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THE PRIME TIME ABERRATION

Process of Sustainable Development yet to be Launched

WINDOW ON ASIA

Shahed Latif
THE llonri oi liberation on 16 December 1971 was the prime time of our nationhood Through blood and tear*. tn* pile of the ruin* and destruction*. the birth oi Independent Bangladesh reJu venated the united homo geneerua people* ol liangladrah tn ways which would perhap* never occur again tn our history It was the end of all conflicts, all dlvtaion* were obliterated and every citizen prepared for hard work and sacrifice. Everybody thought that there could be nothing but unending peace and therefore tt was the best of times to launch a massive endeavour and develop the nation as fast as possible For the first time In history, the people enjoyed the unique opportunity to decide their fate, realise their dreams and fulfil their aspirations.
The supreme leader after hl* return from captivity, announced in hi* first address to the Nation; "We will make Bangladesh the Switzerland of the east." Why was II Switzerland? Because tt Is the only country in Europe which never suffered from a war II Is the country of permanent peace and neutrality a* well as the most prosperous Insplte of luck of natural resources like us: small In size although hemmed tn by giant neigh hours like Germany and France which is again very close to our condition*. In fact If one com pares the two countries, we
had a distinct advantage: Switzerland Is divided in terms of race, language, culture and the Church, while liangladrah I* truly homogc nous in every sense like the Japanese and this Is often cited as a significant factor be hind emergence of Japan as a leading world economic power
Hut Switzerland or Japan — they are only distant mirage, receding further with each passing day We failed over the last taro decades and during the reign of three successive Governments to launch the vt tai process of sustainable de-vetopment that could carry the nation along the path of economic and social progress The critical stimulus lo sustainable growth remained conspicuous by Its absence In fact this has been the case all over South Asia There were sporadic growth, may be for two/three years with good weather and bumper harvests but the long term trend of a high growth economy which could have cona from the correct stimuli wen vitally missing
Miracle of ASEAN Economies
This has been qutte unlike what happened In other pan* of the Aslan continent where the newly Industrialising eco nomle* emerged or the growth niirack of some of the ASEAN economies took place during the last few years so much so that when In 1992 the whole world is suffering from recession, the economics of east and south-east Asia arc still booming with relentless expansion of the manufacturing sectors. In particular.
Today It is generally recognised that the vital difference have been the prescription for Eowth South Asia generally
I lowed the public-sector ori ented policies, more skin to the sM-lallat planning model of development and looked Inward to sustain market expansion necessary for economic growth. To the east of the sub continent, the policies favou red outward strategies relying on the market forces and the private sector. We adopted
import substitution while to th. east, vigorous ■ «port pro motion became the order of the day
Thus at the prime time, that Is during the Initiation of the growth process there were aberrations of what should have been the detailed policy framework and pro gramme development In South Asia while to the east of the subcontinent the most appro prlalc stimulants were idcnll (led so that the aberrations wen avoided and they had a straight run through the path of growth and development In •pile at Its uphill nature
But what were these aberra lions? First after 1947 the arms race between India and Pakistan drained away re sources lor development on a massive scale. Second we in south Asia became more concerned with the distribution of the benefit* from growth rather than growing first. One of the planning ministers of an ASEAN country put It very sue cinctly when he said; "We were more concerned with increas ing the size of the economic cake, while they (meaning us tn south Asia) were busy cut ting up the small economic pie Into bit* and pieces ’
Enlightened Pragmatism
fo add more as much and ■' fast as possible to the gross domestic product on s sustain able basis should be major goal at the prime time of develop merit Unfortunately the south Aslan leaders were lured Into policies that maximise the share of politically more rele vant interest groups In order to Increase national wealth south east Asia stretched the welcome hand to foreign capl tai even as early as 1960 A* a result. Japanese entrepreneur* moved In with their terhnolo gles although hardly 15 years before the Japanese had come to south-east Asia with tanks and bombs and the memories were still quite fresh_ The en lightened pragmatism man! fested In these developments were truly amazing At the same time (during early 1960*1, 1 remember an in flu ential Indian economist telling me that colonialism came tq. the subcontinent through a trading firm, the East India Company That was foreign in vestment In those day*. We must therefore resist by all mean* a repetition of history In Pakistan, the refuse capital from India could have initiated the high growth economic process To thi* day. the refugees from India have not been Integrated with the focal* In Pakistan since they had to organise their own political party Moreover in the early 1970*. there were witch hunt Ing of the wealthy capitalist faniilM* As a result they moved away to safe havens elsewhere In the world. The history of Bangladesh is all too vivid tn our memory the large-scale nationalisation of 1972 was a full blown national dt*
Acting in Opposite Direction
These were the prime time aberration* from which we are badly suffering today While Indian real estate developers nourish In Thailand, Pakistani
capitalists locate their facto des in North America and Bangladeshi restaurant owners make money in England, the focal* of south-east Asia act exactly In the opposite direction: they invest tn their own countries and also Invite foreign capital to do the same
What we essentially lack is pragmatism Wc In south Asia lend to be more emotional When subcontinental politic* was (and still is) dominated by the Kashmir issue with realising at what cost. Malaysia decided to annul the union with Singapore and create a separate city state ASEAN politics is dominated by economies We in the subcontinent revert back to our sordid history bloodied by communal tensions. The depth of enlightened pragmatism fa perhaps best demonstrated by China when Hongkong has been tolerated to grow and prosper or trade with Taiwan allowed to expand very rapidly Politics and militarism seemed to be the primary source of aberration tn south Asia China avoided the pitfalls by considering economic compulsions — first and foremost.
But tt is better late than never The politics of the subcontinent Is at last veering to the stark realities of life today Let u* no longer be the de vlanls of the continent and re turn lo the mainstream of growth and development