Quarterly. the editor s desk. Supply of Adequate Inputs Vital to Achieve Boro Target Says CPD Dialogue. Centre for Policy Dialogue Bangladesh

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1 January - March 2008 Vol VII Issue 1 Centre for Policy Dialogue Bangladesh Quarterly the editor s desk A major event during the first quarter of the year 2008 was the visit of the four member CPD team to Geneva to gain insights into the ongoing Doha Round negotiations in the WTO. The team met high level WTO officials and representatives of China, Brazil, Canada, EU, USA and Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the WTO, Debapriya Bhattacharya. On return, CPD held a press conference following which a report was submitted to the Ministry of Commerce highlighting major issues of concerns and interests to Bangladesh in the context of the ongoing WTO negotiations. During this quarter CPD organised a number of dialogues on important issues. In view of the two consecutive natural disasters last year - Floods and 'Sidr' - ensuring food security for those most hardly affected emerged as a major concern. CPD organised a dialogue titled "Input Service Delivery for Higher Boro Production" where speakers suggested that supply of adequate inputs to the farmers, at the appropriate time, along with close monitoring of the system for fertiliser distribution would be vital to achieve the Boro production target. Appreciating the significance of the problem of growing regional inequality over the past few years, CPD conducted a study with support from UNDP, findings of which were presented at a dialogue during this quarter. The dialogue discussed various factors contributing to rising inequality. Among others lacks of infrastructural, support and communication facilities was cited as a major factor responsible for regional inequality in Bangladesh. The finance advisor informed the dialogue participants that the government was seriously looking into the issue and was planning to increase sector-wise allocation in the less developed regions in the next national budget. Under the same programme CPD organised a training programme on "WTO and Bangladesh Trade Policy" for young university teachers and trainers. Apart from enhancing knowledge and understanding about multilateral trading system, this training was expected to help participants introduce specialised courses on "WTO and Bangladesh" in their respective departments and training institutes. CPD released its study on the "State of the Bangladesh Economy during first six months of FY " to the press in the early part of this quarter. The CPD analysis pointed out some of the positive developments in the economy, as also a number of disquieting features. The study also identified a number of challenges that needed to be addressed in the latter half of FY2008. (from left) Uttam Kumar Deb, A M M Shawkat Ali, Rehman Sobhan, C S Karim, Quazi Shahabuddin, Begum Matia Chowdhury, and Mustafizur Rahman. Supply of Adequate Inputs Vital to Achieve Boro Target Says CPD Dialogue The ambitious production target of Boro such as seeds, fertiliser, irrigation and rice output for this season is achievable if agriculture credit will be required to timely availability of farm inputs are achieve this target. The study reported ensured and all the government agencies irrigation to be the major challenge in the coordinate effectively with their full dry season. It also informed the dialogue capacities, according to the participants of about the farmers concern on the high cost the dialogue titled Input Delivery Strategy of diesel, as the pump owners were already for Higher Boro Production. The dialogue pressing higher charges for water. But he was organised by the CPD at CIRDAP also mentioned about a decision by the Auditorium in Dhaka, on 9 February government to provide Tk 7.5 billion funds Chaired by CPD Chairman Rehman as subsidy to the farmers on diesel for Sobhan, the dialogue was addressed by irrigation purpose aiming to boost the rice the Advisor to the Ministries of Agriculture production and overcome the shortfall of local food production. and Water Resource C S Karim, and Advisor A M M Shawkat Ali also agreed Advisor to the Ministries of Health & with the speaker that the Boro rice Family Welfare and Food & Disaster production target is achievable provided Management A M M Shawkat Ali as the timely delivery of all inputs are ensured for Special Guests. Director General of the farmers. Along with supply of Bangladesh Institute of Development adequate electricity and diesel for Studies Quazi Shahabuddin was present irrigation, he said, agricultural credit has to at the dialogue as the Guest of Honour. be disbursed to the real farmers. Tight Uttam Kumar Deb, Head of Research monitoring system for fertiliser distribution Division of CPD presented the keynote is an essential condition to reach the paper. He said that the consecutive natural benefits to the farmers, the Advisor added. disasters last year floods and Sidr have Advisor C S Karim shared his experiences affected the national food security of visiting the fields of different districts situation, when about 20 lakh tonnes of and said that the government has full rice were destroyed. The government has preparation to meet the requirements of set a target of producing 1.75 crore tonnes the farmers. But he, at the same time, of rice in 45 lakh hectares of land in the hoped that there wont be any natural current Boro season as against the calamities during this period. production of 1.50 crore tonnes of last Responding to the demand for farmers for year. According to the study, Boro paddy open market operation to avert fertiliser has so far been planted only in two-thirds crisis, Z Karim, former Secretary, of the targeted areas and nineteen districts Government of Bangladesh, commented if are still below the target. The speaker the fertiliser market is open, there would noted that extra efforts for supply of inputs (Continued on page 5)

2 CENTRE FOR POLICY DIALOGUE (CPD) A CIVIL SOCIETY THINK - TANK Government is Keen to Develop Infrastructure to Reduce Regional Inequality Says Advisor at CPD Dialogue "The government is keen to develop infrastructure to reduce the inter-regional disparity and bring about a balance in development across the country" said Finance & Planning Advisor A B Mirza Azizul Islam while addressing the participants at a CPD dialogue as the Chief Guest. The dialogue titled Addressing Regional Inequalities: Policy Options & Strategies was jointly organised by CPD and UNDP at the CIRDAP Auditorium, Dhaka on 28 February Two separate studies on the subject, titled Growth, Income Inequality and Poverty in Bangladesh: Implications for Development Strategy, and Regional Inequality Issues in Bangladesh: Public Expenditure were presented at the dialogue by Uttam Kumar Deb, Head of Research Division, CPD and Chowdhury Shamem Mahmoud, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, North South University, respectively. While making his presentation Deb noted that growth of GDP, inequality and poverty are closely related. He stated that the country s overall GDP growth rate has improved but regional inequality has deteriorated from The study results show that the gross domestic product (GDP) had increased by 2.4 times between and from US$ billion to $ billion whereas the incidence of poverty declined from 56.6 per cent in to 40 per cent in Presently, poverty rate is highest in Barisal with 52 per cent, followed by Rajshahi (51.2%) and Khulna (45.7%). Referring to the analysis of poverty increase Mustafizur Rahman speaks, while Ainun Nishat, Mahabub Hossain, Mirza Azizul Islam, Rehman Sobhan, Jafar Ahmed Chowdhury, Manoj Basnyat, and Quazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed pay attention. in different regions, the study said poverty has increased in 11 regions - Bogra, Dhaka, Jamalpur, Jessore, Khulna, Noakhali, Pabna, Patuakhali, Rajshahi, Rangamati and Tangail. Lack of developed infrastructure, communication facilities, industrialisation, availability of power, easy access to education - are responsible for poverty increase in those regions. Poverty, however, has decreased in nine regions - Barisal, Chittagong, Comilla, Dinajpur, Faridpur, Kushtia, Mymensingh, Rangpur and Sylhet. The paper by Mahmoud suggested that in public expenditure allocation Bangladesh has some in-built regional inequality features, which if not addressed properly, may have adverse consequences for the homogenous development of the country, in the long run. The Chief Guest informed the dialogue that the government is planning to increase the sectorwise allocation in the less developed regions of the country in next fiscal year s budget. Considering the importance, the government has taken steps to construct a bridge over Padma River and a second bridge over the Jamuna. These steps will not only improve the regional inequality situation, it will also help improve the poverty situation in Khulna and Barisal regions. However, there must be a linkage between allocation and implementation, the Advisor said. He also noted that the private sectors have an important role to play in this respect. Government will support the private sector through energy and power supply and infrastructural development. He also mentioned this to be a long-term predicament which will not be possible to resolve by this short-term government. He expressed his hope that the succeeding government will also put a lot of emphasis on reducing disparity. Mahabub Hossain, Executive Director of BRAC, however, pointed out that socioeconomic disparity is more alarming than regional inequality. Other speakers noted that for a low income country like Bangladesh for achieving growth target, increase in regional inequality to some extent is quite inevitable and the same trend is observed in the entire South Asia region. Participants also stressed the need for developing special economic zones and agro-industrial complexes with focus on small and medium enterprises to address the regional disparity. Chaired by CPD Chairman Rehman Sobhan the dialogue was also addressed by Jafar Ahmed Chowdhury, Secretary, Planning Division as Special Guest, and Quazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed, PSKF Managing Director, and Ainun Nishat IUCN Country Representative as Discussants. CPD Participation in International Seminar in Geneva With the objective of evolving a strategy as regards how the LDCs should position themselves in the penultimate phases of negotiations of the Doha Development Round (DDR), the CPD, in cooperation with International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) organised a dialogue titled Doha Development Round: LDCs in the End Game, at the Hotel Suisse Majestic, Montreux, Switzerland, during March A four-member delegation from the CPD consisting of Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, Uttam Kumar Deb, Head of Research Division, Fahmida Khatun, Senior Research Fellow, and Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Fellow participated in the dialogue. The two-day dialogue was divided into six thematic sessions: Scenarios for Doha Development Agenda and their Development Implications for the LDCs; Market Access; Agriculture, Food Security and Commodities: LDCs Interests and Options for Modalities on Commodities; LDCs and Preference Erosion; Cotton: Ensuring Doha is a Development Round; Services Negotiation: Mode 4 and LDC Modalities; and WTO Rules on Fisheries Subsidies: Anti-dumping. CPD Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman gave a presentation on NAMA February 2008 Draft: An LDC Perspective, where he emphasised the importance of implementation of the DF-QF decisions of the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting, and also highlighted concerns related to preference erosion, Rules of Origin and trade related capacity building. The final session of the dialogue was an interactive discussion with a number of Ambassadors to the WTO. The session was moderated by H E Debapriya Bhattacharya, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the WTO and UN Offices in Geneva. Among others, this session was attended by H E Anthony Maruping, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Lesotho and Coordinator of the LDC Group; H E Arsene M Balihuta, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Uganda to the WTO; H E Don Stephenson, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Canada to the WTO and Chair of the NAMA Negotiations; H E Fernando De Mateo Y Venturini, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the WTO and Chair of the Services Negotiations; H E Alain Wuscher, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Guinea Bissau to the WTO; Richard Newfarmer, Special Representative to the UN and WTO, Geneva; Faizel Ismail, Head of South African Delegation to the WTO; H E Sun Zhenyu, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Peoples Republic of China to the WTO; H E Ujal Singh Bhatia, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of India to the WTO. Md Motaher Hussain, Economic Minister, Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the WTO and Andalib Elias, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the WTO in Geneva also participated in the dialogue, along with other senior officials, economists and experts from various organisations. CPD Quarterly 2 January - March 2008

3 CPD organised a dialogue titled The New Market Access Initiative of US Congress: Concerns and Interests of Bangladesh, on 11 February 2008 at CIRDAP Auditorium, Dhaka. Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, CPD presented the keynote paper. He started off by introducing the New Partnership Development Act CENTRE FOR POLICY DIALOGUE (CPD) A CIVIL SOCIETY THINK - TANK (NPDA) an initiative by the US Congress to provide Duty Free- Quota Free (DF-QF) market access for all exports from the LDCs and a number of low income Sub Saharan African countries. Bangladesh is a potential beneficiary of this initiative, he said. Since the NPDA 2007 includes market access for apparel products, and in view of the fact that at present Bangladesh does not enjoy DF-QF market access for these items in the US, this initiative is of crucial importance for our country s export competitiveness. CPD organised this dialogue to examine various provisions in the draft bill, discuss Bangladesh s concerns & interests in this context and suggest appropriate strategies to be pursued by Bangladesh to have the bill revised and subsequently passed by the US Congress. Hossain Zillur Rahman, the Advisor to the Ministries of Commerce and Education was the Chief Guest at the dialogue, and Mahbubur Rahman, President, ICC-B was present as the Guest of Honour. Among the discussants, were former Ambassador Farooq Sobhan, President of BEI, and Shirin Akhter, President, Karmojibi Nari. Lobbying for Duty-Free Access to US Market in Politically-Prudent Way is Urgent Observe Speakers at CPD Dialogue Rehman Sobhan addresses the dialogue while Mustafizur Rahman, Mahbubur Rahman, Hossain Zillur Rahman, Farooq Sobhan and Shirin Akhter look on. Mustafizur Rahman, also the Chief of the Technical Committee of Commerce Ministry formed for the passage of the bill suggested that the Bangladesh government should lobby with American policy makers in a politically prudent way to reap benefits from the new bill and they should do it before the current US administration expires to ensure the continuation of trade preferences, as a huge change to the bill is apprehended after the change in the US government. He also mentioned that the bill appears to have favored African countries and linked to human rights, labour standards and other non-trade issues. If the country s negotiating strategy lacks political reality, it will not bring positive results with a long-term sustainability as the United States has tied strategic issues to the NPDA 2007, he added. CPD Chairman Rehman Sobhan observed that access to the US market would be determined by political and strategic choices, rather than competitiveness. "Being the world s largest economy, the US is trying to use trade as a global strategic resource as it is no longer a dominant player on the foreign aid front", he added. Mahbubur Rahman said, with increasing free trade, LDCs have gradually been loosing their share of the global trade. He pointed out that there were a number of provisions that required review and modification and some of the conditions of this bill would be hard for Bangladesh to comply. He also criticised the nontrade aspects of the NPDA bill by saying that "USA did not sign the Keoto Protocol itself, but is imposing conditions on the Third World countries for controlling environmental pollution. " Shirin Akhter said although our labour law was sufficient to accommodate all the provisions of the bill, they were hardly implemented. Other speakers at the dialogue said that despite the overwhelming consensus regarding the core labour standards, there were a number of other issues that are not acceptable in its current form and would need to be modified and changed to appropriately accommodate the interests of the poor developing countries. Hossain Zillur Rahman, in his speech as Chief Guest said that the US bill is not a gift for the LDCs. This trade bill also has some political implications. It is not essential that Bangladesh will have to be included in the NPDA at any cost, he remarked Bangladesh s chances to get duty-free access to the US market largely depend on how the country addresses issues such as democracy, labour rights and human rights. (Continued on page 5) Rehman Sobhan receives Swadhinata Puraskar 2008 from the Chief Advisor. Rehman Sobhan awarded Swadhinata Puraskar 2008 CPD Chairman Rehman Sobhan has received the Swadhinata Puraskar 2008, the highest state award of Bangladesh. Sobhan was nominated in recognition of his outstanding contribution to research and training. Hon ble Chief Advisor of the Caretaker Government Fakhruddin Ahmed handed over the award at a state function at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city on March While speaking at the function, Rehman Sobhan underscored the urgency of establishing a moderate, democratic and equitable society dreamt by the people when they went to war for independence. The CPD family got together to felicitate its Chairman on the afternoon of the same day to share this glorious moment with him. CPD Quarterly 3 January - March 2008

4 CENTRE FOR POLICY DIALOGUE (CPD) A CIVIL SOCIETY THINK - TANK Bangladesh may not be able to achieve even last year s growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) of 6.5 per cent in the fiscal year mainly due to the damages caused by consecutive floods and cyclone Sidr, the CPD projected. Speaking at the press briefing on 10 January 2008, on the State of Bangladesh Economy in FY 2008 the CPD Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman stressed that the next six months will be a critical period for Bangladesh as its economy is coming under rising pressure in the form of higher domestic prices, higher import payments, sluggish export performance, stalled investment growth and pressure on the balance of trade and payments. CPD, however, lauded the government for successfully handling the relief operations after floods and Sidr last year, good currency reserve and flow of remittances. It also hailed the institutional reforms including establishment of a regulatory reform commission, separation of judiciary and the proposed coal policy and consumer Next Six Months will be a Critical Period for Bangladesh CPD Observes in their Assessment Report Mustafizur Rahman is briefing the press accompanied by Uttam Kumar Deb and Fahmida Khatun. protection acts. To get out of the trap of high inflation rate of rice, Rahman noted that there is no alternative but to increase domestic production at lower cost and suggested that the government should use unused block allocation for flood rehabilitation programme. Ensuring food security and social safety net, agricultural rehabilitation during Boro season, raising power generation and ensuring energy security, and coping with subsidies including petroleum prices are the challenges for the government ahead. He said the central bank needed to seriously consider using exchange rates as a tool to reduce inflationary pressure by reducing import prices. He, however, discouraged the government to use contractionary monetary policy to curb inflation. CPD Executive Director said it was a wrong decision of the caretaker government in the first half of the fiscal to shut down four state-owned jute mills, at a time when the importance of jute and jutegoods took an upturn. "We do not know whether there was a study conducted before closing these mills or not", said Mustafizur Rahman. CPD was also against any upward revision of fuel prices right now considering inflationary pressure. It might, however, be needed in the near future to reduce government subsidy, Rahman added. Research Head Uttam Kumar Deb, Senior Research Fellow Fahmida Khatun, and Research Fellow Khondaker Golam Moazzem were also present at the briefing organised at the CPD office in Dhaka. Training Programme on WTO & Bangladesh Trade Policy A two-week "Training Programme on WTO and Bangladesh Trade Policy" was organised by the CPD during 30 January to 12 February CPD as a part of its programme for capacity building in trade related research and academic works implemented this course in collaboration with UNDP. A total of 22 junior teachers and trainers from various public and private universities and training institutes participated in this programme. The overall objective of this training programme was to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the participants with regard to multilateral trading system, WTO architecture and decision NPDA Steering Committee Meeting Participants at the Training Programme on WTO & Bangladesh Trade Policy making process, ongoing negotiations in WTO, regional trading arrangements, Bangladesh s concerns and interests in the context of the global & bilateral trading systems and Bangladesh s trade policy. Apart from CPD researchers the resource persons for this workshop included Suhel Ahmed Chowdhury, Former Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce and Mostafa Abid Khan, Joint Chief, Bangladesh Tariff Commission. Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, CPD distributed certificates of achievements among the participants. Shaila Khan, Assistant Country Director of UNDP was also present on this occasion. To Examine the NPDA 2007 from Bangladesh s and identify Bangladesh s interests and concerns, the Ministry of Commerce, Government of Bangladesh constitued a Technical Committee of Trade Experts with Executive Director, CPD, Mustafizur Rahman, as the convenor. The task of the committee was to (a) look at the various provisions of the proposed NPDA 2007 Bill; (b) review Bangladesh s ability to comply with the provisions of the Bill, and (c) come up with recommendations for future course of actions. After several discussion meetings a review report on the bill was prepared. Mustafizur Rahman presented the report at a meeting of the Steering Committee of NPDA 2007 held at the Ministry of Commerce on 31 January CPD Quarterly 4 January - March 2008

5 CENTRE FOR POLICY DIALOGUE (CPD) A CIVIL SOCIETY THINK - TANK Rehman Sobhan, Chairman Attended the meeting on Social Charter, organised by the Society for Democracy and Community Development, from 8-9 January 2008, in Amman, Jordan. Chaired a session at the Conference on The Landscape of Asian Integration, organised by Association of ASIA Scholars, from January 2008, in New Delhi, India. Attended the SACEPS Board and EC meetings, from 30 January-2 February 2008, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Participated at the Universal Health Entitlements on Kolkata Group Meeting, organised by Global Equity Initiative, Harvard University Pratichi Trust, India and UNICEF India, from February 2008, in Kolkata, India. Participated as a Member of the Advisory Committee Meeting of Ash Institute, at Harvard, on 31 March 2008, in Cambridge, Boston, USA. Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director Participated at the International Conference on SAARC: Towards Greater Connectivity, organised by India International Centre in collaboration with IPCS and Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF) from January 2008 in New Delhi, India. Attended the South Asian Regional Meeting of The America s Role in Asia project, organised by The Asia Foundation, from February 2008 in New Delhi, India. Participated at a workshop organised by Forum on the Future of Aid from February 2008 in Uganda. Visited programmes of SAARC Think-Tanks and NGO s in Europe, organised by KAF New Delhi, from 2-9 March 2008, in Berlin and Brussels. Made a presentation in Regional Trade Policy Course (RTPC), organised by WTO and National University of Singapore, from March 2008, in Singapore. Led the CPD Delegation for the WTO Tracking Mission to follow up on the development of the Doha Round Negotiations from March 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland. Presented a paper titled NAMA February 2008 Draft: An LDC Perspective, at the seminar on Doha Development Round: LDCs in the End Game, organised by ICTSD, CPD and AERC, from March 2008, in Montreux, Switzerland. Anisatul Fatema Yousuf, Director, Dialogue and Communication Made a presentation on Influencing Policies through Policy Dialogue: A Case Study of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), at the International Symposium on Dialogue Process, organised by Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP), from March 2008, in New Delhi, India. Participated at the Second International Meeting of the Global CPD professionals abroad Network of Government Innovators, organised by ASH Institute, Harvard from March 31 - April 2, 2008, in Cambridge, USA. Uttam Kumar Deb, Head of Research Presented a paper titled Rice Policies in Bangladesh: Evolution and Impact (jointly with Dr Mahabub Hossain), at the Forum on Rice Policy Research: Key Issues from National Perspectives, organised by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), from February 2008, in Los Banos, Philippines. Participated in the WTO Tracking Mission to follow up the development of the Doha Round Negotiations from March 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland. Participated at the seminar on Doha Development Round: LDCs in the End Game, organised by ICTSD, CPD and AERC, from March 2008, in Montreux, Switzerland. Fahmida Khatun, Senior Research Fellow Participated at the International Seminar on Moving Towards Gender Sensitisation of Trade Policy, organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) India Programme, from February 2008, in New Delhi, India. Participated in the WTO Tracking Mission to follow up on the development of the Doha Round Negotiations from March 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland. Participated at the seminar on Doha Development Round: LDCs in the End Game, organised by ICTSD, CPD and AERC, from March 2008, in Montreux, Switzerland. Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Fellow Participated in the WTO Tracking Mission to follow up on the development of the Doha Round Negotiations from March 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland. Participated at the seminar on Doha Development Round: LDCs in the End Game, organised by ICTSD, CPD and AERC, from March 2008, in Montreux, Switzerland. Kazi Mahmudur Rahman, Senior Research Associate Chaired a session titled Key Trade and Development Issues and the New Realities in the Geography of the World Economy, at a seminar on Pre-UNCTAD XII Civil Society Forum in Asia, organised by the CUTS-Hanoi Resource Centre, from 6-7 March 2008, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Asif Anwar, Research Associate Participated at two specialised short courses on Trade in Agriculture and International Trade Law & Development, organised by the Trade Policy Centre in Africa (TRAPCA), from 4-29 February 2008 in Arusha, Tanzania. Khaleda Akhter, Research Associate Participated at two specialised short courses on Trade in Agriculture and International Trade Law & Development, organised by the Trade Policy Centre in Africa (TRAPCA), from 4-29 February 2008 in Arusha, Tanzania. achieve boro target (from page 1) be no control on the prices and demand which would eventually lead to failure of increased subsidy to have impact on the marginal farmers. To encounter this situation, the government has increased the fertiliser distribution centres from 4, 500 to 16,000 this year, he added. C S Karim informed that although the government has a plan to give subsidy for diesel but it will not be given so early. Early release of subsidy would benefit the pump owners instead of the targeted farmers. Former Agriculturel Minister, Begum Matia Chowdhury however opposed the government decision and strongly recommended that subsidy should be released to the farmers now as they would need it to purchase different inputs, including diesel. Experts, economists, researchers, agri scientists and officials of government and non-governmental organisations spoke on the occasion. duty-free access (from page 3) The Congress will consider a country s stand on these issues for its inclusion in a new trade facility. The Advisor informed that the government is conducting a study on standard labour practices in various industrial production units in Bangladesh. The Advisor said so far Bangladesh has not been able to speak in one voice about the expected outcomes of this bill. Hamid Rashid, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs remarked that the proposed bill is designed to protect US economic interests, not a charity. He said Bangladesh might propose to import a portion of the US fabric and cotton, which would be part of the quid pro quo. Regarding actions taken by the Foreign Ministry, he said it would be sending letters personally signed by the Advisor to each of the 435 US Congressmen, besides activating the Bangladesh Missions in Africa to bring them on board to support Bangladesh s inclusion. CPD Quarterly 5 January - March 2008

6 CENTRE FOR POLICY DIALOGUE (CPD) A CIVIL SOCIETY THINK - TANK A press briefing titled "Insights from CPD s Geneva Tracking Mission 2008" was organised by CPD at its office on 29 March The briefing was based on a report prepared by the team members of CPD Geneva Tracking Mission who visited Geneva, Switzerland during March Undertaken as part of the CPD s Trade Related Research and Policy Development (TRRPD) programme, the purpose of the Tracking Mission was to assess Bangladesh s potential gains & losses from the ongoing Doha Round Negotiations of WTO. The insights from the visit were expected to contribute to the design of Bangladesh s policy stance. While briefing the press about the aforesaid visit CPD Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman informed that the WTO ministerial meeting to be held in mid June in Geneva might take a decision for reducing agriculture subsidy by the developed countries. Such a move will trigger further hike in global food grain prices, making cereals further costlier for net food importing countries like Bangladesh. CPD hosted a consultative meeting to discuss a study titled "Entrepreneurship and Trade Facilitation: Unleashing the Potentials of SMEs in Bangladesh" on 3 March 2008 at CPD office. The study has been initiated by CPD in collaboration with the Evian Group of International Institute of Management Development (IMD) based in Geneva, Switzerland. The objective of the study is to identify various private sector initiatives in Bangladesh that are conductive to growth and are benefiting the population at large as well as to change at the policy level. Major focuses are to explore some ideas about the mechanisms that work as catalyst for change in Bangladesh, what are the entrepreneurial dynamics making a difference at the local level and how replicable are they, and what constructive examples of private-public initiatives can be identified to serve as models to improve the functioning of institutions towards pro-poor growth etc. The CPD Briefs the Press on Return from Geneva Tracking Mission Mustafizur Rahman is addressing the press while senior CPD researchers pay attention. He suggested that Bangladesh should raise its voice for foreign assistance in the form of aid for trade and should use the fund only to implement big infrastructure projects like Mongla sea port and Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. The ongoing WTO negotiations, in Geneva on the Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) are likely to result in a substantially changed scenario with respect to the competitiveness of Bangladesh s exports in the developed countries. About the country s Group Meeting on Entrepreneurship and Trade Facilitation meeting was arranged to coincide with the visit of Jean-Pierre Lehmann, Professor of International Political Economy, IMD and the Founding Director of Evian Group and Karine Zufferey, the project leader for Bangladesh study. Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Fellow, CPD made a presentation titled Small and Medium Enterprises of Bangladesh: Challenges Faced by the Entrepreneurs, based on literature review. His presentation included the current situation of SMEs in Bangladesh and challenges of business facilitation faced by SMEs. Kamal Quadir, the CEO of Cell Bazaar made a presentation on Decentralising Power and Dynamics of Change: Technology and Development. He narrated his experience of initiating and running the organisation in the light of issues raised by Lehmann during his introductory remark. The meeting identified nine sectors CPD Board of Trustees Meeting Held export promotion abroad, the team suggested that Dhaka should pursue a commercially meaningful market access under the duty-free quota-free provision by formulating realistic strategies so that the developed countries take positive measures in this regard. Bangladesh should work seriously on capacity building of its manpower to become a beneficiary of Mode-4 (temporary movement of natural persons) under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Proposals for market access of low and medium skilled professionals need to be designed for this mode, Rahman added. The CPD delegation included Uttam Kumar Deb, Head of Research, Fahmida Khatun, Senior Research Fellow and Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Fellow, CPD. The team members held discussions with the high level WTO officials as well as representatives of China, Brazil, Canada, European Union, USA and Bangladesh s Permanent Representative to WTO, H.E Debapriya Bhattachrya. in Bangladesh which have potentials to work as engines for growth and growth with social inclusion, namely, RMG, agro-based and agro-processing, poultry, tourism, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, telecommunication, leather goods, and software development. Among others Muzammel Huq, Managing Director of EDCL, Zaidi Sattar, World Bank Consultant and Uttam Kumar Deb, Research Head of CPD, Luna Shamsuddoha, Chairman, Dohatech New Media participated at the meeting. On 5 March 2008, Jean-Pierre Lehmann met with the young researchers of Bangladesh at CPD to discuss the positive and negative aspects of globalisation for LDCs such as Bangladesh and its probable impact on our economy. Lehmann also discussed with them the historical process of globalisation, its influence on the modern era of political economy, and the role of major economic powers in the globalisation process. The 29th meeting of the CPD Board of Trustees (BOT) was held at its Dialogue Room on Tuesday 29 January The Board reviewed CPD s research, publication and dialogue activities at national, regional, and international levels during the period September January The Board expressed its satisfaction over the performance of the CPD. The CPD BOT approved the audit report of CPD s accounts for 2007 and budget for The meeting also discussed and approved CPD s research strategy and dialogue & publication plan for the year Presided over by Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, CPD, the BOT meeting was attended by CPD Trustees Anisuzzaman, Professor of Bangla, Dhaka University; Syed Manzur Elahi, Chairman, APEX Tannery; Nurul Haq, Former Member, Planning Commission; Khushi Kabir, Coordinator, Nijera Kori; Laila Rahman Kabir, Managing Director, Kedarpur Tea Company Ltd, M Syeduzzaman, Chairman, Bank Asia and Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, CPD and Member Secretary of the CPD Board. Anisatul Fatema Yousuf, Director, Dialogue and Communication Division, CPD attended the meeting on invitation. CPD Quarterly 6 January - March 2008

7 Newspaper Articles Publications Rahman, M RMG Sector of Bangladesh: Changes and Challenges. The Daily Star, Anniversary Issue: 17 February, Occasional Paper CENTRE FOR POLICY DIALOGUE (CPD) A CIVIL SOCIETY THINK - TANK Growth, Income Inequality and Poverty Trends in Bangladesh: Implications for Development Strategy Regional inequality is a growing concern in Bangladesh. A team of CPD researchers completed a study on "Growth, Income Inequality and Poverty Trends in Bangladesh: Implications for Development Strategy". The study analysed the nature, extent and trends in growth, poverty and income inequality in 64 districts of Bangladesh during 1995/ /06 period. It has also examined the relationship between economic growth, income inequality and poverty in Bangladesh. Based on the empirical findings the study has put forward some policy suggestions to foster growth, reduce income inequality and poverty in Bangladesh. The study was supported by the UNDP-Bangladesh office. Uttam Kumar Deb, Head of the Research Division, CPD led this study. Input Delivery Strategy for Higher Boro Production A team of CPD researchers led by Uttam Kumar Deb, Head of the Research Division, CPD prepared a research report titled Input Delivery Strategy for Higher Boro Production. As is known, Ministry of Agriculture, to offset the rice production loss caused by two consecutive floods and Sidr, set a target for Boro rice production in FY2007/08 as 1.75 crore metric tons of milled rice against actual production of 1.50 crore metric tons in FY2006/07 (i.e percent higher than last year). This report made a thorough review of the input (seed, fertilizer and irrigation) delivery situation with a view to suggest some policy measures to attain the targets of higher production of Boro rice. It tried to answer the following questions: Is this a realistic and achievable target? If so, what interventions are required? How to ensure fertilizer delivery and steady supply of electricity for irrigation? What would be the best method to implement the diesel subsidy programme, which was announced earlier by the government? Training Manual on WTO and Bangladesh Trade Policy Research Report A team of Trade Policy Researchers led by Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, CPD has developed a Training Manual on WTO and Bangladesh Trade Policy. The Manual is prepared in a manner so that it can be used as Text for one-semester course in the universities and may also be used in two-week intensive course on the topic. It includes 19 Training Modules, prepared with pre-defined learning objectives. These are on the following topics: An Introduction to the International Trading System and the WTO, Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Dispute Settlement Mechanism in the WTO, Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), WTO and Regional Trading Arrangements (RTAs), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures in the WTO, The Development Dimensions in the WTO, Special and Differential (S&D) Treatment in the WTO, WTO Negotiating Groups: An Introduction, A Guide to WTO Related Information, Evolution of Bangladesh s Trade Policy, Preferential Trading Arrangements (GSPs) Applicable for Bangladesh, Doha Work Programme and Hong Kong Outcome, and Current Status of the Doha Round Negotiation. Study on "Intra-regional Trade and Investment in South Asia: Country Investment Study, Bangladesh" In November, 2007, CPD has initiated a study titled "Intra-regional Trade and Investment in South Asia: Case of Bangladesh". In view of enactment of SAFTA since 2006, it is important to explore how much progress has been achieved as regards intra-regional trade and investment in South Asia, especially in the context of LDCs, like Bangladesh. The study, therefore, has tried to examine major changes in intra-regional trade and investment since 2006, and possible opportunities to enhance intra-regional investment in Bangladesh. The study is supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Fellow, CPD is the lead researcher of this study. Study on "Entrepreneurship and Trade facilitation in Bangladesh: Unleashing the Potentials of SMEs in a Regional Context" CPD in association with Geneva Trade and Development Forum (GTDF) lead by Evian Group at IMD, Switzerland is conducting a study on "Entrepreneurship and Trade Facilitation in Bangladesh: Unleashing the Potentials of SMEs in a Regional Context". The objectives of the study are to identify the mechanisms and drivers of change in the private entrepreneurial corporate sector impacting the effective implementation of national policy. As part of the study, a team of two researchers representing the Evian group namely Professor Jean-Pierre Lehmann of IMD and Karine Zufferey of Evian Group visited Dhaka during 2-8 March, 2008 to get an understanding on changes and challenges of development of SMEs in Bangladesh. CPD organsied two discussion meetings during their visit; a number of leading entrepreneurs, young researchers attended those meetings. Based on the feedback of those meetings as well as available secondary information, a research report entitled "Challenges of SMEs of Bangladesh towards Integrating with International Value Chain: Lessons Learnt from Successful SMEs" is being prepared. Draft report will be completed by the end of June, Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Fellow is the lead researcher of this study. OP 65: State of the Bangladesh Economy in FY2008 The paper focuses on three major areas while analysing the State of the Bangladesh Economy in FY2008. These are: a) performance of major macroeconomic correlates during first six months of the current fiscal year; b) outlook for the prospects of achieving the targets set for FY2008; and c) some of the major challenges facing the Caretaker Government as it moves towards the dead line set for holding the national elections by the end of The paper presented a report card of the macroeconomic performance in FY2008 for the first six months showing seven indicators of hope and eight indicators of disquiet. OP 66: Current WTO Negotiation Under Doha Round: Insights from CPD s Geneva Tracking Mission 2008 The paper is the output of a Tracking Mission to Geneva by senior CPD researchers. The paper makes an analysis of the state of play of negotiations at the WTO under the Doha Round as of March It takes stock of the emerging trends of negotiations in various areas, such as Agriculture, Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Aid for Trade, Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), etc. and seeks to project the possible outcomes. An attempt is also made to situate the interests and concerns of Bangladesh and other LDCs in this context. CPD Quarterly 7 January - March 2008

8 CENTRE FOR POLICY DIALOGUE (CPD) A CIVIL SOCIETY THINK - TANK Books KvUvgy we kƒ evsjv ki cvkvk wk mv c wzk c eyzv I P v j CPD stall at the Ekushey Boi Mela 2008 CPD has been participating in the Ekushey Boi Mela since This year also CPD put up a stall and the stall was inaugurated by its Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman on 4 February This year CPD has brought five new publications to the Boi Mela including two in Bangla. Published by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) House 40C, Road 11, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh, Mailing Address GPO Box 2129 Tel , Fax info@cpd.org.bd Website CPD Quarterly 8 January - March 2008