|
Not only duty-free, let Bangladesh's RMG get string-free access to US
Faruque Ahmed
Every good news for Bangladesh garment industry comes with some strings attached. There is no exception to it in the new bill that two congressmen, Joseph Crowley and McDormet, have introduced in the US House of Representatives recently. It aims at allowing duty-free access to exports of the least developed countries (LDCs), on the list of which Bangladesh figures prominently.
In the first place, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters' Association (BGMEA), the apex body of the country's apparel manufacturers and exporters, has welcome the move, saying it would fulfil the long-tended dreams and aspirations of the country's garment industry. The industry has been struggling for quite some time now for it, especially after the enactment of a similar law several years ago allowing duty and quota-free access to textile products from the African and Caribbean countries to the USA. A similar "TRADE" bill is now waiting for passage in the US Congress that also advocates for offering similar duty and quota-free access to exports from the LDCs of the Asia-Pacific region.
The new bill in the US Congress has come against this background. But as it stands, the bill remains marred with certain limitations with regard to volume of exports, especially that of Bangladesh and Cambodia, the two LDCs of the Asia-Pacific region who have been making quick strides in the global apparel market.
The BGMEA considers it a big opportunity, except the ceiling of duty-free export volume, and an 11-member delegation of the trade body is on a visit to the USA this week as part of an effort to remove the strings. The strings speak for setting the ceiling on duty-free export volume at the export value earned by both the countries in 2007. The bill says both the countries can make exports additional to that value to the USA but by paying normal duties varying from 22 to 25 per cent, and this addition export volume cannot exceed 15 per cent a year. The entitlement will further depend on whether Bangladesh is allowing trade union rights to workers, meeting other compliance requirements at work place, besides the level of good governance. The US Department of Labour will issue these certificates as a pre-condition to availing of this additional 15 per cent annual export.
It has come as a big challenge to the country's garment industry which has the capacity and market potentials of doubling its export volume in a few years. Bangladesh last year exported apparels worth US$9.2 billion, of which US$4 billion went to the USA, and is capable of exporting between US$15 to 18 billion by 2010. The country's apparel industry now employs 2.2 million workers and benefits more than 10 million people. In the next phase, the number of employees in the sector may exceed 3 million.
The industry, however, is gradually recovering from a slowdown and a slump in receiving fresh orders from buyers. Although fresh orders received in October was 21 per cent less than that received in October 2006, the figure still is an improvement from the situation that existed two months back. In August this year, the fresh orders received was 35 per cent less than what the industry had received in August last year.
In this situation, the proposed ceiling will take away a major benefit of the opening of the gate, said BGMEA Senior Vice President Mohammad Abdus Salam last week. The BGMEA team now in the USA under the leadership of its President Anwarul Alam Chowdhury is scheduled to put its case to a number of US congressmen and senators, besides trade officials, for keeping the opening of the gate free of strings.
An NGO representative and a labour leader are also on the delegation. They have volunteered to work with the delegation to help remove the smoke of the anti-Bangladesh campaign unleashed in the USA by certain quarters with vested interests. These quarters are trying to sell the allegations that the Bangladesh garment industry does not allow its workers trade union rights and denies them the minimum wages, besides resorting to other oppressive measures including use of child labour. Their campaign was instrumental in the recent move by the AFL-CIO, the confederation of labour and industry owners, to bring pressure on the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) to bring a bill to the US Congress to cancel the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) facility offered to Bangladesh's exports. However, the office of USTR has put the issue at bay until June next year and requested more information from the Bangladesh government on the subject, Salam said, adding that all information had already been sent to the US administration.
According to him, the USA is a big country and its administration has all the support and sympathy for the Bangladesh's garment industry as it has been playing a crucial role in poverty alleviation, employment generation, empowering women, especially those who are poor, and bringing about gender parity in the society. The US government considers these roles important for providing trade support to the LDCs and thus help them eradicate poverty.
But, the enemies of the country's garment industry are putting all efforts to mislead the US administration and some so-called labour leaders and NGO representatives are allegedly playing the role of double agents in this matter. The international community has so far ignored them, while the BGMEA is taking every possible step to meet all compliance requirements. "We visit factories to make sure they meet the compliance requirements, and 95 per cent of the factories have already implemented the minimum wage structure," Salam said. "We even visit homes of the factory owners to encourage them to solve problems."
The BGMEA is also ensuring workers' trade union rights. In the export processing zones, they have workers' welfare committees that ensure good working environment, timely payment of wage and allowances, maternity leave and such other facilities. Moreover, child labourers are no more employed at the factories, he said.
Despite the facts, he regretted a hostile article run a UK magazine recently, saying Bangladesh was using child workers as industrial slaves. "I not only regret it, I deplore such an imaginary story."
He also dismissed the campaign involving Bangladesh along with India and Pakistan by GAP (a big buyer), saying Bangladesh was not using child labour. "Our factories are open to routine visits and surprise inspections... buyers have watchful eyes."
Referring to another big buyer, HNM, which has an office in Dhaka, Salam said their inspectors had been routinely issuing compliance and quality certificates to Bangladesh's apparel products as good exportable items prepared meeting the compliance requirements strictly.
He said BGMEA was now rather engaged in how to make the industry capable of addressing big global challenges. Bangladesh's garment industry is the third largest in the world, next only to those of China and Egypt. Turkey and Bangladesh are rated equally as having the third largest apparel industries, while Bangladesh has the additional advantage of multiplying manufacturing and global marketing capacity quickly using its low-cost production base. This is why it has so many enemies, Salam said, expressing the resolve that Bangladesh would stay the course.
He termed the BATEXPO, the annual international trade fair of the country's apparel industry, which is going to take place from November 15 to 17, the biggest apparel fair of the Asia-Pacific region. We want to keep the tempo steady, Salam said.
Improving the competitiveness is the number-one priority of the industry, he said, detailing the various steps taken by the BGMEA, including establishment of training centres and fashion institutes for developing the skills of mid-level managerial people and workers. The BGMEA Institute of Fashion Technology now offers a 4-year graduation course in fashion design, besides an MBA course in garment industry management. It also offers a 6-month diploma course for technical persons. The institute is turning out seven to eight hundred trained managers annually and aims at increasing the number to 2,000 in a few years. The number is very insignificant considering the industry's demand for skilled managers is hovering over 50,000 at this moment.
The BGMEA vice president said the industry was suffering from 20 to 22 per cent shortage of skilled workers. If the duty-free market access to the USA is granted at the moment, the industry's immediate big challenge will come from shortage of skilled workers. This industry alone has the biggest potentials to liberate Bangladesh from poverty and take it to a middle-income status. It will happen not only from export earnings but also from other multiplying and accelerating effects on the service, banking, insurance, shipping, and transport sectors and will obviously help the growth of other support industries, such as spinning, weaving, and packaging.
The BGMEA recently launched a training programme from youths coming from Gaibandha, Kurigram, and Rangpur districts. These are the areas that become vulnerable to seasonal unemployment and monga during the October-November period. This is a three-month course. Three batches of workers, each composed of 100 youths, have already passed out while a new course is ready for the offing. The graduates are immediately provided with employment at garment factories.
The BGMEA is also training jobless people of the 'char areas' of Rangpur at the National Skill Development Training Centres in Rangpur town. The first batch of 150 trainees has already passed out the 3-month course and the training of the second batch is underway. Two more centres have been selected for the purpose. These training centres are owned by the government, which allows the BGMEA to use them. The association bears the training costs and provides subsistence allowance to the trainees. And, as usual, jobs are ready for the graduates at the end of the course. This network of training centres will be gradually expanded to create more skilled workers for the garment industry, Salam said.
 ^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
PATIENT PEOPLE GETTING RESTIVE
Return to old-styled power game unlikely
Sadeq Khan
Despite some determined attempts to browbeat the nicely-nicely advisers' team of the caretaker government by political and quasi-political people power, labour power and student power clouts, Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed's administration has stayed on course.
Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina was the first to challenge the caretaker regime. On her return from the USA last May, she led an "impromptu" procession (albeit quietly organised) all the way from Zia International Airport to Sudha Sadan in Dhanmondi, defying the ban on assembly and unauthorised marches on roads.
The heat of that defiance of Emergency Powers Rules cooled somewhat under the security cordon courteously but firmly placed around her residence. She continued enjoying the limelight of daily media coverage, and also the homage by daily visits of followers and admirers. Reality has probably dawned on her after she was arrested and charged with extortion by abuse of power as a former prime minister. Expected outcry for her liberty from the countrymen or even from her loyal party following or her kith and kin amounted to little more than a whimper.
Similarly, BNP chief and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia was not to lag behind her rival under isolation by security restrictions around her cantonment villa where she chose to live. She started reasserting her appeal to the countrymen at home and the expatriate party men abroad through unhindered teleconferences with adulating groups of followers in some major cities around the world. When she and her younger son were taken to custody for nepotism by abuse of power, her majestic address at the courthouse had only a feeble impact on the broader television audience or on newspaper readers. By then, apathy if not antipathy, had taken roots in the consciousness of the general public towards leading politicians. Media exposure of sordid stories of rampant corruption and shameless horse-trading by the contenders for power blackened their image. Their deadly power games at the cost of lives, properties, and livelihoods of the ordinary people left them morally crippled and optically dwarfed in the public eye.
But, on the other hand, many ordinary people had suffered disruption of livelihood and loss of possessions, albeit unauthorised, under the rigours of enforcement of the Emergency Powers Rules by Dr. Fakhruddin's caretaker regime. Underdevelopment and the tradition of patron-client relationship in the insecure community life of our populous delta replicated in contemporary life in a system of very large clientele build-up for political activists amongst the main body of self-employed and services-employed in trade and traffic. The latter took it as a norm that they could encroach on government lands or enjoy special privileges at public facilities for a fee payable to the former who would protect such encroachments or privileges for them. The anti-corruption campaign and the demolition drive against unauthorised possessions and constructions have therefore affected a very large number of innocent victims in big cities, small townships, and villages alike. Bread-earners have lost family savings paid as selami for unauthorised possessions and constructions or other privileges, and also their earnings from related trade, occupation or services. Also gone is the consumer craze of big spenders involved in the black economy. They are either lying low or on the run. The market is depressed.
On top of that, heavy rains and consecutive floods have left the agricultural economy in a bad shape. Rural unemployment is piteous and pandemic this season. In the tidal belt of southern districts, return of flooding for the second round has not only destroyed crops and saplings but also left the paddy fields too muddy to be used for any alternative produce. Rural money-supply has dried up for borrowers. Landless farm-labourers are going hungry. In the northern districts, in the monga belt, growing numbers of unemployed are impossible to be reached by the existing capacity of vulnerable group feeding programmes. Hunger and cold await them this winter. Usual seasonal exodus in search of work to other places has no prospect for them this year as the demand for farm labour has shrunk everywhere in the country on account of loss of crops.
In the cities, high commodity prices are taking a heavy toll in terms of sufferings of the low-income-group people. All and sundry are affected by the unrelenting inflationary pressures of global origin. Added to that are the profiteering practices of domestic origin in our underdeveloped and ill-regulated market conditions. Caprices of the domestic market are hitting the common consumers below the belt time and again. Patient people are getting restive and losing faith in the caretaker regime. They do not know what else they can do but remain patient for some time yet.
There is thus no love lost for the incumbent caretakers amongst the common people but for the civic protection and social discipline secured by the regime. It provides the citizens with the necessary breathing space to try to help themselves. That is the saving grace which our suffering public is not ready to lose. People simply do not want a return to the dark days of anarchy that preceded the proclamation of emergency.
Indeed, the common man will not stomach any more a repetition of random blockades, violent confrontations, and vandalising rampages. This is evident from the sharp reaction of the public, disapproving the outbreak of student-teacher unrest that snowballed into a spell of lawlessness and vandalism on some campuses and in some city blocks. Imposition of curfew and prompt penal measures brought the situation under control. Nor did earlier or later incidents of labour unrest in some jute mills and garment factories, genuine or contrived, spill over into any unmanageable spread.
Equally notable is the fact that a threat of pen-down strike violating the Emergency Powers Rules by a section of civil servants, to block the loss of judicial powers of executive magistrates under an ongoing process, just fizzled out. The malcontents stepped back in the face of strong and instantaneous public disapproval coupled with rebuke of the caretaker government.
Many suspect that covert hands and concerted action-plans worked out by guardian angels of the two jailed leaders of mainstream political parties are behind such sporadic challenges to the authority of the caretaker regime. It is also a pity that the "loyalist" wings of the two major parties are continuing to make loud noises to paint the caretaker government as a political adversary to their party interests.
The caretaker government is apolitical. It is only there to complete its assigned tasks of overseeing electoral reforms and incontrovertible preparations for a fully-participated, corruption-free general election. It will hand over power to the elected majority leader of the ninth parliament. Political parties need to ready themselves to compete in the coming polls, without those of their detained leaders who are found corrupt and convicted by courts. Any ruse to act otherwise will only taint them as loyalist gangs of the mafia kind and not political parties in the service of the people. If they are counting on the economic challenges that the nation is likely to face under worsening global market conditions ahead, and hoping for the caretaker regime to crumble, they are miscalculating the public mood. There is no scope of return to the old-styled power game. Any unforeseen state necessity, economic or political, will certainly be met by the state machinery with vigour and determination, and is bound to receive unqualified support from the entire population of the nation-state.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Acid test of unity awaits new BNP leadership
Shamsuddin Ahmed
The dramatic change in BNP leadership has surprised the political circles. The meeting on Monday night of the standing committee, the highest policymaking body of the party, made Saifur Rahman the acting chairman and replaced Khandaker Delwar Hossain with former minister Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed as the acting secretary general. The decision is understandably backed by the administration and obviously has gone in favour of the reformist group in the party.
The new leaders indicated that they were going to convene a meeting of the working committee next week, tentatively on November 5. Former lawmakers and district-level leaders will attend the meeting. Apparently, this is being backed by the administration, will demonstrate their strength and earn recognition of the Election Commission.
Saifur has honestly but indirectly admitted that the meeting of the standing committee at his residence was irregular, not in accordance with the party constitution. It is the prerogative of the chairperson to convene such a meeting. Neither the meeting nor the decision of changes it made had approval from her. In the true sense, it was not a meeting. Six members plus the expelled Mannan Bhuiyan of the 12-member standing committee were brought to the meeting without approval of Khaleda Zia, who is in jail facing trial on corruption charges. R.A. Ghani, Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqi, Shamsul Islam, and Khandkar Mahbubuddin, known as loyal to Khaleda Zia, were escorted to the meeting. When the meeting was over, they left quietly, avoiding the waiting newsmen.
Explaining, the new leadership said the unity in the party before the upcoming elections was more important than the party constitution. Expulsion of secretary general Mannan Bhuiyan and three others by the chairperson just before going to jail triggered division in the party that had won an absolute majority in the 2001 general elections. The division is deepening with rivals spreading venom against each other, rendering bleak the future of the party.
The move to forge unity in the party by changing the leadership in the absence of Khaleda Zia is likely to undergo an acid test. Hafizuddin is expected to be a better organiser than the ageing and ailing Delwar. The meeting of former MPs and district-level leaders projected for the next week will prove the mettle of the reformists.
But initial reaction to the changes in party leadership available from the districts is not encouraging. Reports say most of the district committees are still clinging to the leadership of Khaleda-Delwar.
But Hannan Shah, adviser to chairperson, seemed flexible. He told reporters on Tuesday that if Saifur Rahman was sincere in forging unity in the party, he should talk with both the groups. His siding blindly with one, leaving the other, is likely to widen the division and deepen the crisis in the party.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Quality primary education still a far cry
Abdur Rahman Khan
Bangladesh has been trying relentlessly to uphold the cause of education since its very emergence. To facilitate and formulate a programme for universal primary education and to remove illiteracy from the country, the government in 1992 created a separate division named Primary and Mass Education Division (PMED). The PMED was later elevated to the status of a ministry in 2003.
To fulfil the commitment towards improving primary education, both in terms of quality and quantity, Bangladesh has allocated nearly 15 per cent of the national budget to the education sector, with the major share of that, to the tune of nearly 60 per cent, earmarked for primary and mass education.
However, Bangladesh spends only 2.4 per cent of the gross national product on education, which is the lowest in the region. According to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the rate of school enrolment at primary level is approximately 94 per cent. However, only 76 per cent of the students complete primary schooling. On an average, students take 6.6 years to complete the five-year primary education course.
According to the Bangladesh Educational Statistics, the country has 16.2 million children enrolled in 80,395 primary schools. This is one of the largest primary education systems in the world. Over 65 per cent of the primary schools are under direct government management; the rest are registered as non-governmental schools but get government assistance.
There are private schools. However, the number of students enrolled in private schools is much fewer than that in public schools and these schools largely cater to the social elite. Many secondary schools also have primary sections. With assistance from the UNICEF, the government produces and distributes free books and education kits to the students of primary schools.
According to the UNICEF, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in primary education over the last few years. This has been due to the introduction of compulsory primary education (CPE) in 1992 along with many other innovative educational initiatives.
The UNICEF also maintains that one-third of the children drop out before completing the five-year course of primary education and of those who do graduate from primary schools most do not acquire the nationally-defined basic competencies.
The USAID, a partner of the ongoing Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP), assessed that repetition and dropout rates at primary school-level remain unacceptably high, especially for children coming from poor and minority families.
Md. Badal Miah, an assistant professor at the Teachers' Training College, Mymensingh, observes that the rate of enrolment in primary schools is increasing but the overall quality of education is not satisfactory. The main reasons for the poor quality of primary education are lack of qualified teachers, inadequate number of schools, and lack of classrooms, libraries and playgrounds.
While the government has increased the funds for education, the expenditure per student still remains very low. Teachers are poorly trained and paid. In many cases, they are neither working up to their capabilities nor to standards set by the government. Teaching methods and materials are generally sub-standard, especially in government schools. School buildings are also in poor condition.
Although the most recent government plans envisage introduction of pre-school classes at 80 per cent government schools by 2015, early childhood development has received little attention. Due to severe budget and capacity constraints, it is not currently a government priority.
A non-governmental organisation, Advancing Public Interest Trust (APIT), disclosed last week that the pace of improvement of the standard of primary education remains slow, despite tremendous progress in developing the infrastructure of academic institutions.
The APIT in association with the Commonwealth Education Fund (CEF), Bangladesh conducted a survey on the progress made in primary schooling in the last five years. The study concluded that the development of infrastructure was the biggest achievement of the PEDP.
The PEDP's aim is to provide quality primary education to all eligible children in Bangladesh. The goals are to increase children's access to primary schooling, to ensure participation and completion in accordance with the government's Education for All and other policy commitments, to improve the quality of learning and performance, and to build and facilitate a positive relationship between the government, donors, and consultants.
Under the programme, two classrooms were built in each of 7,392 schools and a toilet in each of 7,168 schools, an arsenic-free tube well was sunk in each of 7,168 schools, a resource centre building was built in each of 219 upazilas and an education extension office building in each of in 283 upazilas, and an education office building was constructed in each of 40 districts, besides carrying out repairs and extension work in eight primary education training institutes.
The APIT suggested removal of disparity in salary between the teachers of government primary schools and those of registered non-government primary schools.
Considering the importance of education for a developing country, the APT also recommended allocating six per cent of the national revenue earnings for primary education, compared to four per cent recommended by the World Bank.
Meanwhile, the government and representatives of donors began a mid-term review meeting on Monday to assess the progress of the PEDP, a donor-driven programme launched in 2003. The review meeting will end by November 12, said PEDP Joint Programme Director Chowdhury Mufad Ahmed.
The programme is scheduled to run until 2009, but the government is asking for extending it by one year as its actual launching was delayed due to late disbursement of fund.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Separation of Judiciary makes Nov 1 a red-letter day
Mohammad A. Sattar
November 1 will be marked as a red-letter day in the country's history. A long journey, of 36 years, has come to an end. The path has been strewn with thorns, but the need, resilience, and determination have overcome the odds. The judiciary has now become independent of the executive.
From now on, the Supreme Court will be the principal authority under which the all the magistrate's courts will function. The change will definitely have a long-lasting impact on the constitutional history of Bangladesh.
The need for separating the judiciary from the executive has long been felt by the quarters concerned and the issue has been debated by many. There has been a long tussle between the judiciary and the successive governments. It took really a long time to reach this day. But suspicion and confusion about the new system are still in the air. People are debating on whether the independent judiciary will prove a success or a failure.
One thing is clear that we shall have to wait a long time to reap the benefits of the separation. It has taken nearly four decades to get the separation and it will take some more time to get the house in order.
The complexity of the judicial system involves a lot of factors. According to sources, some 600 executive magistrates will have to let go of their judicial functions.
The Supreme Court has appointed only 200 judicial magistrates, while about half a million cases are reportedly pending with the magistrate's courts. The huge pile of pending cases will take a long time to be disposed of. This will definitely require some time and immediate recruitment of new judges.
An independent judiciary to the laymen means speedy justice, which should be the essence of the separation. We believe that the quality of work of the judges will be the only measure of success of the newly-independent judiciary.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
WORLD BANK REPORT
Bangladesh well poised to be an MIC in a decade-I
Xian Zhu and Sandeep Mahajan
The recently published World Bank report, Bangladesh: Strategy for Sustained Growth raises an important and consequential question: how can Bangladesh become a middle-income country (MIC) in the shortest amount of time? The answer to that, of course, lies in how fast the country manages to grow. For example, if GDP growth picks up to a sustained rate of 7.5 per cent - something only a select few countries have achieved in recent history - Bangladesh can become an MIC by 2016. If average growth falls to the 3 per cent rate seen in the 1980s, the MIC aspiration will have to wait for another five decades!
This report argues that Bangladesh is well poised to become an MIC within a decade or so. Thanks to a combination of sound economic policies and the tremendous grassroots energy for which Bangladesh is globally renowned, GDP growth has averaged over 5 per cent since 1990. The average income in the country today is more that 75 per cent higher than in 1990. Remarkably, despite its vulnerability to natural calamities, Bangladesh has not allowed its per-capita income to fall in a single year since 1990, even in years in which there were severe floods. There are few countries in the world - developed or developing - that can match this record.
At the same time, a rapid transition to MIC status would demand an even deeper level of political commitment. With many of the first-generation reforms soundly in place, a new set of challenges is likely to emerge, requiring far more complex policy innovations. Any of the emerging structural issues - critically weak governance, urban congestion and mismanagement, overburdened port, power, and transportation facilities, and acute skills shortages - can easily become a binding constraint to growth. Slippages in macroeconomic discipline or inability to judiciously harness the vast potential from globalisation can derail this transition by several years. Neither would continued lacklustre performance of agriculture be conducive to the MIC aspirations.
It is a fair question to ask why we care so much about growth. Shouldn't the focus be on tackling poverty instead? The answer is straightforward. We care about growth because across the world it has proven to be the most effective instrument in the fight against poverty. Benefiting from strong growth, China and other dynamic East Asian economies have successfully lifted millions of their citizens from the clutches of poverty. At the same time, the fate of the poor in many Sub-Saharan countries has worsened in recent decades simply because of their very weak growth records. Let's just consider Bangladesh, where the most success in lowering the poverty rate came during periods of strong growth. Most notably, the poverty rate fell by a remarkable 9 percentage points over 2000-2005, a period over which GDP grew at just under 6 per cent a year.
An important channel through which growth impacts poverty is employment creation. And for that, solid growth of labour-intensive manufacturing activity is particularly important. This sector is the most likely source of employment generation at a scale that can absorb a large number of unskilled workers, many of whom would come from poor backgrounds and rural areas. It is instructive to consider the remarkable impact of the rapidly growing garment sector in Bangladesh. Starting from an insignificant employment base, the sector today employs close to 2 million workers, mostly women from under-privileged backgrounds. The money these garment employees send back to their villages further lifts several others from abject conditions. Imagine for a moment if there were several other such dynamic sectors in the Bangladeshi economy!
How to ensure rapid growth of manufacturing? It is clear from the example of the garment sector, as well as from many of the successful East Asian countries, that deepening the integration with global goods and capital markets will be essential. Many have argued that Bangladesh should first respond to the demand of its own domestic market, before thinking about opening up and relying on exports. The benefits of having a large domestic market are clear, but that should not detract from the tremendous opportunities that access to global markets offers. What if the garments sector had only relied on the domestic market? Moreover, the transfer of technology and managerial skills that accompany foreign direct investment (FDI) are vital to efficiency improvements and to being competitive in global markets. Again, the example of the garments sector is instructive.
Finally, even if we accept the importance of export-led manufacturing growth, can we reconcile that with the state of urban management in Bangladesh? After all, such activities mostly thrive in urban environments which offer them important agglomeration benefits. In Bangladesh, Dhaka has been the engine of growth. But the growing congestion pressures in Dhaka and overstretched state of its service provision clearly indicate the current urbanisation model will not support the kind of strong employment-generating growth Bangladesh seeks.
Dhaka, surely, will have the major role for future growth, and, for that, far-reaching improvements in its management and infrastructure are essential. However, in a country of Bangladesh's size, it alone cannot carry the burden. Creation of dynamic and diverse urban centres is essential.
To summarise, successful management of three transitions would be key to achievement of Bangladesh's MIC aspirations. (1) A shift in the economic structure from agriculture to labour-intensive manufacturing. (2) Deepening of integration with global markets wherein internationally competitive Bangladeshi firms would be plugged into global supply chains. (3) Unleashing the growth potential of the major urban centres, especially Dhaka.
Reform measures essential to these objectives include continuing macroeconomic stability; deepening financial sector and external trade reforms; and rebalancing the policy focus toward hitherto neglected structural areas - economic governance, urban management, infrastructure (especially power sector, ports, and transportation), and labour skills. (The next of this two-part article will discuss these challenges in details.)
The World Bank's report does not offer any silver bullets for sustained high growth. It only presents a framework underpinned by solid analysis that can potentially help the country set its longer-term development vision. For the World Bank, success of the report will be measured by its contribution to a stimulating national debate and, eventually, some sort of consensus on the set of priority reforms needed to ensure Bangladesh's place amongst MICs in 10 years. If a broad consensus is reached, authorities and the people of Bangladesh would need to be mindful that some of the associated reforms will not be painless. Complexities and short-term costs notwithstanding, it would be useful to keep in mind that the longer-term goal itself is worth striving for.
* Xian Zhu is the World Bank Country Director in Dhaka; Mahajan, lead author of the report and senior economist, World Bank.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
UN body asks India to submit full report on Gujarat riots
Ripan Kumar Biswas in New York
The gruesome killings of the Gujarat tragedy evoke a dreadful sensation in our minds.
Expressing its disappointment over the limited information provided by India on the impact of Gujarat riots in 2002 on women and minorities, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (UNCEDAW) has asked the Indian Government to resubmit by January 2008 a detailed report on the impact of Gujarat massacres on about 2,000 casualties relating to the slaughters and number of sexual assaults and violence against women.
Gruesome tragedy
That was an ordinary morning just after one month of the 51st Republic Day of India and last winter in the year and everyone was about to set for their daily routines, but the country was waiting to be marked with February 27, 2002 gruesome tragedy and its horrified aftermath when a fire was raging through coach to coach of the Sabarmati Express train near Godhra station, the western city of Ahmedabad, which left 59 casualties among whom some Karsevaks (Hindu pilgrims) and some ordinary passengers had been burnt to death.
Everyone was shocked and speechless at the incident, but nobody envisaged that the incident at Godhra was to become one of the most corrosive ruptures in India's recent history.
The 2002 riots in Gujarat broke out after a Muslim mob were accused of torching the train. Afterwards at least 2,000 Muslims were killed and many more were wounded.
Three days
The rights groups at the time accused the Hindu fundamentalist-ruled state government of backing the carnage. According to newspaper reports, TV footages and investigations, Gujarat's hawkish chief minister Narendra Modi, a member of India's main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), gave Hindu mob leaders three days to do whatever they wanted.
But according to an inquiry by the state-run Railway authority the fire on the train -- which sparked the riots -- was an accident. The state police and politicians were also involved in fuelling the heinous act.
What people needed then were justice, unalloyed truth and a healing touch from their government.
State-sponsored
After more than four and a half years when people learnt about the bitter truth of the state-sponsored brutality through satellite TV channels Aaj Tak (Until Today) and Headlines Today, based on the secretly recorded by a reporter of the investigative news magazine Tehelka (sensation) with several men allegedly involved in the anti-Muslim attacks admitting that they were spurred on by Hindu groups allied with the Government, the high officials of the state blocked the broadcast.
Without going into the facts and the cause of the incident as the highest executive of the state, Chief Minister Narendra Modi issued a press release within less than 12 hours of the incident declaring war by saying, "This is not a mere communal event but a one-sided collective terrorist attack by one community."
As a result, thousands of people were killed, hacked, shot, burnt, raped, their houses were set ablaze, and dozens of mosques were desecrated.
Among the many promises made by the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government during their 2004 polls campaign was the enactment of meaningful legislation to prevent the occurrence of "communal riots," effectively deal with them when they do occur, punish those involved, and provide for the compensation and rehabilitation of victims after the riots.
Preplanned conspiracy
For the past two years, several drafts of the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill (2005) have been released, but not a single one adequately fulfills any of the purported aims of the Act.
Lack of interest to impose those acts against the riots may be influencing the hawkish minister like Narendra Modi and his government, who have been claiming that the incident in Godhra was not a spontaneous outburst of mob fury that got out of hand, but a conspiracy preplanned by significant religious and political Muslim leaders -- whereas for five years, the people, the courts, the press, and even the survivors have been upholding the truths that they are the killers.
The Tehelka claimed -- not only the key wings of the administration, but also the police, administration and legislature were in loop in giving a free hand to the rioters but also a section of the Judiciary was also compromised.
According to the Gujarat government's state counsel Arvind Pandya, who appeared in the Nanavati-Shah Commission, revealed how the cases against the rioters were managed. Pandya further informed that even the Nanavati-Shah Commission has been compromised too and KG Shah, who heads the commission along with Nanavati, is sympathetic to the BJP.
Gujarat is one of the most prosperous states of the country, having a per-capita GDP 3.2 times India's average. It holds many records in India for economic development like 20 per cent of India s industrial output, 9 per cent mineral production, 22 per cent exports, 24 per cent textile production, 35 per cent pharmaceutical products, and 51 per cent of India's petrochemical production.
The persons or whoever responsible for such crimes like riots or genocides should be dealt with until justice is done not only for the sake of the victims but also to protect the Constitution that guarantees due process of law.
In a joint statement as many as 17 Indian-American organisations and 21 eminent members of the NRI (Non-Resident Indians) community in the United States urged the UPA Government to impose Presidents' rule in Gujarat, arrest "all criminals" who confessed their crime and transfer all legal cases pertaining to the 2002 Gujarat riots to a court outside Gujarat."
Live and let live is the rule of common justice; justice demands the victims' honourable settlement and rehabilitation. The Gujarat episode has caused acute restlessness and commotion in the entire world as it involves human tragedy and merits all possible help to be extended to the bereaved. It is a tragedy against humanity to be faced jointly.
The writer is a freelance writer based in New York.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
UNODC'S DELHI CONFERENCE TOLD
25,000 Bangladeshi women, kids trafficked to India annually
Nava Thakuria in New Delhi
Over 25,000 young women and children are trafficked from Bangladesh to India annually. Nearly 1,50,000 people -- mostly women and children -- are trafficked within South Asia every year with false promises, inducement or lure of a good job, a good marriage or acting opportunity in the entertainment industry. This was disclosed by Gary Lewis, Representative of UNODC in South Asia, at the Delhi conference last month. The number of trafficked people from Nepal is about 15,000, who are brought illegally for the primary purpose of prostitution and slavery, Lewis added.
Organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the Government of India, South Asia regional conference was held in the second week of October in New Delhi.
The regional conference of UNODC highlighted the human trafficking as a multi-faceted problem, usually associated with poverty, joblessness and illiteracy.
The three-day conference, organised under the global initiative to fight trafficking began on October 9 and it brought together nearly 700 delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka and India, those included representatives of government, civil societies, private sectors, film industries, media and partnering UN agencies.
One of the biggest crimes in society, human trafficking is a billion dollar global illicit trade and a multi-faceted problem that affects a hundred thousand people annually. These were a few essential points that came out for extensive discussion during the Delhi meet.
The United Nations describes trafficking in persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of a threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud for the purpose of exploitation. Trafficking is primarily done for sexual exploitation, but many times trafficked victims are used for forced labour, organ removal and marriage or adoption.
According to the UN, human trafficking that involves the illicit and clandestine movements of persons across national borders is a booming illegal international trade (after arms and drugs trafficking), making an estimated USD 32 billion annually at the expense of millions of victims, who are victims of sexual exploitation and forced labour.
It is also estimated that nearly 1,50,000 people -- mostly young women and children -- are trafficked within South Asia annually with false promises of a good job, a good marriage, or acting opportunity in the entertainment industries.
"Human trafficking is world's third largest profit-making illicit industry and the South Asia has emerged as the home to the second largest numbers of internationally trafficked persons (after Southeast Asia)," informed Gary Lewis, Representative (South Asia) of UNODC. South Asia is otherwise home to one-fifth of the world's population and nearly 500 million people of the underdeveloped region live in poverty (surviving with less than a dollar a day).
Poverty is primary cause
also, "Poverty is the primary cause of trafficking in the region." Revealing that India had emerged as the favoured destinations in South Asia, This was admitted by Gary Lewis, Representative of UNODC in South Asia informed that Porous borders with economically poorer Bangladesh and Nepal aggravate the problem of cross-border trafficking. Bangladesh remained a source country for women and children for a quite a long time, traffickers target their preys in the poverty-stricken rural areas.
On the other hand, Nepal is identified as a source country in the region. Fair looking Nepali young women are the primary victims of the trafficking, though new trend emerges with attraction for boys too. Unconfirmed statistics reveal that in average 12,000 Nepali women with minors are trafficked every year for sexual exploitation in outer countries. Most of the trafficked women from Nepal were later found infected with HIV/AIDS and also tuberculosis.
Transit country
India with over a billion population also remained a state of origin and transit country for trafficking in persons. It is estimated that that 90 per cent of India's sex trafficking is internal, where States like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and the Northeast contribute their shares. But often, women and children, trafficked from neighbouring countries, are sent to the Middle East, Gulf countries and even to the Europe. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have also lately joined in the circuit.
"Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, is a heinous crime that violates all tenets of human rights and dignity," said Renuka Chowdhury, the Union Women and Child Development minister. Ms Chowdhury informed that there were nearly three million sex workers in India and 40 per cent of them are children. Statistics reveal that children below the age of 10 years are also found in the brothel of Indian cities like Mumbai and Delhi nowadays.
"Many believe that having sex with young and virgin girls would cure them of diseases. It is nonsense," the minister uttered. She emphasised on reducing the demand for prostitutes, engagement of children in workplaces, use of forced labour and empowering all collaborative efforts of governments, NGOs and other institutions to deal with the situation.
Ms Chowdhury also informed that New Delhi was formulating a joint action plan with Bangladesh and Nepal to combat the growing tendency of human trafficking in the region. "We are working for a joint effort (with Dhaka and Kathmandu) to formulate policies ensuring quick and safe return of the cross-border trafficked victims," added the minister.
The conference concluded with adoption a Delhi Declaration at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi that highlighted the seriousness and magnitude of the crime with a series of focus areas to deal with the issue effectively. The 19-point declaration, which was read out in presence of many high profile Indian ministers, Afghan deputy Labour minister Wasil Noor (Muhmand) with other dignitaries, resolved to "call upon all concerned including police, prosecutors and judiciary to undertake concerted action in law enforcement so that offenders are punished quickly, certainly and severely in a time bound manner".
The declaration also urged upon identifying 'inter-state and intra-state source, transit and destination routes for forced labour' as a focus area and emphasized on promoting safe migration.
One important point of the declaration includes building a coalition of media partners and popular personalities to advocate for the prevention of trafficking. Mentionable that a good number of media persons and many Bollywood personalities attended the conference and interacted with the audience that ended in stimulating debates.
The declaration also urged upon the States to ratify the UN Transnational Organized Crime Convention and its supplementary protocols to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. The role of youths is recognized as change agents in the declaration with an aim to promote education of the girl child that would finally empower the women 'to their full participation in economic life and decision making'.
Delhi Declaration announced to call upon all concerned including police, prosecutors and the judiciary to undertake concerted action in law enforcement so that offenders are punished quickly, certainly and severely and in a time bound manner; to make all efforts towards evolving a synergistic approach in dealing with trafficking issues; to work towards systemic training and capacity building of all stakeholders; to strengthen the legal processes wherever required including the protection of the victims; to protect all children from sexual exploitation and take all stringent measures against sex selection and violence against the girl child; to reduce demand for prostitution, use of child labour, forced labour and to strengthen the collaborative efforts of NGOs, local governments, and other institutions to prevent all forms of trafficking for this purpose.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT
Fidel Castro
K. Z. Islam
Fidel Castro (1926) came to power on the tiny island nation of Cuba on New Year's day 1959. In his role as a national leader he has outlasted ten Presidents of the United States and all the rulers of the rest of the world. Apart from Queen Elizabeth-II no head of state has held this office longer.
To Castro, his survival was no accident, no surprise. From early in his youth he always believed that a person of faith and determination could move mountains. With the right ideas - high ideals that the person in-charge genuinely believed in - the people would continue to follow. But the leader, he said, must also be genuinely determined to succeed and must never give in.
After officially becoming Prime Minister, Castro visited United States. He assured Vice President Nixon that he would not interfere with the American Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, nor with the large property holding of the Americans. According to Castro, he was firmly committed to the Western world in its struggle against international communism. With each succeeding month, however, it became clear that Cuba's new relationship with the US would not be friendly. Castro expropriated American properties and began to distribute land held by large US companies to landless peasants. To protect himself, Castro increasingly turned for support to Communists within Cuba and to such communist nations as China and the Soviet Union.
Seeing what was happening in Cuba, the United States struck back, angrily cutting off diplomatic relations. Then took place in 1961 the Bay of Pigs incident when Vice President Richard Nixon armed the Cuban exiles to attack Cuba. This attack was completely routed and those not killed were ransomed by the US for US$ 53 million.
In 1962 Russian premier Khrushchev decided to place Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba posing a direct threat to the US. This was taken very seriously by President Kennedy who announced a naval an air blockade of Cuba. For six days the possibility of nuclear war became a real threat. American troops gathered in Florida, poised for an invasion. American ships established a defensive line in the sea. Finally, Khrushchev backed down, he agreed to remove missiles already in Cuba, while Kennedy agreed to end the blockade.
Fidel Castro was furious. During all the heated negotiations between the two superpower leaders, he never once had been consulted by either of them. He felt insulted. According to Che Guevara, who was with him when he heard the news of Khrushchev's decision to pull back, Fidel began kicking a wall in anger. He cursed, speaking of the Russian leader in the foulest of gutter language. Finally, in disgust he broke a mirror.
In the long run, however, the missile crisis of 1962 worked to Castro's advantage. As part of the agreement with the Soviet, President Kennedy agreed to recognise Cuba.
In the years that followed, Fidel Castro worked to transform his nation. Rejecting a luxurious life-style for himself made certain that the majority of his people would live better lives. Cuba's health care system became one of the best in the world. There was all round development and of all the communist countries Cuba seemed to have prospered most.
In a sense, then Castro is similar to President Charles de Gaulle who could rightly say, "I am France," since Fidel quite rightly could say "I am Cuba".
P.S. In 2005, American business and financial magazine Forbes listed Castro among the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $550 million. The estimates, which the magazine admitted was "more art than science", claimed that the Cuban leader's personal wealth was nearly double that of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, despite anecdotal evidence from diplomats and businessmen that the Cuban leader's personal life was notable for its austerity. This assessment was drawn by making economic estimates of the net worth of Cuba's state-owned companies, and used the assumption that Castro had personal economic control. Forbes magazine later increased the estimates to $900 million, adding rumours of large cash stashes in Switzerland. The magazine offered no proof of this information, and according to CBS news, Castro's entry on the rich list was notably brief compared to the amount of information provided on other figures.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
|
