I welcome you all to the Bangladesh Development Forum 2004. I would like to express my sincere thanks to our development partners for extending continued support to our development efforts.

I am delighted to see representatives of our development partners here in this Forum. It is a good opportunity to share our successes and challenges, future development agenda and issues of common concerns with our development partners.

First, I would like to reaffirm our commitment to establish an accountable Government. In pursuance of this commitment, we have already implemented various reforms for improving governance, law and order and investment climate. We have made utmost efforts to accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty. I am happy to inform you that we have taken a number of measures to improve the law and order situation. A special cell has been established in the Ministry of Home Affairs to monitor the progress of sensational criminal cases. Such monitoring cells are also working in all districts of the country headed by the respective Deputy Commissioners. The Parliament has recently enacted a law for creating a Rapid Action Battalion in order to curb crimes expeditiously. The Battalion has gone into operation in the Dhaka Metropolitan city and its positive impact on the overall law and order situation is already visible.

Enactment of the Speedy Trial Law and setting up of Speedy Trial Tribunals have resulted in rapid disposal of a good number of heinous criminal cases. These measures have brought noticeable qualitative changes in the country’s criminal justice delivery system. My Government has also given high priority to curbing corruption. The Independent Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004 has already been passed by the Parliament and steps are underway to make the Commission operational soon. The Commission will be vested with adequate financial, administrative and legal authority to carry out its functions independently. As part of the executive, a Judicial Service Commission has been constituted for recruitment of judicial officers.

During the last two and a half years, a large number of measures have been taken for promoting good governance, bringing about financial discipline and accountability. Steps have been taken to rationalize the size of government organizations and agencies, which include merger, liquidation, closure, and partial closure of state owned enterprises. To make civil services more efficient and professional, we have introduced merit-based promotion and career planning. We are also undertaking a programme for capacity development of Government officials through higher education and skill development training both at home and abroad.

Distinguished Guests,
In the economic front we courageously faced a lot of challenges during the last two and half years and brought about macro-economic stability from the serious imbalance we inherited. We have successfully streamlined monetary and exchange rate management and taken a range of measures to bank supervision. To face the post MFA challenges, we have formulated an integrated policy framework. Our pro-poor growth strategy is directed towards creation of more jobs for the poorer sections of the population and the poverty-prone regions. We can realistically expect that with the impressive export recovery, agricultural and industrial growth and a slow down in inflation rate, our real GDP will significantly grow in the coming years.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Poverty reduction receives the highest priority of my government. We are committed to implementing the reform strategy set out in the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP). Now, we are preparing the National Strategy for Economic Growth, Poverty Reduction and Social Development, which is expected to be completed by December 2004. Significant progress has been made in the social sector- particularly in education, health and social welfare. Bangladesh has achieved the highest primary school enrollment rate in the development world. It has achieved the gender parity in the enrollment in the primary and secondary levels. Infant mortality has been cut in half and immunization rates are better than most in the development world. Rural women in Bangladesh have been significantly empowered through micro-credit programmes. We have made good progress in protecting and ensuring children rights. We are now taking steps to create the office of Independent Children’s Commissioner in order to further facilitate the cause of our children.
We recognize the role of civil and NGOs in Bangladesh’s development process. Many of our success stories in the areas of health, education, micro-credit, women empowerment etc. are the result of Government –NGO collaboration and cooperation. The NGOs in Bangladesh enjoy adequate operational freedom in carrying out their development activities. We are committed to maintaining an enabling environment for them, so that they can be effective development partners.
Development of the private sector is one of the cornerstones of our economic policy. We have undertaken a number of measures to create an environment where the private sector can play its due role. Bangladesh has been offering a wide range of facilities and incentives to investors, particularly foreign investors. Bangladesh has been consistently liberalizing its investment policies for attracting foreign direct investment. Towards this end, we offer highly attractive incentive packages. Rules, regulations and documentations procedures have been significantly simplified, so that foreign investors feel encouraged to invest in Bangladesh.
Effective utilization of external resources remains a major area of our initiates. I am happy to say that the government is taking some concrete steps to rationalise the format of project documentation. Procedures have also been developed for streamlining and further simplifying the process of project approval. I believe these measures will significantly help improve the speed and quality of prject implementation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
In spite of significant achievements during the last two and a half years in the are of social and economic development, we have still a long way to go. A large part of our population still lives under the poverty line. Against this backdrop, we need continued support of our development partners to sustain and carry forward our priority poverty reduction initiatives. I hope this year’s Forum will contribute to be a better appreciation of our development efforts and help reach greater understanding with our partners in development on how best we should proceed towards achievement of our goals. I wish the Bangladesh Development Forum 2004 every success.

Allah Hafez
Bangladesh Zindabad