[🇧🇩] LDC Graduation For Bangladesh

[Bilal9]

LDC graduation is not a solution for Bangladesh' economic ills, far from it.

Bangladesh will be stuck in a middle income trap for years to come, like some Asian tiger economies.

With other existing economic weaknesses, it promises that the economy in Bangladesh will suffer extreme moribund condition compared to other economies in Asia, whose management of their economies are far more timely/active and far superior.

 

[Saif]

Govt to seek delay in LDC graduation: Commerce minister

New commerce minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir has said initiatives will be taken to defer Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category. He added that work on the matter began today. He told journalists this at the secretariat on Wednesday. Work has already started at...

en.prothomalo.com

Govt to seek delay in LDC graduation: Commerce minister

Special Correspondent Dhaka
Published: 18 Feb 2026, 19: 46

Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir arrived at the secretariat on his first day in office today, Wednesday. Prothom Alo

New commerce minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir has said initiatives will be taken to defer Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category. He added that work on the matter began today.

He told journalists this at the secretariat on Wednesday. Work has already started at the Ministry of Commerce, and coordination and necessary communication will soon be carried out with the Economic Relations Division (ERD), he added.

He also said there is no obligation to send a formal letter in the first week, but work on the issue has begun from today,

Regarding the slowdown in exports, the commerce minister said Bangladesh’s export structure remains highly concentrated. At present, around 85 per cent of the country’s total export earnings come from a single product. To address this situation, diversification in export products will be introduced. Expanding into new markets and providing proper support to private entrepreneurs interested in investment will be the government’s priority.

He said sudden changes in United States tariff policy have created instability in the global market. As a poor country, Bangladesh has very limited room for mistakes. The country lacks the capacity to absorb policy errors or prolonged external shocks. Therefore, the government has begun working to quickly overcome the sluggish situation seen in recent months.

On the Ramadan market, the commerce minister said the market will remain stable if supply remains normal. He assured that the government has sufficient stocks of essential commodities for the month of Ramadan and the period afterwards, and that adequate supply in the pipeline has also been ensured. There is no reason to panic.

Regarding syndicates in the commodity market, he said he does not want to only make statements but wants to show results through action.

On investment, Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said investment does not come amid uncertainty. The primary condition for investment is a stable environment. Investors must be assured that they will receive reasonable returns against their capital and labour. He added that the country has a large working-age population, with around 2 to 2.2 million people entering the labour market every year.

He further said investment has remained stagnant for two to three years, creating major pressure on the economy. If this situation cannot be overcome, risks may arise for employment and overall economic stability.

Calling for cooperation with the government, the new commerce minister said people should point out mistakes if they occur and that the country must move forward through collective efforts.​

 

[Saif]

UN panel begins talks today on LDC deferral

Bangladesh’s plea for deferment of graduation from the group of Least Developed Countries (LDC) category is likely to be discussed at the five-day meeting of the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) beginning in New York today.

www.thedailystar.net

UN panel begins talks today on LDC deferral
23 February 2026, 00:00 AM

Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Illustration: E. Raza Ronny

Bangladesh’s plea for deferment of graduation from the group of Least Developed Countries (LDC) category is likely to be discussed at the five-day meeting of the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) beginning in New York today.

Before leaving the country to attend the meeting, Debapriya Bhattacharya, head of the Enhanced Monitoring Mechanism (EMM), a body of the UN CDP, said they will set up an evaluation process for Bangladesh’s plea for LDC deferment for three more years.

Debapriya, who is also a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the request will be assessed based on recent socio-economic data, cross-country experiences and progress of the implementation of the Smooth Transition Strategy (STS), the guidebook of the LDC graduation.

UN CDP members will also widely discuss the country statements of graduating and recently graduated countries. Bangladesh submitted a country statement to the UN CDP describing the country’s economic situation in November last year.

Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from LDC to a developing nation on November 24 this year, as the country has passed all three required criteria for two consecutive assessments, and the third assessment is ongoing.

However, the newly formed government sent a letter to the UN CDP on Wednesday requesting a deferment of the country’s graduation for three more years, as local businessmen have urged for more time to take extensive preparations for a smooth graduation.

Currently, Bangladesh enjoys zero-duty access for 73 percent of its exports as part of LDC provisions. After LDC graduation, this preferential market access will be lost, and Bangladesh may lose 14 percent of its exports or $8.0 billion worth of business in a year, different studies have suggested.

Nepal and Lao PDR are also scheduled to graduate along with Bangladesh this year, but they have not applied for deferment.​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh's case for LDC deferral

The newly elected BNP government has not wasted time over requesting the UN to defer the process of country's LDC graduation. Notably, the country was scheduled to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category on November 4, 2026 following completion of the 5-year preparatory period gran

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Bangladesh's case for LDC deferral

SYED FATTAHUL ALIM
Published :
Feb 23, 2026 23:42
Updated :
Feb 23, 2026 23:42

The newly elected BNP government has not wasted time over requesting the UN to defer the process of country's LDC graduation. Notably, the country was scheduled to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category on November 4, 2026 following completion of the 5-year preparatory period granted for transition by the UN after it made recommendation for Bangladesh's graduation in 2021. In the beginning, LDC graduation was a prestige project for the government of the time. The immediate-past interim government led by Dr Yunus, on the other hand, was actually seeking to defer the graduation till 2030. In this connection, it was coordinating with other graduation candidates like Nepal and Laos to delay the process. It is worthwhile to note that the country's business community, particularly the apparel sector and the pharmaceuticals industry, has been against the graduation schedule and made representations to the interim government for deferment of the graduation for six years to avoid the shock the economy would be exposed to following graduation.

For graduation would result in the apparel exports' losing duty /quota-free trade access to the EU and other key markets according to the 'Everything but Arms (EBA)' initiative under the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) for LDCs. Once graduated, the exporters would be subjected to nearly 12.5 per cent tariffs in the EU market and lose about USD 8 billion worth of business annually. Add to that the stricter post-graduation compliance obligations regarding labour rights, environmental standards and intellectual property (IP) rights. Mention may be made here that the post-graduation withdrawal of the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s waiver on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) would severely affect the country's pharmaceutical sector. At present, the temporary waiver being enjoyed by the pharmaceutical companies courtesy WTO's flexibility on patent rules has enabled them (drug companies) to produce generic versions of life-saving drugs at affordable prices. But once TRIPS waiver is over and patent protection rights are in place, many drugs, especially, those for the cancer and HIV patients will go beyond the purchasing power of even the rich patients, let alone the low-income ones.

So, if the apparel sector's case for graduation deferment is about saving 80 per cent of the country's total export income, then the drug sector's is about protecting the nation's public health. If the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP), to which Bangladesh government has sent the letter requesting three years' deferment of the graduation time line, responds positively, the local industries in question might get the breathing space to prepare themselves for graduation. Meanwhile, they would be able to develop the infrastructure to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) locally. (An API is the component of the prescription medication that produces its intended health effects). Also, if the asked for time extension is granted by the UN body concerned, the extra time will help the new government prepare better through meeting current economic challenges including high inflation rate (over 9 per cent), improving forex reserves, addressing banking sector volatility, etc.
Another area to address is dealing with the high tariff and other compliance conditions imposed by the US. However, the arguments put forward by the present government supporting graduation deferment cover the disruptions caused to preparatory work by COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war, risks to macroeconomic stability, the recent political instability, especially in the wake of the student-led mass upsurge of July 2024, etc. These are evidently cogent reasons expressed by the government to justify its request for LDC deferment. Nevertheless, the government would be well advised to submit a technical report to the UN's review committee concerned with convincing explanations in favour of LDC graduation deferral. Meanwhile, Myanmar, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands could defer LDC graduation citing their compelling circumstances. That should place Bangladesh's case on a firmer ground.​