Dhaka Thursday February 25, 2010

Economic diplomacy: Awaiting thrust

Muhammad Zamir
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Star File Photo

The Centre for Policy Dialogue recently arranged a public lecture on the current pace of growth in Bangladesh and concluded that we will need at least 23 more years to graduate to a lower middle income country from the status of a least developed country. It was also mentioned that if the average growth rate continued at around 5.9 per cent, it might take longer and the graduation could take place around 2047.

Such a prospective outlook is disappointing and raises the question as to whether we can reduce this expected time frame through a more active process of economic diplomacy whereby resources and investment could be generated at a faster pace.

The analysis raised several implications not only for our policy planners but also underlined many serious tasks ahead for the government.

Pursuing economic diplomacy is however easier said than done. It will have to be undertaken on a bi-partisan basis and through consensus arrived at within the Parliament. This will then assure stability in the long run and foster confidence among prospective investors. For a change, politicians will have to measure up to the understanding that national interest outweighs partisan politics. Only this will enable the positive branding of our country abroad.

It will then help our Missions to present Bangladesh as a country with potential, a nation based on democratic norms, a state where there is due process of law and respect for equity and equal opportunity irrespective of creed or background. It will help to create trust and credibility.

After this realisation come several steps. There is the need for acceptance of the premise of connectivity. I believe that such action pre-supposes our political parties agreeing to the premise of economic linkages within our region and also the sub-region. This will mean enhancing cooperation in agreed areas that will promote complementarity and preference. This will not be an easy task and will require change of our mindset. This will then enable us to emerge as the proverbial buckle in the belt that binds the nations in South Asia with those in the ASEAN and also in the Far East. We would of course need to use more effectively the possibilities created by SAARC and BIMSTEC. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in such a situation could play an instrumental part.

I believe that time has come for us to move forward on matters of economic development by identifying the least common denominators that can promote trade and investment. Our government is taking the right step towards an open-ended import and export of electricity where power can be purchased from private and public sectors in India and also obtained from Bhutan. This will be based on availability, need and price. This will facilitate in job creation within the sub-region.

We can now move on to the other steps.

We all know that the different branches of government determine their own focal points, co-relate interaction within a broad paradigm and then allocate tasks and priority. The eventual aim is however the same-economic development and the achievement of a better standard of living for the common population. This process however needs identification of stakeholders and also strategic planning.

At this juncture one needs to carefully consider what role our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our diplomatic Missions abroad can play in achieving the central goals mentioned above. This assumes particular importance given the fact that disparate individuals from different backgrounds are sent abroad to function within one institution.

Similar to other countries, most of our larger diplomatic Missions have representatives from other branches of government. Some of them are charged with the responsibility of looking after the promotion of trade, economic investment and accessing to multilateral assistance. In some cases we also have specialized officials responsible for dealing with the different aspects related to migrant workers. Such a matrix consequently produces the demand for cooperation and effective coordination.

This will only be possible by avoiding certain irresponsible features- posting of individuals abroad due to partisan interests, health carte or educational needs. There will also have to be the practical recognition that there is need for the individual to be able to articulate national interest not only in English but also preferably in the local language spoken in the host country. This will assist in meaningful professional representation and safeguarding of our interests (especially in the migrant worker sector). Learning foreign languages will facilitate the removing of misunderstandings. USA, members of the European Union, India and almost all countries in South east Asia and the Far East practice this principle and have greatly benefited from it.

At the same time, our relevant authorities should take steps to make available in our Mission copies of our important fiscal rules, tariff structures and regulations pertaining to trade and investment in the major UN languages. Every Mission should also have its own web page where up-to-date digitalized information should be available for downloading if necessary.

We should learn from South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore about how to facilitate economic diplomacy. If necessary, we should also ask the Asian Development Bank to help train our designated officials associated with the economic sector. Their association might help us to improve our standards.

Another area pertaining to economic diplomacy is exposure of our potential and the significant strides already taken in manufacturing. Our Export Promotion Bureau and our Ministry of Commerce need to improve their performance in this regard.

Every diplomatic Mission should be able to showcase existing opportunity for investment in Bangladesh through display centers in our respective diplomatic Chanceries. Unfortunately, we have not been serious enough in this regard. The few display areas that are presently in existence are poorly managed and the selection of items leaves a lot to be desired.

The only way out of this deplorable situation is to have a more effective private-public sector partnership under the overall monitoring of the Head of the diplomatic Mission. Our different Chambers of Commerce and manufacturing (the FBCCI, the MCCI, the DCCI, the BGMEA, the BKMEA, the manufacturers of leather goods, exporters of agro-processed products and pharmaceuticals) should take it upon themselves to select twenty capitals where we have diplomatic representation and set up display centers of selected products (with the greatest possibility of import by that host country) in cooperation with the Export Promotion Bureau. If space is inadequate within the Chancery then additional space could be rented for this purpose. The private sector should consider the non-recurring and recurring expenditure arising out of the running of such display centers as part of its marketing effort. The Indian Tea Board has for some time maintained its separate presence in several world capitals to promote its product and they have done very well through this exercise.

I have highlighted only a few factors. One hopes that there will be seriousness in implementing the tasks ahead. We have to make the effort and raise our rate of growth. A more dynamic approach will be required for garnering scarce resources in this global climate of competition. We have to build the necessary infrastructure that will facilitate development. We will also have to assure others that we have managed to rid ourselves of the festering evils of corruption and mis-governance. We also have to enhance the skill levels of our available human resources. That will, in turn expand economic opportunities.

Despite the many difficulties and a growing population, we have to still aim for 2021 to achieve our desired transition to a low middle income country. We have to make that happen and prove CPD's time frames wrong.

The author is a former secretary and ambassador.

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