BIDS 97th among 7,000 think tanks

State-owned Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) was placed at the 97th position among nearly 7,000 global think tanks in 2014.
The University of Pennsylvania, the lone internationally recognised organisation in rating global think tanks, made the ranking.
The latest rankings by the university were published on Thursday in 62 cities of the 51 countries across the world simultaneously.
The report was styled 'The 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index.'
BIDS sources said as many as 35 local think tanks participated in the race but only the BIDS was placed among the top 100 organisations.
The University of Pennsylvania makes a list of 100 top organisations each year.
The BIDS organised a press briefing in this connection in the city Thursday.
Member of the General Economics Division Professor Dr Shamsul Alam and former BIDS director general Shahabuddin Ahmed were present during the briefing.
BIDS director general Dr Mustafa K Mujeri said this is an international recognition and it might offer the Institute many opportunities in the field of research with institutions in the developed countries.
"We've achieved this landmark despite fund crunch and other limitations," Dr Mujeri said.
He said many internationally reputed think tanks might build partnership with us as the BIDS is one of the recognised organisations.
The Brookings Institution of the United States of America clinched the top position in think tank worldwide category.
The BIDS was placed 24th in the top international development think tanks category.
However, the BIDS was notched down by two ranks to the 17th in Southeast Asia and the Pacific region in 2014.
Earlier, the BIDS was placed 15th in 2013. It had retained the same ranking in 2012 as well.
When asked about the downgrade in the Southeast and the Pacific region, the BIDS director general said this is a relative matter.
"Probably, some organisations did well in 2014, and the BIDS had remained the same. For this, some ones advanced in the year under review," Mr Mustafa K Mujeri said.
Bangladesh was placed the 33rd in the best government affiliated think-tank category. The Development Research Group of the USA made the top rank in the category.
The then Pakistan government set up the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) in Dhaka in 1957. Its headquarters was in Karachi.
Later in 1970, the headquarters of the PIDE was transferred to Dhaka.
The government of Bangladesh passed a law in 1974 and renamed it as BIDS from the Bangladesh Institute of Development Economics (BIDE).
The BIDS conducts 20 researches each year on an average with huge samples on different economic and development issues.
Currently, the BIDS has 40 researchers.
jasimharoon@yahoo.com