DHAKA, Jan 22, 2020 (BSS) – Terming the country’s investment instruments
inadequate, Prime Minister’s Economic Affairs Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman said
diversification of investment instruments is urgently needed to encourage
people for savings and investment.
“I think our investment instruments are very limited . . . we need better
and diversified savings tools rather than savings certificates to encourage
people for savings and investment,” said Mashiur Rahman while speaking at a
seminar-‘Rural Transformation and Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh’
at a city hotel here today.
Social Development Foundation (SDF) organised the seminar with its
Chairperson MI Chowdhury in the chair.
Senior Secretary of the Finance Ministry’s M Asadul Islam, World Bank’s
Practice Manger (Agriculture) Loraine Ronchi, and SDF Managing Director AZM
Sakhawat Hossain, among others, took part in the discussion.
Additional Secretary of the Finance Ministry Arjit Chowdhury delivered the
keynote address.
Mashiur Rahman said the government set up SDF as a homegrown enterprise to
address the issue of poverty and resolve the problems of the poor. Later, the
World Bank and other donors and aid agencies joined it as its supporting
hands, he added.
About the poverty reduction, he said poverty reduction programmes should be
prepared incorporating new ideas to avoid duplication. One of the problems is
that a large number of ministries are engaged in more or less the same kind
of activities, he said, adding that the country needs more efficient and
better alternatives to switch from the less efficient to more efficient
alternatives to save costs for services.
He also focused on professionalism for delivering better services and help
the government guide the country towards rapid progress, saying that greater
professionalism is needed to ensure proper implementation of the Prime
Minister’s initiatives.
SDF Chairperson MI Chowdhury said SDF has been playing an important role
in developing the socio-economic condition of the country’s disadvantaged
people and women.
Though Bangladesh earned huge success in reducing poverty over the last
one decade, the country still could not get rid of the curse of poverty, he
added.
Highlighting SDF’s various initiatives in poverty eradication, MI Chowdhury
said SDF will also perform the responsibilities to be given by the government
in the days to come and thus help build ‘Sonar Bangla’ as dreamt by
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In his keynote paper, Arjit Chowdhury said higher labour productivity is
essential to diversify the economy as the demand of high-level skill is also
growing.
“Investment in human capital is required to utilise the benefits of
Bangladesh’s demographic dividend,” he added. He said the SDF successfully
implemented many pro-poor projects while it is now in the final year of
completing the Nuton Jibon Livelihood Improvement Project (NJLIP).
WB official Loraine Ronchi said a huge number of people in Bangladesh are
still below the poverty line despite the impressive growth of the country.
SDF through its various projects, including the NJLIP, has been playing a
very important role in reducing poverty, she added.