Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed came down heavily Thursday on the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) for projecting the country's negative image.
"They (TIB and CPD) never highlight anything positive about the country; rather they project negative things," Mr Tofail told newsmen after a meeting with the visiting Permanent State Secretary of Labour and Social Affairs Ministry of Germany Jorg Asmussen at his secretariat office on the day.
"Those NGOs are run by foreign funds. Did any of them (NGOs) tell something good about Bangladesh till date? They (NGOs) are doing their work … and we (government) are doing ours," he said.
The minister's comments came following the TIB report revealed Wednesday that corruption is perceived on a rise in Bangladesh. The TIB Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2014 showed that the country slipped two steps back from last year's ranking.
The findings of the TIB said Bangladesh has scored 25 points on a scale of 0-100 and ranked 145th from the top and 14th most corrupt country from the bottom on a list of 175 countries surveyed.
Guinea, Kenya, Laos and Papua New Guinea remained at par with Bangladesh, each scoring 25. Last year, Bangladesh's position was 136th from the top and 16th from below with 27 points.
The commerce minister said the growth and export of the country have increased gradually since the independence. But those NGOs have never highlighted our positive achievements.
"Once upon a time Bangladesh became champion in corruption; but that does not happen now. No country in the world is free from corruption," Mr Ahmed said.
The CPD at the launching ceremony of the UNCTAD report said in the capital on November 27 that despite progress in various socio-economic indicators, Bangladesh still needs about 10 more years to get the status of a developing country.
He criticised them (NGOs) for not highlighting the country's growth and export. He said the country's export and growth have increased.
"Did not our growth and export increase? Of course these increased. But they (NGOs) didn't tell that," he said.
He said he had a fruitful meeting with the German State Secretary of Labour and Social Affairs Ministry since they expressed their willingness to increase bilateral trade and investment.
Jorg Asmussen said his country will continue cooperation with Bangladesh. He expressed satisfaction over the progress in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector.
He said when we (the government) say that Bangladesh will become a middle-income nation by 2021, then the TIB and CPD say it might not be possible. What does it mean? It means it is contradictory with the Prime Minister, with the Finance Minister and with the other ministries including the Ministry of Commerce".
"You people (NGOs) could say this. You have achieved degrees from Russia. But the country is moving forward," he said expressing his optimism that the country could become a middle-income one within the next seven years.
"The wealth of civil society members, newspaper owners and editors did not increase - it has only increased in the case of politicians. Thos who used to give us (government) advice… don't pay income tax accordingly," he said refuting allegation that only politicians could amass wealth.
He said there was a provision in 1996 about tax for importing newsprint for newspaper industry. But during the caretaker government it was abolished.
He said many newspapers import tax-free newsprint beyond their requirement and sell it to Naya Bazar though they only print five thousand copies by showing fifty thousand copies as their circulation.
talhabinhabib@yahoomail.com
