ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman (4th from left) presenting report of the Executive Board during the Annual Council 2012 held in Dhaka on May 11. Also seen in the picture (L-R) Chairman, Singer Bangladesh Ltd. Mahbub Jamil, FICCI President, Syed Ershad Ahmed, ICCB Vice Presidents Latifur Rahman and Rokia Afzal Rahman, CCCI President Mahbubul Alam, BIA President Sheikh Kabir Hossain and Square Group Managing Director Tapan Chowdhury.

Higher level of investment is a binding constraint for higher economic growth. To achieve the Sixth Five Year Plan (SFYP) target, share of total investment to GDP needs to be 29.6 per cent of GDP in FY2013. In other words, it will need an additional Tk. 75,460 crore of investment; of which more than 81 per cent should come from the private sector. Certainly this will be a challenging target to chase when the private sector investment is stuck at around 19 percent of GDP over the past few years observed ICC Bangladesh Annual Council held today ( May 11) in Dhaka.

The Council Session began with a one silence to pay respect of those who died during the tragic building collapse in Savar. The Council also offered for the departed souls and prayed for early recovery of the injured.

Despite significant odds, according to the Executive Board Report Bangladesh has maintained a reasonable macroeconomic stability and a good growth momentum. Fiscal discipline has improved and a robust growth in remittances despite slow export growth has ensured a comfortable foreign exchange reserves. The current economic trends thus bring both opportunities and challenges for the Bangladesh economy for the remaining period of FY2013.

The Report pointed out that Bangladesh has attracted global attention due to its economic potential, competitive strength and its big domestic market. Overall, there is a sense that Bangladesh has potential to flourish. But the overall economic management will be challenging in the year 2013 as there will be a number of tensions in economic management. Another challenge will be to stimulate agricultural production and to find a balance in protecting the interests of crop producers and consumers. Global economists forecast that trend shows that the economy of Bangladesh might overtake western countries by 2050. The forecast came at a report published by The Guardian on December 18.

No doubt, performance of the economy in FY2013, and also beyond, will critically hinge on how the political challenges that Bangladesh facing at the moment are addressed. Any prolonged uncertainty in this context will have serious implications for the performance of the economy. Hopefully, the year 2013 is going to be a remarkable economic period of the country, the Report added.

Some analysts consider although Bangladeshs growth is likely to remain healthy, it is yet below potential. However, the political situation will be the main factor to set the course of the economy, the Report mentioned.

According to Report of The Economist published in its November 1 issue between 1990 and 2010, Bangladesh has made extraordinary improvements in almost every indicator of human welfare. Bangladesh has done better than most countries at improving the basic standard of living of its people, according to the report. So that is the puzzle: Bangladesh combines economic disappointment with social progress.

Among others, ICCB Vice Presidents Latifur Rahman and Rokia Afzal Rahman; ICCB Board Members A.S.M.Quasem; Mahbub Jamil; R. Maksud Khan; Aftab ul Islam; A.K.Azad; Prof. Mamun Rashid; Muhammed Hatem; Syed Ershad Ahmed; Sheikh Kabir Hossain; CCCI President Mahbubul Alam; Bangladesh Employers Federation President Fazlul Haque; Association of Bankers Bangladesh President & NCC Bank MD/CEO Md. Nurul Amin; Dr. M. Zahir, Senior Advocate, Bangladesh Supreme Court; Tapan Chowdhury, Managing Director, Square Group; Nasir A. Choudhury, Managing Director & CEO, Green Delta Insurance Co. Ltd.; Ragib Ali, Managing Director, The Sylhet Tea Company Limited; M. Ghaziul Haque, Chairman, Transmarine Logistics Ltd.; as well as MDs/CEOs and senior officials of banks, insurance companies, national and multinational companies also attended the Council.