No sustainable development without decentralisation: Prof Wahiduddin

Leading economist Professor Wahiddudin Mahmud said on Thursday the country's sustainable development is not possible without decentralising urbanisation and industrialisation from the capital to other parts of the country.
"Currently industrial and urban developments are not taking place in districts and rural towns. The industrialisation and urbanisation are only happening in Dhaka city. This is a big challenge for Bangladesh. These should be decentralised," he said at a consultation meeting on the upcoming Seventh Five-Year Plan (SFYP).
The General Economics Division (GED) organised the consultation meeting with some local businessmen and disabled persons at the city's Planning Commission in presence of Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. GED Member Professor Shamsul Alam presided over the meeting.
The GED is preparing the 7th FYP for the financial year (FY) 2015-16 to FY2020 to guide Bangladesh's development process for becoming a middle-income country by 2021.
Prof Mahmud said: "In the next 5-10 years, the government should decentralise urbanisation and industrialisation for development of the country."
The government should think of industrial expansion keeping the limited land and the eco-system in mind, he added.
"Once, open market economy was the key development paradigm in the world. In that case, how much the government would invest was a topic of extensive discussion. But in the new century, the development model has been changed. Currently, the government needs to ensure strategic investments for national development even after practising open market economic development policy," Prof Mahmud said.
Only the monetary policy is not enough. The government needs to ensure some medium-term investments for the sake of attracting private investors, he added.
 "The government needs to expand its strategic investments for health, education, new technology and for infrastructure development. It also needs to boost its investment for eliminating financial indiscipline," he added.
Mohammad Hatem, former Vice President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said high interest rate of bank loans in the country is one of the major impediments to flourish investment here.
He sought help of the government to reduce the bank interest rate and work for removing banking transaction obstacles with new export destinations like Russia for facilitating more foreign earnings.
Enamul Haq Khan, a representative of the Bangladesh Insurance Association, said the national insurance policy needs to make alignment with the 7th FYP to ensure higher economic growth of the country.
Hasina Newaz, Senior Vice President of the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said women should be taken into the industrialisation process offering them economic zones in a bid to exceed the trajectory of 6.0 per cent economic growth.
Naaz Farhana Ahmed, President of the Dhaka Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said almost half of the population is women whose contribution to the economy needs to be utilised properly.
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