Bangladesh can become an export powerhouse at the level of its East Asian neighbours by improving its business competitiveness and trade regime which will help firms compete globally, according to the World Bank report – ‘South Asia’s Turn: Policies to Boost Competitiveness and Create the Next Export Powerhouse’.
The report, launched jointly with the Policy Research Institute in Dhaka (Bangladesh), pointed out that South Asia will be home to more than a quarter of the world’s working adults by 2030 and should take advantage of the favourable demographics, increasing education levels and growing cities.
The report also identified four policy levers that can help Bangladesh enable its firms to boost productivity and become more globally competitive, that is, improving the business environment, connecting firms to global value chain, maximizing agglomeration benefits, and strengthening firm capabilities.
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“To realize Bangladesh’s competitiveness potential, the country needs to start by focusing on improving its trade policy regime and the business environment, and address the acute shortage of industrial land. With the right set of policies and enabling environment, there is no reason why Bangladesh cannot become the next Asian export powerhouse,” said Qimiao Fan, Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, World Bank.
It may be mentioned here that with rising labour costs in East Asian countries, investors and buyers are now turning to South Asia, including Bangladesh.
