The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh
and Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI),
Norway are jointly implementing a 3-year research programme
focusing on issues of common interest to both the organisations
and the countries. The programme is to be implemented during
2010-2012 with support from the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA). The signing ceremony of the programme took place
on 23 June 2010 at the CPD office. Professor Rehman Sobhan,
Chairman, CPD was present at the ceremony. HE Ms Ingebjorg
Stofring, Ambassador of Norway in Bangladesh at that time
signed the tripartite agreement on behalf of the Norwegian MFA.
Dr Arne Wiig and Professor Mustafizur Rahman put their
respective signatures on behalf of the CMI and CPD.
The broad objective of this programme is to
contribute towards improved governance and inclusive growth in
Bangladesh. The programme will be implemented under two themes
“Inclusive Growth” and “Good Governance” and research will be
carried out on the following seven areas:
Inclusive Growth
·
Agricultural Trade with India: Implications for
Food Security and Poverty
·
Private Sector Development: The Role of Education
and Business Training
·
Governance and Energy in Bangladesh: The Role of
FDI
Good Governance
·
The Parliament of Bangladesh
·
The Political Parties of Bangladesh
·
Political Governance in Bangladesh
·
Democracy and Corruption
Along with research, the programme also envisages
a number of other activities such as expert consultation,
dialogues and workshops (in Bangladesh and also in
Norway), training, publications (policy briefs,
journal and newspaper articles) and exchange visits.
Lead researchers who will be involved in the
above seven projects include, among others:
Two research reports have been prepared under the
Project 1: “Agricultural Trade with India”. Both the reports
have been presented in seminars/workshop. These reports are:
·AKM
Nazrul Islam, M. Alamin, M.G. Ahamad and U.K. Deb
(2011) ‘Agriculture Trade between India and Bangladesh: An
Analysis of Trends and Trading Patterns’. Draft report will be
sent to the internal reviewers.
·One research report has been prepared under
Project 7: Democracy and corruption. Arne Wiig and Ivar Kolstad
(2011). ‘Does
democracy reduce corruption’? The report will be presented in a
meeting on 15 October.
Dialogue/Conference/Training
·Brainstorming
session with MPs, academics, and civil society representatives
to discuss the studies on “Parliament of Bangladesh:
Accountability and Control” and “The Political Parties of
Bangladesh”. The session was organised by CPD on 22
September 2010.
·CMI
organised a seminar in Bergen, Norway where Dr K A S Murshid
made a presentation on “Agrarian Market Institutions in South
Asia: Dynamics and Change in the Bangladesh Rice Market” on 7
December 2010.
·In
view of strengthening the research capacity of junior, mid and
senior researchers of CPD, an in-house training workshop has
been organised on “Input-Out Analysis, Social Accounting Matrix
and CGE Modelling”. Two CGE experts namely Mr Rob Davies
Research Fellow, Trade and Industry Policy Strategies (TIPS),
South Africa and Mr Dirk van Seventer, Principal Information
Analyst, Department of Labour, New Zealand gave the training on
CGE modelling. The workshop was held on 5-15 April, 2011. A follow
up study has been initiated.
Visits
·CMI
officials visited CPD for Project Review Meetings in October
2010 and March 2011.
·Dr.
KAS Murshid of BIDS visited CMI during 16 November, 2010 - 12
December, 2010. As part of this visit, Dr Murshid presented his
draft paper in the Conference “Halvdag seminar” in Bergen,
Norway on 7th December 2010.
·Dr
Eirik G Jansen, visited CPD on 3 March, 2011 and made a
presentation on "Some Impressions from a Revisit to a Village in
Bangladesh after 30 years”. A number of renowned economists of
Bangladesh attended the session.
·Ms
Kristin Rorvik, a Masters’ student at CMI visited CPD during 25
January, 2011 to 9 March, 2011.
·Professor
Rounaq Jahan and Professor Rehman Sobhan visited CMI, Bergen
during June, 2011. As part of this visit, Professor Jahan
presented a paper on "Parliament of Bangladesh, Accountability
and Representation" in a seminar that was arranged by the CMI.
Research Ongoing
As
per timeline of the programme, five studies are currently ongoing:
·Under Project 1
on the study titled "implications of Indian agricultural Policy
on Bangladesh Economy" using CGE modelling. The study is carried
out by Dr Selim Raihan and Mr Towfiqul Islam Khan.
·Under
Project 4 on the study titled ‘Parliament of Bangladesh, Accountability and
Representation’. A draft report will be presented in Dhaka
October 13. Lead researchers are Dr Rounaq Jahan and Dr Inge
Amundsen. (Timeline: June, 2010-December, 2011)
·Under Project
5 on the study titled "Political Parties in Bangladesh". The
study has recently been initiated. The project
will look at the ideology, structure, role/function,
organization, finance, leadership, and support base of the major
political parties. Lead researchers are Dr Rounaq Jahan and Dr
Inge Amundsen. (Timeline: June, 2011-December, 2012)
·Under
Project 2 on the study titled ‘Private Sector Developments: The Role of
Education’. The preparation of a survey is ongoing Lead
researchers are Dr Ivar Kolstad, Dr Arne Wiig and Dr Khondaker
Golam Moazzem. (Timeline: January, 2011-December, 2012). A pilot
of tracking has been undertaken.
·Under
Project 7 on the study titled ‘Democracy and Corruption’, a cross country data
analysis has been undertaken . Lead researchers are Dr Debapriya
Bhattacharya, Dr Ivar Kolstad and Dr Arne Wiig. (Timeline:
January, 2011-December, 2012). One draft report has been written
and will be presented in Dhaka in October 2011.
Planned Activities
·In-house
workshops have been organised by CPD onSunday 3 April 2011
on the following topic:
-
Agriculture Trade between Bangladesh and India
-
The Parliament of Bangladesh: Accountability and
Control
-
Democracy and Corruption
·Training
Workshop on CGE Modelling for CPD Researchers on 5-15 April
2011. Mr Robert James Davies and Mr Dirk van Seventer,
renowned CGE Experts will conduct the workshop.
·Professor
Rehman Sobhan,
Chairman and Professor Rounaq Jahan, Distinguished
Fellow, CPD visited CMI in June, 2011. They made several
presentations in different seminars.
