Live Correspondent: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today put forward five ideas to make a better Asia and said Bangladesh wants to resolve the Rohingya crisis through dialogues which is a lesson for the world to overcome chaos in a peaceful manner.

While placing the ideas in front of the Asian leaders to make a better Asia, Sheikh Hasina said, “As governments, we have played our part in helping make this possible. Let me share some ideas with you for your reflection.”

In the first idea, Sheikh Hasina said today’s world is confronted with challenges and conflicts in many ways. “So, we need to pledge to strengthen the world with greater openness, jointly address global challenges, safeguard fairness and justice and inject new impetus to cooperate using innovative ideas and measures,” she said.

The premier, in her second idea, stressed the need for partnership for economic development, saying, “Economies should take innovative practices surpassing alliances. Partnerships need to build on mutual trust and respect, common development and prosperity for a win-win strategy and to the benefit of people.”

In her third idea, she also said the Asian countries need to cooperate with each other in the spirit of openness, inclusiveness, equality, sharing benefits and joint contribution. In the fourth idea, Sheikh Hasina said Asia’s future will depend on a sustainable and balanced development, improving international order and establishing win-win international relations.

“We have to face development challenges collectively. We may pool together as a group to boost world peace and stability, promote a multi-polar world and protect legitimate rights and interests of developing countries,” she said.

Putting emphasis on connectivity, the premier said it is the dynamism of connectivity that forms the cornerstone for peace and prosperity around the world. Infrastructure, free trade and liberal investment give foundation to Asian development, she said.

“We have seen unprecedented levels of wealth and opportunity, rising life expectancy, greater access to education, falling infant mortality and reductions in absolute poverty on a scale which would once have been hard to imagine,” she continued.

On the Rohingya issue, Sheikh Hasina said despite severe limitations, Bangladesh offered shelter to over 1.1 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas as a responsible nation.

Mentioning that the future of the world lies in convergence of interests common to humanity, Sheikh Hasina said as a member of the global community, Bangladesh will continue to work with all friends and partners to ensure a stable and sustainable world order for the future generations.

“It gives me hope to see that despite many challenges and hardships confronting us globally, we have kept expanding the frontiers of knowledge, opening new horizons to step beyond the realms of mother earth and move towards a true space age,” she continued.

She came up with the opinion that the artificial intelligence and other technological marvels are complementing abilities of all manifold to reach greater heights of human civilization.

Recalling Japan’s recognition after independence, she said, “Bangladesh shares a special relationship with Japan that goes back to the days of our struggle for independence and Japan’s recognition of Bangladesh as an independent country on 10 February 1972.”

“We have had a growth rate averaging 6.6 percent in last one decade, and over 7 percent during the last three years. An 8.13 percent GDP growth is projected for this year,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has already attained all criteria to graduate from a least developed country to a developing one, and has a vision to become a middle income country by 2021 and developed one by 2041.

“As Bangladesh is now well set on its growth trajectory, I am confident that the economy will achieve double digit growth soon,” she mentioned.

Speaking about the implementation of the seventh five year plan 2016-2020 as a long term one to meet targets under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the premier said, “We are committed to ensuring that every citizen has a share in the benefits of our economic growth. Moreover, extensive social safety-net programmes ensure distribution of wealth.”

In this context, she also said that we are aware of the imperative to ensure food security and, therefore, prioritized on modernizing the agriculture sector. As a result, we are now self-sufficient in food production despite the population grew more than double since our
independence in 1971.

The premier said that because of that shift as well as policy support by the government, manufacturing sector, particularly readymade garments, leather, pharmaceuticals and ceramics industries, have witnessed significant growth which encouraged entrepreneurs to plan and start new ventures to support expansion of the industrial base of the country.

Terming private sector as the main engine of country’s economy, Sheikh Hasina said that the government attaches utmost priority to private entrepreneurship and investments, both domestic and foreign.

“To cater to the needs of investors, we are establishing 100 Special Economic Zones throughout the country, including one exclusively for Japanese investors. We have also set up several industrial parks to promote priority sectors such as ICT.”

She said that Bangladesh has one of the most liberal foreign investment regimes in South Asia. It includes, among others, legal protection of foreign investment, generous tax policy schemes and concessionary duty on import of machinery, she said.

Dhaka, 30 May (campuslive24.com)//MIH