Bangladesh’s economic growth

Going around diplomatic circles celebrations, dinners, meetings is a privilege. We get a glimpse of another culture, enjoy a gastronomic adventure, and more importantly, exchange ideas with diplomats – those newly-assigned to the Philippines and those who are just about to leave their posts.  It is almost always occasions filled with warmth, banter, and endless stories.

But it’s also a curse of sorts. I sometimes can’t help but feel green with envy when I hear the success stories of other nations, some younger than us, working their way through the world with clear direction, passion, and a strong sense of nationalism – virtues we sometimes don’t feel in our very own land.

Monday night, for instance, I listened to Bangladesh Ambassador to the Philippines F. M. Borhan Uddin, who is just warming up in his post after being appointed to his new assignment last year.

The occasion was to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Independence of Bangladesh and the 50 years of friendship between Bangladesh and the Philippines.

A success story

Trumpeting his country’s gains, Amb. Uddin highlighted his country’s triumph in 1971 when it gained its independence.

“We liberated our country in 1971 at the cost of three million lives and 200,000 sisters and mothers’ self-sacrifices. On this great day, I recall with profound respect to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman whose unprecedented charismatic leadership and life-long struggle paved the way for achieving our long-cherished independence. I take this opportunity to mention that we celebrated the birth centenary of our Father of the Nation at home and abroad in 2020. I also pay homage to the memories of the martyrs of the liberation war and recall with gratitude the contributions made by our valiant freedom fighters. I am honored to recall the contributions of our foreign friends and countries for their support during our liberation war,” Amb. Uddin said.

He was referring to the revolution sparked by the rise of the Bangali nationalist movement in erstwhile Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh.

Since its independence, Bangladesh, still a young nation, has achieved quite a feat.

“We have attained notable advancement in ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, ship-building, Information Technology, glass-fiber industries, processed food, banking and finance etc.,” Amb. Uddin said.

Bangladesh, population 165 million, is now the 43rd largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Ours is the world’s 32nd largest economy.

“Global Economic Views highlighted Bangladesh as a profitable investment destination for the next five, 10, 20, and 40 years,” Amb. Uddin said.

“While saying these, let me share with you some comparative figures of development indicators in the last 50 years. Our GDP increased to $320 billion from $8 billion, per capita income increased to $2,591 from $90, exports increased to $44 billion from $0.36 billion and Imports increased to $70 from $0.86, foreign remittance increased to $24 billion from nil, electricity production capacity increased to 25,000 megawatts from 750 megawatts, foreign currency reserves increased to $44 billion from nil, life expectancy increased to 73 years from 47 years, and agricultural production increased to five  tons/hectare from one ton/hectare in the last 50 years,” he said.

Its infrastructure projects are quite impressive, too – railways, deep sea ports, thermal power plants, LNG terminals, and bridges.

Did you also know that Bangladesh drug maker Beximco Pharmaceuticals became the first company to launch a generic version of Pfizer’s COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid?

Isn’t all these quite impressive? Salute to Bangladesh for its remarkable success.

Listening to him talk about his country’s independence and progress, I found myself wondering why our own struggle toward nation-building and self determination remains as it is – still quite a struggle.

While we have achieved a lot through the decades, we also know that given our resources and our people, we could have achieved so much more. We could achieve so much more – from creating higher value industries instead of importing from abroad everything we use here at home, resulting in a widening trade gap – $43.13 billion last year from $24.60 billion, as exports grew 14.5 percent and imports jumped 31.3 percent – to pouring in more money for research and development, education, and social services.

We could expand and upgrade local industries and upgrade the standards of living of our people.

The paradox of freedom

More importantly, we need to continue fighting for our hard won freedoms because the paradox of freedom in the Philippines is still quite prevalent.

We feel so free, but only if we compare ourselves to countries led by tyrants and dictators. We may be free from tyrants, but not from tyrannical ways. Tyranny, after all, comes in many forms – such as laws that are weaponized against those who speak out against the ills of society; regulations that favor a powerful few, and policies that do not favor the marginalized.

But hope springs eternal, as the cliche goes, and so we must continue to work on our country’s progress, step by step, bit by bit, so that someday, hopefully soon, we will finally have our moment in the sun.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com