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The next eighth five-year plan (FYP) is set to deal with multiple challenges to be faced by Bangladesh after its graduation to a middle-income status in 2024.
A review meeting on the apex national planning document was told last September.
The eighth FYP will be implemented from fiscal year (FY) 2020-21 to FY 2024-25.
Principal coordinator for sustainable development goal (SDG) affairs Md Abul Kalam Azad chaired the event at planning commission.
United Nations resident coordinator Mia Seppo, General Economics Division (GED) member (senior secretary) Dr Shamsul Alam, secretaries, senior ministry officials and representatives from allied agencies attended the meeting.
The eighth FYP will be implemented at a time when Bangladesh would graduate from its least developed country (LDC) status, said an Economic Relations Division (ERD) official.
As business environment will change significantly after the graduation, there is a need for adopting strategies to cope with the challenges, he added.
Cheap loan facility will no more last after graduation alongside some barriers in shipment in terms of imposing higher duties, the official cited.
Government representatives and development partners discussed at the meeting the country’s upcoming graduation, he told the FE.
The official said, “We’ve highlighted the key challenges that the country may face during and after its LDC graduation and what measures the government is taking to this effect.”
The government will also pay a special attention to its development goals for further economic uplift in the next FYP.
Mr Azad told the meeting that “A paradigm shift is necessary in development planning as the mode of business environment is changing in line with the present day’s necessity.”
He sought more aggressive and proactive steps to fulfil the demand of modern age as the eighth FYP has to cope with the LDC graduation challenges.
“The basis of the plan will quicken the country’s prosperity and inclusive growth considering long-term plans like Vision-2041, Delta Plan-2100 and the government’s election manifesto,” said Mr Alam.
The plan will take care of GDP growth, employment generation, structural transformation, resource mobilisation, acceleration of private investment and women empowerment, financial sector reformation, climate change and sustainable development.
source-FE