Eminent economist Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud and Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Latifur Rahman co-chaired the third expert group consultation meeting on 'Vision 2021 for Bangladesh: Goal 3: To be a Poverty-mitigated Middle-income Country' at Cirdap auditorium in the capital yesterday.

It is very natural that the political leadership will make commitments about building a prosperous Bangladesh ahead of the general elections but the main challenge is how to make these commitments trustworthy to the people, Prof Mahmud said.

Creating mass awareness will put a sort of pressure on political leadership so that building a prosperous Bangladesh cannot remain merely a slogan, he said.

"We have to address corruption and make different public institutions creditable," he said, adding, "It is very essential to make public bodies like Election Commission and Public Service Commission credible."

Citing the example of Vietnam, he said a right development strategy has to be identified to become a middle-income country.

There should not be any poverty in the country by 2021, Prof Rehman Sobhan, chairman of Centre for Policy Dialogue, said at the meeting.

Stressing the need for a structural transformation of Bangladesh economy, he said Bangladesh's asset is its population and there is an unlimited opportunity for labour-intensive industries here.

Bangladesh itself can be a big market for its products if there is no poverty, and after a certain period the labour-intensive industries can also start exporting in the global market, he said.

Mexico showed the benefit of sitting at the doorstep of a big economy like the US, Prof Sobhan said, adding, "We are also at the doorstep of China and we need to take the advantage of it."

Echoing the same voice, MCCI President Latifur Rahman said, "We are sitting at the doorstep of big economy China and even India cannot ignore us."

"The main strength of China is its huge domestic market. Lots of industries can be set up if there is a domestic market and later they can start exporting to other countries," he said.

The MCCI president strongly opposed the proposal of bringing black money into the market.

He stressed the importance of building necessary infrastructure including electricity and road for attracting investment.

Earlier, making a presentation on 'Vision 2021 for Bangladesh: Goal 3: To be a Poverty-mitigated Middle-income Country,' Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of CPD, said productivity will need to be increased through new research, extension, mechanised cultivation and crop diversification.

Vision 2021 for Bangladesh greatly differs from the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper as the former has a long-term planning, includes recommendations from the grass-roots level and emphasises accountability of the political parties, he said.

Debapriya also emphasised accelerated growth in the industry and service sectors, an improved investment climate, increased global market access by Bangladeshi firms, diversified export base, effective urban planning, sound financial institutions, greater financial depth and a skilled workforce.

Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, president of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), said, "We are doing well in remittance income but progress about export diversification has been very little."

It is very difficult to say whether readymade garment products can survive in the near future against the backdrop of downward trend of prices in the global market, he said.

He suggested solving the power crisis.

Dr Rushidan Islam Rahman of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) stressed the need for substantial improvement in education and health service and reducing inequality between the rich and the poor.

Dr Sazzad Zahir of BIDS underscored the need for developing knowledge-based industry and developing transparency in utilising resources.

BEA General Secretary Abul Barakat urged the meeting to think about whether it is possible to bring huge amount of black money in the country into productive sector.

KMH Shahidul Haque, director of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the chamber will be involved with the Nagorik Committee initiative.

Nagorik Committee 2006 is organising separate expert group consultation sessions for each of eight goals it identified for Vision 2021 for Bangladesh. The eight goals are: i) To become a participatory democracy, ii) To have an efficient, publicly accountable and transparent government, iii) To become a poverty-mitigated middle-income country, iv) To have a skilled and a creative workforce, v) To become a health-endowed nation, vi) To be globally integrated and become a regional hub, vii) To be environmentally sustainable and viii) To have a more equitable society.

4th Expert Group Consultation today Nagorik Committee 2006 organises its fourth Expert Group Consultation session on the Vision 2021 for Bangladesh at 2:30pm today at Cirdap Auditorium in the capital.