Bangladesh has created a surprise in the world on the golden jubilee of independence. Once, Bangladesh was ridiculed as a 'bottomless basket'. It is the 41st largest economy in the world and the second largest in South Asia. The size of the economy has increased 600 times in the last 50 years. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth has reached 8.2 percent.
Bangladesh has also advanced in building physical infrastructure. It is building the dream Padma bridge with its own funds. Mega projects like Matarbari Thermal Power Station, Deep Sea Port, Karnafuli Tunnel, Metrorail, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, LNG Terminal Construction Project, Payra Port Construction Project and Sonadia Deep Sea Port Construction Project. Bangabandhu Satellite has been set in space.
Apart from the mega project, construction of 100 economic zones (EPZs) is underway on 30,000 hectares of land by 2030. This will increase exports by 40 billion US dollars. At the same time, these 100 economic zones will provide employment to one crore people of the country, said Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA).
During this period, Bangladesh has surpassed behind Pakistan in almost all indicators of exploitation, deprivation and various injuries. Today the example of development of Bangladesh is drawn in their Parliament. They dream of development like Bangladesh. Bangladesh has also surpassed India in some indicators. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bangladesh's per capita income is Tk. 2,554, which is higher than India's.
Bangladesh has overtaken India in various social indicators in the last ten years. It is ahead of Pakistan in terms of education rate or life expectancy. At present the average life expectancy of the people of Bangladesh is 72.3 years, in India it is 69.4 years and in Pakistan it is 67.1 years. Although we are a little behind India in terms of education rate which has 74.4 percent literacy rate. Bangladesh has an average literacy rate of 73.9 percent, higher than the national average of 69.4 percen in Pakistan. Bangladesh has gained a reputation in the world as a shelter for refugees. At present there are 13 lakh Rohingya refugees in the country.
At least two of the per capita national income, human resource development and economic fragility indicators have to be met in order for a least developed country to move from Qatar to a middle-income country. Bangladesh is the first country among the least developed countries to meet all the indicators and move to the next level. Recently, for the second time, Bangladesh has been recommended by the United Nations for LDC passage, Planning Minister MA Mannan said in an ECNEC briefing. If all goes well, Bangladesh will become a developing country by 2026.
According to the Global Gender Gap Report-2020, Bangladesh has closed its overall gender gap by 73%. The Center for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), a UK-based research institute, has predicted that Bangladesh will be one of the 25 largest economies in the world by 2032.
Bangladesh is now the third largest exporter of readymade garments in the world. Bangladesh is one step behind due to Corona. According to the EPB, in the last fiscal year 2020-21, Bangladesh exported garments worth Tk. 3,145.06 (31.45 billion dollar), which is about 7 percent of the world's total garment exports. Exports increased by 15 percent over the previous year.
And in the first five months (July-November) of the current 2021-22 fiscal year, Bangladesh's garment exporters have exported about 20 billion dollars worth of garments. This figure is 26 percent higher than the same period last year. 6-8 percent of the total growth is coming from the garment sector.
Bangladesh is self-sufficient in food. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the country produced 52.6 million tons of paddy in the last fiscal year 2019-20, which is the third highest in the world. China is in first place and India in second place. Bangladesh ranks seventh in the world in terms of expatriate income. India is in the first place. In this case, China is in the second position. Bangladesh ranks third among South Asian countries.
First among the least developed countries is in drug exports. According to a scientific report published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Bangladesh is the largest exporter of medicines among the least developed countries in the world. Medicines made in Bangladesh are being exported to 150 countries. The annual market value of this sector stands at Tk. 30 thousand crore.
The number of freelancers in the IT sector in Bangladesh is six lakh, which is about 27 percent of the world. Due to this Bangladesh is in the second place in this sector. India is the first in the number of freelancers. Bangladesh is the second largest producer of jute in the world. The amount of production is 13 lakh 35 thousand tons, which is 42 percent of the total production of the world. However, Bangladesh is the first in the world to export jute and jute products. Analysis of EPB data shows that in the last fiscal year 2020-21, Bangladesh exported 1.16 billion dollar worth of jute and jute products.
Since Bangladesh joined the UN peacekeeping mission in 1986, it has successfully conducted its activities in 64 peace missions in 39 countries. So far, Bangladesh has topped the list of 115 countries participating in UN peacekeeping missions.