Remote and ecologically vulnerable areas
are usually characterised by a higher incidence of poverty. Regional disparity
emanating from the lack of income-generating activities also poses serious
challenges to the effectiveness of sustained growth. Though Bangladesh has been
successful in poverty reduction at the national level, there remain major
challenges in terms of addressing poverty at the regional level. According to
Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2016, there are seven districts
with poverty incidence of more than 50 percent. Kurigram has the highest
poverty incidence (70.8 percent) in the country. If we want to achieve Goal 1
of SDGs (end poverty in all its forms everywhere), we have to address regional
poverty by taking up special programmes for such regions lagging behind.
Challenges also remain in terms of
addressing inequality (SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries).
Increase in the Gini coefficient of income distribution to its highest-ever
level of 0.483 in 2016 signals the ominous state of rising income inequality in
the country. Income inequality increased at the national, urban and rural level
between HIES 2010 and HIES 2016 surveys. The poorest 10 percent of the
household population received 1.01 percent of the total national income in 2016
compared to two percent in 2010, whereas the richest 10 percent of the
population owned 38.16 percent of the national income in 2016 compared to 35.84
percent in 2010. Inequality increased also due to the reduced pace of job
creation in recent years. It was found that the annual rate of growth in
employment was 3.1 percent during 2003-2010, whereas employment growth declined
to 1.8 percent per annum during 2011-2016.
First, in order to enhance growth and
employment opportunities, mobilisation of resources for promoting private
investment is critical. Innovative strategies are needed for increasing
investment by reducing cost of doing business. In addition, large-scale
investment is required in physical as well as social infrastructure for
fostering inclusive growth with addressing regional poverty and inequality in
the country.
Second, Bangladesh suffers from
infrastructural deficiencies, which hinder it from reaping the benefits of
demographic transition that the country is currently experiencing. In order to
create more economic opportunities for its large working-age population and
address regional poverty, the country must prioritise specific initiatives to
enhance the quality of, among others, energy, transport and urban
infrastructure.
Third, to overcome the current hurdles
to private investment and employment opportunities, streamlining the
establishment and operation of special economic zones is likely to serve useful
purpose. SEZs are expected to be integrated with the domestic economy
stimulating private investment, widening the manufacturing base, creating new
jobs at the national level as a whole and regional level in particular.
Fourth, in addition to the SEZs,
development of growth centres, information technology parks, and economic
corridors along major transportation networks will help accelerate the pace of
industrialisation and create employment opportunities in smaller population
centres adjoining the rural areas.
Fifth, more investment is necessary for
increasing access to education and skills development opportunities for the growing
number of unemployed youth. In addition to enhancing the quality of education,
prudent strategies for strengthening vocational and employment-oriented
education programmes are critical to increase the employability of graduates.
Finally, effective delivery of public
services must be ensured through improving governance and strengthening
institutional capacity in order to make the growth process inclusive,
sustainable and pro-poor. In addition, transparency, accountability and rule of
law must be in place for the use of scarce public resources to be channelled
into productive sectors of the economy.
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