UN cooperation framework to support Bangladesh's LDC graduation: Gwyn Lewis

The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework will support Bangladesh's graduation from the least-developed country (LDC) category, said UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis on Sunday (10 March).

"With the potential change in the development finance landscape due to Bangladesh's graduation from LDC category in 2026, the UN has placed a particular emphasis on development effectiveness through different instruments in the cooperation framework, which will complement the public financial management efforts of different international financial institutions and multilateral development banks," she said during a meeting with with ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman at ICC Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka, reads a press release. 

"The United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework [cooperation framework] represents the UN development systems' collective response to support Bangladesh in addressing key development priorities and challenges to the achievement of the objectives of the 8th Five Year Plan leading to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, its SDGs, and the Perspective Plan for 2041. 

"The UN looks forward to working jointly with the International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh in addressing various development issues," she also said.

Gwyn Lewis was briefed about the activities of ICC HQs and ICC Bangladesh, and discussed challenges to be faced by Bangladesh after graduating to Middle Income country in 2026. The ICC Bangladesh president mentioned that the relationship between Bangladesh and the United Nations started during the initial stage of Bangladesh's liberation war in 1971.

Mahbubur Rahman mentioned that Bangladesh has set out an ambitious journey path to transform into a Smart-Bangladesh High-Income Country by 2041, as delineated in its Perspective Plan (2021-2041). 

The plan for achieving the vision – the Perspective Plan 2021-2041 – defines targets: achieving Upper-Middle Income Country Status and eliminating extreme poverty by 2031, and eradicating poverty altogether while achieving High-Income Country status by 2041. As part of this trajectory, Bangladesh has fully committed to achieving the SDGs, and embraced the Secretary-General's call for a "Decade of Action" to accelerate progress toward the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

The ICCB president urged the UN Resident Coordinator to extend all out assistance and cooperation to Bangladesh to overcome challenges after LDC graduation. He said UN agencies have been supporting the government in various projects in the field of sustainable development solutions, poverty alleviation, disaster management, peace, good governance, police reform, human rights, environment, climate change, reproductive health, family planning etc.

"Over the next five years, progress towards this ambitious political, economic, and social development vision will be delivered through the 8th Five Year Plan. This medium-term development strategy comes at a time when Bangladesh looks to promote a strong and resilient recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, sustain and build on its economic growth, and put the country on track to achieve the SDGs, Middle Income Country Status, and the elimination of extreme poverty by 2030/31," Mahbubur Rahman said.

ICCB Vice President AK Azad said, "Bangladesh stands to lose a number of international support measures associated with LDC status, namely preferential market access under LDC-specific schemes. Bangladeshi garment exporters rely on the European Union's Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme for duty-free, quota-free access to the region's markets. Any measures to extend or replace EBA could prove critical in smoothing the transition." 

He sought UN support in this regard.

ICCB Vice President Naser Ezaz Bijoy said, "The climate change impact is posing a severe threat to Bangladesh's agriculture as well as to the overall economy. As a result, annual GDP is likely to shrink by 1% to 2%. Required investment is crucial as investment of $1.2 billion within 2030 could save $11.6 billion by 2030."

He urged more UN investment and programmes to assist Bangladesh in climate adaptation.

During the meeting a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between United Nations Global Compact Network Bangladesh (UN-GCNB) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Bangladesh. 

The purpose of the MoU is to ensure growth and value addition of Sustainability Projects countrywide through Private Sector engagement for future market development, to facilitate and empower members of the ICC in accessing global networks and resources through UN-GC platforms on Sustainable business practices; to provide capacity building/ training to support the sustainability journeys in the private sector of Bangladesh.