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Greetings to President William Jefferson Clinton

by Harun ur Rashid
**President Clinton is most welcome to Bangladesh and the people of Bangladesh will demonstrate that they are one of the most hospitable hosts to the honoured visitor and his party. President
Clinton will find a reservoir of goodwill and friendship in Bangladesh for him and his family as well as for the people of the US.**
PRESIDENT Bill Clinton arrives in Dhaka on Monday. 20th March. He is visiting the country in response to an invitation extended by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Haslna in 1996 while she met the President In the White House.
Apparently no two countries are perhaps as unalike as Bangladesh and the United State of America. They differ In language, culture, religion, history. ethnicity. and In political, legal and social systems. The US is the only superpower and the richest country In the world whereas Bangladesh falls into the category of one of the Least-Developed Countries.
Nevertheless there are some similarities as well. Both nations were born out of armed conflicts. The people of Bangladesh have sacrificed their lives to achieve their independence in 1971 while the people of the US did the same prior to their declaration of independence on 4th July. 1776 from Britain. One Is tempted to say, that in many ways Bangladesh and the US have robust democracy in action in their respective countries.
During Bangladesh's war of Independence in 1971 the people. the media and the Congress of the US lent their support to the freedom struggle of the people of Bangladesh, although Nixon administration was tilted towards Pakistan. The US media provided unprecedented coverage of the events of Bangladesh in 1971 and was critical of the policy of the White House. It was' reported that from December 1st to 17th December 1971. there were 62 statements in the US Congress and only 9 supported the policy of the White House. The bonds between the peoples of the two countries were strengthened during this period.
20th March will be a historic day for the country as the President of the US has come to this land of ours for the first time. The people are excited about the visit and many of them are aware that the White House, an epicentre of world power, will be located in Dhaka for a day. Dhaka would be the focus of attention of the global print and electronic media and the name of Dhaka would be reverberated throughout the whole world.
The average ordinary people know that President Clinton is coming to Dhaka through the hub of activities in the city. Dhaka city Is being spruced up. The buildings on the streets through which President Clinton will pass have been washed and painted. Dhaka is ready to welcome the President and his entourage. The people of Bangladesh may not have the resources but are ready to extend a hearty welcome to the President, apd < _lu.s. Rar.ty (although a small number of people are likely to protest against the visit and that is the price of democracy).
Bangladesh as a country
I think it would be an appropriate occasion to take a stock of Bangladesh as to how it stands in the global and regional context. This will help to nave a realistic assessment of what the priorities for Bangladesh are and what the US response to the priorities should be and the attendant likely benefits to be accrued to both countries.
Bangladesh is a new nation since 1971 but the land, known earlier as East Bengal, is ancient and so also its culture and civilisations. Many great civilisations flourished in this land for many centuries. The land is known for its muslin. the finest fabric the world has ever produced. Foreign travellers and scholars who were attracted by the charms and fame of this land since time immemorial had recorded moving descriptions about the prosperity and cultural advancement.
They include Fa-hien in 4th century AD and Hue-an tsung in
Darkness Dispelled
CERTAINLY, the Jessore Palli Bidyut Samiti (Rural Electricity Association) deserves full credit for dispelling darkness in 60 villages of five thanas in the south-western district. With the recent installation of the 28.43 kilometre power line, the association makes good on its commitment to bring development to the doorsteps of the rural populace. Already, some 72,000 connections have been provided to households, business centres and irrigation projects. The association's plans to put in place 200 kilometres of additional electric lines by the end of this fiscal year sound even more encouraging for the residents. Also, inauguration of the 20 MVA electric transformer at Natore 132/33 KV Greed Substation of PDB “in a bid to meet the increasing demand for power" also underscores the authorities' commitment in this regard. Overall, the power scenario looks Increasingly brighter there.
Evidently, rural electrification programme has gathered reasonable momentum. While new areas are being covered, the problem of load shedding has also been addressed through enhancement of power distribution. Undoubtedly, efficiency of the ground level organisations under the Power Development Board (PDB) is of utmost importance in expanding availability of electricity.
Nevertheless, the power people should realise that Installation of electric distribution and transmission system Is the Job only half done. Maintenance Is the key. Past experiences have always highlighted maintenance Inadequacy In the country's power sector. As this paper has previously pointed out. girding and guarding should be the priority concerns. In the rural areas, the risk factor being higher, maximum effort should be put in this regard.
7lh century from China , Ibne Batuta in 14th century from Africa, Nicola Kantl in 15th century from Venice and Bernier In 17th century from France. To Ibne Batuta, Bangladesh was “full of bounties and wealthiest and cheapest land In the world."
The people of Bangladesh are known for their Independent spirit, pride and resilience. Even the mighty Mughal Emperors had faced difficulties to hold their sway over this land. The first phase of Independence struggle against the British was commenced by the Bengal army in 1857. On 30th December. 1906 Dhaka became a centre of political activity in whole of British India when a new political party, the Muslim League, was formed to protect and advance the political rights and Interests of the Muslims. It was again an illustrious son of Bengal Sher-e-Bangla A K Fazlul Huq who moved the Lahore Resolution in 1940 for a separate home land for the Muslims.
Bangladesh claims to be the largest Islamic nation in the world after Indonesia. Bangladesh is one of the very few among the 55-Islamlc countries which has provided the people to change the government by ballots. The Muslim people in Bangladesh practise 'moderate' Islam tempered with local customs and culture. The minority community is represented in all levels of the government including the highest Judiciary.
Bangladesh is strategically located In between India and
China, the two giants in Asia. It is a bridge between South Asia and South-East Asia. Bangladesh Is a member of the UN. Commonwealth of Nations. Organisation of Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement. Bangladesh is a member of a number of regional organisations such as SAARC. BIMST-EC, IOR-AC and D8 Commission. This unique position makes Bangladesh privy to many policy decisions, not readily available to many countries. and helps to interact effectively with other countries.
Bangladesh is an out and out a pacifist country. It was born out of a nine-month long war and it knows how armed conflicts have adverse impact on its people psychologically and materially. It has been seen that global balance of power has an impact on regional conflicts and global and regional Security concerns.often overlap. Bangladesh firmly,Believes that the UN should play a centra] role in both regional and global concerns. Bangladesh has taken seriously its responsibilities under the UN Charter and has never defaulted to pay its dues to the UN.
Bangladesh supported all moves towards total and complete disarmament. It is always among the forefront of those nations which sign and ratify international disarmament instruments. It is a party to both the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Bangladesh is at present a member of the Security Council for 2000-01. Bangladesh holds the chair of 48 Least-Developed Countries from Asia, Africa and Caribbean countries and represents them in the UN and other multilateral forums. It has been responding to the call of the UN to provide peace-keeping troops/police or civilian personnel to the conflict-torn countries. Only recently it committed hundreds of personnel to UN Peace-Keeping force in East Timor.
Bangladeshi people are highly critical about them-
selves and often ignore the successes achieved by them through their sheer determination and Innovation. To be self-critical is good but one has to take a realistic assessment of the achievements given the limitations of the country's resources and the size of the popu-latlon (128 million) squeezed into a territory of only 55,598 square miles (144.036 km. squares).
Bangladesh Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) can proudly claim to be the leaders in the task of alleviating poverty In novel and unconventional ways in the developing world It has demonstrated that the people should not solely rely on the government for socio-economic uplift and that the NGOs can become the engines of social transformation in a developing country, thereby reaching out to a better future for the poor people.
Two organisations — BRAC and Grameen Bank- arc the pioneers of movement which has deep impact on the thinking of the social scientists of other countries. BRAC is the largest NGO In the world and is totally committed to the programmes of alleviation of poverty. Grameen Bank, a non-profit organisation. has Introduced a new concept of banking — micro-credit — without any collateral to the vulnerable section of the poor- the women. The system has been replicated In many countries.
Bangladesh could claim that it is no more a "basket case or
carries a gloom and doom scenario. The export has doubled during 1993-98. Its export is growing by 27 per cent every year. The clothing industry with almost zero contribution in 1975 has grown to be the most important industry contributing more than two thirds of the exports. Over 27 per cent of the total Gross Domestic Product of Bangladesh are exported outside while the global average is 25 per cent. The annual economic growth has registered over 5 per cent on average for several years. Bangladesh's financial' management was sound and the Asian economic crisis of 1997 did not affect Bangladesh.
Vital statistics indicate that the birth rate of the population has fallen from nearly 3 per cent to 1.9 per cent. The infant mortality rate has decreased by more than one third since 1975. In 1975 the total life expectancy at birth was 45 years and in 1998 it was 60.5. Adult literacy rate is now over 52 per cent. The Green revolution has increased the overall production of cereals to about 19 million tons.
These are not small achievements. However, the challenge is to mobilise and deploy the resources more ef-fectively-nationally and collectively- to energise its development. draw strength from cooperation from Industraliased countries, exploit global opportunities and make the globalisation more responsive to Bangladesh's interests. The tasks are formidable as the policies will need to be changed, institutions reformed and new mechanism created in the country.
What benefits can Bangladesh derive from this visit of the US President?
President Clinton is known to be a humanist with liberal ideas. His intellectual capabilities are remarkable both in depth and dimension. He is a product of Yale and Oxford Uni-
versifies. He is keenly aware of the grotesque disparities between the rich and the poor countries. On 21 September 21.1999 during his speech at the last session of the UN General Assembly President Clinton stated;
“1.3 billion people still live on less than a dollar a day. More than half the population of many countries have no access to safe water. A person In South Asia Is 700 times less likely to use Internet than some one In the US. And 40 million people a year still die of hunger--almost as many as the total number killed In World War II. We must refuse to accept a future In which one part of humanity Hues on the cutting edge oj a new economy, while the other Ilves at the knife edge of sur-
In that statement he promised three resolutions for the new mlllenniunu(a) to wage an unrelenting battle against poverty, (b) to strengthen the capacity of the International community to prevent and to stop outbreaks of mass killings and displacement and (c) to protect children from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
President Clinton will face the poverty of the people in Bangladesh. He is aware of the reasons of poverty and unless the vicious cycle of poverty is broken it is hard for any government to do much given its resource-constraints.
The US is one of the largest donor for Bangladesh. The
country needs aid for economic development and growth. However. what Bangladesh needs is its own agenda . rather than a donor- driven agenda. Bangladesh needs to have a full say in the selection of projects and should not be Induced to agree to projects which are useless for the benefit of the people.
The debt is a heavy burden on Bangladesh. One could say that it could become a net exporter of capital to rich countries. Even some of the policies of the IMF and the World Bank hurt Bangladesh. The US could provide relief for debts of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh continues to face deterioration in the external environment because of globalisation of economy. The commodity market remains depressed coupled with the depreciation of local currency to a US dollar. Bangladesh is confronted with barriers in the markets of the developed countries Including discriminatory protectionism.
The clothing industry is a major export earner for the country. The US can extend the quota for clothing industry after 2004. It could offer tariff-free entry for Bangladeshi products In the US market. US foreign direct investment should flow more in the country' without any stringent conditions. Gas-based petro-chemi-cal industries could be set up in Bangladesh by the US investors which could provide a springboard for the export of products to other countries in the region.
Bangladesh Is pre-domi-nantly an agricultural country. Sixty-five per cent of the total labour force is employed in agriculture. Nearly 46 per cent of the country's GDP depends on agriculture. The data for Bangladesh seems to overstate the diminishing role of agricultural exports because semi-processed goods are classified as manufacturing.
Agricultural trade has been a rapid growth, particularly in areas of processed food exports. The processed sea-food alone accounts about 70 per cent of
agricultural exports of the country.
The US should ensure that labour standards, human rights and trade-linked environmental rules should not be Imposed as WTO rules on Bangladesh. Such rules will impede the growth of exports. The Imposition of labour standards/rlghts to trade appears to be misconceived in case of Bangladesh because almost 90 per cent of the labour force in the country Is unorganised. Of the unorganised labour force. It could be argued that a small minority is Involved in the product of export goods.
The best way to help Bangladesh is to promote its trade coupled with the targeted aid in specific fields. Trade promotion with market access Is compared to giving a rod to catch fish while ala is mere providing fish to an Individual. The former is aimed at a long term subsistence-goal while the latter is transient. One involves the transfer of skill while the other does not.
If the US removes the tariff and non-tariff barriers for Bangladeshi products, it will provide a stimulus to the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. Increase of exports to the US will result in faster economic growth in the country and Bangladesh will develop Itself Into an efficient and innovative manufacturing nation. I would argue that trade, investment and transfer of technology and not aid should be the principal thrust of the co-operative efforts between the US and Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Is adversely affected lor the reduction of flow of the water of the Ganges because of the Farakka Barrage in India, 1 1 miles from the border of Bangladesh. Being a lower riparian country. Bangladesh has no control over the flow of the water of the rivers (56 in number) which enter into the coun-try from India. The President may have a first hand view of the critical situation of the areas which have been adversely affected because of the diversion of waters of the Ganges.
It is estimated that Bangladesh incurs agriculture losses worth about $US 650 million a year (weekly Dhaka Courier, 14 August, 1998. p.13). To compensate the loss, Bangladesh proposed a “Ganges Barrage" and it is desirable that the US maybe requested to mobilise the funds necessary to construct the Barrage in association with the World Bank. (The World Bank assisted to construct dams in Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty of 1960). It may be noted that President Jimmy Carter pledged in 1978 to co-operate in harnessing the Ganges river when he visited India in 1978.
The US assistance is needed to prevent and contain the occurrences of natural disasters in Bangladesh. High-tech gadgets are required to forewarn (he advent of natural disasters. The natural calamities sustain devastating losses in human lives and communication-infrastructures in the country. To rebuild millions of dollars are required to restore the status quo.
What is the quid pro quo for the US ?
If Bangladesh remains stable and prosperous, it has a beneficial impact on the region. Economic security is interlinked with social stability and democracy. Democracy cannot subsist if there is a social tension in the country. Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen took the view that neither famine nor armed conflict could occur in a democratic
country. Politically a stable Bangladesh is a plus for the US and for the region.
The US economic growth relies on exports of its goods and service Industry to other countries. If Bangladesh Is prosperous. the people of Bangladesh, at least the growing middle class, say 20 per cent of 128 million people will have disposable Income to purchase modern gadgets and equipment. Bangladesh Is potentially a good huge market for the US.
Bangladesh Is one of the most open economies among the developing countries in (he world. Bangladesh pursues a vigorous export-oriented growth strategy led by private-sector. The wages of the skilled and semi-skilled labour are cheap In terms of US dollar. Bangladesh should be seen as an "investors paradise" for the US companies in telecommunications. energy, gas, oil exploration. banking. Insurance, information technology and services sectors.
The security against foreign investment Is guaranteed. There would be no nationalisation and expropriation of foreign Investment. The repatriation of dividends, capital and return from the investment is guaranteed. Bangladesh is a signatory to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, Overseas Private Investment Corporation of USA. International Centre for Settlement of Industrial Disputes and a member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
1 would argue that US Investment should not be linked with the gas exports from Bangladesh to other countries. Although (he proposal has merits in economic terms, the people are not yet convinced with the arguments in Its favour. It is estimated that the proven gas reserves in the country will last for 45 years if the current rate of consumption remains the same. There is a view that the country has gas reserves as large as those of gas-glants-Indonesia and Malaysia. The people of Bangladesh might take time to appreciate the advantages of gas exports in return for the import of hydroelectric power from neighbouring countries.
This is the election .year for the US Presidency. The American people by and large are compassionate towards the people of the developing countries. The visit of President Clinton to Bangladesh is a bold statement to reinforce its friendship with a Least Developed country whose stereotypical image in the US is one of unrelieved human and ecological disaster. There Is a view that the visit might may strengthen the image of the President as a caring person for the poor and in turn could pay political dividends for the Democratic Party in the November Presidential election.
Conclusion
Bangladesh has developed an intricate maze of economic, political and personal connections with the US. Bangladesh attaches great importance to its relations with the US. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasin^ visited the US three times since she came into power in June 1996. The visit of President Clinton. I hope, would usher in a new direction in bilateral relations for the mutual benefit of both countries.
President Clinton is most welcome to Bangladesh and the people of Bangladesh will demonstrate that they are one of the most hospitable hosts to the honoured visitor and his party. President Clinton will find a reservoir of goodwill and friendship in Bangladesh for him and his family as well as for the people of the US.
The author, a barrister, is Former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN in Europe.