Challenges offsetting opportunities
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Maswood Alam Khan
THERE is a penchant among us for hearing only the praises or criticisms from a foreigner, especially from an individual working in an international organisation whose words are usually well publicised in our news media. We historically enjoy seeing and hearing ourselves through a foreigner's eyes and lips.
I couldn't resist the temptation to attend a luncheon meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh, fondly pronounced AmCham, as the inviter strongly insisted that I at least listen to the precious words of Ellen Goldstein, the country director of World Bank in Bangladesh, who as a guest of honour would deliver a speech on a topic titled "Bangladesh Economy: Opportunities and Challenges". I am not sure whether I would have attended such a conference or whether the inviter would have spoken so eloquently on the topic or on the special guest had an economist of Bangladesh origin with a vast knowledge in both local and global economic issues been invited to grace the meet as a guest of honour.
Undoubtedly the speech delivered last Tuesday (May 25) by Goldstein was an eye-opener to weigh up the challenges the country has now been facing and the opportunities we are for sure going to be missing. In her speech Goldstein, who joined the World Bank in 1988, worked as a young economist in the World Bank Dhaka office in the 1990s and was appointed as World Bank Country Director in Bangladesh at the fag end of 2009, narrated the story of Bangladesh, its governance, the corruption in its public offices, the strong entrepreneurial capacity in the private sector and the golden opportunities that, if exploited timely and properly, could open a new door for economic boom in Bangladesh.
All the facts and figures Goldstein presented before the auspicious gathering did not ring a bell as something surprisingly new. But, thanks to her exposure to universities like those of Princeton and Harvard and her varied experiences as a macro economist in developing countries in Africa and Asia, she in her comprehensible accent could captivate the audience by her clear articulation of the stark statistics that told not a very happy tale about Bangladesh.
The parts of Goldstein's speech that must have pricked up the ears of many in the luncheon meeting were what she wanted to mean in her apprehensive words and tones on the measures the government defying public opinions has of late been taking in reducing procurement transparency, watering down the anti-corruption body and the proposed policy changes that may weaken the growth of the telecom industry.
What, on the other hand, ostensibly enamoured the guests attending the AmCham meet was Ellen Goldstein's pinpointing a prospect in Bangladesh for doubling its total exports of labour-intensive goods creating millions of new jobs if only it could capture 10 per cent of the Chinese low-skilled labour markets which are no more cheap in China and are being shifted to countries where the labour is cheaper.
But what the World Bank Country Director missed, perhaps out of her diplomatic courtesy being a guest of honour, to point out directly is that cost of labour in Bangladesh is in fact very high compared even to China or could be the highest in the world if hartal and violence as a result of personal jealousy in political rivalry and nasty cronyism and inefficient leadership as a corollary of political monopoly and workers' lack of skill due to sloppy management of the enterprises are factored in the cost of labour.
In today's world of business when on-time delivery with precision is vital for survival in the neckbreaking competition, substandard labour at a lower price in an unstable democracy like that in Bangladesh is way costlier than quality labour for a higher price in a stable dictatorship like that in Myanmar. The quality of labour cannot improve in an environment where the quality of leadership is ignominious.
Goldstein could perhaps find it easier to compose her speech if the topic were "Bangladesh: Full of opportunities already eaten away". But as the lecture topic was chosen by AmCham, she probably had to labour hard to find out some semblance of leftover feeble opportunities still bubbling in Bangladesh.
Goldstein in her speech had rightly pointed out some feats Bangladesh has truly achieved: incidence and depth of poverty reduced by one third in the last two decades; life expectancy, literacy and per capita food production increased significantly; 80 per cent teenage girls now completing their primary education compared to 20 per cent 50 years back; steady growth in exports and remittance, stable currency, ample foreign reserves, hardworking people, resilience to the global financial crisis etc. These are all old stories.
The opportunities as Goldstein tried to focus on were all dreams we have been weaving and forecasting for a long time without any sense of direction envisioned by any of our leaders. We as a race are used to weaving dreams: dreams like capturing the world market by our cheap labour force; winning the seven seas by our easy access to the Bay of Bengal, roving the whole South Asia through Bangladesh -- the South Asian Gateway; growing domestic market that may in near future turn us into a Malaysia; our micro, small and medium enterprises that will make Bangladesh a model for the rest of the world to follow etc.
On the flip side of Goldstein's speech was emerged the dark side of affairs of our state: paralyzing political rivalry, weak accountability and systems for public resources management, culture of corruption, Bangladesh's rank at 119th position among 180 countries in terms of "Ease of Doing Business" compared to Pakistan's rank at 85 and Vietnam's rank at 93, more than 46 per cent children under five suffering from chronic malnutrition, Dhaka ranking as the second least-liveable city in the world, insufficient power supply as the biggest constraint to growth, over-dependence on roads that are not properly maintained and lack of reforms in railways that are perennially neglected etc.
Bangladesh is a country where monkeys are used to scaling slippery poles; they always attempt to reach the top of the pole by climbing five feet up and then slipping back seven feet down. One cannot say we have achieved anything unless unlike the monkeys we at least climb five feet up and then five feet down, to maintain at least the status quo, which is possible if the number of challenges offset the equal number of opportunities instead of the way the mounting challenges are now eating away the diminishing opportunities --let alone "winning the golden opportunities in the offing fighting back against whatever the challenges", an idea Goldstein sincerely wished and broached in her speech in the AmCham meet.
The writer can be reached at
e-mail: maswood@hotmail.com
THERE is a penchant among us for hearing only the praises or criticisms from a foreigner, especially from an individual working in an international organisation whose words are usually well publicised in our news media. We historically enjoy seeing and hearing ourselves through a foreigner's eyes and lips.
I couldn't resist the temptation to attend a luncheon meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh, fondly pronounced AmCham, as the inviter strongly insisted that I at least listen to the precious words of Ellen Goldstein, the country director of World Bank in Bangladesh, who as a guest of honour would deliver a speech on a topic titled "Bangladesh Economy: Opportunities and Challenges". I am not sure whether I would have attended such a conference or whether the inviter would have spoken so eloquently on the topic or on the special guest had an economist of Bangladesh origin with a vast knowledge in both local and global economic issues been invited to grace the meet as a guest of honour.
Undoubtedly the speech delivered last Tuesday (May 25) by Goldstein was an eye-opener to weigh up the challenges the country has now been facing and the opportunities we are for sure going to be missing. In her speech Goldstein, who joined the World Bank in 1988, worked as a young economist in the World Bank Dhaka office in the 1990s and was appointed as World Bank Country Director in Bangladesh at the fag end of 2009, narrated the story of Bangladesh, its governance, the corruption in its public offices, the strong entrepreneurial capacity in the private sector and the golden opportunities that, if exploited timely and properly, could open a new door for economic boom in Bangladesh.
All the facts and figures Goldstein presented before the auspicious gathering did not ring a bell as something surprisingly new. But, thanks to her exposure to universities like those of Princeton and Harvard and her varied experiences as a macro economist in developing countries in Africa and Asia, she in her comprehensible accent could captivate the audience by her clear articulation of the stark statistics that told not a very happy tale about Bangladesh.
The parts of Goldstein's speech that must have pricked up the ears of many in the luncheon meeting were what she wanted to mean in her apprehensive words and tones on the measures the government defying public opinions has of late been taking in reducing procurement transparency, watering down the anti-corruption body and the proposed policy changes that may weaken the growth of the telecom industry.
What, on the other hand, ostensibly enamoured the guests attending the AmCham meet was Ellen Goldstein's pinpointing a prospect in Bangladesh for doubling its total exports of labour-intensive goods creating millions of new jobs if only it could capture 10 per cent of the Chinese low-skilled labour markets which are no more cheap in China and are being shifted to countries where the labour is cheaper.
But what the World Bank Country Director missed, perhaps out of her diplomatic courtesy being a guest of honour, to point out directly is that cost of labour in Bangladesh is in fact very high compared even to China or could be the highest in the world if hartal and violence as a result of personal jealousy in political rivalry and nasty cronyism and inefficient leadership as a corollary of political monopoly and workers' lack of skill due to sloppy management of the enterprises are factored in the cost of labour.
In today's world of business when on-time delivery with precision is vital for survival in the neckbreaking competition, substandard labour at a lower price in an unstable democracy like that in Bangladesh is way costlier than quality labour for a higher price in a stable dictatorship like that in Myanmar. The quality of labour cannot improve in an environment where the quality of leadership is ignominious.
Goldstein could perhaps find it easier to compose her speech if the topic were "Bangladesh: Full of opportunities already eaten away". But as the lecture topic was chosen by AmCham, she probably had to labour hard to find out some semblance of leftover feeble opportunities still bubbling in Bangladesh.
Goldstein in her speech had rightly pointed out some feats Bangladesh has truly achieved: incidence and depth of poverty reduced by one third in the last two decades; life expectancy, literacy and per capita food production increased significantly; 80 per cent teenage girls now completing their primary education compared to 20 per cent 50 years back; steady growth in exports and remittance, stable currency, ample foreign reserves, hardworking people, resilience to the global financial crisis etc. These are all old stories.
The opportunities as Goldstein tried to focus on were all dreams we have been weaving and forecasting for a long time without any sense of direction envisioned by any of our leaders. We as a race are used to weaving dreams: dreams like capturing the world market by our cheap labour force; winning the seven seas by our easy access to the Bay of Bengal, roving the whole South Asia through Bangladesh -- the South Asian Gateway; growing domestic market that may in near future turn us into a Malaysia; our micro, small and medium enterprises that will make Bangladesh a model for the rest of the world to follow etc.
On the flip side of Goldstein's speech was emerged the dark side of affairs of our state: paralyzing political rivalry, weak accountability and systems for public resources management, culture of corruption, Bangladesh's rank at 119th position among 180 countries in terms of "Ease of Doing Business" compared to Pakistan's rank at 85 and Vietnam's rank at 93, more than 46 per cent children under five suffering from chronic malnutrition, Dhaka ranking as the second least-liveable city in the world, insufficient power supply as the biggest constraint to growth, over-dependence on roads that are not properly maintained and lack of reforms in railways that are perennially neglected etc.
Bangladesh is a country where monkeys are used to scaling slippery poles; they always attempt to reach the top of the pole by climbing five feet up and then slipping back seven feet down. One cannot say we have achieved anything unless unlike the monkeys we at least climb five feet up and then five feet down, to maintain at least the status quo, which is possible if the number of challenges offset the equal number of opportunities instead of the way the mounting challenges are now eating away the diminishing opportunities --let alone "winning the golden opportunities in the offing fighting back against whatever the challenges", an idea Goldstein sincerely wished and broached in her speech in the AmCham meet.
The writer can be reached at
e-mail: maswood@hotmail.com