DHAKA, June 23, 2021 (BSS) - The Government of Bangladesh attaches highest priority to ensuring smooth and sustainable LDC graduation from Bangladesh with momentum in its plans and executing such plans accordingly, said Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Dr. Ahmad Kaikaus.
 
“To this end, we have established an effective platform to support Sustainable Graduation taking all the relevant stakeholders on board”—he said while speaking as the chief guest of a virtual meeting on ‘Graduation of Bangladesh from the least developed country (LDC) category and smooth transition towards sustainable development’ held today.
 
Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Government of Bangladesh, The United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) jointly organized the meeting, said an ERD press release.
 
The meeting reviewed the priorities of Bangladesh in preparing for graduation from the LDC category, smooth transition and the most important international support measures (ISMs)—including both traditional and new forms of support—needed from the international community.
 
Principal Coordinator (SDGs Affairs) of Prime Minister’s Office Zuena Aziz, Director of OHRLLS and Chair of the UN Inter Agency Task Force on LDC Graduation Heidi Schroderus-Fox, and UN CDP Member and Chair for Sub-Group on LDCs Taffere Tesfachew spoke during the inaugural session of the event.  

Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah chaired the event, while CDP Secretary Roland Mollerus joined as the co-chair.
 
High officials from the government's Ministries and Divisions, UN Systems, development and trading partners, and private sector participated in the meeting.
 
 It is notable that Bangladesh has been recommended for graduation from the LDC status during the latest triennial review of CDP in February, 2021.
 
Recognising the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, CDP has also recommended an extended, five-year long preparatory period from 2021 to 2026 as well as enhanced monitoring, analysis, and transition support.
 
During the preparatory period, Bangladesh will prepare a smooth transition strategy (STS) in cooperation with development and trading partners and with targeted assistance from the United Nations system, especially members of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on LDC Graduation Support.
 
The release said STS is expected to provide the basis for a successful transition, ensuring that LDC-specific ISMs are phased out in a way that does not disrupt the country’s development progress. The Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance will coordinate the process of preparing the STS by involving all the stakeholders.   
 
The virtual meeting was comprised of two business sessions. The first session was themed on ‘Preparing for Graduation and Smooth Transition and Support’. During this session, Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh spoke on the challenges of LDC graduation and the way forward while ERD Secretary Fatima Yasmin delivered a presentation on ‘Planned Strategy for Smooth Graduation’.
 
This session also featured a presentation on ‘Preparing for Graduation and Smooth Transition – what next after CDP recommendation’ from Matthias Bruckner from CDP Secretariat while Mereseini Bower from the same entity delivered a presentation on ‘New Sustainable Graduation Support Facility’.
 
The second business session was themed on ‘Results of a Survey on Assistance Measures for LDC graduation in Bangladesh’.
 
During this session, Member of UN CDP Debapriya Bhattacharya spoke on the ‘CDP’s Contribution to the Fifth UN Conference on LDCs and Global Support Measures’.
 
Consultant of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) Dr Fahmida Khatun presented the draft Survey Report on ‘Assistance Measures for LDC graduation in Bangladesh– Key Findings and Recommendations’ in the meeting.
 
Member of the Planning Commission Dr. Shamsul Alam, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Member of the Planning Commission Sharifa Khan and Secretary of the Statistics and Informatics Division Mohammad Yamin Chowdhury also gave their comments during this business session.
 
Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah extended his gratitude to the UN team for their positive remarks and also hopes that both sides will work jointly in the coming days to materialise the initiatives for sustainable graduation.