Cut economic disparity to achieve SDGs by 2030
The government should take steps to reduce economic disparity to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030, experts said yesterday.
Sustainable development aims at reducing economic disparity, said Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF).
Corruption is the main barrier for the country's economic development and the government will be able to achieve more growth only if corruption is cut, said Abdul Mannan, chairman of University Grants Commission.
Corruption is interrupting the development and widening the disparity, Ahmed said.
They spoke at a two-day international conference on “Pathways to a sustainable economy: Vision 2041 Agenda for Bangladesh” organised by the PKSF at its conference room in Dhaka.
Abdul Karim, managing director of the PKSF, gave a presentation on the economic progress of the country.
The growth of the country's gross domestic product was 4 percent in 1990, which improved to 7.86 percent in 2018, Karim said.
At present, 12 percent people live below the poverty line in the United States while for Bangladesh it is 22 percent, he said.
The earnings of Bangladeshis have improved significantly but the development achieved is not balanced, he said.
He suggested that the government cut regional economic disparity to achieve sustainable development.
Bangladesh should give more focus on clean energy and develop micro entrepreneurship to make the development sustainable, said Moazzem Hossain, professor of Griffith University in Australia.
Hossain, who is also the convenor of the conference, stressed the need for women empowerment to accelerate the economic development.
Three sessions were held on the first day of the conference where three papers were presented by local and international experts.
