[🇧🇩] LDC Graduation For Bangladesh

[Saif]

Strengthening research in science and engineering in the post-LDC era

Bangladesh is on its way to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status. However, to become a prosperous nation, it must adopt new strategies for accelerated economic growth.

www.thedailystar.net

Strengthening research in science and engineering in the post-LDC era

9 March 2026, 00:20 AM

A.S.M.A. Haseeb

As Bangladesh graduates from the LDC status, the synergy between academia and industry must be facilitated by the government. FILE PHOTO: STAR

Bangladesh is on its way to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status. However, to become a prosperous nation, it must adopt new strategies for accelerated economic growth. Conventional factors of production cannot provide the required growth rate to achieve the targets. Postgraduate education affects Total Factor Productivity (TFP), the portion of economic growth driven by technological innovation. Bangladesh needs to adopt a growth strategy powered by technological innovation, and to become a technology innovator, this nation needs a critical mass of talent in science and engineering trained at the postgraduate level.

Undergraduate education primarily focuses on disseminating knowledge to students. But postgraduate education involves creating new knowledge through research and disseminating advanced knowledge. Postgraduate students research at the frontiers of knowledge. They write theses that contain newly created knowledge that can lead to innovation. The benefits of postgraduate education are manifold. It prepares professionals to adopt, adapt, and assimilate advanced technology, manage high-tech projects, and develop national policies. Master’s and PhD graduates, while working on their theses, can concentrate on problems of national interest and generate indigenous solutions. For Bangladesh to become a “technology producer” rather than a “technology consumer”, it should depend on postgraduate education as a primary mechanism.

Higher PhD density represents the depth of the talent base and the intellectual capability of a country. Intense knowledge-based economies like Switzerland and Nordic countries have a PhD density of over 10,000 per million. Other advanced countries—the US, UK, Germany—have PhD densities of 3,500-6,000. The PhD density in countries like China, India, and Brazil is 200-1,000. In countries with high PhD density, the degree holders work not only in laboratories but also in areas like policymaking, management and marketing, in the public and private sectors. This helps raise the IQ of the entire economy. Countries like China, Malaysia and Vietnam have set targets to increase their PhD density.

At this juncture, the new government should establish a strong postgraduate education and research base in science and engineering. To achieve this, the government should convert a few top-performing universities into research universities, which will put emphasis on postgraduate education and research as the primary objective, and act as national problem-solving hubs. The government should establish them with clear mandates, set key performance indicators, provide them with incentives and adequate funds to build a strong research infrastructure.

Research universities must focus on research topics related to the vital needs of the critical sectors of the national economy. For example, topics for postgraduate research can be on circular economy centred around garments and textiles, development of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for our pharmaceutical sector, creation of our own Bangla GPT, precision agriculture, climate change mitigation technologies, etc.

Universities must target the highest global academic standards, while finding solutions to national problems. There must not be any compromise on quality for the sake of quantity. Strict quality control measures, regular monitoring, and provision of appointments of international experts as PhD examiners must be in place. Quality issues must be fixed at the initial stage, which is critical to sustaining quality and ensuring ethical practice.

The success of converting postgraduate research into innovative solutions crucially depends on effective industry-academia collaboration. In the context of postgraduate education, industry should share its problems with academics so that these can be adopted as research topics for master’s and PhD theses. The university should initiate innovative industry-focused postgraduate programmes, like industrial PhD and industrial master’s degrees. Qualified industry experts can become co-supervisors or expert members of thesis committees. The synergy between academia and industry must be facilitated by the government.

We must attract meritorious students into postgraduate programmes with adequate incentives. The nation must create the right environment where these highly qualified professionals can contribute to nation-building. There are many ways postgraduate degree holders can be fruitfully employed. Our industry should employ these high-calibre professionals to innovate and contribute to their growth. Big business groups should create sections like R&D, design, policy, which will be manned by PhD graduates. If done properly, this will reduce our dependence on foreign professionals in the long run. A higher number of qualified postgraduates can boost the confidence of investors and attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The government must play a supportive role by providing the industry with adequate incentives, like tax holidays.

The government should also employ PhD-level professionals in increasing numbers in schemes like specialised scientific civil services and integrated advisory cadres. By doing so it can transform administration into knowledge-driven governance. Variations of such schemes exist in advanced economies like the US, the EU, etc. Government agencies with technical functions must recruit postgraduate degree holders, particularly PhD graduates in science and engineering.

As Bangladesh graduates from the LDC status, it must adopt technological innovation as a vital economic growth strategy. To achieve this, Bangladesh needs a critical mass of talent. Master’s and PhD students in science and engineering will research national problems and generate indigenous solutions, leading to technological innovation. Increasing the number of well-trained postgraduates is a strategic necessity, not a luxury, to maintain economic momentum. The nation must create the right environment in which these highly qualified professionals can be meaningfully employed to contribute to nation-building.

Dr A.S.M.A. Haseeb is dean of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies and professor of nanomaterials and ceramic engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).​

 

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Will WTO deliver on MC14?

If everything goes smoothly, within two weeks, trade ministers and negotiators from more than 160 countries will meet in Yaoundé, Cameroon, to reach deals on the multilateral trading system. It will be the 14th ministerial conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the global t

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Will WTO deliver on MC14?

Asjadul Kibria
Published :
Mar 14, 2026 23:36
Updated :
Mar 14, 2026 23:40

WTO Director-General Okonjo-Iweala updates members on final preparations for the MC14 at the General Council meeting last week in Geneva —WTO Photo

If everything goes smoothly, within two weeks, trade ministers and negotiators from more than 160 countries will meet in Yaoundé, Cameroon, to reach deals on the multilateral trading system. It will be the 14th ministerial conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the global trade rule-making and dispute-resolving body. Several agendas are already on the table, and negotiators will try to reach agreements through consensus during the four-day sessions on March 26-29, 2026.

MC14 will take place during a turbulent geopolitical period, as the world is witnessing a devastating war in the Middle East. The United States and Israel started a joint invasion of Iran two weeks ago, triggering a war that has already shocked the global economy and trade. There is concern that if the war continues, the duration of MC14 may be shortened, adjourned, or deferred. As the ministerial conference is the WTO's highest decision-making forum, adjournment creates uncertainty about the issues under negotiation.

WTO reform, modern industrial policy, electronic commerce governance, investment facilitation, fisheries subsidies, farm subsidies, and trade-related climate measures are the key areas of discussion and negotiation at MC14. A few other issues, such as the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) issue, will also be on the table. Previous ministerial meetings show that consensus may be reached on only a few issues, and even then, only to a limited extent, resulting in a lower level of binding commitment.

Over the years, discussions and debates on WTO reforms have intensified, mainly because the organisation has delivered limited rule-based trade liberalisation in a balanced way. Some argue that the current WTO structure is rigid, making it difficult to reach consensus on any issue. That is why talks on disciplining farm subsidies in global trade remain unresolved after two decades. Others argue that the single undertaking principle, nothing agreed until everything is agreed, is a major barrier to effective deals. The failure of the Doha round of negotiation, initiated in 2001 at MC4 in the Qatari capital, is the best example. Some believe there are still ways to bypass these rigidities by reaching consensus in some areas. For example, the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) was approved at MC9 in Bali, although key issues of the Doha Round talks remained unresolved. Against this backdrop, WTO reform talks have also become controversial, although most support reform.

Hinrich Foundation, an Asia-based philanthropic organisation that works on global trade, conducted a comprehensive survey on WTO reform last year. The survey findings showed that around half of the more than 27,000 respondents strongly and around 30 per cent moderately agreed on the necessity of WTO reform. Again, more than 90 per cent think it is necessary to modernise the current consensus-based decision-making system at the WTO. These respondents are also in favour of adopting flexible approaches to legally recognise trade rules reached by a smaller group of members, without requiring unanimous agreement from all WTO members. In other words, most stakeholders now think the plurilateral approach to trade negotiations should be advanced to avoid gridlock in consensus-based multilateral deals.

A number of WTO members are now turning to open plurilateral agreements and joint statement initiatives to advance their interests. Under the plurilateral framework, a few members start negotiations on an issue, and when they reach consensus, a deal is signed. The deal is then kept open for other WTO members to join on negotiated terms and conditions. It applies only to those who negotiated or joined. Finally, the deal becomes part of the WTO agreements if adopted in a ministerial conference. At MC14, the Investment Facilitation Agreement (IFA) will be on the table for inclusion in the WTO rulebook. Despite intense efforts, it was not endorsed at MC13 in Abu Dhabi in 2024 due to resistance from several developing countries, including India and South Africa. Currently, 128 WTO members back the deal.

Similarly, more than 70 members of the WTO are pushing for an e-commerce plurilateral deal as a JSI to be incorporated into the rulebook, making it part of the multilateral trade rules. It is, however, unlikely to get the endorsement in the MC14, although more members will support the deal. Since 1998, the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions has been renewed at every ministerial conference. The process, however, always faced difficulties, as some members sought a permanent decision rather than a temporary extension. In the upcoming ministerial, it will again face heated controversy among the members. Those who are in favour of a moratorium argue that imposing tariffs on electronic transmissions would raise costs for consumers and businesses. Opponents of the moratorium say that, despite the rapid expansion of digital trade, countries are now deprived of significant revenue because no customs duties apply to digital trade.

MC14 will also face tension over implementing the remaining fisheries subsidies agreement. The first part, known as Fish-1, was adopted in 2022 and asked WTO members to ban subsidies for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; for fishing on overfished stocks when no rebuilding measures are in place; and for unregulated fishing on the high seas. Now, Fish-2 calls for restricting subsidies to overcapacity in fishing fleets and to overfishing, not just in specific situations. The goal is to stop subsidies from driving fleets beyond sustainable limits. Some progress is expected at MC14, although a deal on Fish-2 is unlikely, as members have three more years under the so-called 'sunset clause'.

At MC14, negotiations on agriculture will focus on three areas: domestic support, public stockholding for food security by developing countries at administered prices, and market access for agricultural products. A draft text of the Declaration on Agriculture, Trade and Global Food Security has already been developed, and members are working on it.

For Bangladesh, MC14 will be the last ministerial conference as a Least Developed Country (LDC), as the country is set to lose the LDC tag in November this year, along with Nepal and Laos. Bangladesh has formally requested the UN for a three-year extension of the scheduled graduation date, and the decision will be announced in a few months.

For the last couple of years, Bangladesh and some other LDCs have been pursuing a decision to extend LDC privileges to graduating LDCs. At MC14, the same demand will be pushed, although the chances of endorsement are slim. It will also be more challenging for the country and other LDCs to take positions on key agendas, such as WTO reforms and plurilateral initiatives. A policy brief, jointly released by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Bangladesh last month, argued that Bangladesh should be proactively involved in all discussions on WTO reforms, including the MFN principle, single undertaking, and level playing field to secure the country's interest as a graduating LDC. It also suggested that the country should not support the plurilateralisation of the WTO. As the new government has just taken responsibility, it is important to see how actively the country can participate in MC14.​