Dhaka February 24 2025:
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organized a two-day long (24 – 25 February 2025), conference titled ‘Recommendations by the Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy’ at a city hotel on Monday.
The Task Force’s recommended for restructuring Bangladesh’s economy to promote equitable and sustainable development.
Experts during the inaugural session emphasized on a comprehensive re-evaluation of Bangladesh’s economic strategies to address current challenges.
They have also suggested for finding out new homes for export goods, build up sustainable clean energy sources, open smooth processing of export handling, facilities of industrial financing, policy changes for sustainable development of business environment in the country.
Besides, political stability of the country was on main focus among the discussants suggested strategies for resource mobilization and highlighted on increasing domestic revenue and attracting foreign investment for future sustainable economic growth of the country.
Moreover, discussants were focused on achieving equitable and sustainable development, emphasizing inclusive growth and social equity with specific recommendations by the Task Force targeting various economic aspects.
The event underscored the importance of securing funding for initiatives aimed at long-term economic stability of Bangladesh to generate shared insights which can help design an action plan by the government for rigorous decision making in favor of the country.
In the inauguration session, chief guest was Sk. Bashir Uddin, Adviser Ministry of Commerce, special guest Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Chairman, Sarina Group, Professor Rehman Sobhan, Chairman Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Guests of Honour, Md. Abdur Rahman Khan FCMA Chairman National Board of Revenue (NBR), Distinguished Discussants were Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, CPD, Zaved Akhtar, President, The Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Amrita Islam, Deputy Managing Director, Picard Bangladesh Ltd., Abdullah Hil Rakib, Managing Director, TEAM Group and the session was chaired by Dr K A S Murshid Chairman, Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy.
Keynote presentations were made by Dr Selim Raihan, Member Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy and Dr Mohammad A Razzaque, Member Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy while Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, CPD inaugurated the session.
Trade Advisor Sheikh Bashiruddin said that the entire economy of the country has been corrupted in the past. Unnecessary projects and money laundering have caused great damage to the country’s economy.
The advisor said these things in his speech as the chief guest at the first session of the two-day conference on ‘Recommendations of the Task Force on Economic Restructuring’ organized by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at the BRAC Center in the capital today.
Sheikh Bashiruddin said that corruption has been committed in the construction of various infrastructures, including the banking sector. To strengthen the economy, the current government will have to diversify export products and increase the skills of workers. He also said that most of the raw materials in the country come from abroad. Initiatives should be taken to increase exports by increasing productivity, reducing production costs of products and increasing efficiency.
The session two was titled ‘Inclusive Economic Development through Digital Transformation and MSME Growth’. In this session special guests were Maj Gen Md Emdad Ul Bari, OSP, ndc, psc, te (retd), Chairman
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), guest of honour was Anwar Hossain Chowdhury, Managing Director, SME Foundation. Distinguished Discussants were Mahtab Uddin Ahmed FCMA, President, Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB), Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb
Policy Adviser (ICT Coordination & Reform), Information & Communication Technology Division, GoB, Nawshad Mustafa, Director, SME & Special Programmes Department, Bangladesh Bank, Sadia Haque, CEO, Share trip, Gayel H. Martin (TBC), Interim Country Director, World Bank Group while the session was chaired by Kamal Quadir, CEO, bKash Limited and Keynote Presentations were made by A K M Fahim Mashroor, Member, Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy, and Dr Monzur Hossain, Member, Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy.
Session three was titled ‘Building Sustainable Futures: Connectivity and Energy’ where chief guest was Dr M Fouzul Kabir Khan, Advisor, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources and Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, Interim GoB, guests of honour, Jalal Ahmed, Chairman, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, GoB. Distinguished discussants were Dr Nurun Nahar Chowdhury, ndc, Additional Secretary (Development), Energy & Mineral Resources Division, GoB, Neelima Akhter, Executive Director (Additional Secretary), Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, Ministry of Road Transport & Bridges, Professor Dr Ijaz Hossain, Formerly with the Department of Chemical Engineering, BUET, ICHIGUCHI Tomohide, chief representative, JICA Bangladesh Office, Na Won Kim, country operations head, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Bangladesh Resident Mission, Moshahida Sultana, associate professor, Department of Accounting & Information Systems, Faculty of Business Studies,University of Dhaka and the session was chaired by Dr M Tamim, Vice Chancellor, Independent University of Bangladesh.
Keynote Presentations were made by Dr Md. Shamsul Hoque, member, Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy and Dr Fahmida Khatun, member, Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy.
Session four was titled ‘Addressing the Challenges of Climate Change and Investing in Health’ where special guest was Professor Dr. Md. Sayedur Rahman, Special Assistant, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoB, guest of honour was Dr Md. Kamruzzaman, ndc, Director General, Department of Environment.
Distinguished Discussants of the session were Professor AK Azad Khan, Chief, Health Sector Reform Commission, Dr Ahmed Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury, Convenor, Bangladesh Health Watch, Dr. Mahbub E Elahi Khan Chowdhury, Scientist, HSPSD Special Activities, Health Systems and Population Studies Division, icddr,b, Dr Md Liakath Ali, Director. Climate Change Programme, BRAC, Shafqat Munir, Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) while keynote presentations were made by Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, CPD, Member, Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy, and Dr Rumana Huque, Member, Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy and the session was moderated by Dr Md. Kawser Ahmed, Member, Task Force on Re-Strategising the Economy.
To promote equality, prosperity, and good governance, a Task Force on Re-strategising the Economy and Mobilizing Resources for Equitable and Sustainable Development was formed, bringing together experts from different sectors. The Task Force was tasked with identifying immediate, short-term, and long-term actionable measures.
The conference was attended by high level policy makers, political leaders, government officials, academics, development practitioners, civil society members, development partners, and journalists to contribute to the deliberation at various sessions.
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