Dhaka, Bangladesh (CU)_ According to Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Bangladesh would have become the fifth Asian Tiger in the next five years if the coronavirus pandemic had not caused economic losses. During a virtual meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement, he said, “If we had five more years, we would be the fifth Asian Tiger.” He expressed hopes saying the country will overcome the current pandemic situation. He added, “The economies of all the countries in the world have been damaged because of Covid-19, and so have we. Although the less. Hopefully we will be able to overcome this loss quickly.”
In response to a query about Bangladesh’s achievements in the 50 years since independence, he noted that Bangladesh had also achieved growth equivalent to the four Asian tigers, whose gross domestic products increased by 6, 7, and 8% in 30 years until 1990. In terms of development, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan are known as the four Asian Tigers. He said, “We were once the 80th largest economy in the world. And now the 41st country”.
The finance minister praised Bangladesh’s achievements in economic and social indicators over the last 50 years, saying, “We have achieved a lot in those indicators. When the Awami League came to power, Bangladesh was in the 80th place globally.” He continued, “We have already secured the recommendation for graduating from the LDC [Least Developed Country] status. Nowadays, no one refers to Bangladesh as an extremely poor country. Those who used to make negative comments against Bangladesh, are now seeing us in a positive light.”
Mustafa Kamal expressed his excitement about Bangladesh’s rapid growth in the past decades. He said, “Bangladesh’s economy moved forward at an exceptional pace in the last ten years before the Covid-19 crisis. Nations known as the Asian tigers had achieved GDP growth of 6%-8% during that period, and we managed to do the same”. He added, “International experts have been giving their opinions about the top fifty countries on the basis of analysis. Bangladesh previously never got evaluated because it was not in that list. But now, we are at the 41th position globally in terms of economy.”
