Globalisation a boon or bane for developing countries?

Both proponents and opponents are unanimous that globalisation always brings huge gains for some countries and in sharp contrast, causes pains for some others. Globalisation is a much-talked-about issue of the present century. Its impacts, whether gains or pains, are felt by businesspersons, business leaders, politicians, social scientists, economists, analysts and the common people around the globe. It induces reorganisation of businesses and industries at the sub-national, national and international levels. It brings restructuring of production, services, domestic and international trade, integration of capital markets and diversification of investment strategies around the whole world to get the maximum economic benefits. The advent of modern science and technology brings the world under one umbrella known as 'globalised world'.
The globalisation process started long time back in the 15th century and got its momentum in 1990s. In 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identified four basic aspects of globalisation: trade and transaction, capital and investment, migration and movement of people and dissemination of knowledge. To cope with and to meet the globalisation processes, the concept of 'globalisation' evolved.
Globalisation affects economic and social relations through multilaterism, multinationalism and microeconomic phenomena, as production, services and business competitiveness at national and international levels. The industrially developed countries got highly hyped from globalisation as they were well advanced in education, science and technology. On the other hand, the underdeveloped and developing countries benefitted in some areas but in most of the areas, they lose because of tough competition in the global market, lack of education, technology, capital structure and leadership qualities.
Various researchers, analysts, economists and academicians around the globe have expressed highly favourable views on globalisation process and its economic effects on the developed countries. But the backlash of globalisation on developing and underdeveloped countries remain unabated and unresolved.
An online debate on 'Globalisation and Poverty', organised by the World Bank Development Forum, echoed the loud and aggressive protests against globalisation and expressed its very negative impact on the distribution of income and wealth between and within the countries. "Globalisation may improve growth rates, increase productivity and enhance technological capability, but it cannot redistribute created wealth and income in favour of the poor. In fact, it does the reverse. It redistributes wealth and income in favour of not so poor", said the Forum.
The IMF, the World Bank, the WHO and the industrially developed countries are held responsible for influencing and largely determining the course of globalisation process. They are considered as the driving forces behind the policy reforms that the developing and underdeveloped countries have to implement as part of the structural programmes under the stewardship of the IMF, the World Bank and the WHO. East Asian countries made 'miracle' changes in their economies by transfer of technology and by increasing exports under the globalisation process. Globalisation worked as a boom to the economies of the East Asian countries. In contrast, most of the Sub-Saharan countries, some South Asian countries, a few countries in Africa, Latin America and Caribbean didn't get blessings from globalisation. These countries are burdened with problems that plagued their economies and globalisation worked as a gloom.  
Various schools of thought argue that globalisation has led to an increase in child labour and slavery in the developed and the underdeveloped economies. It is responsible for unplanned industrialisation that caused cities and towns as garbage-dumps and pollution at sky-high levels. Climate change and global warming are called its bye-products. Globalisation of industries has changed the outlook of the economy of a country at the cost of the environment. Natural resources are depleting and deforestation is taking place in many countries like Bangladesh for establishing environment-unfriendly industries. These cause climate change, global warming, CO2 emission, less-rainfall and so on and so forth. According to social scientists, geologists and environmentalists, Bangladesh would be the worst affected country due to climate change and global warming.
Globalisation opens the door to international trade that gives birth to arthritic and intense competition. Due to cut-throat competition, the products of developed economies occupy the local markets. Uneven distribution of wealth takes place and the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. The gap between the elite and the underprivileged would be never ending. Globalisation enhances disparities between developed and developing economies by exploiting the cheap-labour countries around the world. The developing countries can get the benefits of globalisation only by swift transfer of technologies, education-to-all policy, improving leadership qualities and following economic and transition plans of the 'Eastern Asian' economies that achieved the loftiest benefits of globalisation process.
The writer is the group financial controller of a private                     group of industries.                 [email protected]