Quality human resources, institutional accountability must for sustainable dev: Wahiduddin Mahmud

Quality human resources and institutional accountability are two key development prerequisites for any nation, according to eminent economist Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud.

"Without these, no country has ever been able to achieve sustainable development. Be it India, China, South Korea or whatever," Wahiduddin Mahmud said at a book unveiling ceremony in Dhaka on Monday.  

The programme was organised by the Policy Research Institute (PRI) of Bangladesh and presided over by the institute Chairman Zaidi Sattar. Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Adviser Mashiur Rahman was the chief guest on the occasion.

At the programme, economists highlighted the roles by the public and private sectors in the country's economic development in the last five decades and also emphasised good governance.

Wahiduddin Mahmud, who is a former caretaker government adviser, commented that a strong stance on development and poverty alleviation was often used to legitimise a lack of democracy. 

"There was no accountability of our political institutions for a long time. However, governments had to mobilise enormous efforts for legitimacy in the face of media and civil society activeness. This led to an aspiration of people and governments subsequently had to act on it," he added. 

"But when we will be moving towards development in the future, legitimacy seeking could be the only mechanism through government accountability against people's activism and aspiration. That is a real problem."

Emphasising institutional accountability, he said that the Communist Party of China was reorganised after the creation of a market economy, and everyone knows how accountability works in a capitalist economy.

About human resource development, he said, "We have had a lot of development in terms of infrastructure, but if human resource development is not accompanied by it, it will be a big challenge."

The economist said the local thriving readymade garment industry on cheap labour, export of poorly trained manpower and backwardness in technology will not help eliminate poverty. The country needs economic efficiency, productivity and financial sector efficiency.

He highlighted the contribution of micro credit, non-government organisations (NGOs) as well as the supporting role of the government behind the growth trajectory of Bangladesh.

Hossain Zillur Rahman, another former caretaker government adviser, said infrastructure such as bridges, roads or hospitals is being built, but the protocol for use has not been prepared owing to which the economy is being deprived of the benefits.

Former director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) KAS Murshid authored the book that was unveiled at the programme. The book, titled "The Odds Revisited - The Political Economy of the Development of Bangladesh", underlines the key catalysts for the country's economic progress in the last five decades. 

Some of the speakers raised questions about how the book is compatible with political economy as there is not much talk about governance and politics.

Former secretary Suhel Choudhury stressed assessing whether economic development is accompanied by political development.

Mashiur Rahman said the claims in the book about declined life expectancy in 2019 compared to 2016 and the number of nurses is less than doctors are "unusual".

PRI Executive Director Ahsan H Mansur said agriculture, food security, readymade garments, remittances and social safety net were the main driving forces of the country's development.