50 years of Independece

“Creating more and better jobs for its youth remains a critical priority for Bangladesh to turn around and
achieve its development vision.” - World Bank review.
"We are pledge-bound to enlighten all with education and ensure food, housing, clothes and healthcare for
them." - Prime minister Sheikh Hasina
Bangladesh, after 50 years of independence, continues to flourish and has become a powerhouse in south
Asia. But, in 1971, it was a country toppled by tyranny, independence war, and carrying the bloodshed of
over 3 million martyrs. Adversely, a bottomless basket now has become the center of foreign investment ;
due to it geopolitical significance, it has become the hub of south-Asian politics and recently has received
the recognition as a developing country. However, the saga has a long story to be discussed.
United Nations introduced the idea of LDCs in 1971, aiming at providing them with strong accessibility
to financial support to nurture better living standard, nutrition, reduce mortality rate and other key factors
that keep a country distressed and vulnerable to hardships. Bangladesh was included in this list in 1975,
immediately after the liberation war. Since the inclusion, Bangladesh has shown robust growth in its
economy and acquiring the most the goals of MDGs, paving the way of being middle-income country.
There are some criteria that actually recognize a country as a middle-income country. They include:
Per capita gross national income ≥1230
Human development index ≥66
Economic vulnerability index ≤32
In 1971, Bangladesh was fighting against many factors including fragile economy, high birth rate (6.93 in
1972), excessive illiteracy rate (only 26.8% of people were literate in 1974) and so on. A bottomless
basket has now been the center of investment and the 41th largest economy.
With an estimated per capita income of $2064(Economic review, 2020), Bangladesh has successfully
acquired the criteria to be a middle-income country. Moreover, this shift is also noticed at its literacy rate
( 74.4%, economic review, 2020) and life expectancy ( 72.6 year, economic review,, 2020).
It has been possible, due to proper diversification of its economy, marking a shift from agro based
economy to industry and service-based economy provided that a staggering 40% labor force still relies on
agriculture sector. A steady increase in service and industry sector’s contribution has marked a significant
growth in its economy, a factor that has resulted in an average growth of 7% for previous decade. The
following graph presents the shift very transparently. The widening gap says that contribution of
agriculture sector has been declining
consecutively which is also apparent in its shift in
labor force (over 75% in 1974 and 40% in 2020).
This shift in labor force – due to change in
education facilities - has shaped the growth of
service and industry sectors.