State Minister for Planning Md. Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki -File photo

DHAKA, July 30, 2026 (BSS) – State Minister for Planning Md. Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki today said the government’s overarching goal is to build an investment-driven and productive economy capable of generating large-scale employment through structural reforms, improved project implementation and enhanced public investment efficiency.

“Our commitment is to build an investment-driven and productive economy that will create employment. This vision is being reflected in the budget and various policy measures,” he said.

The State Minister was addressing a seminar titled “Labour Market Tightness and Aggregate Shocks: Evidence from Bangladesh’s Largest Online Job Portal”, organized by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) at its conference room.

Presided over by Dr. A. K. Enamul Haque, Director General of the BIDS, Professor Dr Atonu Rabbani, Research Director, General Economics Division (GED), BIDS, made the keynote presentation.

Saki said the government is aligning all development programmes with its election manifesto and a five-year development and reform strategy that is expected to be unveiled before the government completes its first 180 days in office on August 17.

The state minister said the government is reviewing the Annual Development Programme (ADP) to ensure that ongoing and new projects are fully aligned with the manifesto and the forthcoming strategy paper.

Referring to weaknesses in project planning, he said many projects were approved in the past without ensuring proper coordination, leading to significant waste of public resources.

“We are moving away from a piecemeal project approach towards a programme-based approach so that related projects are implemented together. There is no point in building a power plant without transmission lines, distribution networks or skilled manpower,” he said.

The state minister said the government is addressing structural inefficiencies first, alongside efforts to curb corruption.

He said a committee has already been formed to prepare a unified and specialised rate schedule for development projects, while an artificial intelligence-based software system is being developed to verify project costs automatically.

According to him, the technology-driven system will help ensure that project expenditures remain consistent with approved rates and improve transparency in public spending.

The state minister also said the government is integrating several digital initiatives to develop an interoperable national data system.

He said efforts are underway to modernise the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) by strengthening its technological capacity instead of focusing primarily on survey-based projects.

“Our objective is to establish an integrated and interoperable data system and make most government data accessible to researchers, students and institutions so that policy decisions are based on real-time evidence,” he added.

Emphasising data integrity, Saki said the government has no intention of manipulating official statistics.

“The policy of this government is not to create an artificial reality. We want to know where we actually stand so that we can assess progress and make course corrections whenever necessary,” he added.

Highlighting investment priorities, the state minister said the government has identified several sectors, including information and communication technology (ICT), electronics, light engineering, agro-processing and semiconductors, as new growth engines.

He said resolving the country’s energy constraints remains one of the government’s highest priorities through increased domestic gas exploration, expansion of renewable energy and improved fuel reserves.

The state minister said Bangladesh aims to generate a huge portion of solar power with significant participation from the private sector.

He also outlined measures to restore confidence in the financial sector by preventing political interference in banks, supporting viable industries, improving monetary and fiscal policy coordination and simplifying business procedures.

He said the government is introducing time-bound approval systems and integrated single-window services to reduce the cost of doing business and eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles.

The state minister said investment in education, healthcare and housing would remain central to improving human capital and long-term productivity, while universal social protection programmes would be expanded in phases to minimise exclusion and reduce opportunities for irregularities.

He said implementation remains the government’s biggest challenge and announced that digital dashboards is likely to be introduced before August 17 to monitor the progress of development projects in real time across ministries.

Seeking greater cooperation from researchers, he expressed hope that BIDS would play a stronger role in supporting evidence-based policymaking and national development through expanded research activities.