Readying for the Next Big Leap
Can Bangladesh take advantage of digitised supply chains?
Ongoing geopolitical tensions, trade disputes between major economies, climate change-related disruptions, and rapid changes in consumer preferences collectively pose a complex set of issues for the global supply chain, impacting operational efficiency, financial performance, and the ability to adapt to changing market conditions.
Are we ready to tackle digital inequality?
The article seeks to explore the readiness of Bangladesh to rein the persisting digital inequalities.
LDC Graduation: Implications for Bangladesh beyond 2026
It is now more or less recognized that Bangladesh is one of the world’s fastest-growing and relatively more resilient economies.
Women’s economic empowerment thru financial inclusion: Myth or reality?
Women share over half of the population in Bangladesh. The BBS’s Bangladesh labor force survey, 2022 mentions that the female labor force is only 42.6% in Bangladesh, as against 79.7% of male labor.
The rise of personalistic autocracy: What should we do?
Since the middle of the 2000s, the world has witnessed a precipitous decline in democratic countries. After almost three decades of proliferation of democratic governance, described by Samuel Huntington as the Third Wave of democracy, the third reverse wave is sweeping the globe.
Gender disaster nexus: Toward an intersectionality approach
Bangladesh is highly susceptible to natural and human-induced disasters due to its geophysical location, land characteristics, and anthropogenic causes.
Editor’s Note
We are delighted to present to you the final installment of our special five-part supplement series, marking the 33rd anniversary of The Daily Star. This segment delves into the essential ideas necessary to propel Bangladesh forward and prepare it for the next big leap.
Utilization of marine resources for the benefit of Bangladesh
Oceans, covering 71% of the planet’s surface and containing 97% of its water, serve as a sanctuary for 2.2 million species.
Lifestyle Diaries
#Leisure / Recreation in the city: Is it time to think outside the box?
In Dhaka, a quest for leisure amidst the rush emerges. Despite progress in education and lifestyle, the city craves diverse recreational experiences.
#Parenting / Tech parenting: The fine line between convenience and neglect
Technology transforms parenting with sterilised bottles and nanny cams, offering reassurance and convenience. However, overreliance risks eroding vital parent-child bonding. Educating parents on children's developmental needs helps prioritise genuine interactions over excessive screen time.
The rise of domestic tourism: Challenges and opportunities
Bangladesh is fast becoming a popular tourist destination. One quick YouTube search would fill your screen with various vloggers, both local and foreign, showcasing our rich cultural heritage, diverse landscape, and warm hospitality. However, there is still a lot to be desired, so we reached out to avid travellers, as well as figures from the hospitality sector to gather insight and analyse what comes next for Bangladesh’s tourism.
Nutritional trend 101: The truth behind popular diets
With a surge in awareness about the impact of food on our wellbeing, people are turning to diets not just to look good, but also to feel good. In the ever-evolving landscape of nutritional science, fad diets such as Intermittent Fasting, the Keto (Ketogenic) diet, and the GM diet, among others, have garnered noteworthy attention for their promises of rapid weight loss and health improvements.
Savour twice the flavour: Our facination with BOGO offers
Do you like Buy One Get One offers in buffets? If your answer ranges from an enthusiastic “Yes!” to a mellowed down “Sure, why not?” you would not be alone.
Editor's Note
It has been 33 years since The Daily Star began its journey. We have observed plenty of changes in these long years and feel proud and humbled to witness all the leaps and bounds our society has braved in the lifestyle sector.
Heritage textiles: Trends that transcend the test of time
The tapestry of Bangladesh’s textile legacy is woven with generational artistry and cultural significance.
AI and the future of fashion
Tech and fashion have long been intertwined, and with AI entering the scene, the possibilities are endless. McKinsey's analysis predicts a significant boost in profits for the fashion industry thanks to AI.
Innovation Key for the Future
Only good governance can ensure long-term energy security
Bangladesh has been struggling with primary energy supply since 2007, a long 17 years. Unfortunately, the focus was never to solve this fundamental problem sustainably but to build more power plants that are visible and carry larger political mileage.
Refinancing sustainable energy projects in Bangladesh
Bangladesh has not seen much success with refinancing of sustainable energy.
Lighting the future with renewables
Around the world, countries are putting in extended industrious efforts to find ways to fight climate change and secure a prosperous future for the generations ahead. As people all over the world realise the environmental challenges we are experiencing,
Key role of MSMEs in achieving our development goals
There is no denying that in recent decades, the Micro, Small and Medium and Cottage Enterprises (MSMEs and cottage) sector has been thriving in Bangladesh, both in terms of its contribution to GDP as well as employment generation.
Intra-RMG diversification: The next frontier
The highly impressive track record of Bangladesh’s export-oriented readymade garments (e-o RMG) sector is well-known and well-appreciated.
Navigating the future job market
The way we work and the skills we need to succeed are changing constantly due to the technological revolution, where artificial intelligence (AI) has taken this revolution one step further, creating both opportunities and challenges.
The future of the city, the city of the future
The city is perhaps the greatest innovation carried out by humans. Although nature has been used as an analogy in conceiving the fabric of the city, there is no such thing as the “city” in nature.
From digital to smart: Bangladesh on the growth path
That Bangladesh is a growth superstar of Asia looms large in any global economic forum, be it the World Economic Forum or the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. This sustained growth has been largely fuelled by the government’s unapologetic push for digitising all government services to citizens, building an ecosystem for technology startups and incentivising the ICT services industry over the last decade and a half.
Innovate, Educate, Elevate
Online edu / Paving way for a more inclusive Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a highly centralised country. With most opportunities being centralised to Dhaka, one of the most expensive cities in South Asia, students in Bangladesh need to cross two significant barriers, geographical and financial, to access quality education.
Diaspora's role in Bangladesh's economic development
In recent years, the diaspora community has emerged as a pivotal force in shaping the economic landscape of Bangladesh, their contributions marked by a blend of remittances, investments, and intellectual exchanges that bolster the country’s march towards sustainable development.
How online education is bridging job disparity
Education is perhaps the most tangible manifestation of enlightenment.
Startups are fuelling the Bangladesh of the future
Bangladesh’s tech startup ecosystem is navigating through an era of unparalleled growth and innovation, underpinned by robust economic fundamentals, a tech-savvy youthful population, and proactive government policies. The year 2023 has marked a significant stride in this journey, showcasing the resilience and dynamism of Bangladeshi startups amidst global economic uncertainties.
Diversified investments and startups
Bangladesh’s economic miracle is undeniable. Since independence in 1971, the nation’s GDP has grown a staggering 7.5% per year on average, lifting millions out of poverty and propelling the country towards middle-income status. Bangladesh went from a nation grappling with poverty and infrastructural challenges to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
Matching university education with contemporary needs
Tertiary education and the outcome provided by it are factors that are constantly in need of revision. In today’s world where new in-demand jobs and special fields of expertise explode into popularity at unprecedented rates, universities have a responsibility to respond by adapting quickly and efficiently.
Digital learning as a catalyst for educational equity and economic growth in Bangladesh
As Bangladesh grapples with the challenges of educational inequality, digital learning emerges as a transformative force.
How startups and apps are angling to solve elder-care and digital loneliness for 2024
In the long list of problems that startups want to address on a global scale (and largely have, despite a shrinking of the tech startup industry in recent times), health and wellness has always taken a slight backseat to problems like mobility, connectivity and ways of work.
Bangladesh on the World Stage
On the road to the trillionaire’s club
Today, Bangladesh boasts an impressive GDP size of $455.2 billion, estimated to be the 33rd biggest economy in the world in nominal terms, and is ranked 25th in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).
Where is Bangladesh’s freelance market headed?
Growing up in Bangladesh, there are very few career paths you are steered towards by family, teachers, schools and society. Most of these include traditional desk jobs.
Karnaphuli Tunnel and Padma Bridge construction
The Karnaphuli Tunnel, an ambitious project, seeks to enhance connectivity in the southeastern part of Bangladesh, bridging the gap between Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. Approved in 2016, this underwater tunnel is designed to span the Karnaphuli River, aiming to reduce travel time and traffic congestion.
The rapid growth of Bangladesh’s economy, and what comes after
Growth has been the constant in the journey of the Bangladesh economy over the last two decades. Starting from 2004, excluding the outlier year of 2020 when the world economy was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh has maintained a growth rate of over five percent or more.
Foreign policy quandary for Bangladesh: ‘Umbilical’ or ‘geopolitical’?
Bangladesh’s foreign inclinations increasingly sway between “umbilical” and “geopolitical” poles, as principles, policies and preferences compete for priority.
Bangladesh’s Garment Industry: Future growth in a changing world
Bangladesh has emerged as a significant player in the global garment industry, securing its position as the second-largest garment exporter worldwide. The country’s remarkable journey from economic struggles to becoming a key player in the textile and apparel sector is a testament to its resilience and adaptability.
Walking a tightrope or walking the plank?
Bangladesh has kicked off the year with the first of many important national elections to be held around the world.
Decoding the social dynamics of Bangladesh’s rising middle-class
Bangladesh is rapidly reaching a tipping point, where the country’s middle-class will expand dramatically over the next several years. At present, more than a fifth or about 34 million of the country’s total population belong to the middle-class category (defined as having per capita income ranging between $2 to $3 per day).
Empowering Bangladesh’s youth for the next leap
In the vibrant landscape of the 21st century, Bangladesh strategically leverages its significant youth population, comprising about 28% of the total population aged 15 to 29, to propel itself into a transformative era.
Corruption control: Can the righteous and benevolent exercise of monopolized power help?
Corruption is a global menace that no country has succeeded in bringing down to zero level.
Without the restoration of democracy press freedom remains unattainable
““Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”- This is what article 19 of the Universal Human Rights Declaration promised 75 years ago.
The future of elections in Bangladesh
Elections as a political game changer is a global phenomenon. The concept of election is a legitimate process of ‘choosing leadership’ to run a sovereign state and its government.
Improving the Human Development Index: The Bangladesh perspective
People are the real wealth of a nation. The fundamental objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy a long, healthy, and creative life. Human development is simply defined as a process of enlarging choices and creating opportunities for everyone.
Writing just climate transition: A reporter’s notes
In his work on the climate crisis, historian Dipesh Chakrabarty speaks of two kinds of time --- a human time of phenomenologically meaningful events that converged a few centuries ago into a globality on the back of techno-economic transformations, and a deeper geobiological time of the planet that is not centered on humanity.
Pathways and opportunities for accelerating Agenda 2030 and SDG achievement in Bangladesh
Let’s start with the big picture: How is the world doing with the SDGs?
Transforming education: Five tasks
Which five tasks should be on top of the list of someone appointed as the education tsar of Bangladesh? The question was posed by Dr. Binayak Sen, Director General of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in a public discussion about this writer’s recent book Ekush Shotoke Bangladesh -- Shikkhar Rupantor (Bangladesh in the 21st Century – Transformation of Education, published by Prothoma).
Keys to Bangladesh’s mega projects
Multiple mega-projects were initiated last year amid high expectations. In pursuit of these ambitious endeavors, Bangladesh has placed strong emphasis on careful decision-making, adopting a forward-thinking approach, engaging in extensive long-term planning, and ultimately formulating a comprehensive strategy for social integration.
Transforming Dhaka: Strategies for mega project implementation
Bangladesh is currently buzzing with a multitude of mega projects. Specifically, in the vibrant tapestry of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.