Shared Prosperity: A vision for South Asia

The vision of shared prosperity becomes more relevant if one compares the development trajectory of South Asian countries, who have made substantial progress. Some South Asian countries have already graduated to middle income status while others are making their way but unfortunately, poverty is still high in the region.
One predominant characteristic is that South Asian economies display greater interest in integrating with the global economy than with each other. Regional cooperation within the existing frameworks has made only limited progress being hostage to political and security considerations.
The problems have their roots in the historical baggage as well as the existing disparity in the regional structure. In addition, there are a number of outstanding issues and bilateral discords. All these realities have left us a message that for survival, we need closer collaboration among neighbours setting aside our differences; we must have concerted efforts through sharing of experiences and learning from each other.
In this backdrop, Bangladesh has been following a policy of shared prosperity as a vision for the friendly neighbours of South Asia. Guided by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh is advocating for inclusive development in the region. Our development trajectory and ideological stance dove tail our vision of shared prosperity for South Asia.
In the last decade, we have achieved rapid economic growth ensuring social justice for all. Today, Bangladesh is acknowledged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. We have reduced poverty from 41.5 per cent to 20 per cent in the last 14 years. Our per capita income has tripled in just a decade. Bangladesh
has fulfilled all criterions for
graduating from LDC to a developing country.
Bangladesh is ranked as world's 5th best COVID resilient country, and South Asia's best performer. Last year, we inaugurated the self-funded 'Padma Multi-purpose Bridge". A few weeks ago, we started the first ever Metro Rail service in our capital. Soon, we shall complete the 3.2 kilometer Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the river Karnaphuli in Chattogram, the first in South Asia. Several other mega-projects are in the pipeline which will bring about significant economic upliftment.
Our aspiration is to transform Bangladesh into a knowledge-based 'Smart Bangladesh" by 2041 and a prosperous and climate-resilient delta by 2100. We hope to attain these goals by way of ensuring women empowerment, sustainable economic growth and creating opportunities for all.
When it comes to foreign policy, Bangladesh has been pursuing neighbourhood diplomacy for amiable political relations with the South Asian neighbours alongside conducting a balancing act on strategic issues based on the philosophy of "shared prosperity".
Bangladesh, with its limited resources, is always ready to stand by its neighbours in times of emergency-- be it natural calamity, or pandemic or economic crisis. The country despatched essential medicines, medical equipment and technical assistance to the Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and India during the peak period of Covid-19 pandemic.
Bangladesh had readily extended humanitarian assistance to Nepal when they faced the deadly earthquake back in 2015. Last year, we helped the earthquake victims of Afghanistan. Prior to that, we contributed to the fund raised by the United Nations for the people of Afghanistan.
The assistance for the people of Sri Lanka with emergency medicines during the moment of crisis last year or the currency SWAP arrangement is the reflection of Bangladesh's commitment to our philosophy.
These symbolic gestures were not about our capacity, pride or mere demonstration, rather it was purely about our sense of obligation to our neighbours. We strongly believe that shared prosperity comes with shared responsibility and development in a single country of a particular region may
not sustain if others are not
taken along.
In addition, we have resolved most of our critical issues with our neighbours peacefully through dialogue and discussion. For example, we have resolved our border demarcation problem with India, our maritime boundary with India and Myanmar, and also our water sharing with India peacefully.
For an emerging region like South Asia, the region needs to devise certain policies and implement those in a sustainable manner. Following policies can be explored in the quest for our shared prosperity and inclusive development:
First of all, without regional peace and stability we would not be able to grow as aspired for. To that effect, our leaders in the region have to work closely on priority basis. We may have issues between neighbours but we have to transcend those to leave a legacy of harmony for our future generation so that a culture of peace and stability prevails in the region. We can vouch for it from our own experience. In Bangladesh, we are sheltering 1.1 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals. If left unresolved, it has the potential to jeopardise the entire security architecture of South Asia. So, here the neighbourhood should support us for their own interests.
Second, we need to revitalise our regional platforms and properly implement our initiatives taken under BIMSTEC and IORA. We are happy that BIMSTEC is progressing better, but we should endeavour to make it move always like a rolling machine.
Third, we need to focus on regional trade and investment. Countries in South Asia had implemented trade liberalisation within the framework of SAFTA but in a limited scale. Bangladesh is in the process of concluding Preferential Trade Agreement/ Free Trade Agreement with several of its South Asian peers. We have already concluded PTA with Bhutan; are at an advanced stage of negotiations for PTA with Sri Lanka and discussions for PTA with Nepal are on. In the same spirit, Bangladesh is about to start negotiations on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India.
Fourth, a well-connected region brings immense economic benefits and leads to greater regional integration. To maximise our intra- and extra-regional trade potentials and enhance people-to-people contacts, Bangladesh is committed to regional and sub regional connectivity initiatives. Bangladesh's geo-strategic location is a big leverage which was rightly picked up by our Prime Minister, who benevolently offered connectivity in the form
of transit and trans-shipment to our friendly neighbours for sustainable growth and collective prosperity of the region
Fifth, we live in a globalised world, highly interconnected and interdependent. Our region has gone through similar experience and history. Bangladesh believes and promotes religious harmony. We have been promoting "Culture of Peace" across nations. The basic element of "Culture of Peace" is to inculcate a mindset of tolerance, a mindset of respect towards others, irrespective of religion, ethnicity, colour, background or race. If we can develop such mindset by stopping the venom of hatred towards others, we can hope to have sustainable peace and stability across nations, leading to end of violence, wars, and terrorism in nations and regions. Bangladesh takes special pride in this as even before Renaissance was started in Europe in the 17th century, even before America was discovered in 1492, in Bengal a campaign was started by Chandi Das as early as 1408 that says "humanity is above all," and we still try to promote it.
Sixth, we have to look beyond a traditional approach of development and challenges and revisit the non-traditional global crises of the recent time. We are experiencing food, fuel, fertiliser and energy shortages due to global politics and disruption of supply chain; as littoral and island countries we face similar challenges of natural disasters; we have vast maritime area which needs effective maritime governance; we need to curb marine pollution and ensure responsible use of marine resources. Our collective, sincere and bold efforts are required to minimise the impacts of climate change as well.

Dr. A K Abdul Momen, MP is the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh