After Class

Speakonomics "Bangladesh Economoy- The Warning Bells"

The team of NSUYEF.

Rubana Shifat

Young Economists' Forum (YEF) of North South University organised its first event of the year, SPEAKONOMICS, on the 4th of March, 2012, based on the topic "Bangladesh Economy- The Warning Bells". Recent matters of foreign direct investment, manpower, inflation, depreciation of local currency, real estate and so on are understood to have relatively strong effects on the Bangladesh economy, and thus are affecting the performance of our nation on international grounds. Speakonomics, a somewhat distinctive form of a regular seminara public speaking competitionis based solely on speeches concerning economic-related issues. Needless to say, YEF's launch of this new project aimed to provide further insight and information regarding these issues and propose solutions to resolve these matters.

Under this wide theme of discussion, five issues were specified, namely Dwindling Foreign Direct Investment- Are we losing out on precious foreign investment? ; Manpower Export- Will skills matter in the near future? ; Rising Inflation- Implications for Bangladesh; Depreciating Taka- Effects on the Foreign Exchange Reserve; Real Estate Boom and Rising Land Prices- What lies ahead? Five different participants, Adit Hasan Khan, Mohammad Kashif Choudhury, Mohammad Mashnun Hossain, Sahel Fardeen Faez and Samanta Farahnaz, individually spoke on the issues, dictating informative speeches about the past situations that existed in the country, current conditions that are ruling and what the upcoming state of affairs may be. Several segments and portions of data were demonstrated while topics such as development of social and physical infrastructure to increase substantial foreign direct investment, improving skills of labor to increase manpower export, development projects to help reduce the price of real estate, remittance and foreign aid packages to help alter the domestic currency were brought into light by the participants.

The panel of experts consisted of of Dr A K M Atiqur Rahman, Dean of School of Arts and Social Sciences, North South University, Mr Syeed Ahamad, CEO, Institute of Informatics and Development and Dr Selim Rayhan, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics, Dhaka University. They judged each of the participants' speeches with strict evaluation and assessment. In addition, they provided their knowledge and invaluable insights regarding each of the six topics, in relation to the participants' speeches. Dr A K M Atiqur Rahman fervently discussed each of the issues of concern, presenting a vast amount of information from his own experiences as well. Mr Syeed Ahamad spoke of "Portfolio investments" and "Stagnation" and appreciated the correlation among the issues. Dr Selim Rayhan articulated the strategic liberation of the economy, remittance of Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs), and lastly, stated that "Electricity at a high price or no electricity" and such, are actually short term measures to be decided by economists.

All three of the experts were highly impressed and expressed their appreciations at the performances by the participants. At the end, however, there could be only one best speaker. The Best Speaker, chosen by securing the highest percentage of points granted by the experts, was Mohammad Mashnun Hossain who spoke on the issue of real estate. He was awarded a crest handed over by Dr Selim Rahman.

The Young Economists' Forum, a student club at North South University, seeks to establish a platform for undergraduate students and allows them to gain recognition. It organises events to extend awareness of economic issues enveloping the world. It strives on the belief that it is the students of today who will become the leaders of tomorrow.