland and American economist JR Parkinson wrote in his book 'Bangladesh, the Test Case for Development: If Bangladesh can solve its development problems, then it must be understood that any country can improve.
In the '70s, independent Bangladesh was recognised by the world as a city plagued by food shortage, famine, and natural disasters. But in the last 50 years, the image of Bangladesh has been discussed in different contexts. Now, positive aspects predominate in discussions about Bangladesh. In 50 years, Bangladesh has overcome many negative images.
Abid Hassan, a former adviser to the World Bank and a Pakistani economist, wrote a few months ago praising Bangladesh's economic potential, saying that even 20 years ago, it was unthinkable that Bangladesh's per capita income would double in 2020. He wrote that Pakistan may seek help from Bangladesh by 2030.
Bangladesh has now surpassed not only Pakistan but also India in several indicators. Various international organisations, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, IMF have identified Bangladesh's economic development as a 'wonderful puzzle'. From 2011 to 2019, Bangladesh's exports have increased at a rate of 8.6% per annum as compared to 0.4% in the world. GDP per capita has risen to $2,554, compared to Pakistan’s $1,543. On the other hand, while the current economy of Bangladesh is $410 billion, the size of Pakistan's economy is about $260 billion.
Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen always cited Bangladesh as an example of the development model. During a visit to Bangladesh last year, Kaushik Basu, then senior vice president and chief economist at the World Bank, said Bangladesh's economy was now in a flying start.
"It would not be an exaggeration to say that Bangladesh will soon emerge as the new tiger of Asia," he said. Although Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) was part of Pakistan, it has already surpassed Pakistan in almost all socio-cultural and economic indicators.
Even before the 50th anniversary of independence, Bangladesh has come a long way from that of Pakistan. It has been possible for People’s hard-working and strong leadership. The population is also increasing the problem of Pakistan. While the population of Pakistan was 1o million less than that of Bangladesh in 1971, it is now about 40 million more. At this time the population growth rate of Bangladesh is 1.2% whereas that of Pakistan is 2.1%, which is almost double.
On the other hand, Pakistan has lagged behind due to social conditions. Property management is such that all property is in the hands of a small number of people. Bangladesh ranks 50th out of 153 countries in the Gender Parity Index, while Pakistan ranks 151st; According to the International Labor Organization's 2019 data, the participation rate of women in the workplace in Bangladesh is 38%, which is 23% in Pakistan. Honour killings still exist there.
A few years ago, Imran Khan came to power after being elected as the prime minister of Pakistan and announced that he would run the country on the Swedish governance model. He dreamed of transforming Pakistan into Sweden in five years. As a result, discussions began on a role model across Pakistan. It was at this time that a column written by Jaigham Khan, a development activist, was published. The article titled “The Bangladesh Model” suggested that Pakistan should become Bangladesh instead of being transformed into Sweden.
Columns and talks have started appearing in the media. A clip from one such talk show has gone viral where Jaigham Khan said that there is no point in using the example of any other country; Pakistan should try to be Bangladesh first. And it will take at least 10 years. By then, Bangladesh, of course, would have gone even farther in terms of development. Thus, a country that was separated from Pakistan after a long and bloody war of nine months is now a role model.
(The writer is a Bangladeshi columnist)
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