Bangladesh ranks 12th in EIU's Sustainable Trade Index 2020

Bangladesh has surpassed India and Pakistan in terms of sustainable trade on the back of better performance in economic and social areas, says the Sustainable Trade Index 2020  report by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The country jumped five places up in the index scoring 49.3 out of 100 and ranked 12th among 20 Indo-Pacific economies, while India and Pakistan scored 47.1 and 43.9 respectively.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group providing forecasting and advisory services.

The index measures a country's capacity to participate in the international trading system in a manner that supports the long-term domestic and global goals of economic growth, environmental protection, and social capital development.

The index is based on 27 indicators and 20 sub-indicators under three pillars – economic, environmental and social.

Bangladesh experienced the highest improvement in social development (9th), but ranked at the bottom in labour standards.

On the economic front, the country ranked at the top in the economic growth indicator and performed better in the export market concentration, gross fixed capital formation and growth in the labour force.

In the two previous editions – 2016 and 2018 – India was ahead of Bangladesh in the index. Pakistan also stood ahead of Bangladesh in 2018. Another South Asian country, Sri Lanka ranked 9th this year with a score of 50.5.

According to the index, there was a tie for the first place between Japan and South Korea this year, both receiving overall scores of 75.1 in 2020.

According to the International Monetary Fund's recent forecast, Bangladesh's per capita GDP is set to surpass that of India in the current fiscal year.

Agreeing with the country's improvement in sustainable trade as evaluated by the index, Shams Mahmud, president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), said "Our economic growth has always been sustainable riding on the government's supportive policies."

For instance, the government's stimulus packages and social protection programmes in this time of Covid-19 have helped keep the country's economy afloat, he added.

The Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority has been working on optimising the supply chain by bringing all industries together in economic zones, thus contributing to the sustainable trade, Shams Mahmud pointed out.

Replying on Bangladesh's situation in environmental compliance, he said the government has taken some initiatives like penalising polluting factories, which, to some extent, helped to reduce industrial pollution, he said adding that environment will get more focus once the economic zones are developed.

Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said "We are doing better than other countries in terms of educational attainment. We have relatively less child labour and gender discrimination. Political stability is also playing a part to put the country ahead of eight countries in the social pillar".

"There is still room for improvement in some indicators which will help us stand among the top 10 countries in the economic index," said Dr Moazzem.

Source: The Business Standard