Bangladesh has transformed from an impoverished nation dependent on foreign aid to an economically self-sufficient powerhouse. The country has experienced sustained social, political, and economic development over the past three decades under its Vision 2021 plan to become a middle-income country by 2021. Annual GDP growth has averaged 6% while export and revenue growth have increased 15% and 20% respectively year-over-year. Ready-made garments account for most export revenues though industries like food, leather, ceramics, textiles, pharmaceuticals, ICT and shipbuilding are expanding. Bangladesh also sees potential in agriculture and reserves of natural gas and coal. The country aims to move up the value chain and unlock new opportunities for European investors

1. BANGLADESH:
The Demographic
Powerhouse
A NEW ERA
FOR
MEXICO

2. Attitudes towards Bangladesh are changing. No
longer dependent on foreign aid, the country’s
global position has transformed from impoverished
supplicant to self-sufficient powerhouse.
Industries are expanding and living standards rising
as the Government adheres to a pragmatic path to
middle-income status, called Vision 2021, by the
50th anniversary of the country’s independence
from Pakistan.

3. Investors ahead of the curve keeping track of the
South Asian nation are acutely aware that an
unquestionably promising future lies ahead,
underpinned by sustained social, political and
economic development over the past three decades
and a solid determination to make consistent, steady
progress.
Over the past decade, annual average GDP
expansion was 6 per cent, export growth was 15 per
cent and revenue growth was 20 per cent year on
year.

4. The ready-made garments industry accounts for
almost 78 per cent of export revenues. Other sectors
such as frozen food, leather, ceramics, home textile,
pharmaceuticals, ICT and shipbuilding are growing
and fertile agricultural land and substantial reserves
of natural gas and coal are of note. In June, the
Bangladesh Investment Summit held in London
“unlocked opportunities for European investors,”
says Mohamed Mijarul Quayes, High Commissioner
for Bangladesh to the UK, and showcased “the wide,
wide world beyond apparels, including the challenge
of moving up the value chain.

5. Artistically, Bangladesh is also on an upswing, with
artists such as the eminent Madrid-based
Bangladeshi painter Monirul Islam gaining greater
prominence and influence around the world.
“Today, Bangladeshi art is characterised by a
tremendous creative surge, diversity and vitality,”
says Mr Quayes. “While the contemporary draws
from and builds on the past, nascent trends offer
trajectories that could very well be on way to
creating their own rhetoric.”
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