DHAKA, Aug 6, 2022 (BSS) - Prudent leadership at all levels of society is a must to cope with this global economic crisis, said eminent economist and former governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Professor Dr. Atiur Rahman.

He said this yesterday while presenting a keynote paper at the 'Leadership Conclave 2022' organized by the Delhi-based Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) at Kolkata.

He said the current global economic crisis is precipitated first by the pandemic-induced economic slowdown and then by the unwanted Russia-Ukraine war.

The former central bank governor also noted that the world economy will grow only by 3.2 percent by 2022 which is feared to be further slowed down to 2.9 percent by 2023.

ASSOCHAM is a 102-year-old chamber with four and a half lakh members. More than a hundred business and other leaders participated in this conclave and some of them were awarded as well, said a press release.

Presided over by Ravi Agarwal, the conclave was also addressed by two other motivational speakers Gourav Arya, Editor-in-Chief of Chanakya Forum, and Dr. Vikrant Singh Tomar of UMS (Ultimate Management Solution).

Dr. Atiur further pointed out that appropriate management of the digital transformation is going to be pivotal at both organizational and national levels during the recovery from the global economic crisis.

He also inferred that the South Asian countries could gain a lot through tapping the opportunities of economic cooperation during this phase as this region remains among the least economically integrated ones of the world.

For example, he cited that Bangladesh's export to India could grow by 300 percent by fetching an additional 1 percent of Indian imports. However, he opined that high cost of connectivity is a major barrier against regional integration in the sub-continent.

Given a high level of political willingness to cooperate between the leaderships in India and Bangladesh, the region has the potential of higher level of economic cooperation with the help of prudent leadership which is well grounded, he added.

"This leadership ought to be focused more on digital transformation using skilled human resources that must also be humane and tech-savvy." he said.

Dr. Atiur also handed over the awards to the winners of the leadership contests.