The secret behind Asias best kept secret- Bangladesh Abdullah Al Masud

The other day, a program on the topic of Branding Bangladesh was going on. It showed a video on the achievements of Bangladesh and its people on numerous sectors. As rightly shown by the video, Bangladeshis have somewhat silently achieved a lot as a nation and economic growth has been the forefront of these achievements. These achievements have earned Bangladesh a tag name- Asias best kept secret. In the program, the program anchor questioned the guests how it was possible for the country to make such large strides despite having so many internal problems. The question hit me as well. Really, how did we do it? We have been facing numerous problems such as natural calamities, high inflation, corruption, crimes, traffic jam, load-shedding, strikes, political instability etc. In spite of such problems, how is it possible that we are making a mark in the world economy? One always feels one day people will say they have had enough of this and are going to burst out. But fortunately, they havent burst out. But the question is why? After some contemplation, the answer came to me. Its just one wordPeople themselves. People of our country love to work hard to earn livelihood, irrespective of the problems. They have a natural ability to withstand difficulties, which may explain the ability to recover strongly after being hit by constant natural disasters. High risk appetites among the people may have from the ability to withstand difficulties. Such risk appetites are the reason why so many entrepreneurs are setting up new businesses and creating employments for the work-force or the reason why low-income people are selling their assets or borrowing at high interest rates to go abroad for a better future for their family and even taking the risk of life in reaching their target destinations. I must also say that our people are peace loving in general, which may be explained by religious bindings, our education, and our family values. Without such peace-lovingness, there could easily been much more conflict and discord amongst us. Also, one must say that the Almighty may have been a bit kinder to us. I say this especially in terms of the natural resources we have been bestowed with and natural adversaries we have not been provided with. We, thankfully, dont have desert-like and snowy environments, yet. And the natural resource and location of the country makes this a suitable place for growth in diverse fields like agriculture, trade, tourism, industrialization etc. And the vast growing population ensures that demand of good products and services by manufacturing and servicing companies grows. Large population allows us for migration of a part of the population which has been fruitful for the country in the remittances they send or improved skills they bring in for future. Besides, the young age of most of the population itself is a blessing ensuring a tremendously enthusiast workforce for near future. Nothing in the world remains stagnant as time passes. As such, everything mentioned above is subject to change, for the worse or the better, depending on how we utilize our opportunities for growth in a balanced way. In addition, we need to address issues such as income inequality, local government empowerment, decentralized development in education, healthcare sector and in business opportunities etc. So there is still a long way to go as a country. Stable economic growth has been our trademark. Still a lot scope for development or growth is present in social and political environment along with economic environment. Lets hope that the process of growth speeds up a notch and continues.