Ways to removing regional disparities
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Ferdous Alam
Strong evidence is there that two metropolitan areas, Dhaka and Chittagong, have emerged as the main centres of economic activity of the country. The capital Dhaka with a population of over 14 million and the main port city Chittagong with a population of six million together account for about 90 per cent of metro population and about 41 per cent of the total urban population of the country. Estimates based on Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) indicate that the average real per capita expenditures in these two cities is about 40 per cent higher than in other metro areas.
Dhaka and Chittagong, which are the seats of major administrative and economic functions and main domestic and international trading hubs, are attracting large numbers of migrants from other places of the country. There is also evidence that spatial concentration in Dhaka and its surrounding areas has increased in recent years.
A substantial part of the economic activities in Bangladesh is clustered around Dhaka and to a lesser extent, Chittagong. This concentration around the two biggest cities is also seen from the spatial distribution of employment by industries. Employment in the agro-processing industry is concentrated in Dhaka and to a lesser extent in Chittagong. Dhaka alone accounts for about 80 per cent of the country's readymade garments (RMG) output and half of manufacturing sector employment. Complementary business services, particularly finance and real estate, account for a much higher share of total employment in Dhaka relative to the rest of the country.
Factors like remoteness from markets and towns and lack of infrastructure, like electricity and gas, are found to be important characteristics of poor areas. This suggests that certain areas in Bangladesh have a combination of factors likely to lead to concentration of economic activities, giving rise to the so-called growth poles. Poverty differs substantially between integrated region and less integrated region, according to the latest HIES report. The poverty rate in the integrated region, according to the HIES report, was 38 per cent while less integrated region was 55 per cent, a gap of 17 percentage points.
Under the circumstances, one can only suggest that improving connectivity of remote areas to growth poles, establishing interregional transport and communication systems, investment in infrastructure, bridging the information gaps to avert asymmetrical intelligence between integrated region and less integrated region, can promote regional development to lift the poor out of the poverty trap to an appreciable degree.
Strong evidence is there that two metropolitan areas, Dhaka and Chittagong, have emerged as the main centres of economic activity of the country. The capital Dhaka with a population of over 14 million and the main port city Chittagong with a population of six million together account for about 90 per cent of metro population and about 41 per cent of the total urban population of the country. Estimates based on Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) indicate that the average real per capita expenditures in these two cities is about 40 per cent higher than in other metro areas.
Dhaka and Chittagong, which are the seats of major administrative and economic functions and main domestic and international trading hubs, are attracting large numbers of migrants from other places of the country. There is also evidence that spatial concentration in Dhaka and its surrounding areas has increased in recent years.
A substantial part of the economic activities in Bangladesh is clustered around Dhaka and to a lesser extent, Chittagong. This concentration around the two biggest cities is also seen from the spatial distribution of employment by industries. Employment in the agro-processing industry is concentrated in Dhaka and to a lesser extent in Chittagong. Dhaka alone accounts for about 80 per cent of the country's readymade garments (RMG) output and half of manufacturing sector employment. Complementary business services, particularly finance and real estate, account for a much higher share of total employment in Dhaka relative to the rest of the country.
Factors like remoteness from markets and towns and lack of infrastructure, like electricity and gas, are found to be important characteristics of poor areas. This suggests that certain areas in Bangladesh have a combination of factors likely to lead to concentration of economic activities, giving rise to the so-called growth poles. Poverty differs substantially between integrated region and less integrated region, according to the latest HIES report. The poverty rate in the integrated region, according to the HIES report, was 38 per cent while less integrated region was 55 per cent, a gap of 17 percentage points.
Under the circumstances, one can only suggest that improving connectivity of remote areas to growth poles, establishing interregional transport and communication systems, investment in infrastructure, bridging the information gaps to avert asymmetrical intelligence between integrated region and less integrated region, can promote regional development to lift the poor out of the poverty trap to an appreciable degree.