Growing Up With
Giants
Muhammad Yunus on 4 February 2006
Fellow Bangladeshis: are we ready to launch
ourselves into a path to cross $1,000 per capita income, 8 percent GDP growth rate?, and to reducr poverty level to under
25 percent soon?
Lucky to have two giants as our neighbours
India
and China are almost there. They have already reached the 8 percent growth rate and 25 percent poverty level. They are becoming
such political powers and economic power-houses that the whole world is gathering around them to get their attention.
Bangladesh
is lucky to have two globally sought-after giants as her next door neighbours. These giants are not sleeping giants. They
are super-active, and growing very fast. We must learn how to take advantage of fast growing giants. We must assess our best
interest in building our relationship with them. In their turn, they’ll assess their best interest in having us as their
neighbour.
Obviously, they will look at us as their market, their competitor, their partner, and also as a potential
trouble-maker. From our side we must make it absolutely clear that we have no intention to be trouble-maker for our neighbours,
nor do we want to see them as trouble-maker for us.
But a section of our politics finds it a very attractive theme
to impress on the common people of Bangladesh that India is behind all the terrible things that happen in Bangladesh. If you
don’t vote for our party, India will turn Bangladesh into her client state.
Countries are not made of saints
only or angels only. There are bad people in India, who can dedicate themselves to do bad things to Bangladesh. Similarly,
there are bad people in Bangladesh committed to do bad things to India. Both countries must remain vigilant to catch the bad
people and punish them forthwith to uphold the friendship between the two countries.
Growing up with giants
When our giant neighbours bring the whole business world to
their door-steps, our door-steps come very near to the business world. Visibility and contacts are very important factors
in business. They come to us easily because of having important neighbours. If we play our cards right, our economy can pick
up the speed of our neighbours.
Growing neighbours are also sources of technology and experience. Expanding economies keep
moving towards more and more high-profit products and services, leaving behind low- profit, labour intensive items. This creates
opportunities for neighbours. This is not to suggest that Bangladesh has to satisfy herself only with the markets and the
products which giant neighbours are not interested in. What Bangladesh can do will depend on our level of efficiency and management
skill. Bangladesh can find niche to provide high value specialised products and services to her giant neighbours.
I am emphasising
on the fact that having two fast growing giant neighbours is a great boon for us. Let us dispel the fear that living between
two giants is a scary prospect — that we may be stepped on from any side, any minute! On the contrary, we’ll be
the beneficiary of coasting effect of having two giants next to us. We can get a ride on the fast train with them.
An open-door, open-arm country
Future of Bangladesh lies in being an
open-door, open-arm country. We must not live under the fear of the Indian wolf. We must get the constant fear of the Indian
wolf out of our system. If it is a real threat, we’ll have to prepare for it and get on with our lives. If it is imaginary,
we’ll have to get our minds cleansed out. Frequent cries of Indian wolf is a sign of our political emptiness.
In
the world today domination does not come through sneaky conspiracies. Domination comes from economic power. If we remain a
poor country, everybody will dominate us, not just India. Moving up the economic ladder quickly is the best protection from
all dominations. Let us not confuse this issue.
In order to move up the ladder quickly we should open all our doors, invite
everybody in, encourage our people to spread themselves all over the wide world, show their talents and win over the confidence
and appreciation of the whole world. Hiding behind closed doors is no protection at all.
Let’s make Bangladesh the cross-roads of the region
Let’s envision Bangladesh
as the cross-roads of the region, if not the world. Let people, products, investments from all over the world flow into Bangladesh,
and out of Bangladesh, with utmost ease, safety, and efficiency. Let’s make our laws, institutions, bureaucracy, travel
and transportation facilities, financial system most friendly to the movement of people, investments, goods and services in
and out of Bangladesh. Let’s build everything in Bangladesh in such a way that Bangladesh becomes the natural first
choice of hard-nosed investors and traders. Let Bangladesh be Bangladesh International. Let us all agree on this vision and
then move forward unitedly to make it a reality at the fastest possible speed.
To make Bangladesh an international
cross-roads we’ll have to address the following:
i) Reduce corruption level drastically.
ii) Provide reliable
electricity all over the country.
iii) Open up ICT and make Bangladesh a very attractive country in terms of state-of-the-art
ICT.
iv) Build a mega-port in a suitable location along the Chittagong coastline capable of serving the following countries:
Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Eastern India, Myanmar, and South-Western China.
v) Build highways to connect the mega-port
with all six countries.
We must visualise Bangladesh as the ICT, industrial and trading hub of the region. On the
first day of 2006 we have signed a document which has the potential to change the economy of SAARC region. The document we
signed was the document relating to SAFTA agreement. Now Bangladesh should take the lead, rather than wait for initiatives
to come from other countries, to move SAFTA forward. We can be smart, open our doors, convert disadvantages into opportunities,
and change our destiny.
Geographically, Bangladesh is strategically located to provide access to international shipping
to Nepal, Bhutan, Eastern India, Myanmar, and South-Western China. We should start making appropriate preparations, in consultation
with these countries, to create facilities for access. Again, it’ll to be our call to draw attention of our neighbours.
We’ll have to do our home-work well to show them the benefits accruing to them by opening up the access to the sea-routes
through Bangladesh, and doing business with Bangladesh. We’ll have to resolve formidable political and technical issues
with India. Remaining passive is not at all to our interest. It is actually very costly in terms of gains foregone. True leaders
not only have visions, they have to have the burning drive to push through the solid walls of obstacles to make their visions
come true. Vision must be backed up by hard work and dedication.
Mega-port
at Chittagong
Mega-port at
Chittagong is the key to making Bangladesh the cross-roads of the region. With the economy of the region growing at a sustained
high speed, demand for the access to a well-equipped well-managed port will keep on growing. A region, which includes two
giant economies, will be desperately looking for direct shipping facilities to reach out to the world. Chittagong will offer
the region the most attractive option. Even today, despite the problems of present Chittagong port, Kunming is requesting
permission to utilise this facility.
With global competition becoming more fierce shorter and shorter lead time for
delivery will become the magic formula to attract business. An efficient mega-port at Chittagong will be in high demand. This
port can be built and owned by a national or international company with government participation in equity. It can contract
out the management of the port to a professional port management company.
International airport
Mega-port may support an international airport in its proximity.
With appropriate aircraft servicing facilities and hotels, this airport can become an airline hub. It has the advantage of
cutting distances to many Asian cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, Shanghai, etc, and taking off the pressure from important
SAARC airports.
Highway network
During the
SAARC Summit held in Dhaka recently, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, proposed to build a highway network to connect
the SAARC countries. We should enthusiastically welcome this proposal and offer our plan to build highways connecting Nepal,
Bhutan, Eastern India, and Pakistan. We should make sure that our highway network extends upto Cox’s Bazar, so that
it can be connected with Myanmar, Thailand, and China in the eastern side.
Regional water management plan
With borders opening up, highways criss-crossing the
region, businesses growing, we can create mutual trust among our neighbours, leading to right kind of political climate to
engage them to work towards preparing a regional water management plan in conjunction with the plan for regional production
and distribution of electricity. Fortunately, this region has an enormous capacity to produce hydro-electricity. With political
understanding Bangladesh can meet her ever growing electricity need from a mutually beneficial arrangement with Nepal, Bhutan,
and India.
$100 lap-tops for school children
Bangladesh
has a very young population. Half the population is under the age of 18! If we pay serious attention to them we can create
a dramatically different next generation. Some countries are already signing up with MIT Media Lab to provide $100 lap-top
to each school student, just like text books. Lap-top to a child gives a message. Message is: Discover yourself, discover
the world, create your own world. There is no reason why we cannot sign up with MIT Media Lab to do exactly the same and give
lap-tops to our students. Let us not miss this world-changing opportunity.
One way to let all children, poor or rich,
boy or girl, urban or rural, feel equal is to ensure access to computer and internet. This connectivity also takes off some
of the unevenness in our educational facilities. We have already witnessed a telecommunication revolution. Within a short
span of five years mobile phones have reached every village in Bangladesh. At the end of 2006, one in every eight persons
in Bangladesh will have a telephone! With $100 lap-top, every school student will have access to internet telephony.
Our young people can be role model
I meet many Bangladeshi
young people when I am visiting foreign countries. Many of us are used to meeting Bangladeshis in New York. But it is a quite
different experience to meet young Bangladeshis in a small town of Spain, or in an island in Italy, or in Argentina, Chile,
Columbia. They show up to meet me at the hotel or in the conference where I am speaking. They discover my presence in the
town from the newspaper reports. They come individually. They come in groups. Among everything else they express their worry
about the political situation in the country. I ask them how they got there. Each tells a horror story. Each time it is a
story of perseverance, tenacity, and high risk adventure. It is quite an experience to hear them tell the story of how they
moved from one country to the next, how they switched from one livelihood to another. They are doing well now. They have learnt
the local language and understand the local way of life. They are at ease with local people. Story one gets from a migrant
worker working in an Asian country is different, but not too different. It is the story of how they are cheated by the man-power
agents, and how they are mistreated by the airport officials at the time of departure as well as at the time of visits.
Bangladeshi
young people reached out to all corners of the world with basically individual and family initiative, using network of friends
and relatives. Government has built some facilities to help them by making it easy for them to go out. But you hear more about
the harassment, bribes, extortion and unresponsiveness of the government officials than nice things about these arrangements.
These young people who live under extreme difficulties are making a big contribution to the national economy. They have been
sending a very substantial amount of money as remittances.
Overseas
remittance
The piece of information that amazed me is: in 2004, Bangladesh received $3.4 billion in remittances,
compared to India’s $21.7 billion (and China’s $21.3 billion). That is quite an achievement! With nine times larger
population, India’s share would have been $30.6 billion if she had received the same per capita remittance. Bangladesh
remittance earning rate compares well with Pakistan too ($3.9 billion). Total remittance to Bangladesh constituted one-third
of the total foreign exchange earnings of the country. Despite all the problems faced by Bangladeshi migrant workers, this
is a very significant chunk of foreign exchange earning contributed by them.
More important than the quantum of
foreign exchange earning, remittances go directly into poverty reduction. The World Bank Global Economic Prospects Report
says this remittance inflow has helped cut poverty by 6 percent in Bangladesh and given a boost to the rural economy.
Building up respectability as a nation
Bangladesh is
a rather new name in the list of nations. It came to world’s media attention mostly through disasters — floods,
cyclones, tidal-waves, etc. Reporting on disasters always highlights poverty, and helplessness. That’s the image of
Bangladesh that sticks in people’s mind. Two recent negative images have been added to that. One, Bangladesh has been
repeatedly found to be the most corrupt country in the world, and two, suicide bombers are killing innocent people in Bangladesh.
Image
of a country is very important when it comes to dealing with the world. The better the image a country has, the better is
the deal it gets. To be successful in international relationships we’ll have to build up respectability as a nation.
Luckily for us Bangladesh has a very strong positive side which counters the negative image to a large extent.
Bangladesh
is enormously respected globally for being the birth place of microcredit. Every country in the world feels the need for microcredit.
No country can ignore it. They study microcredit in academic institutions, discuss it in meetings, conferences and workshops.
Most countries, rich or poor, have active microcredit programs. They all pay respect to Bangladesh for being the originator
country. Bangladesh, microcredit, Grameen have become synonymous in the minds of people around the world.
Bangladesh
is remembered as the country which gave the world oral saline to combat diarrhea.
Bangladesh earned respectability
by demonstrating her skill and efficiency in disaster management. World media publicly suggested that tsunami affected countries
and the US, after devastating Katrina, should learn from Bangladesh in disaster management.
Bangladesh is cited as a
success story in producing enough food to feed her people despite doubling the population in 35 years.
In terms of human development indicators Bangladesh is third from the
top
Bangladesh birth rate has declined significantly. Fertility rate declined from 6.3 percent in 1975
to 3.3 percent in 1999 - 2000, reduced almost to half. This is cited as a global success story.
Economic performance
and human development indicators of Bangladesh have been moving upwards since early 1990s. GDP growth has been over 5 per
cent during this period.
Bangladesh has very impressive performance in terms of the human development indicators.
In terms of these indicators Bangladesh came out in number three position in the developing world, after China and Cave Verde.
Life
expectancy of women in Bangladesh used to be lower than men. Now it is higher than men, a better performance compared to South
Asia as a whole.
Female labour force participation rate increased dramatically between 1983 and 2000, both for
rural and urban, with sharper increase in rural, than in urban. Female labour force participation rate in rural area increased
from 7 per cent in 1983-84 to 22 per cent in 1999-2000. Urban rate increased from 12 per cent to 26 per cent during the same
period.
Child and infant mortality have been falling at more than 5 percent a year, malnutrition among mothers
has fallen from 52 percent in 1996 to 42 percent in 2002. Primary school enrolment rates have reached 90 percent, up from
72 percent in 1990. Enrolment in secondary education has been rising. Bangladesh has already eliminated gender disparity in
primary and secondary school enrolment and has made remarkable progress in providing universal basic education.
In the past
decade, Bangladesh reduced infant mortality by half, at a rate faster than any other developing country has done, increased
adult literacy rates by 8 per cent for women, and 6 per cent for men.
In terms of infant mortality rate and female primary
enrolment, Bangladesh is ahead of West Bengal, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh of India.
Progress towards achieving millennium
development goals (MDG) in Bangladesh is surprisingly on track. According to data on current trends, Bangladesh has either
met or is expected to meet most of the MDG targets. If right policies are pursued dedicatedly there is a good chance that
Bangladesh will reduce poverty by half by 2015.
Capacity has
been built, we are ready to go
Bangladesh has outstanding accomplishment in reducing child labour. According
to UNICEF, percentage of child labour in Niger is the highest (66 percent). Bangladesh has one of the lowest percentages (7
percent). Nepal is 31 percent, India 13 percent.
The list of our accomplishments is long and very impressive. We notice
the admiring eyes of international delegates focused on Bangladeshi delegates when we attend international conferences, be
it microcredit, disaster management, health, education, renewable energy, environment, women empowerment, or child labour.
When
we visit capitals of SAARC countries we are always asked: “How did you do it? What must we do to catch up with you?”
I
am not saying that Bangladesh is on top of everything. Far from it. Our list of failures is much longer than the list of successes.
I bring up the list of successes to point out how wrong we are when we throw up our hands in the air to say in frustration
that we’ll never make it. This list of successes will convince anybody that not only will we make it, we have already
made it in many respects, and will do better than many others around us, and like us.
Good news that comes out
from these successes is that we have created the capacity to address all our problems roundly and solidly. Not only we have
gained self-confidence, we are ready to earn the confidence of the world. Soon a Bangladeshi passport can bring out admiration
and respect from others, rather than suspicion and disrespect.
It is hard work to score points in respectability.
It is easy to lose points. One tiny incident, one tiny misstep, one tiny callous decision can push us down quite a bit in
respectability. Let us hold on to what we already have, and add to it, as much as we can. It is our very precious capital
in facing the world.
Tremendous energy waiting to be mobilised
World
is changing very fast. If we are late by a day we’ll fall behind by years. We have come a long way and we are ready
to go forward with speed. Bangladesh has the fire in her belly to keep pace with her giant neighbours. Let us not allow ourselves
to slow down. We need the right politics and the right leadership to mobilise the tremendous energy in Bangladeshi young people.
Let
us think and work hard to make it happen.
