CPD Argued for a Cautious and Realistic National Budget for FY2014

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) presented its proposals for the upcoming national budget at a press conference on 20 April 2013. Dr Fahmida Khatun, Research Director, CPD presented the proposals. CPD argued that in view of the current macroeconomic scenario and the challenges of implementation of the next budget, there is a need to take a cautious and realistic stance in designing the budget. CPD also argued that implementation of Budget 2014 will confront three types of challenges: (1) fiscal challenges, (2) external challenges, and (3) governance challenges. The press briefing was attended by Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, CPD, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, CPD, Ms Anisatul Fatema Yousuf, Director, Dialogue & Communication Division, CPD, Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Director, Research, CPD, Mr Towfiqul Islam Khan, Research Fellow, CPD and a number of CPD’s junior and mid-level researchers. The press conference was attended by journalists from a wide number of print and electronic media.

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A Set of Proposals for the National Budget FY2014

CPD Suggests to Create Conducive Environment for Dialogues to End Political Impasse

In the backdrop of looming uncertainties in the recent political arena and their possible implications for the economy of the country, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised a dialogue titled “Bangladesh 2013: Assessing Economic Implications of the Present Political Shocks”. The Dialogue was held on 13 April 2013 at the Lakeshore Hotel, Dhaka, and was attended by Members of Parliament, business leaders, representatives from civil society, academia and various political parties. The event was chaired by Professor Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, CPD. Mr Tofail Ahmed, MP, Member, Awami League (AL) Advisory Council; Dr Osman Farruk, Former Minister, Ministry of Education & Member, Advisory Council to the BNP Chairperson; Mr Abdul Awal Mintoo, Former President, FBCCI; and Mr A K Azad, President, BCI and Former President, FBCCI were present as the panelists at the event. Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, CPD presented the keynote paper where he elaborated that the increased frequency of country wide Hartals has put detrimental consequences on the economic stability for short, medium and long term as they might lead to further economic slowdown and weaken the attained socio-economic achievements. The CGE modeling exercise revealed that a major long term impact arising from Hartals is the loss of capital stock, and 1 per cent decline in supply of capital costs the loss of about .9 per cent GDP at market price. Participants at the discussion agreed with CPD’s suggestion to create an enabling environment for dialogue among the political parties. They cautioned that in the absence of a consensus-based solution of the current impasse, the country could face serious consequences which would be detrimental not only to the interest of the economy but would also undermine democratic institutions in the country. The event was widely covered by print and electronic media.

Keynote paper

Bangladesh 2013: Assessing Economic Implications of the Present Political Shocks

"Southern Voice on Post-MDG International Development Goals" hosted by CPD has launched its Occasional Paper Series. The series has been inaugurated with the following two papers.

Paper 1: Rehman Sobhan: 'Designing MDGs for a Most Just World'

Paper 2: David Hulme: 'The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Learning from the MDGs’

Debapriya speaks at the launch of European Report on Development 2013 in Brussels

On 9 April 2013 Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, CPD and Chair, Southern Voice on Post-MDGs joined a panel of eminent discussants at the launch of European Report on Development (ERD) 2013 held  at the European Union’s headquarter in Brussels.  Dr Debapriya agreed with core messages of the report, viz. there is a need to formulate a transformational development agenda for the post-2015 period and design an innovative framework of development cooperation to support implementation of such agenda. However, he pointed out that a number of important ingredients of that agenda has not been addressed in the report, including macroeconomic framework, technology transfer and intellectual property rights regime. He emphasised the need for EU to strengthen its leadership role in coordinating delivery of the global public goods. Dr Debapriya observed that developing countries will greatly benefit if EU can recover speedily from its current economic problems - an issue which has been overlooked in the report. 

The session in Brussels was chaired by Professor Francois Bourguignon, ERD Scientific Advisor, and was addressed by EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. Other distinguished members of the panel included Dr Shamshad Akhtar, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development at DESA, Dr Garry Conille, Senior Advisor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group President’s Special Envoy for the MDGs and Dr Jan Vandemoortele a co-architect of the MDGs.

Mustafizur Rahman joins Bangladesh delegation at the US-GSP hearing
 

Photo: Kishore Kumer Basak

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, CPD, as part of the Bangladesh government delegation, led by the Secretary, Ministry of Commerce will join the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) public hearing on the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) facility provided by the USA to Bangladesh. The hearing will be held on 28 March 2013 which was called upon on the basis of observations made by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) on the workers' rights situation in Bangladesh. In its pre-brief submission to the US-GSP Sub-Committee, CPD urged not to withdraw GSP facility from Bangladeshi exports. The eight-pointer submission argued that such measure could further aggravate labour welfare situation, and rather its continuation will provide incentive for the enterprises to adopt better compliance practices.

CPD submission to US-GSP Sub-Committee.

CPD-CMI Research Colloquium held on 10-11 March 2013

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised a Research Colloquium in collaboration with the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Norway, based on the findings of the various studies conducted under the ongoing CPD-CMI Research Cooperation Programme. The two-day event which was held on 10-11 March 2013 discussed the following three thematic issues: (1) Finance for Local Government: An Elusive Agenda; (2) Economic Growth and Energy Sector Development in Bangladesh: The Role of FDI; and (3) Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh: Role of Human Capital. Apart from the high level representatives from CMI (led by the Director of the Institute), the event was also participated by the Members of Parliament, Ambassadors, representatives from NGOs and developments partners, distinguished personalities from academia, business and civil society of Bangladesh. Click here to learn more about the CPD-CMI programme.

CPD Hosted the 11TH BCIM Forum and a Grand Reception for the K2K Car Rally Participants

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) hosted the 11th BCIM Forum successfully in Dhaka on 23-24 February 2013. CPD organised this event in partnership with the High Commission of Canada, Dhaka and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES). The event comprised of four dedicated sessions on specific thematic areas, and a separate meeting of the BCIM Business Council. The event concluded with the signing of the Dhaka statement by the delegation leaders of the BCIM member countries. An event that attracted the most attention was the grand reception accorded to the 75 participants of the Kolkata to Kunming (K2K) Car Rally by the CPD with much funfair. Apart from the 48 delegates from China, India and Myanmar the various sessions of the Forum were participated by a number of Ministers and Secretaries from the Government of Bangladesh, distinguished members of the diplomatic community, academics, and civil society. For details of the Forum and the reception please follow the link.

CPD Holds a Press Briefing on the Upcoming 11th BCIM Forum

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised  a press conference at its office on 19 February 2013 to inform the media about the upcoming 11th BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar) Forum taking place on 23-24 February 2013 at the BRAC Centre Inn Auditorium, Dhaka.  Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, CPD informed the media about the issues to be discussed, objectives and expected outcomes of the Dhaka Forum which CPD is organising in partnership with the High Commission of Canada, Dhaka and the German Foundation Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).  The briefing session was also attended by Ms Anisatul Fatema Yousuf, Director, Dialogue & Communication Division, CPD and Dr Fahmida Khatun, Research Director & Head of Research, CPD. A large number of representatives from the print and electronic media participated in the press conference. ........More

Debapriya Bhattacharya meets key players in post-2015 global processes

Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Chair of Southern Voice on Post-MDGs recently was on an outreach mission to London, New York and Washing DC to disseminate the network’s document “First Approximations on Post-MDG International Development Goals” among the key players in the post-2015 processes. The other purpose of the mission was to understand the space available for the network’s strategic engagements in post-2015 global processes. For more....

Southern Voice's Take on the Post-MDG Era

In this blog post, Debapriya Bhattacharya, Chair of the Southern Voice on Post-MDGs articulates key points of departure regarding the content and framework of the upcoming global arrangement for international cooperation. For more....

First Approximations on Post-MDG International Development Goals

The document titled “First Approximations on Post-MDG International Development Goals” may now be accessed on the website of the Southern Voice on Post-MDGs. The document which draws on the recommendations of the Expert Group Meeting of the initiative held in Dhaka on 11-13 January, 2013 is a contribution of the Southern Voice initiative towards preparation of the report by UN High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda........More

Discussion Paper on Adapting to Climate Change: Issues for South Asia

A Discussion Paper written by Dr Fahmida Khatun, Research Director, CPD and Samina Hossain, Programme Associate, CPD has been published recently (December 2012) by the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal. The paper titled Adapting to Climate Change: Issues for South Asia identifies the impact of climate change in South Asia, particularly in the context of food security. The paper also discusses various adaptation efforts undertaken by South Asia and explores the potential for regional cooperation.....Download

US-GSP hearing

submission by CPD

In its submission to the US-GSP sub-committee, the CPD urges the US not to apply sanctions on Bangladesh's GSP availability in the US market. The CPD rather argues that the US should take initiatives to offer Bangladesh duty-free access for its garment exports as an incentive to the stakeholders to undertake the needed measures to further improve working conditions and enforce labour rights in Bangladesh's garment sector. ........More

Professor Rehman Sobhan Receives the 2012 BDI Lifetime Achievement Award

Professor Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) will be the recipient of the Bangladesh Development Initiative (BDI) Lifetime Achievement Award 2012. The award will be formally presented at the BDI’s International Conference in the University of California, Berkeley Campus on 22-24 February 2013. Professor Sobhan is receiving this award for his scholarly works and his outstanding contribution to the knowledge that has improved peoples’ understanding of poverty and economic growth nexus. As a recipient of the award, Professor Sobhan has been requested to deliver a lecture on a subject of his choice. For more….

CPD Professionals in Dar es Salaam Meeting of the LDC IV Monitor

A four member CPD team will be participating in the Second Expert Group Meeting (EGM) of LDC IV Monitor to be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 4-6 February, 2013. The team includes Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, Dr Fahmida Khatun, Research Director, and Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Director (Research). Other than chairing sessions and participating as Designated Discussants CPD researchers will make presentations in the session on “Finance for Development” on issues related to Remittance, Domestic Resource Mobilisation, ODA and Economic Growth, and FDI. Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya is the Chairperson of the LDC IV Network, an independent partnership set up to monitor the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) which was adopted in Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs (2011). It may be recalled that CPD hosted the First EGM of LDC IV Monitor in Dhaka on 7-9 September 2012.

More Information about the meeting please visit http://www.ldc4monitor.org/
 

CPD holds a dialogue on

workers safety in the RMG sector

In view of the recent incidents in the Ready Made Garments (RMG) industry, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised a dialogue titled Work Environment in the RMG Sector and Labour Safety: Consequences and What Needs to be Done at the CIRDAP Auditorium on 26 January 2013. MORE

Agenda Setting Expert Group Meeting of

Southern Voice on Post-MDGs

held in Dhaka

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) is taking the lead in a new global initiative titled Southern Voice on Post-MDGs. The initiative will bring together awardees of the Think Tank Initiative (TTI) who will contribute to the discourse on the design of the Post-MDGs agenda. The first Expert Group Meeting (EGM) of the initiative was held on 11-13 January, 2013 in Dhaka hosted by CPD. please click here for the Concept Note of the initiative, and Programme Schedule, Participant List and Presented Papers at different sessions of the EGM . The "First Approximation" Document will be made available on web as soon as it is finalised. For more....

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