ICSB Journal (October-December 2018) by ICSB Bangladesh

SDGs - Bangladesh Perspective

INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED SECRETARIES OF BANGLADESH (ICSB)

Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) was established under an Act of Parliament i.e. Chartered Secretaries Act 2010 is the only recognized professional body in Bangladesh to develop, promote and regulate the profession of Chartered / Company Secretaries in Bangladesh. The Institute was initially established under a license from the Ministry of Commerce in 1997 as the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Managers of Bangladesh (ICSMB) and subsequently was converted to Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB). The affairs of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) are managed by a Council consisting of thirteen elected members and five nominees of the Government. The President is the head of the Institute. The major contribution of a Chartered Secretary is in the corporate sector. Chartered Secretary is a requisite qualification to become a Company Secretary. Company Secretary is an important professional, aiding the efficient management of the corporate sector. Company Secretary is a Statutory Officer under the Companies Act 1994. According to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), all the listed companies should have a Company Secretary. Company Secretary is the compliance officer of the company, who has to interact, coordinate, integrate and cooperate with various other functional heads in a company.

THE COUNCIL 2016-2019

Mohammad Sanaullah FCS Safiar Rahman FCS Md. Selim Reza FCS Nazmul Karim FCS Mohammad Asad Ullah FCS Itrat Husain FCS Md. Shahid Farooqui FCS Md. Azizur Rahman FCS A. K. M. Mushfiqur Rahman FCS Mohammad Bul Hassan FCS Gopal Chandra Debnath FCS Md. Anwar Hossain Chowdhury FCS Salim Ahmed FCS Pranesh Ranjan Sutradhar, Additional Secretary, GoB Mohammad Abu Faruque, Additional Secretary, GoB Dr. Mohammad Mohiuddin, Joint Secretary, GoB Khandaker Kamaluzzaman, Commissioner, BSEC Md Zakir Hossain, Registrar, RJSC, GoB

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor Prof. Dr. Feroz I. Faruque FCS Members Itrat Husain FCS Md. Bazlur Rahman Sikder FCS Kazi Ashiqur Rahman FCS Subash Chandra Moulick FCS Mohammad Shahajahan FCS Md. Shiful Islam ACS

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President Senior Vice President Vice President Treasurer Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor

IN THIS ISSUE Editorial

The Council 2016-2019

Message from the President

Institute News

ARTICLES SDGs with Focus on Food Security of Bangladesh -Prof. Dr. Feroz Iqbal Faruque FCS

Sustainable Development Goals and Bangladesh -Subash Chandra Moulick FCS

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Its Integration with 7th Five Year Plan in Bangladesh -Mohammad Shahajahan FCS

Achieving SDGs through Mobilization of Direct Taxes in Bangladesh: Some Observations -Dr. Sams Uddin Ahmed

Climate Change: A Big Challenge for Sustainable Development Goal -Md. Shiful Islam ACS PUBLISHED BY Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB)

(Established under Chartered Secretaries Act 2010 (Act No. 25 of 2010)

The views and opinions expressed in the articles published in this Journal are those of the writers only. ADMINISTRATIVE MINISTRY Ministry of Commerce Government of the Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Republic of Bangladesh INSTITUTE OFFICE Padma Life Tower (8th Floor) 115 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue Bangla Motor, GPO Box No. 3100 Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh Phone : +88 02 933 9957, 933 4878, 933 6972, 4831 5338 +88 02 4934 9578, 933 6901 (Extn.-101-108) Fax : +88 02 933 9957 Mobile : 01708 030804 E-mail : secretary@icsb.edu.bd, icsb@icsb.edu.bd Web : www.icsb.edu.bd CAMPUS Padma Life Tower (7th Floor) 115 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue Bangla Motor, GPO Box No. 3100 Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

Preparation of Bangladesh for Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) -Babul Meah ACS

51 54

SDGs Issues in Agenda 2030 and Bangladesh -Dr. Md. Rashedul Azim ACS

SDGs: Implementation Status and Challenges for Bangladesh -Md. Nazrul Islam Chowdhury ACS

SDGs in Bangladesh: Achievements and Challenges -Md. Noor-Ul-Alam ACS

SDGs and Bangladesh: An Observation -Muhammadul Hye Didar

Notification

EDITORIAL

this issue...

SUSTAINABILITY

believe in the power of an idea, few people ever examined the power of an idea, but if one examines and contemplates this theory, a realization comes across: that ideas drive society. The environment is in danger from our pursuit of affluence. Serious worries come from predictions about the atmosphere. Rising temperatures could have horrific effects. First of all, food production could seriously be imperilled even by increases of only one degree Celsius. If the temperature should increase by five degrees scientists predict the coastal island nations would be submerged and possibly trigger the next ice age. Another environmental concern deals with the soil. Our agricultural practices disregard the value of recycling food waste. Also, the use of pesticides and chemicals in agriculture lead to the poisoning of the soil and topsoil loss through erosion. Yields per acre for grain are falling and "we do not produce food in ways that can be continued for centuries"(Trainer, 1985). Even more disturbing is the deforestation of rainforests. This results in the extinction of many species, concentration of carbon dioxide, the loss of many potential medical breakthroughs, and possibly the disruption of rainfall. Sustainability is the development to meet current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Today, sustainability is being incorporated into business strategies, as organisations begin to adopt a sustainability strategy. This strategy is involving organisational operations to be sustainable, such as reducing pollution, each organisation identifies sustainability slightly differently and it is reflected in their strategy which is designed. Today’s global economy sustainability is very

important; from the biological aspect to the industries they all play a role on the environment. As world population increases the demand for food rises. Sustainability is a topic that has become very important in recent years. Sustainability is defined as, “the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely.” There are three pillars that make up overall sustainability: social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Social sustainability focuses on all human needs being met and a society functioning properly indefinitely. According to Ullman (2009) Sustainability practice is very important, because all the actions that we make today will affect everything in the future, therefore we need to make flexible decisions at present in order to avoid some negative consequences. Sustainable and Sustainability are used to describe many different approaches for improving our life. There are many departments of sustainability but the main are three environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability. Sustainability is one of the most discussed subjects at the present time. With global warming, increase in the population, clean water deficiency and shortage of food, people more and more thinking about how to make their life more sustainable. But what is sustainability? According to United Nations, “sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need.”

Prof. Dr. Feroz I. Faruque FCS Editor October - December 2018 | 3

Councilor Dr. Mohammad Mohiuddin Joint Secretary, GoB

4 | October - December 2018

ear Professional Colleagues, I convey my very best wishes and sincere thanks to all of you as we wrap up an eventful 2018 and paddle our momentum into the next calendar year. The last 12 months was remarkable for achievements and challenges of the Institute. I would like to express my profound gratitude and congratulations to all the members who contributed for the continuous growth of the Institute. You are aware that three very important events were successfully organised by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) during Fourth Quarter 2018. As always, members of ICSB were professional in organizing big events and you worked tirelessly. ICSB organized 7th Nafional Convention 2018' of Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) was held on November 10, 2018 on the theme "Chartered Secretaries: Effective Utilization of Professional Expertise through Legislations". Large number of participants from the corporate sector and professional bodies participated in the National Convention enriched themselves from two technical secessions. The 7th Convocation of ICSB was held on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at Grand Ball Room, Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden in Dhaka. A good number of newly Qualified Chartered Secretaries took part their dream convocation. I would like to congratulate Qualified Chartered Secretaries who were inducted as Associates. I wish a glorious career for them and expect that they will contribute generously for the development of the Institute. Besides, ICSB organized its 5th ICSB National Award for Corporat Governance Excellence, 2017 on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at Grand Ball Room, Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden. 28 Companies were recognized for good Corporate Governance. In this great gathering of the corporate leaders, it was emphasized that practicing good Corporate Governance is the demand of time. Ensuring good governance is key ingredient to support the company's sustainable growth. Corporate sector also plays

important role in helping to meet the SDGs of the country. You all were very dedicated with the short amount of time we had, couldn't have done it without you all. I want to express my sincere thanks to you all in organizing such important events. Without your dedication and long hours of hard work, we would not have been able to organize such events. We have received positive feedback from the participants. I hope we can count on you next year to continue to your support towards ICSB. Each of you continues to be a great contributor to our beloved Institute. Thank you for all you did. All of you are aware that the 48th anniversary of the great Victory Day was celebrated at the Institute premises on with a renewed pledge to build 'Golden Bangla' imbued with the spirit of the War of Liberation. It is also my pleasure to inform you that a number of initiatives had been made for the development of the Institute. Several meetings were conducted throughout the year with Ministers, Secretaries to the government different stakeholders and other government policy maker and they expressed their satisfaction to ICSB's activities. We also gratefully acknowledge to our concerned ministry, regulatory bodies and concerned ofﬁcials for their continuous support. As you know, 2019 would be very important year for ICSB. It is time to hold next council election in 2019. We hope you will be willing to participate in the next council election and that would be an opportunity for the deserving members who can make a signiﬁcant contribution towards the development of the profession. We look forward to many new events in 2019. I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year, 2019. May Allah help us to make the Institute a world class professional lnstitute in the Country.

Mohammad Sanaullah FCS

PRESIDENT

October - December 2018 | 5

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

ICSB INSPIRES GOOD GOVERNANCE PRACTICE IN THE CORPORATE SECTOR

INSTITUTE NEWS October-December 2018

•

Members’ Welfare and Recreation Sub Committee meetings were held on November 27, December 12 and December 26, 2018;

Meetings of the following Standing Committees were held during the quarter:

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Corporate Laws Review Sub Committee meeting was held on December 01, 2018; and

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The Membership & Registration Committee meeting were held on September 18 and December 11, 2018;

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Company Law Review Sub Committee meeting was held on December 01, 2018.

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The Examination Committee meetings were held on November 17and November 28, 2018;

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The Executive Committee meetings were held on November 15 and December 26, 2018;

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The Education Committee meeting was held on November 25, 2018;

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The Research & Development Committee meeting was held on December 05, 2018; and

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The Corporate Governance Award Committee meeting was held on December 24, 2018.

NTERNAL MEETINGS Meetings of the Standing Committees

External Meetings Meeting with the Chairman, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC)

Meetings of Sub Committees Meetings of the following Sub Committees were also held during the quarter: •

Professional Development Sub Committee meetings were held on October 03, October 17, November 18, December 02 and December 10, 2018;

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Secretarial Practice Sub Committee meeting was held on October 09, 2018;

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Journal & Publication Sub Committee meetings were held on October 27, October 31, November 24, December 18 and December 23, 2018;

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Information Technology Sub Committee meeting was held on November 24, 2018;

6 | October - December 2018

ICSB delegates with Chairman of BSEC A delegation of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) led by its President Mr. Mohammad Sanaullah FCS called on Dr. M. Khairul Hossain, Chairman, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on October 02, 2018 at E-6/C, Agargaon, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar Administrative Area, Dhaka-1207. President of the Institute briefed the Chairman on recent activities of ICSB and thanked him for Corporate Governance Code circulated by BSEC on June 03, 2018. Mr. Sanaullah also cordially invited him to grace the forth coming ICSB 5th Corporate Governance Excellence Award 2017 to be held on November 10, 2018 as special guest.

Meeting with Atiur Rahman PhD, Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank

Mr. Safiar Rahman FCS, Sr. Vice President, Mr. Md. Selim Reza FCS, Vice President, Mr. Nazmul Karim FCS, Treasurer, Mr. Kazi Shamsul Alam, Secretary, ICSB and Mr. Md. Shamibur Rahman ACS, Director (A&F) were also present at the meeting. Meeting with the Commissioner, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) ICSB delegates with Atiur Rahman PhD A delegation of ICSB led by its Vice President Mr. Md. Selim Reza FCS called on Dr. Atiur Rahman on October 07, 2018 at the office of UnnayanShamannay. A lively discussion took place regarding the current activities of the Institute for establishing Governance Excellence in the local corporate sector. Mr. Rahman served as the 10thGovernor of Bangladesh Bank, The Central bank of Bangladesh. He gave a patience hearing and appreciated the role of the Institute. ICSB delegates with Commissioner of BSEC A delegation of ICSB led by its President, Mr. Mohammad Sanaullah FCS called on Mr. Khondoker Kamaluzzaman, Commissioner Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) at his office on October 02, 2018. President of the Institute briefed the Chairman on recent activities of ICSB and welcomed him as a new Council Member of ICSB. He also thanked him for Corporate Governance Code circulated by BSEC on June 03, 2018. Mr. Khondoker Kamaluzzaman thanked the ICSB delegate for coming in his office and he assured that he will try to do all possible initiative for the betterment of the Institute. He also assured the delegation for a whole hearted support from the BSEC for the development of the Institute in future. A lively discussion took place regarding the current activities of the Institute for establishing Governance Excellence in the Corporate Sector of Bangladesh. Mr. Safiar Rahman FCS, Sr. Vice President, Mr. Md. Selim Reza FCS, Vice President, Mr. Nazmul Karim FCS, Treasurer and Mr. Kazi Shamsul Alam, Secretary, ICSB were also present at the meeting.

Mr. Reza specially briefed him about the forthcoming 7thICSB Convocation with humble invitation for kind consent to grace the programme as the “Convocation Speaker”. Mr. Rahman thanked him and gave consent to be the “Convocation Speaker”. The delegation also included Mr. Kazi Md. Shamsul Alam, Secretary of the Institute and Mr. Md. Shamibur Rahman ACS, Director (A & F). Meeting with Honorable Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, MP ICSB delegation led by its President, Mohammad Sanaullah FCS met Tofail Ahmed MP, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce, Government of Bangladesh in November 01, 2018. The President expressed his sincerest thanks and gratitude to the Hon’ble Minister. The President then appraised the Hon’ble Minister about the various initiatives that ICSB undertook for development of its Members. The President specially briefed the Hon’ble Minister about the upcoming national events of ICSB. Honorable Commerce Minister gave a patient hearing to various activities of the Institute. The praised the excellent arrangement of the 4th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence-2016 and expressed his satisfaction being present as the Chief

October - December 2018 | 7

INSTITUTE NEWS

Mr. Hossain gave a patient hearing to the delegation and thanked them for the activities undertaken by the Institute. He hoped that through these activities Good Corporate Governance will be established in corporate sector.

Guest of the Programme. He appreciated the role of ICSB in promoting professionalism and development of the Company Secretary profession. He assured that Ministry of Commerce will do everything possible for further development of the profession in the country. Itrat Hussain FCS, Past President and Council Member and Md. Shamibur Rahman ACS, Director (Accounts and Finance) of the Institute were also present during the meeting.

CPD, Workshop and Demonstration CPD Seminar of ICSB on "Intellectual Property Rights in Bangladesh” Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) has organized a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme on "Intellectual Property Rights in Bangladesh” on Saturday, October 06, 2018. Mohammad Asad Ullah FCS, Chairman, Professional Development Sub Committee presided over the CPD Seminar and summed up the session. In his welcome address, he stated that present market economy is driven by physical resources, innovation and knowledge as well. For ensuring an innovative society based on creative ideas, adequate protection of IPR is essential. He further elaborated that since, the Members of ICSB are professionally ﬁt and competent both ICSB and Department of Patent, Designs and Trademarks may choose to jointly explore the avenues for cooperation for mutual beneﬁts. To materialize the joint cooperation approach, necessary amendments should be made to the Trade Mark Act and Rules, so that the Chartered Secretary professionals could make better contribution to the national economy. Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, the President of the Institute in his speech said that businesses are now competing with each other on the grounds of IPRs, not only physical goods. Bangladesh Government has declared in 2010 a long term vision, Vision 2021, which aims to achieve a prosperous Bangladesh by the 50th anniversary of the independence of the country and to transform it into a knowledge-driven economy. Without proper protection of IPRs in Bangladesh it won’t be possible to attain the development goals the country has set for itself. Mr. Md. Abdul Halim, Secretary in Charge, Ministry of Industries, GoB attended the Seminar as the Chief Guest. He emphasized on the challenges that need to be addressed to strengthen Bangladesh's IP and legal

8 | October - December 2018

CPD Seminar on "Intellectual Property Rights in Bangladesh” framework. Up to now, Bangladesh does neither have a stand-alone IP policy or strategy, nor is IP protection adequately integrated into the country's development strategies/policies. The legal framework is still incomplete, but currently amendment process is going on. In particular, there is an urgent need for basic capacity building. Awareness on IPRs among most institutions, businesses, researchers and the public is limited. Consequently, the enforcement of IPRs remains weak. The protection of IPR encourages innovation, contributes to a sound business environment and increases Bangladesh's ability to attract foreign investment, know-how and modern technology. Mr. Md. Sanwar Hossain, Registrar (Additional Secretary), Department of Patent, Design and Trademarks (DPDT), Ministry of Industries attended the programme as Special Guest. He presented the Key Note Paper on the “Regulations Relating to IPRs and functions of DPDT” and Md. Azizur Rahman FCS, Council Member of ICSB and Director General, Intellectual Property Association of Bangladesh (IPAB) presented another Paper on “IPRs business/economic impact” and addressed the issues in the CPD programme on “Intellectual Property Rights in Bangladesh”. These papers would facilitate the Members of ICSB for further improvement of the Company Secretarial practices in their respective job ﬁeld. A lively question & answer session was held at the later part of the CPD programme where the Paper Presenters answered different questions of the participants. The Program was attended by a large number of Members of the Institute who are working in different listed companies of the country, Corporate Leaders and Government Ofﬁcials.

Workshop on “Investors Protection through Corporate Governance Code -2018” On the occasion of “World Investors Week 2018” ICSB organized a workshop on “Investors Protection through Corporate Governance Code – 2018” on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at BIAM Auditorium Dhaka. Mr. Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, President of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh Chaired the Session, Prof. Helal Uddin Nizami, Commissioner, BSEC was the Chief Guest, Mr. M. Hasan Mahmud, Executive Director, BSEC presented the keynote paper. The designated discussant of the keynote paper was Mr. Md. Abul Kalam, Director, BSEC. Mr. Mahmud, keynote paper presenter focused on the importance of investors protection, qualification of independent director, additional statements of disclosers in the Director’s report, Code of Conduct for the Chairperson, Board Members and CEO, governance of subsidiary company, Audit Committee role, role of Nomination and Remuneration Committee, External or Statutory Auditors, maintaining company website and disclosure and compliance requirements. Mr. Md. Abul Kalam, official discussant elaborately discussed on the keynote paper and nicely replied questions raised by the members of the Institute. The Session Chairman Mr. Sanaullah expressed his gratitude to BSEC for incorporating Bangladesh Secretarial Standards (BSS) in Corporate Governance Code which will lead in establishing governance in the company management. Prof. Nizami cordially thanked all Members of ICSB for working with BSEC to establish good corporate governance for all the listed companies in Capital Market. He specially thanked ICSB to hold such a workshop in right time as International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) declared World Investor Week 2018. He mentioned in his speech that, financial literacy among the investors in Bangladesh is only 20% which is not satisfactory in global context. Since 1993 BSEC is

organizing investor’s awareness programme which is very helpful for general investors. Prof. Nizami also mentioned that, BSEC developed corporate governance guidelines in 2006 for the first time and thereafter amended it in 2012. After being conversant with the governance issues by the corporate sector of Bangladesh, BSEC issued Corporate Governance code 2018. He also stated that BSEC is open to accept any kind of feedback and suggestion for future changes in Corporate Governance Code. The chief guest requested members of the ICSB to inform their challenges to implement good governance in corporate sector to BSEC through President of ICSB. Thereafter, qualitative and fruitful discussion was held during a question-answer session between the participants and the keynote presenter and official discussant. President of the Institute moderated and summed up the whole session. Safiar Rahman FCS, Sr. Vice President, ICSB gave the welcome speech while Md. Selim Reza FCS, Vice President, ICSB delivered vote of thanks. With active participation of BSEC officials and representatives of various corporate houses, Members of ICSB the workshop was highly successful in achieving its objective. Demonstration Program to Promote Chartered Secretary Profession at BRAC University The Institute has organized a demonstration program on “Chartered Secretary as a Challenging Profession in the Corporate World” for the BBA students of BRAC University at their University premise on November 26, 2018 in collaboration with the BRAC Business School of the said University. Mohammad Sanuallah FCS, President of the Institute was the speaker of the programme. He welcomed the bright and potential students of BRAC University for participating in the session and discussed the necessity of professional degrees in addition to

Demonstration Program to Promote Chartered Secretary Profession at BRAC University

October - December 2018 | 9

INSTITUTE NEWS

ICSB holds Workshop on “Investors Protection through Corporate Governance Code -2018”

Snapshot of the Programme academic degrees for accelerating career success. He highlighted the prospects of Chartered Secretary profession in our country and abroad. He brieﬂy talked about CS course curriculum, classes, and examination system and membership process. He also said that, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) was established by the Parliament under the Chartered Secretaries Act, 2010 to develop, promote, and regulate the profession of Chartered/Company Secretaries in Bangladesh. ICSB is the premier body to develop the profession of Chartered Secretary/Company Secretary to ensure sound corporate governance and build up corporate management by creating skilled professionals in the corporate management of the country. Iftekhar Ghani Chowdhury PhD, Professor and Dean of BRAC Business School, BRAC University chaired the program. He thanked President of ICSB for taking such initiative to orient a challenging and rewarding profession to the students. He also discussed the necessity of good corporate governance in Bangladesh and appreciated ICSB’s contribution towards establishing governance in the corporate sector of Bangladesh. A good number of students and faculty members were present in the program and participated spontaneously during the question and answer session. Students were curious about CS course and the profession as a whole. CPD Seminar of ICSB on “Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission and its Role in the Economic Development of Bangladesh” ICSB organized a CPD Seminar on ‘Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission and its Role in the Economic Development of Bangladesh’ on Saturday, December 15, 2018 at Samson H. Chowdhury Centre, Party Lounge (2nd Floor) Dhaka Club Limited, Dhaka.

10 | October - December 2018

CPD Seminar on “BTTC & its Role in the Economic Development of Bangladesh” Mr. Zahiruddin Ahmed ndc, Hon’ble Secretary and Chairman, Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh graced the occasion as the Chief Guest while Dr. Mostafa Abid Khan, Member, Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, Govt. of Bangladesh was present as Special Guest. Mr. Khan also presented a Keynote Paper on the “Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission and its Role in the Economic Development of Bangladesh “. Prof. Dr. Feroz Iqbal Faruque FCS, Former Senior Vice President, ICSB and President & CEO of Trans World Resource Inc. was the Official Discussant on the Keynote Paper. Mohammad Asad Ullah FCS, Chairman, Professional Development Sub- Committee, Immediate Past President and Council Member of ICSB presided over the CPD Seminar, delivered the address of welcome and summed up the session. Mohammad Asad Ullah FCS mentioned that the activities of BTTC and its crucial role in the economic development of the country is very important. This Knowledge will help to educate ICSB Members in their diversified practical fields and to foster trade and economic development and thus help Bangladesh to achieve SDG. The BTTC perspective could be ideally supportive for their professional development and also to work as facilitator to government revenue earnings in terms of their respective organizations. The Chief Guest appreciated the profession of Chartered Secretaries for their hard work to ensure good governance in corporate sector and playing a vital role for economic development of the country. He mentioned that BTTC performing an active role in implementation of various trade related policy of the government. The government strategies under the industrial policy include rationalization of the protection to domestic industries from external competition in consistence with the Charter of the World Trade Organization and encouragement of industrial

Chief Guest Mr. Zahiruddin Ahmed ndc giving his speech in the CPD investment through tariff rationalization and appropriate ﬁscal measures. The Commission carries out studies and formulates policies for rationalization of tariff, liberalization of import regime and development of an incentive structure for strengthening the domestic production and export base. It establishes effective coordination with the National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Bangladesh Bank, Ministry of Planning/Planning Commission and Ministry of Commerce for establishment of a rational and dynamic tariff structure consistent with the government policy of economic management. He emphasized that ICSB has been working for establishing good governance in corporate sector and BTTC performing an active role in implementation of various trade related policy of the government; BTTC is interested to share knowledge with ICSB and interested to sing a MoU.

All registered students of the internship course participated at the presentation programme. Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, President of ICSB, inaugurated multimedia presentation programme on internship report for the students upon completion of the course. Council members of the Institute were also present in this important event. They observed everyone’s presentation and gave their valuable feedback accordingly. All the students were attentive to feedback of the council members.

Evaluators & Participants DISCUSSION MEETING WITH FACULTY MEMBERS’ OF ICSB

Multimedia presentation programme on internship report of the Qualiﬁed Chartered Secretary (QCS) was

The President of ICSB Mohammad Sanaullah FCS and ofﬁce bearers of the Institute had a meeting with the honorable faculty members of the Institute at council room of ICSB campus on Saturday, October 13, 2018. They had a detailed discussion with the faculty members and tried to know about their success, failure and feeling about the current educational activity of the Institute. Mohammad Sanaullah FCS seek suggestions from faculty members to take initiatives for the betterment of the Institute. They also discussed about the students views with them and requested to provide all kinds of support in time to students.

A student during presentation

Council Members & Faculties

A large number Members of the Institute and Executives from the leading corporate houses of Bangladesh also attended the program.

Institute Programme PRESENTATION OF INTERNSHIP REPORT

October - December 2018 | 11

INSTITUTE NEWS

held on Saturday, October 13, 2018 at the ICSB Campus.

DISCUSSION SESSION WITH ABSENT STUDENTS The President of the Institute had a discussion meeting with the students who was absent in the CS examination of July 2018 at council room of ICSB campus on Saturday, November 24. The discussion meeting was chaired by Mohammad Sanaullah FCS. He had an elaborated discussion with the students and tried to dig out the reasons of their absence. He encouraged them to enroll again and assured them to give all possible support. CELEBRATION OF THE 48TH VICTORY DAY

Chief Guest Emeritus Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury giving his speech in the event

Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) celebrated the 48th Victory Day on December 16, 2018 at ICSB premises to pay deep homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives for the country. ICSB celebrated the day through different programs. The programs include discussions, children art competition and stage drama performance.

independent and sovereign Bangladesh. In our Institute, each year we celebrate Victory Day and Independence Day. We all are working to develop our nation as our freedom ﬁghter dreamt of. In last 47 years we improved our economy and social life. In association we developed in health, education, trade, ICT and mass transport system.

Emeritus Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury attended the programme as Chief Guest. The programme was started by offering prayers seeking eternal peace of the souls of the martyred of Liberation War and peace, progress and prosperity of the Country.

N. G. Chakraborty, the founder member of the Institute also gave an interesting speech. He gave the regards of victory day to all distinguished guests and members of the Institute. He gave his homage to the Matrious of our nation. He also recited poetries in this occasion.

The Chief Guest, Emeritus Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury appreciated ICSB for organizing such a patriotic event. In his passionate speech delivered in the tale of Bangladesh and its birth from the 1947 through India, Pakistan partition. That partition resolved the crisis of 52% Muslims and 48% Hindus and give rise of another crisis of regional discrimination of East (56% Bangle spoken) and West Pakistan (44% Urdu and other language). We achieved our Independence from suppressor East Pakistan and moving forward from our own. However, still we have a new form of discrimination which is class discrimination. 20% people of Bangladesh getting most of the facilities while remaining 80% are still not able to achieve standard life of living. He also indicated that we need to work for improving the drug situation, violence against women, suicide, cultural practice and negligence of worker class.

Md. Selim Reza FCS, Vice President, Nazmul Karim FCS, Treasurer and Salim Ahmed FCS, Chairman, Members’ Welfare Sub-Committee were also present. A large number of Members, their Spouses and children and Students of the Institute participated in the programme spontaneously.

Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, the President of the Institute in his speech said that for the people of Bangladesh, December 16, our Victory Day, holds great signiﬁcance that cannot be described in mere words. People made their utmost sacriﬁces to make us victorious against the autocratic Pakistan regime. We deeply remember contribution of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to make

12 | October - December 2018

Art Competition Held in ICSB ICSB organized an art competition for children on the occasion of 48th Victory Day, 2018 celebration at the Institute premise. Emeritus Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury inaugurated the programme. Among others Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, the President of the

Childrens with their art works

INSTITUTE NEWS

Institute, Md. Selim Reza FCS, Vice President, Nazmul Karim FCS, Treasurer, Salim Ahmed FCS, Chairman, Members’ Welfare Sub-Committee and other Members were also present. A large no of children took part in the competition in two groups. Of the participants, 6 participants (3 from each groups) were selected for prizes and other participants also received consolation prizes. Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury handed over the prizes to the winners. ICSB ORGANIZED THANKSGIVING CEREMONY ICSB organized a thanksgiving dinner Ceremony for successfully holding the 7th National Convention, 7th Convocation and 5th CGE Award 2017 on Monday, December 24, at Institute premise. Members of relevant committees were invited to the program. The program began with a formal discussion session which was presided over by Itrat Hussain FCS, Chairman, CG Committee.

President of the Institute in thankgiving program Md. Shamibur Rahman ACS, Director (F&A) for playing a leading role in organizing the program. He introduced Institute’s new council member Dr. Mohammad Mohiuddin, Joint Secretary Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of the People`s Republic of Bangladesh. He said that branding this profession and the professionals is the main task in the upcoming days. Mr. Mohiuddin assured that he will do everything possible for the Institute.

Dignitaries in the thanksgiving ceremony Members of the CG committee were present in the discussion and spoke on the experience of mega events. Itrat Hussain FCS thanked each and every one who worked hard to make these events successful. He especially appreciated Mr. Mohammad Bul Hassan FCS for his contribution. Mr. Selim Reza FCS played an excellent role in organizing the event. Fund Raising committee headed by Mohammad Sanaullah FCS done an outstanding job which was very challenging. He also acknowledged the employees and staff of the Institute for their dedication and sincere effort. The president of the Institute, Mohammad Sanaullah FCS warmly thanked Members of the Fund Raising Committee for successfully completing the challenging job of fund raising. He elaborated how the fund was collected within a very short span of time. He also mentioned the challenges he faced to invite the Chief guests for these programs. The president also thanked

New Council Member Dr. Mohammad Mohiuddin in thanksgiving program Members present in the thanks giving programme appreciated the initiative. They mentioned that it was really a successful programme with a huge number of participants. They also appreciated the cultural programme event and the dinner. Among others Saﬁar Rahman FCS, Sr. Vice President, ICSB, Md. Selim Reza FCS, Vice President, ICSB, Mohammad Bul Hasan FCS, Chairman, Convention Sub Committee was present in the programme and appreciated and thanked all members and individuals who were involved in different activities of the events. After thanksgiving programme, a dinner was also organized.

October - December 2018 | 13

7TH NATIONAL CONVENTION OF ICSB

The Inaugural Session of the ‘7th National Convention 2018’ of Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) was held on November 10, 2018 on the theme “Chartered Secretaries: Effective Utilization of Professional Expertise through Legislations”. Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, Hon’ble Former Adviser, Ministry of Commerce, Caretaker Government of Bangladesh graced the program as Chief Guest. Mr. Suhel Ahmed Choudhury, Former Secretary, Ministry of Commerce was the Special Guest of the national convention. The program was chaired by the President of ICSB Mohammad Sanaullah FCS. The Convention was divided into three sessions: 1. Inaugural Session; 2. First Technical Session; and 3. Second Technical Session. Inaugural Session Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman inaugurated the program as Chief Guest. In his speech he said that, he is very delighted to note that ICSB has chosen a signiﬁcant and worthwhile theme for their 7th National Convention. The Government, realizing the imperative need and necessity for the growth and promotion of the profession of Chartered Secretaries, has promulgated the Chartered Secretaries Act 2010. He hoped that the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) would work for further improvement of corporate management and good governance in Bangladesh. Achieving SDGs without proper development of Commerce and Industry is very difﬁcult. They are the backbone of every economy. The Hon’ble Chief Guest again hoped that we could achieve SDGs by establishing governance and Chartered Secretaries would be important actors to achieve this goal.

14 | October - December 2018

The Special Guest Mr. Suhel Ahmed Choudhury congratulated everyone for organizing such an important event. He felt honored and thanked ICSB to invite him in this event. He wished all success for the upcoming steps of ICSB. He said that ICSB, the newly enacted statutory body doing well and he believed that ICSB would play a signiﬁcant role to develop the corporate sector of Bangladesh. The session chair of the programme and President of ICSB Mr. Mohammad Sanaullah FCS in his welcome speech thanked and welcomed chief guest, special guest, distinguished guests, corporate leaders, members of the media and members of ICSB. He said that the theme of the Convention was rightly chosen and thought provoking for the Chartered Secretaries. He also emphasized the need of Chartered Secretaries Act 2010 to be linked with the relevant legislations. Linking of Chartered Secretaries Act 2010 with other relevant legislations would empower Company Secretaries to apply their professional knowledge in enhancing good governance in corporate sector which would be beneﬁcial for the country. Finally, he thanked everyone for their participation in the event and said that whole hearted support of everyone would encourage ICSB to chase the dream.

Technical Sessions The 7th National Convention were divided into two technical sessions with two important sub themes: “Empowering the Chartered Secretaries Profession through Legislations” in the first technical session and “Empowerment of Chartered Secretaries to Ensure Good Governance” in the second technical session respectively. First Technical Session Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, President & Council Member of ICSB and Corporate Affairs Director, Company Secretary and Head of Human Resource of Singer Bangladesh Limited presented the keynote paper of the first technical session: “Empowering the Chartered Secretaries Profession through Legislations”. Suhel Ahmed Choudhury, Former Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh graced the first technical session as the Chairperson while Mohammad Bul Hassan FCS, Council Member of ICSB and CFO & Company Secretary, Siemens Bangladesh

Limited and Hossain Sadat FCS, Former Council Member of ICSB and Director and Head of Regulatory Affairs, Corporate Affairs Division, Grameenphone Limited were the Official Discussants. The Official Discussants and the Keynote Paper Presenter shared views on the keynote presentation highlighting the importance and provisions of Chartered Secretaries Act 2010 linking with the relevant legislations. Thereafter a lively floor discussions made the session purposeful. Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, President of ICSB replied to the queries. Suhel Ahmed Choudhury summed up the session as Chairman. Second Technical Session Md. ShahidFarooqui FCS, Former Vice President of ICSB and Executive Director and Company Secretary of the Ibn Sina Pharmaceutical Industry Limited presented the Keynote Paper of the Second Technical Session: “Empowerment of Chartered Secretaries to Ensure Good Governance”. CQK Mustaq Ahmed, Chairman, Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh graced the Second Technical Session as the Session Chairperson while N. G. Chakraborty FCS, Former Senior Vice President of ICSB & Partner of Sadhan Das & Co., Chartered Accountants and Md. Anwar Hossain Chowdhury FCS, Council Member of ICSB and Country Head- Bangladesh IPE Global Limited were the official discussants. The question answer session was also very lively. CQK Mustaq Ahmed summed up the whole session as the Session Chairman.

October - December 2018 | 15

INSTITUTE NEWS

The theme abstract of the Convention was presented by Mr. Mohammad Bul Hasan FCS Former Senior Vice President, ICSB. The Souvenir of the Convention was released by Itrat Husain FCS, Past President and Council Member, ICSB. Concluding remarks were delivered by Mr. Md. Selim Reza FCS, Vice President, ICSB. The Convention was attended by a large number of Members, Corporate Professionals, Foreign Delegates and other important dignitaries from all over Bangladesh. The inaugural session was followed by two important technical sessions.

7TH CONVOCATION OF ICSB

The 7th Convocation of Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) was held on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at Grand Ball Room, RadisonBlu Dhaka Water Garden in Dhaka. Mr. CQK Mustaq Ahmed, Chairman, Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh was present in the programme as Special Guest. Mr. Atiur Rahman PhD, Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank delivered the Convocation Speech.

their successors and be the best ambassador of the Institute in their respective professional career in the country and abroad. He also said that it is their supreme responsibility to continue to work to transform Bangladesh into a developed nation as envisioned by the Honorable Prime Minister within 2041. He also advised the new chartered secretaries to remain conﬁdent in meeting uncertainties and challenges and face those with a positive attitude.

Convocation speaker Atiur Rahman PhD, Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank said that the day was an opportunity for newly qualified Chartered Secretaries to reflect both on the past and future. This event may well signal a very significant change of direction in their life. He also said that professional education was a tool that enriched the minds of the students with the skills necessary to compete and succeed in a challenging world and also with knowledge to maintain peace and justice in the society. He urged the newly qualified Chartered Secretaries to be the best ambassadors of the Institute in the professional field in the country and abroad.

The programme was chaired by the President of ICSB, Mohammad Sanaullah FCS. He said in his speech that Convocation was a special day for newly qualiﬁed chartered secretaries. He expressed his deepest appreciation to the faculty members, patrons, guardians and students for attending the convocation. He also said that attaining the ICSB qualiﬁcation did not end learning process. In fact, it started a new phase where learning increased in intensity, depth and scope. The Knowledge, skill and integrity would be

Special guest CQK Mustaq Ahmed, Chairman, Financial Reporting Council (FRC) advised newly qualiﬁed Chartered Secretaries to become model for

tested and examined, no longer in the examination hall and class rooms, but in the highly competitive and challenging work environment.

16 | October - December 2018

5th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence, 2017 Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) organized its 5th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence, 2017 on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at Grand Ball Room, Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Gardenwhere 28 Companies were recognized for good Corporate Governance based on the evaluation criteria set by the Institute along with transparency and accountability in the overall management of the company during the year 2017. Finance Minister Abul Maal A. Muhith graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and presented crests and certiﬁcates to winning companies in 11 categories covering all listed companies under DSE & CSE. The award distribution ceremony was also addressed by Prof. Dr. M. Khairul Hossain, Hon’ble Chairman,

BSEC, the special guest and Dr. A.B. Mirza Md. Azizul Islam, Former Finance Advisor to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, Chairman of the Jury Board for the 5th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence, 2017 while Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, President of ICSB chaired the Award giving Program. Among the awardees in the Banking sector Eastern Bank Limited achieved the Gold while Southeast Bank Limited and Prime Bank Limited bagged Silver and Bronze respectively. Similarly, in Non-Banking Financial Institutions category, IDLC Finance Limited achieved the gold while Delta BRAC Housing Finance Corporation Limited and Union Capital Limited achieved Silver and Bronze respectively.

October - December 2018 | 17

INSTITUTE NEWS

A good number of graduates took part in the convocation. Mr. Safiar Rahman FCS, Senior Vice President of ICSB introduced the newly Qualified Chartered Secretaries one by one and the Special Guest CQK Mustaq Ahmed handed over the certificates to them. Itrat Husain FCS, Past President and Council Member of ICSB released the Convocation Profile while Mr. Nazmul Karim FCS, Treasurer of ICSB, summed up the Convocation through his concluding Speech.

Likewise, in Insurance Companies category, Green Delta Insurance Company limited received the gold while Prime Insurance Company Limited and Phoenix Insurance Company Limited got Silver and Bronze respectively. In the Pharmaceutical and Chemical Companies category the ACME Laboratory Limited got the gold while The IBN SINA Pharmaceuticals Industry Limited took Silver. In Textiles and RMG Companies category, Matin Spinning Mills Limited got the gold and Paramount Textile Limited and Regent Textile Mills Limited bagged Silver and Bronze respectively. In Food and Allied Companies category, Golden Harvest Agro Industries Limited got the gold and Olympic Industries and Gemini Sea Food Limited bagged Silver and Bronze respectively. In IT, Telecom Companies category, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited won the gold while Grameenphone Limited achieved the silver. In Engineering Companies category, Singer Bangladesh Limited got the gold while BBS Cables Limited and BSRM Steel Limited bagged Silver and Bronze respectively. In Manufacturing Companies category, British American Tobacco Bangladesh Limited won the gold on the other hand RAK Ceramics Bangladesh Ltd. and Premier Cement Mills Limited achieved Silver and Bronze respectively. In Fuel & Power Companies category, Summit Power Limited got the gold award for their achievement. Finally, in Services Companies category, Eastern Housing Limited got gold award while Unique Hotel & Resort Limited achieved the silver.

18 | October - December 2018

Speaking at the event, the Finance Minister said that “more efficiency and transparency is very much important in today’s business world”. He applauded the role of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh for developing professional skills in the corporate sector. While extending heartiest congratulation to all award recipients, the Finance Minister underscored the present government’s commitment to ensure good governance and corporate culture in the listed companies of Bangladesh. Speaking as a Special Guest at the event, Chairman of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Prof. Dr. M. Khairul Hossain said that Corporate Governance is a major determinant for stability and development of the capital market. He also mentioned that this year BSEC converted the Corporate Governance Guideline into the Corporate Governance Code, under which chartered secretaries will play a much bigger role in ensuring excellence in corporate governance. Dr. A.B. Mirza Md. Azizul Islam, Former Finance Advisor to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh and Chairman of the Jury Board of the award, urged interested firms to improve their efficiency and governance. President of the Institute Mohammad Sanaullah FCS emphasized that practicing good Corporate Governance is the need of the time. It requires the whole hearted commitment of all individuals working in the company for the purpose of sustainable development and maximization of the share value in particular. Good Governance practice helps to improve employees’ morale and high productivity and also ensure long term goals of the business. Introduction of Corporate Governance Code 2018 is one of the bold and timely step of BSEC which will definitely help to develop Corporate Governance practices.

October - December 2018 | 19

INSTITUTE NEWS

Glimpses of the 5th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence, 2017

Speeches of the 5th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence, 2017

20 | October - December 2018

October - December 2018 | 21

INSTITUTE NEWS

Gold Awardees of the 5th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence, 2017

Silver Awardees of the 5th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence, 2017

22 | October - December 2018

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INSTITUTE NEWS

Bronze Awardees of the 5th ICSB National Award for Corporate Governance Excellence, 2017

Cultural Programme

24 | October - December 2018

INSTITUTE NEWS

Presence in Media

October - December 2018 | 25

NEW COUNCIL MEMBER Dr. Mohammad Mohiuddin is a civil servant holding the post of Joint Secretary in Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of the People`s Republic of Bangladesh. Dr. Mohiuddin obtained his LL.B (Honours) degree in 1995 and LL.M degree in 1996 from the Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh. He was awarded Ph.D. degree on September 15, 2013 from the same University. He also completed another Masters in International Maritime Law from International Maritime Law Institute (IMO), Malta and Internship from International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Hamburg, Germany. He is a member of National Consumer Rights Protection Council, Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection. He is an adjunct faculty of the Department of Law and Justice of the Southeast University from September 2007 and teaching law of the sea, private international law, international organization, legislative studies and drafting and law of transfer of property courses. He has published three books, ďŹ ve international research papers, more than nineteen articles. He has participated and successfully completed the United Nations-Nippon Foundation Fellowship Programme (2010-2011)at the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, OfďŹ ce of the Legal Affairs of the United Nations, New York, USA. He also participated in various national and international training, seminars and conferences at home and in abroad.

Dr. Mohammad Mohiuddin Joint Secretary, GoB

SUCCESS GREETINGS F-0124

Md. Mozharul Islam FCS Mr. Md. Mozharul Islam FCS a Fellow Member of the Institute promoted to Senior General Manager & Company Secretary on July 01, 2018 in M. I. Cement Factory Limited of Crown Cement Group. Prior to that, he was General Manager & Company Secretary of the same organization.

F-0135

Mohammad Solaiman Uddin FCS Mr. Mohammad Solaiman Uddin FCS a Fellow Member of the Institute promoted to General Manager (F & A) on July 01, 2018 in Amber Super Paper Limited of Amber Group. Prior to that, he was Deputy General Manager of the same organization.

26 0 || October October--December December2018 2018

F-0149

Mohammad Shahajahan FCS Mr. Mohammad Shahajahan CPFA, FCS a Fellow Member of ICSB has been awarded the professional designation of Certified Financial Consultant® (CFC) conferred by the Institute of Financial Consultants®. Both the Institute of Financial Consultants® and Certified Financial Consultant® are registered with US Government Patent & Trademark Office. His registration number with the Institute of Financial Consultants® is 19645.

A-0172

Abu Mohammad Nisar ACS Mr. Abu Mohammad Nisar ACS an Associate Member of the Institute promoted to Company Secretary on December 13, 2018 in Linde Bangladesh Limited. Prior to that, he was Shareholder Relations Manager of the same organization.

A-0306

Mokeshudey Alahi Mazumder ACS Mokeshudey Alahi Mazumder ACS an Associate Member of the Institute promoted to Company Secretary on January 01, 2019 in Hajj Finance Company Limited. Prior to that, he was Deputy Company Secretary of the same organization.

A-0339

Masudul Haque ACS Masudul Haque ACS an Associate Member of the Institute joined Amber Group on December 01, 2018 as Assistant General Manager & Head of Group Internal Audit. Prior to this, he was Finance Executive of Coats Bangladesh.

October - December 2018 | 27

INSTITUTE NEWS

SUCCESS GREETINGS

SUCCESS GREETINGS A-0403

Md. Omar Faruque ACS Md. Omar Faruque ACS an Associate Member of the Institute appointed to Company Secretary on January 01, 2019 in Apex Footware Limited. Prior to that, he was Assistant Company Secretary of the same organization.

A-0409

Mohammad Mosaddaque ACS, LL.B Mr. Mohammad Mosaddaque ACS an Associate Member working in Transcom Group as Assistant Company Secretary. Mr. Mosaddaque obtained the degree of Bachelor of Law (LL.B) in 2018 from National Law College. He is also working as the Lecturer of National Law College since October, 2018.

A-0446

Md. Mokaddess Ali ACS Md. Mokaddess Ali ACS an Associate Member of the Institute promoted to Senior Vice President and Company Secretary on December 01, 2018 in South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce (SBAC) Bank Limited. Prior to that, he was Vice President and Company Secretary of the same organization.

A-0469

Syed Abu Taher ACS Syed Abu Taher ACS an Associate Member of the Institute joined Northern Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (NESCO) on December 10, 2018 as Deputy Company Secretary. Prior to this, he was Executive OfďŹ cer of Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited.

28 | October - December 2018

A-0481

Shahriar Mollah ACS Shahriar Mollah ACS an Associate Member of the Institute is going to join in FCI (BD) Limited of FCI Group on January 15, 2019 as Group Company Secretary. Prior to this, he was Assistant Company Secretary of Stylecraft Limited.

A-0489

S.M. Shariful Islam ACS Syed Abu Taher ACS an Associate Member of the Institute joined Northern Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (NESCO) on December 10, 2018 as Deputy Company Secretary. Prior to this, he was Executive Ofﬁcer of Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited.

A-0496

Mohammad Salah Uddin ACS Mr. Mohammad Salah Uddin ACS Associate Member of the Institute joined Union Bank Limited on October 03, 2017 as First Assistant Vice President and In-Charge of Risk Management Division. Prior to that, he was Senior Principal Ofﬁcer, Risk Management Division (RMD) of EXIM Bank Limited.

A-0500

Md. Firog Ahmed ACS Mr. Md. Firog Ahmed ACS an Associate Member of the Institute joined NRBC Bank Limited on November 26, 2018 as Assistant Vice President (AVP). Prior to that, he was First Assistant Vice President (FAVP) of Mercantile Bank Limited.

October - December 2018 | 29

INSTITUTE NEWS

SUCCESS GREETINGS

Newly Elevated Fellow Members from October-December 2018

During the 4th Quarter of 2018, the Council has elevated 04 Associate Members to Fellow Members. The Newly Elevated Fellow Members are: F-0213

F-0215

Md. Zakir Hossain FCS Principal Officer (Board Secretariat) Eastern Bank Limited

Mostafizur Rahman FCMA, FCS Manager-(Finance) Financial Management & Accounting Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited

F-0214

F-0216

Mohammad Firoz Khan FCS Senior Officer Board Secretariat Division Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited

Md. Jahidul Islam FCS Company Secretary Miracle Industries Limited.

New Associate Members from October-December 2018

During the 4th Quarter of 2018 the following 19 Chartered Secretaries were admitted as Associate Members of the Institute: A-0517

A-0521

Md. Rajibul Arefin ACS Executive Officer Bank Asia Limited

Mohammad Nazrul Islam ACS Deputy Manager (F & A) Rangs Properties Limited

A-0518

A-0522

Md. Shohel Amin ACS Company Secretary (In charge) S. Alam Cold Rolled Steels Limited

Md. Abu Saeed ACS Assistant Company Secretary Radiant Pharmaceuticals Limited

A-0519

A-0523

Suman Das ACS Associate Manager-Company Secretariat BRAC Bank Limited

M Mazedul Islam ACS

A-0520

A-0524

Sujan Biswas ACS Manager (Finance & Admin.) EMK Centre, US Embassy

Mohammad Abir Islam ACS Senior Executive Gemcon Group

30 | October - December 2018

Head of Legal bKash Limited Shadhinata Tower

A-0525

A-0530

Mohammad Sohel Rana ACS AGM â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Accounts & Company Secretary Givensee Group of Ind. Limited

Nurul Hasanat Jilani ACS Manager MSA Spinning Limited

A-0526

A-0531

Md. Mijanur Rahman ACS Head of Deposit Industrial and Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited

Md. Aminul Islam ACS First Assistant Vice President Trust Bank Limited

A-0527

A-0532

Md. Abdur Rahman Rony ACS Audit Associate Zahur & Mostafiz Chartered Accountants

Md. Anowar Hossain ACS Executive Officer Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited

A-0528

A-0533

Iftekharul Islam ACS Deputy Manager Howlader Yunus & Co.

Sonjoy Maitra ACS Assistant Professor Hamdard University Bangladesh

A-0529

A-0534

Md. Mahbub Mofazzal ACS Manager - Head of Operation Global Digital Mart Ltd.

Md. Imran Hossain Kabir ACS Assistant Manager LPCS & Company Secretary Bayer Crop Science Limited

A-0535

Sweety Akhter ACS Assistant Manager (Company Secretariat) Multimode Group

October - December 2018 | 31

INSTITUTE NEWS

New Associate Members from October-December 2018

During the 4th Quarter of 2018 the following 19 Chartered Secretaries were admitted as Associate Members of the Institute:

End poverty in all its forms everywhere Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial eco systems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Reduce inequality within and among countries

Articles

October - December 2018

ARTICLE

SDGs with Focus on Food Security of Bangladesh Prof. Dr. Feroz Iqbal Faruque FCS

reamble

The SDG came into effect in January 2016 and will continue until 2030. Global leaders adopted a set of new development goals on January 01, 2016 in a historic UN Summit to be achieved by 2030. These new 17 goals are known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs are focused to overcoming poverty, overcoming hunger, healthy life, quality education, gender equality, access to clean water and sanitation, access to clean energy in affordable cost, economic growth through decent work, industrialization along with innovation and required infrastructure, reducing inequalities, inclusive and resilient cities, sustainable production and consumption, controlling climate change, proper management of resources under water, sustainable use of resources on land, peace through justice and effective institutional setup, finally global partnership to achieve the goals. Food and agriculture stand today at a crossroads. Looking back, major improvements in agricultural productivity have been recorded over recent decades to satisfy the food demand of a growing global population. But progress has often come with social and environmental costs, including water scarcity, soil degradation, ecosystem stress, biodiversity loss, decreasing fish stocks and forest and high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The productive potential of our natural resources base has-been damaged in many places around the globe, compromising the future fertility of the planet. Today; 815 million people are hungry all over the world, but none in Bangladesh, except for malnutrition and every third person as malnourished on average in the world, reflecting afoot system out of balance. SDGs 2030 Agenda Looking ahead, the path to inclusive prosperity is clearly marked by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Overcoming the complex challenges that the world faces requires transformative action,

embracing the principles of sustainability and tackling the root causes of poverty and hunger to leave no one behind. As the prime connection between people and the planet, food and agriculture can help achieve multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Properly nourished children can learn, people can lead healthy and productive lives and societies can prosper. By nurturing our land and adopting sustainable agriculture, present and future generations will be able to feed a growing population. Agriculture, covering crops, livestock, aquaculture, fisheries and forests, is the world’s biggest employer, largest economic sector for many countries including Bangladesh, while providing the main source of food and income for the extreme poor. Sustainable food and agriculture have great potential to revitalize the rural landscape, deliver inclusive growth to countries and drive positive change right across the 2030 Agenda. These actions embrace the 2030 Agenda’s vision of sustainable development in which food and agriculture, people’s livelihoods and the management of natural resources are addressed not separately but as one; a future where the focus is not solely on the end goal but also on the means used to achieve it; and a setting where public and private actors participate in legitimizing, engage in shaping and work towards achieving development solutions. A world where food is nutritious and accessible for everyone, in which natural resources are managed in a way that maintains ecosystem functions to support current and future human needs. In this vision, farmers, pastoralists, fisher-folk, foresters and other rural dwellers actively participate in, and benefit from, economic development, have decent employment conditions and work in a fair price environment. Women, men and communities live in food security, and have control over their livelihoods and equitable access to resources which they use in an efficient way. Five Key Principles Aligned to FAO’s five principles of sustainable food and agriculture, which outlines 20 actions, each describing

October - December 2018 | 33

approaches, practices, policies and tools that interlink multiple SDGs, integrate the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection – and involve participation and partnerships among different actors. Context-speciﬁc but universally relevant, the actions are designed to support countries in selecting and prioritizing resources to accelerate progress. The 20 actions offer countries a thread that knits the many sectors of agriculture and rural development with country’s broader development program encompassing poverty eradication, job creation, national growth, urban regeneration and natural resource. Feeding the 10 billion people projected to live on planet earth in 2050 must aim to go beyond producing more with less to balancing the focus on quality and diversity, linking productivity to sustainability and addressing the needs of people. A fundamental premise for delivering sustainable food and agriculture is the creation of an enabling policy environment and the need for sectoral ministries to change the way they work and coordinate policies across government. Small holders Contribution to SDGs Globally including Bangladesh more than 80 percent of smallholders operate in local and domestic food markets contributes to SDGs. Building the entrepreneurial and business skills and capacities of smallholders will be fundamental to their full market participation, and to take advantage of new opportunities. Public procurement can support farmers and food producers access markets while ensuring marginalized consumers enjoy affordable and nutritious food in periods of market failure. Food assistance and school feeding are just two examples where smallholders are linked to demand for food and agricultural products. Promoting a more enabling market environment for smallholders can help to provide fair and transparent prices that adequately remunerate smallholders’ work and investments. The “Quiet Revolution” of the Fish Value Chain in Bangladesh The ﬁsh value chain in Bangladesh is evolving very rapidly in all its sectors. This “quiet revolution” affects the farm and input-supply segment – which represents 60 percent of the sector’s total value added – in addition to the remaining 40 percent, which is composed mainly of rural and urban wholesale, retail and logistics segments. In the past decade, the aquaculture sector’s volumes and participants have

34 | October - December 2018

tripled; thanks to capital investments by hundreds of thousands of small holder farmers and small and medium-sized businesses along its value chain. Bangladesh is now the 4rg largest fish producing country in the world. This process included the diversification, and specialization beyond carp fish, infirming more commercial species, such as the tilapia and pangasius catfish, which have boosted yields. One major positive effect has been a gradual reduction in the price of farmed fish, which is an important contribution to food security. The sector’s growth has mainly been oriented toward the domestic market, as very little of Bangladesh’s farmed fish is exported. However, while the investments of millions of farmers and enterprises were a major driver of this growth, public policy had a facilitating role, particularly through early investments in fish seed production, electricity supply and rural roads. Not only does diversifying agricultural production conserve biodiversity, improve soil and plant health and reduce exposure to pests, diseases or extreme-weather events, it also brings greater rewards to farmers and the local community through improved nutrition, job creation and income generation. When integrated production systems are in place, farmers can still maintain their families from other sources of income in the event revenue is lost in another activity. Integrated crop-livestock systems, agro forestry and combining paddy rice with aquaculture are just some of the practices employed today that have been shown to increase productivity, producing more with less to help satisfy the demand of arising and increasingly urbanized global population. Combining farm and off-farm activities helps ensure that rural households earn an income during the lean season or in the face of extreme climate events. Food Wastage Every year the world loses, or wastes, about a third of the food it produces. The global economic cost of food wastage is USD750 billion, approximately the GDP of Switzerland. Food losses and waste affect both consumers and producers by raising the price of food and decreasing the amount that can be sold. Approximately one-quarter of food produced for human consumption goes uneaten. Loss and waste occur all along the food chain, from field to fork. Reducing food loss and waste by 25 percent by 2050 would close the food gap by 12 percent, the land gap by 27 percent and the GHG mitigation gap by 15percent. Actions to take include measuring food waste, setting reduction targets, improving food storage in developing countries and streamlining expiration labels.

ARTICLE SDGs and Bangladesh

Relevant Remarks

Like other 193 nations Bangladesh is also working out to adopt SDG focused policies, action plans etc. We are enacting SDG oriented laws, policies, projects so on and so forth. But the reality is that, a country like Bangladesh has limited resources to focus on all these 17 goals of SDG at a time. Therefore we have to select few goals to work with full strength which will facilitate achieving other goals as well. These few goals could be termed as the start with goals of SDGs. Different ministries will work on achieving different SDG goals but maximum budgetary allotment as well as attention of the government should go for quality education, agricultural development and promoting industrialization, innovation and infrastructure development for next 10 years in Bangladesh. Within this period, we will achieve strengths and qualiﬁed manpower to attain other SDG goals within the last 5 years of SDG period. If we could make justiﬁable progress in these goals, then Bangladesh will automatically achieve other goals within the period of 2025-2030.

It is well recognized that SDGs are all interconnected within a system. We are to achieve all goals not to single one. However, all goals and targets interlink and relations are not simple to acquire. The interaction among some goals and targets are stronger than others. The reinforcement happens between each other by some targets. The issues are intertwined at the global level as well as household level. Therefore, the implementation of SDGs, as argued by some, is not the responsibility of the government alone, but nations, which necessitates the participation of all relevant stakeholders. By the best trying to acquire the major goals and targets of SDGs, the country will not only achieve the crown of middle-income economy by 2021, but also acquire the recognition of developed country by 2040. Most importantly, though we are at the third year of SDG implementation, Bangladesh needs to move faster not only to just compete with the rest of the contenders and but to lead in the area of innovative development solutions. Some over enthusiastic research! Organizations have developed a bad habit of showing themselves to be a think tank but mostly they are almost a safety tank and their research is mostly directed to predetermined motivated goals, which is intellectual crime.

Challenges faced by Bangladesh •

Recessive nature of global economy with domestic factors;

•

Rising up population density is likely to down the poorest people to live in the most unsecured and vulnerable areas;

•

Deteriorating condition can enter into the vulnerability of the poor people to environmental shocks together with the predicted change in extreme climate events; and

•

Social and demographic changes may again increase sufferings, vulnerability and social exclusion.

The real scenario of hunger in Bangladesh has been focused by World Food Program (WFP) that can raise awareness include having more than USD one billion every year under-nutrition costs in lost productivity and even more in healthcare costs; approximately seven million children are undernourished under the age of five; about 20 percent children under the age of five are stunted even who are living in the wealthiest households and 10 percent caries very low weight-for-height; a third of the children from six months to just under five years of age become anemic; about 12 percent of the children under the age of five in Bangladesh are wasted; at least 30 percent of school-aged children are iron deficient; maximum 30 percent of children’ diets intake satisfactory dietary variety.

Earlier this year, the Planning Commission published the results of a study to identify the roles and responsibilities of various ministries and divisions in the implementation of SDGs, as well as the shortcomings inherent in monitoring and evaluation of this undertaking. The study, Data Gap Analysis of SDGs: Bangladesh Perspective, reveals an interesting issue. The government and its agencies are still at a loss in terms of coming to agree on a unifying theme to manage the “synergies” (targets that reinforce each other) as well as “trade-offs” (targets that conﬂict with each other) and “enablers” (targets that are preconditions for others). We have to come out of the teething stage soon. Remember we are one of the MDG champions in the world Of the 241 indicators of SDGs, the Planning Commission study indicates that data related to 70 indicators (or 29 percent) is readily available and that of 63 (26 percent) is not available. Data for the remaining 108 (45 percent) is partially available. However, data gap for some of the SDGs is more acute than others. In terms of data gap, goal 12, “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns,” ranks highest since 69 percent of data of indicators related to this goal is not currently available. This is followed by data gaps in measuring and monitoring

October - December 2018 | 35

goal 14, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources,” and goal 13, “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact.” In view of these unmet needs, the government must soon outline a game plan to address the data gaps. At the conference organized by International Sustainable Development Institute (ISDI) at Harvard University in May 2017, speakers representing the government of Bangladesh were candid about another obstacle that we face. Of the 241 indicators, many will be left behind as we march ahead in the coming years. The SDG Secretariat in the Prime Minister's Office is entrusted to work with government agencies and civil society to priorities the measures, as well as to track and monitor our progress. While some special programs initiated by this or future governments will help us achieve some of the SDGs well in advance of 2030, others may need a boost in the coming years, and the Secretariat has a heavy burden to shoulder. Is the SDG Secretariat ready to work in identifying projects in partnership with NGOs or the private sector? These findings should not be a cause for alarm since Bangladesh is not alone as it stands at these crossroads. Fortunately, we can learn from other South Asian nations, and calibrate and fine-tune our policy steps as we move forward. And the potential gains from an action plan based on key SDG policy strategies that build upon the interrelationships between the goals and targets are significant. Results from a simulation study done for five South Asian countries suggest that strategic policy priorities of sustained, broad-based and job-creating rapid economic growth through industry-oriented structural transformation, and addressing food security and hunger with agricultural productivity improvements through sustainable agriculture could lift an additional 71 million people out of poverty, create 56 million additional jobs in South Asia and boost GDP by 15–30 percent by 2030 over and above the business-as-usual scenario. However, for Bangladesh, this growth presupposes eight percent GDP growth and commensurate 20 percent increased investments in utilities, transport and social infrastructure. A pretty daunting task indeed!

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Bangladesh - A Role Model for Rice Production Bangladesh is about to win the Role Model title in Rice Production as it has already won the Development Role Model of the World. It is the number one rice producing country of the world compared to its geographical size. This year the country has produced about 3,63,00000 MT of rice and this is the ever highest in the history of Bangladesh. It has exceeded the production target as well as exported a commendable quantity of rice. Our internal demand for rice is about 2,91,00000 MT and there is a surplus of 71,79,000 MT, Wheat production is 11,53,000 MT, maize 38,93,000 MT, Potato 10317000 MT, Dal 1031000 MT, by 2021 there will be 37 million MT rice production in Bangladesh, which is more than enough to meet local consumption as well as exporting a substantial quantity. Last year Bangladesh exported 50000 MT rice to Sri Lanka. BRRI invented 94 varieties of Rice including 6 high breed varieties. Cattle production is also high and in the last Eid-ul-Adha Bangladesh did not need any cattle imports from India. Recommendation When Bangladesh had 70 million population before the great liberation about 20 million people would remain without a meal or proper meal in a day at least for 3 months (Ashar-Vadra) in a year. What a great success! what a grand achievement! Now I70 million population with three meals a day and starvation is a history now. There is no monga in the northern part of the country since last 10 years now, still someone was misleading the country people saying 50 million people were starving. I recommend awards for BRRI, BFRI, Agricultural Universities, Agricultural Extension department, marginal farmers and Shaikh Seraj for his lifelong contributions for the agriculture sector. The country needs to reduce population growth rate by at least 0.36% by 2021. It also needs to have more and more technicians level education instead of general education to avoid high rate of unemployment among the educated fellows.

» About the Author Fellow Member of the Institute & Former Senior Vice President

ARTICLE

Sustainable Development Goals and Bangladesh Subash Chandra Moulick FCS

ntroduction

The UN ‘Committee for Development Policy’ has recently announced Bangladesh’s eligibility for graduation from Least Developed Country, where it has been listed since 1975, to Developing Country. This begins the graduation process for Bangladesh, which met the requirements in March 2018, could receive ofﬁcial Developing Country status by 2024. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2015. These 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 aspirational “Global Goals” consisting of 169 targets adopted to be achieved by the member Countries. The SDGs maintain a wide range of sustainable development issues to be achieved by adopting a motto title ‘Transforming our World’: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development, is a plan of action emphasizing on the core principles of peace, people, planet, prosperity and partnership, which seeks to strengthen universal peace, prosperity, sustainable and inclusive development, freedom and justice. Member states are committed to conduct regular national reviews of progress made towards the achievement of these goals through an inclusive, voluntary and country-led process. While the Governments are for obvious reasons expected to take the lead in assessing strengths and deﬁcits as well as reviewing progress towards the SDGs, to ensure inclusiveness such assessments and reviews need to go beyond the remit of governments and ensure participation and engagement of Civil Society, Media, Private Sector and other Stakeholders. All of the goals generally, have been realized by pertaining both as ambitions and challenges to all countries. Moreover, all goals and targets bear crucial messages and challenges not only for developed countries but also for developing one like Bangladesh. The manifold goals and targets will however, represent various dimensions of challenge and highlight ambition for multifarious

countries relying on their present situation of development as well as other national circumstances. So, when the issue of implementation comes to various countries, there will need to focus different categories of attention and ensure serious efforts to the different goals and targets, depending on relation to their different capabilities and resources. Social, economic and political efforts also needed to keep balance will be different in different states. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The United Nations General Assembly, 2015 adopted the following 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): •

Ending all category of poverty everywhere;

•

Ending hunger, ensuring food security and nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture;

•

Ensuring healthy and sound lives and promote wellbeing promotion of all at all ages;

•

Ensuring quality education inclusively and equitably and creating learning opportunities for round the life;

•

Empowering all women and girls and achieving gender equality;

•

Available and sustainable clean water sanitation management to be ensured for all;

•

Affordable, sustainable, reliable, and modern energy to be ensured for all;

•

Ensuring inclusive, sustained, and reliable economic growth, full and inclusive employment provide decent work for all;

•

Building resilient infrastructure, foster innovation and promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization;

•

Reducing income inequality within and among the countries;

and

October - December 2018 | 37

•

Sustainable Cities & Communities, Cities and human settlement to be made inclusive, resilient, safe, and sustainable;

•

Ensuring sustainable & responsive production and consumption patterns;

•

Combat with climate change adaptation and its impacts ;

•

Conserve the seas, oceans and marine resources for sustainable development;

•

Restore, protect and ensure terrestrial ecosystems with sustainability, combat desertiﬁcation, manage forests, and reverse land degradation and loss of biodiversity;

•

Promotion of inclusive and peaceful societies for attaining sustainable development, accessibility of justice by all and building accountable, inclusive and effective institutions at all levels;

•

Strengthening implementation means and revitalizing the global partnership to ensure sustainable development.

Background of Fixing of SDGs The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were born at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges which facing our world. The above SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which started a global effort in 2000 to tackle the indignity of poverty. The MDGs established measurable, universally-agreed objectives for tackling extreme poverty and hunger, preventing deadly diseases, and expanding primary education to all children, among other development priorities. In 15 years, the MDGs drove progress in several important areas: reducing income poverty, providing much needed access to water and sanitation, driving down child mortality and improving maternal health. primary education, inspiring countries to invest in their future generations. Most signiﬁcantly, the MDGs made huge strides in combatting HIV/AIDS and other treatable diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. There were important developments prior to the 2000. One of them was the 1999 World Bank-IMF initiated process of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) to be prepared by the aid-receiving developing

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countries for using as a basis for development assistance to be provided to those countries. Such a document obviously focused on the key aspects of poverty reduction, but the PRSPs prepared by many countries were of little avail for them in terms of receipt of expected foreign aid. On the other hand, poverty reduction was supposed to be achieved within the framework of neo-liberal market economy, which has been the ruling paradigm particularly since the mid-1970s. Under the circumstances, Government's ability to take action speciﬁcally to address poverty has been constrained. On the heal of the PRSP came the UN Millennium Declaration in 2000, which is in fact proposed a framework for human development to be underpinned by such fundamental principles as freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature, and shared responsibility. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were formulated and adopted as a follow-up of Millennium Declaration. The MDGs were picked as a top-down prescription of eight goals and associated targets to be implemented by poor countries with assistance from the global community. In fact, though, the goals were very clearly speciﬁed and so were the targets and indicators, the number of goals were limited. Therefore, the MDGs process caught the imagination of the Governments, the Civil Society Actors, and other Stakeholders around the world. As a result, a number of key targets for 2015 including poverty reduction have been achieved globally and in various countries around the world. But, the achievements have been uneven across the countries. Some countries, particularly in Africa, have not achieved and were not likely to achieve most of the key targets under different goals; Some of them have, in fact, regressed in relation to such key targets as poverty and hunger reduction and social indicators including education, health, and child and maternal mortality. Particularly, the successful countries in respect of the major MDG targets, including Bangladesh, have done so essentially with their own resources and efforts. However, despite these successes, understandably, no progress has been achieved in these countries towards sustainable development simply because of the MDGs have not been geared to that end. In the meantime, the Rio+20 Conference was held in June 2012 at Rio De Janeiro where the 1992 Earth Summit was held. Here again, the three legs of sustainable development namely, Economic, Social and Environmental issues have been reemphasized once again that the human being is at the centre of

ARTICLE development. This conference called for formulation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the post-2015 period. It has been suggested that giving due emphasis on their own circumstances and realities, countries would pursue greening of their economies under the environmental pillar of an integrated sustainable development pathway. For formulation of the post-2015 or post-MDGs development pathway, the UN system initiated activities to that end. For the Rio+20 follow-up process, an Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development, consisting of a number of UN member countries, included on the basis of an agreed procedure has been established. The OWG has been debating in successive sessions, various aspects related to the contents and manner of arriving at a set of post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to recommend. The UN Secretary General has set up an Institutional Framework for the task including the followings: UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, appointed in January 2012; A Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Post-2015 Development Agenda, appointed in June 2012; The High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP), appointed in July 2012; and A mechanism for collecting and reviewing the various inputs coming from different stakeholders, towards formulating a set of goals and associated targets and indicators for consideration by the UN Secretary General and finally by the UN General Assembly. In this context, as encouraged by the UN, member countries, Civil Society Organizations, UN recognized major groups (Children and Youth, Farmers, Business and Industry, Indigenous Peoples, Local Authorities, NGOs, Scientific and Technological Community, Women, Workers and Trade Unions) and other Stakeholders have been submitting their analyses and recommendations relating to the formulation of the post-2015 agenda to the UN. The institutional mechanism was setup by the UN Secretary General for compiling, reviewing, and drafting a set of goals, targets, and indicators for the post-2015 period for next 15 years, i.e. up to 2030. It was a difficult task given that proposals and recommendations have been pouring in from various stakeholders from around the world. However, the UN Task Team Report has identified the major weaknesses and omissions in the MDG framework and proposed building on those deficiencies while addressing the new realities for formulating the post-2015 development agenda. After analyzing the above recommendations, the UN Task

Team set seventeen aspirational ‘Global Goals” and formulated an action plan and submitted the same to the UN Secretary General. Subsequently, which were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September, 2015 for implementation by the member Countries. The MDGs & SDGs The new global goals i.e; SDGs are much broader and comprehensive than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as they attempt to address all the three dimensions of sustainable development –Economic, Social and Environmental issues. The MDGs were highly influential in mobilizing international efforts to reduce poverty in the developing countries during the period 2000-2015. However, despite significant progress has been made in tackling poverty, the goal of reducing maternal mortality had not been met in Africa and much of Asia. The MDGs’ progress review clearly suggested that achieving environmental sustainability and human wellbeing is a challenge, especially while considering the emerging threats of climate change. The fossil fuel based economic growth, unsustainable consumption, income inequality, unchecked urbanization and deforestation remain barriers to ensuring sustainable development for all over the world. The Global Community has adopted SDGs to complete the MDG’s unfinished development agenda and meet sustainability challenges. The SDGs came into effect from January, 2016. The main difference between the MDGs and the SDGs is that the new proposed development goals are universal in nature. The 17 Goals with 169 targets are broader in scope and go further than the MDGs by addressing the root causes of poverty and the universal need for development that works for all people. Building on the success and momentum of the MDGs, the new Global Goals cover more ground, with ambitions to address inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements, industrialization, oceans, ecosystems, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, peace and justice. ‘Sustainable Development’ is not something that only ‘developing’ countries should do, but, each UN member state should work towards a sustainable world for future generations. The SDGs will expand the focus of development goals to rich countries. In short, these new goals are universal and apply to all countries, whereas the MDGs were intended for action in developing countries only with the assistance from the Global Community.

October - December 2018 | 39

Bangladesh and MDGs & SDGs Bangladesh was a star performer in relation to the MDGs. According to the 'Millennium Development Goals: Bangladesh Progress Report 2015' of UNDP, Bangladesh has registered remarkable progresses in the areas of poverty alleviation, ensuring food security, primary school enrolment, gender parity in primary and secondary level education, lowering the infant and under-ﬁve mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio, improving immunization coverage; and reducing the incidence of communicable diseases.

Plan and implementation of the SDGs. To spearhead the process, the ‘SDGs Implementation and Monitoring Committee’ has been formed at the Prime Minister’s Ofﬁce to facilitate and implementation of SDGs Action Plan. The General Economics Division of Planning Commission under the Ministry of Planning is the SDGs Focal Point and In-charge of the implementation of the national SDGs implementation process. Besides, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister is the Convener of the ‘SDG Implementation and Monitoring Committee’ where the General Economics Division (GED) is working as the Secretariat of the Committee.

However, the attainments of a few targets of MDGs are associated with several challenges also. The existence of poverty, prevalence of unemployment and underemployment among the youth, stunting and wasting among the under five children, reducing the dropout rate and enhancing the quality of education at the primary level, universal access to reproductive health and resource constraints are identified as stumbling blocks in fulfilling all the targets of MDGs in Bangladesh.

Challenges in Implementation of SDGs in Bangladesh

This success also brings confidence of Bangladesh for achieving the SDGs. In the last 15 years, with limited resources, Bangladesh has witnessed one of the fastest reductions in poverty than anywhere in the world. The country has met the target in reducing the proportion of population below the national poverty line. It has reached the targets in reducing infant mortality rate from 92 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 46 now; and in decreasing the prevalence of underweight children less than five years of age from 66 percent in 1990 to 32.6 percent. In terms of education, the country has achieved nearly 100 percent enrollment in primary schools; and attained gender parity with more girls than boys in primary and secondary schools. It has also met the targets in preventing malarial deaths and in raising the share of people using an improved drinking water source. As one of the top performing countries in terms of reaching the Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh is equally confident in embracing the new SDG targets and the Prime Minister has expressed her deep commitment to achieving these before the year 2030.

Among the indicators of SDGs, all most all indicators have been identified as applicable for Bangladesh. But, mining of reliable adequate data of the indicators including the data of corruption and bribery (both domestic and international) is not an easy task. Incorporation of SDGs into the National Development Policy of the Country is another challenge for its’ effective implementation. If the economic growth is not shared equally and fairly and the resources are not distributed properly, sustainable economic growth is not possible. Development and income inequality is pretty much evident in Bangladesh, which is another challenge for sustainable development. The incidence of poverty is higher in rural areas than in the urban areas and the rate of decrease of poverty is also higher in rural areas than in urban areas. On the other hand, Bangladesh is the innocent victim of global warming and its impact and lacks sufficient capacity to finance mitigation in the above sectors. So, receiving of financial support is a special and legitimate right of Bangladesh from those developed countries who are historically responsible for carbon emission and global warming. A large number of Country’s people including many Government Officials still do not have a clear conception about different aspects of SDGs. So, all the stakeholders should be connected through a framework in the SDG implementation process for successfully achieving the Goals. In the absence of the adoption of advanced technologies, existing productive activities are not scalable to address most of the SDGs.

Meanwhile, the Government of Bangladesh has taken a number of steps to develop strategies for SDGs implementation and achievement at the national level. A number of measures have been undertaken for the implementation of SDGs in Bangladesh up to 2030. The Government has adopted “Whole of Society” approach to ensure wider participation of NGOs, Development partners, Private Sector, Media, NGOs and CSOs in the process of formulation of the Action

40 | October - December 2018

To achieve the SDGs, Bangladesh faces some considerable challenges. A country like Bangladesh will need a huge investment for construction of basic infrastructure like Roads, Rail and Ports; Power Stations; Water and Sanitation and also for other sectors like Agriculture and Rural Development, Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, Health and Education.

ARTICLE Conclusion Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies among the countries with similar nature. The country has made a notable progress during the MDGs era despite several political and environmental challenges. At the end of MDGs, a new era has just begun with much more diversified targets called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs are a transformative, universal agenda of ‘Leaving no one behind’ and requires each country to commit to her own agenda and priorities with a monitoring and reporting mechanism. At the same time, the SDGs also puts massive challenges to all countries to ensure financing and effective implementation by incorporating SDGs in to the national policies. The SDGs have just begun as well as many analysis and activities of the world community. At the beginning of the process, each country and its oversight body has some role to play. It is well recognized that SDGs are interconnected within a system. We are to achieve all the goals not to single one. However, all goals and targets’ interlink and relations are not simple to acquire. The interaction among some goals and targets are stronger than others. The reinforcement happens between each other by some targets. The confliction by others may occur with one another and some can be essential for achieving others. That’s why, all government institutions have been given direction to incorporate SDG issues in their training and implementing curriculum. The Sustainable Development Goals reflect our contemporary understanding that social, economic, and environmental issues cannot be clearly divided. The issues are interconnected at the global level as well as household level. Therefore, the implementation of SDGs, as argued by some, is not the responsibility of the Government alone, but nations, which necessitates the participation of all relevant stakeholders. By the best trying to acquire the major goals and targets of SDGs, the country will not only achieve the crown of middle income economy by 2021, but also acquire the recognition of Developed Country by 2040. Most importantly, though, we are at the second year of SDG implementation, Bangladesh needs to move fast not

only to just compete with the rest of the contenders but to lead in the area of innovative development solutions. Coordinated approach and efforts, interconnected public-private schemes, combined role of the private and public entrepreneurs, cooperative nature of all political parties, civil societies irrespective of all cast, creed, religions can bring the more successful story as like Millennium Development Goals to implement and achieve maximum goals and targets of SDGs through overcoming all the challenges in Bangladesh. Reference 1. Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ‘SDG Index and Dashboards Report” 2017. 2. Overview of the challenges to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in Bangladesh by Mr. Mohammed Jashim Uddin & Mr. Md. Nezum Uddin. Published in the International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention. 3. Historical Overview of MDGs & SDGs by Quizi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed. 4. Sustainable Development Goal 16: Preparedness, Progress and Challenges of Bangladesh-A Study of Selected Targets-By Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB). September, 2017. 5. Millennium Development Goals: Progress Report 2015' by UNDP.

Bangladesh

6. Stakeholder’s Coordination key to achieving SDGsnews published on 6-December-2018 in the Financial Express on dialog title; ‘Let the grassroots speak Localizing SDGs for inclusive development’ held on 5-December-2018 in Dhaka jointly organized by CPD and Oxfam Bangladesh. 7. Social Watch-Poverty Eradication and Gender Justice

» About the Author Fellow Member of the Institute

October - December 2018 | 41

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Its Integration with 7th Five Year Plan in Bangladesh Mohammad Shahajahan FCS

he new global agenda Sustainable Development Goals as titled ‘Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It has 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 associated targets and 229 indicators.The goals of SDGs were emphasised in setting up the priority areas of the 7th Five Year Plan in Bangladesh. This study found that 14 goals of SDGs (82.35%) are found thematically fully aligned with the 7th FYP document and 3 goals (17.65%) are partially aligned with 7th FYP of Bangladesh. Out of 169 targets of the SDGs, 56 (33.14%) SDGs targets are found to be aligned with 7th FYP, while 37 (21.89%) are partially aligned with 7th FYP, 65 (38.46%) are not aligned with 7th FYP, and 11 (6.51%) targets are not relevant for Bangladesh. Out of 41 (17.90%) SDGs indicators are aligned with the 7th FYP, 27 (11.79%) are partially aligned, 138 (60.26%) are not aligned and 23 (10.04%) are not relevant. The study also found that there are some challenges that Bangladesh would be faced in achieving the SDGs. Introduction During the 70th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) the new global agenda Sustainable Development Goals was adopted by all member nations of United Nations which focusing on 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 associated targets and 229 indicators are integrated and indivisible. The new global agenda emphasises on continuation of development priorities like poverty eradication, health, education, food security and nutrition; along withsetting out a wide range of economic and environmental objectives. It is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity which promises for more peaceful and inclusive societies. Bangladesh is one of the most successful countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). So during the formulation of the 7th plan document, the proposed goals by UN Open Working Group (OWG) were well taken into consideration so that the probable goals of the SDGs can be illustrated in the national plan. The goals of SDGs were also given emphasis

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while setting up the priority areas of the 7FYP. This study aims to find out to what extent the SDGs (goals level, targets level and indicators level) is well integrated with 7th Five Year Plan. Sustainable Development Goals In the meeting of United Nations (UN) from 25 to 27 September, 2015 and on the occasion of 70th Anniversary of UN at its Headquarters in New York, the Heads of State and Government and High Representatives, have decided on new global Sustainable Development Goals as titled‘Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It focuses on to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom and recognize that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. The world leaders are committed to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions- economic, social and environmental- in a balanced and integrated manner. Based on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals as foundation, the Nations seek to address their unfinished business. In the meeting it is resolved that between now and 2030, to end poverty and hunger everywhere; to combat inequalities within and among countries; to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies; to protect human rights and promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls; and to ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources. In the meeting, it also resolved to create conditions for sustainable, inclusive and sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and decent work for all, taking into account different levels of national development and capacities. The leaders focused on the collective journey- no one will be left behind. Recognizing that the dignity of the human person is fundamental, leaders wish to see the Goals and targets met for all nations and peoples and for all segments of society and every nation will endeavour to reach the furthest behind first.

ARTICLE 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 associated targets were announced in the meeting which are integrated and indivisible. This was first time world leaders have pledged common action and endeavour across such a broad and universal policy agenda. They were setting out together on the path towards sustainable development, devoting ourselves collectively to the pursuit of global development and of “win-win” cooperation which could bring huge gains to all countries and all parts of the world. In the meeting, it has reaffirmed that every State has, and shall freely exercise, full permanent sovereignty over all its wealth, natural resources and economic activity. The world leaders will implement the Agenda for the full benefit of all, for today’s generation and for future generations. In doing so, the world leaders are committed to international law and emphasize that the Agenda is to be implemented in a manner that is consistent with the rights and obligations of States under international law.

Goal 12 Ensure sustainable production patterns

17 Sustainable Development Goals are as follows:

Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere Goal 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation Goal 10 Reduce inequality countries

within

and

among

Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

consumption

and

Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts Goal 14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development Goal 15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertiﬁcation, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

7th Five Year Plan (FYP) According to the constitutional obligations Bangladesh is pursuing planned development pathway in pursuit of development aspirations. Since independence, General Economic Division of Bangladesh Planning Commission is formulating Five Year Plans with exception to 2003-2011, when the country adopted three Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). In 2011, Government of Bangladesh prepared a Perspective Plan,which is first time new initiative in development history of Bangladesh to articulate the Government Vision, 2021 defining the milestone economic and social outcomes to be achieved by 2021. By implementing two Five Year Plans, the 6th Five Year Plan (2011-15) and the 7th Five Year Plan (2016-2020), the targets of the Vision 2021 and the associated ‘Perspective Plan of Bangladesh (2010-2021)’was planned to be achieved. The 6th Five Year Plan implemented successfully and it has made remarkable progress in raising income, reducing poverty and improving social indicators compared to any previously implemented plans. In 2015, Bangladesh was classified as lower middle income country. In 2014, preparation of the 7th Five Year Plan was initiated by considering the mid-term review findings on implementation of 6th Five Year Plan and a ‘Concept Paper’ approved by the ‘Steering Committee’ comprised of secretaries and members of Planning Commission and chaired by the Honourable

October - December 2018 | 43

Planning Minister. Thirty different background studies covering different socio-economic sectors and sub-sectors, and a technical framework for macroeconomic projections for FY 2016-2020 was prepared, inputs of different Ministries/ Divisions were considered for improving quality of the plan and ownership of the stakeholders. Series of consultations and dialogues were held with ministries/divisions and relevant government agencies that are directly responsible for implementation of 7th Five Year Plan, development partners, researchers, academia, think tank, representatives of civil societies, NGOs, business leaders, entrepreneurs, etc. and then it was finalised. The 7th Five Year Plan was formulated by considering the achievement of 6th Five Year Plan and special focus was given on the different dimensions of development where we are still lagging behind. ‘Accelerating Growth, Empowering Citizens’ was the theme of 7th Five Year Plan, emphasises on policies, institutions and programmes that will support more job creation in the economy, accelerating GDP growth to 8% while ensuring lower income inequality, fast track poverty reduction and empowering the citizens. Strengthening of inclusive institutions, ensuring pluralistic democracy, gender equality in access to education and employment, social protection coverage, protecting labour rights, etc. augmenting citizens’ empowerment, human capital development especially education and health were recognised in 7th Five Year Plan. The plan also emphasised a green and sustainable growth strategy to place a roadmap towards a prosperous, inclusive and climate resilient Bangladesh. The plan suggested for climate resilient and sustainable development where growth will be driven by the diversified export oriented manufacturing sector and enhanced labour productivity. It also suggested for knowledge based economy through human development by investing in education and health sectors. Priority has given to infrastructure suitable for middle income country by including transformational mega projects in transports and energy sectors and ICT based service sector with migration for exploiting the demographic dividend. Mobilization of private investment, both PPP initiatives and FDI attraction, has been focused where public investment will create the investment climate for a favourable pro-business growth. The 7th Five Year Plan document is in two part: i) Part-I includes the strategy directions and policy framework, overall financing, monitoring and evaluation framework within the macroeconomic purview of the Plan; ii) Part-II includes the underlying sectoral strategies for

44 | October - December 2018

the fourteen national development priority sectors (except defence) for programme planning and financing for public investment programme, to ensure consistency with overall resource envelope identified in the macroeconomic framework. Integration of SDGs with 7th Five Year Plan in Bangladesh In formulation of the 7thFive Year Plan document, the proposed goals by UN Open Working Group (OWG) were consideredfully so that the probable goals of the SDGs can be illustrated in the national plan. The goals of SDGs were emphasised in setting up the priority areas of the 7thFive Year Plan. The General Economic Division tried to address the issues of international goals into the Five Year Plan because it is the guiding document of the country that is implemented in next five years’ time. So the initiative of better integration of SDGs with 7th Five Year Plan in Bangladesh has well been considered. Integration of SDGs (Goals) with 7th FYP By analysing 7th FYP, other documents of the Government of Bangladesh (Planning Commission archive), it is found that the GoBhas well taken care of the SDGs while formulating the 7th Five Year Plan.Out of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals announced by United Nations,Goal 1, Goal 16 and Goal 17 of the SDGs (17.65%) are partially alignedwith the 7thFYP while the rest14 goals (82.35%) are found thematically fully aligned with the 7th FYP document. The graphical presentation of the integration of SDGs (Goals) with 7th FYP is shown in the following pie chart (figure-1): Figure-1: Alignment of SDGs (Goals) with the 7th Five Year Plan Not Alligned, 0% Partially Alligned, 17.65%

Thematically Fully Aligned, 82.35%

Source: General Economic Commission, Bangladesh

Division,

Planning

ARTICLE The duration of SDGs is 15 years and 7th FYP duration is 5 years. Hence Bangladesh has scope to implement three FYPs within the time frame of SDGs. Therefore, partially aligned 3 SDGs (17.65%) with 7th FYP may be considered as normal. The goals which seem partially aligned today in the context of 7thFYP, may be found fully aligned in the 8thFYP or 9thFYP.

Figure-1: Alignment of SDGs (Indicators) with the 7th Five Year Plan

Integration of SDGs (Targets) with 7th FYP By analysing 7th FYP, other documents of the Government of Bangladesh (Planning Commission archive), out of 169 targets of the SDGs, 56 (33.14%) SDGs targets are found to be aligned with 7thFYP, while 37 (21.89%) are partially aligned with 7th FYP, 65 (38.46%) are not aligned with 7th FYP, and 11 (6.51%) targets are not relevant for Bangladesh. Figure-1: Alignment of SDGs (Targets) with the 7th Five Year Plan

Source: General Economic Commission, Bangladesh

Division,

Source: General Economic Commission, Bangladesh

Planning

Challenges to Achieve SDGs in Bangladesh The following challenges need to be considered in the national plan of Bangladesh to achieve the SDGs: •

Equitable resource distribution is obvious for sustainable economic development. In Bangladesh income disparity and income gap are evident. The 2010 Household and Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) estimates the incidence of poverty at 31.5 percent at the national level, 35.2 percent in rural areas and 21.3 percent in urban areas. Regional disparities are also apparent. The 2010 HIES found that the income accumulating to top 5 percent of households was 24.61 percent, compared to only 0.78 percent for the bottom 5 percent. So withoutproper linkage of equitable resource distribution in national plan, achievement of SDGs remain elusive.

•

Contextualization of the goals and the indicators and their proper allocation among concerned agencies to plan and implement those is a big challenge for Bangladesh.

•

Infrastructural development, renewable affordable energy and its security, skill development, technology adaptation, policy framework, long term strategies are precondition to achieve SDGs.

•

To materialize SDGs, UNCTAD forecasts investment of $5-7 trillion per year globally whereas Bangladesh requires $45 Billion per year. So

Planning

Integration of SDGs (Indicators) with 7th FYP Inter-agency Expert Group on SDGs (IAEG-SDGs) released a list of 229 probable SDGs indicators on 17 December 2015. From the analysis based on the 229 SDGs indicators, it is found that 41 (17.90%) of SDGs indicators as aligned with the 7thFYP, while 27 (11.79%) were partially aligned with 7th FYP and 161 (70.31%) are not aligned with the 7th FYP.23 indicators that those indicators are “not relevant” for Bangladesh. If “not relevant” is considered as a category, 41 (17.90%) SDGs indicators are aligned with the 7FYP, 27 (11.79%) are partially aligned, 138 (60.26%) are not aligned and 23 (10.04%) are not relevant.

Division,

October - December 2018 | 45

ﬁnancing $45 Billion per year is a key challenge for Bangladesh. •

The seventh ﬁve year plan endorsed the SDGs but clear indications on sourcing fund, allocation and explicit roadmap with plan of actions to implement the goals is needed to be marked.

•

Organizing a consultative process with a wide range of stakeholders outside national government is crucial for effective national policy prioritization and for efﬁcient, coherent delivery based on clear roles and responsibilities. Transparency, participatory decision making and mobilizing the strength and innovation of local governments, the private sector and civil society are essential to implement the SDG agenda.

Conclusion and Recommendations The new global agenda Sustainable Development Goals was adopted by all member nations of United Nations which focusing on 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 associated targets and 229 indicators are integrated and indivisible. The goals of SDGs were emphasised in setting up the priority areas of the 7th Five Year Plan.14 goals of SDGs (82.35%) are found thematically fully aligned with the 7th FYP document and 3 goals (17.65%) are partially aligned with 7th FYP of Bangladesh. Out of 169 targets

46 | October - December 2018

of the SDGs, 56 (33.14%) SDGs targets are found to be aligned with 7th FYP, while 37 (21.89%) are partially aligned with 7th FYP, 65 (38.46%) are not aligned with 7th FYP, and 11 (6.51%) targets are not relevant for Bangladesh. Out of 41 (17.90%) SDGs indicators are aligned with the 7thFYP, 27 (11.79%) are partially aligned, 138 (60.26%) are not aligned and 23 (10.04%) are not relevant. There are some challenges that Bangladesh would be faced in achieving the SDGs like missing the linkage of equitable resource distribution and minimising income gap in national plan, contextualization of the goals and the indicators and their proper allocation among concerned agencies, infrastructural development, renewable affordable energy and its security, skill development, technology adaptation, policy framework, long term strategies, clear indications on sourcing fund, allocation and explicit roadmap with plan of actions to implement the goals, capacity of institutions and human resource development, participation of all and enforcement of accountability. Therefore, it is very crucial to mark clear roles and responsibilities of the agencies for effective national policy prioritization and for efﬁcient, coherent delivery of services

» About the Author Fellow Member of the Institute

ARTICLE

Achieving SDGs through Mobilization of Direct Taxes in Bangladesh: Some Observations Dr. Sams Uddin Ahmed

chieving SDGs goals is vital to transform the world by addressing some specific issues as set by the United Nations and endorsed by the member countries. But without collecting revenue to an expected level it is not possible to materialize the SDG goals. Taxation remains one of the major sources of revenue for the governments around the world. This is particularly true in case of developing countries like Bangladesh. The purpose of the present article is to argue that while Bangladesh is committed to achieve the goals, it is imperative that Bangladesh collects tax revenue to the optimum level to finance the goals and raise the Tax to GDP ratio to the required level. It is observed that while Bangladesh made remarkable improvements in collecting income tax in recent years the tax GDP ratio is still low. So Bangladesh should do more to increase the tax GDP ratio by adopting the measures suggested in the article. Key Words: Bangladesh, SDGs, Revenue, Income Tax, Tax GDP ratio. Introduction The new big global agenda: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development was adopted by the UN in 2015 and was endorsed by 193 member countries. This is known as the sustainable development goals (SDGs) that aims at transforming the world through sustainable development in some specific areas. The SDGs are considered as the blueprints to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The core areas of SDGs are poverty alleviation, zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and strong institutions and partnerships for the goals.With the formulation of the SDGs taxation has become the focus of the development agenda (Dom and Miller,

2018). The effective implementation of SDGs depends on the respective governments whose primary responsibility is to follow up and review the program at local, regional and global levels. Along with the private funding, the UN urged the respective countries to mobilize internal resources to fund the challenging goals (The UN, 2015). Bangladesh, being a UN member country is committed to achieve the SDGs by 2030 which is sine qua non to implement the goals in the mobilization of internal revenue. Particularly much emphasis should be given on the collection of direct tax like income tax. To reach an expected level of economic development a robust Tax to GDP ratio is necessary. But as a percentage of GDP, taxes are much lower in Bangladesh. Currently the Tax GDP ratio in Bangladesh is around 10% which is below the benchmark line of that of a developed country. Recent Trend Bangladesh

Income Tax

Collection

Like many other developing countries income tax collection in Bangladesh is not remarkable. Collections targets are set every year and the collections falls short of the target. But amount of revenue collected shows an increase by 15 to 20 percent every year. Despite some major reforms in the direct taxation system some weaknesses are visible. Some of the major weaknesses are low level of revenue mobilization, high tax incidence, narrow tax base, unbridled tax evasion, limited administrative capacity, resource constraints, and complicated legal procedures. Informal economy is alarmingly strong and corruption is also alleged to have influenced the taxation system. The Delta Plan has set the Tax/GDP ratio at 19.4 per cent to be achieved by fiscal year 2031.The country needs significant reform in domestic resource-mobilization mechanism if to achieve the SDGs -- the universal 2015-30 development matrix designed for all nations. In the last 10 years, Bangladesh’s average tax to GDP ratio was 10.3%, which is 19.6% in India and Nepal 19.6%. In developed countries the average tax to GDP ratio is 35.8%.

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For FY19, the government has set a tax revenue target at Tk305,928crore, which is 12.2% of GDP. Of the total amount, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been asked to source Tk 296,201 crore, which is 11.7% of GDP and 32% higher than the revised target of FY18.

Tax Revenue as share of GDP (%) Tax ratio GDP in%

14 12

12.2

11.6

10 8

8.5

8.7

9.1

FY15

6 4 2 0 FY15

FY15

Figure: Tax to GDP ratio trend in Bangladesh Growth rate of Tax Collection in Percentage

How Taxation Helps Bangladesh Achieve SDGs

Source:NBR Growth 27.98

27.45

18.11

19.72

9.46

FY06

18.96 14.83

13.7

FY07

FY08

10.73

FY09

FY10

10.69

FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

12.32

FY15

14.6

FY16

FY17

Figure: Tax collection trend in Bangladesh Traits of tax administration of Bangladesh Tax administration is very much connected with the fiscal policy because its ultimate result is to augment or lower government revenue and to reduce fiscal deficit by imposing higher or lower tax burdens on specific sectors of the economy (Mansfield, 1988). Like other developing countries, Bangladesh depends on revenue generation to meet the country’s development expenditures with a view to accomplishing some economic and social objectives, such as a redistribution of income, price stabilization and discouraging harmful consumption. Like other government institutions, Bangladesh inherited a system of taxation from its past British colonial legacy (Parnini, 2011).The present income tax administration is based on the structure set up by the British rulers (Ahmed, 2016). However, the revenue structure in Bangladesh is complex and centralized.It involves

48 | October - December 2018

several agencies, departments and ministries. All the generated revenues are directed into one basket i.e. Account No 1 of the Bangladesh Bank, which then distributes them through annual budgetary allocation, projects, schemes, block grants etc. There are two broad categories of revenue: a) tax revenue, which is again divided into NBR tax and Non NBR tax, and b) non-tax revenue. The NBR sources include income tax, customs duty, value added tax (VAT), supplementary duty (SD), excise duty, foreign travel tax, wealth tax (collected as a surcharge of income tax since fiscal year 1999-2000), gift tax and miscellaneous insignificant taxes. Other taxes, often referred as non-NBR sources, include narcotics duty (collected by the Department of Narcotics Control, Ministry of Home Affairs), land revenue (administered by the Ministry of Land and collected by local Tahsil offices), Non-judicial stamp (collected under the Ministry of Finance), Land Registration fee (collected by the Registration Directorate of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs) and Motor vehicle tax (collected under the Ministry of Communication).

Whilst there is no panacea, it is evident that greater alignment of investment and tax policies would be essential in promoting investment, job creation and economic growth. Tax is endogenously linked to development (Myles, 2007) as taxation yields the much needed revenue that government requires to mobilize resources and defray the expenses to develop the country’s infrastructure. Taxation remains the lifeblood of state expenditure in financing public spending at the same time creating and maintaining the climate in which investment, employment and trade takes place.Though tax revenue is crucial for supplying the monetary fuel behind the materialization of every target of SDGs, some goals are obviously dependent on the amount of revenue collected in a given period of time. The following is a target specific discussion how taxation can help to achieve the SDGS. Conclusion Recently, Bangladesh has graduated to the rank of middle income earner country. No doubt this is a good news and a matter of pride for Bangladesh. At the same time it is to be kept in mind that foreign financial aids will no longer be available for the government to spend for the development works and provide for public welfare. So it is imperative that Bangladesh be economically self-dependent. To achieve economic emancipation by eradicating poverty, illiteracy, lack of institutional coherence, corruption and political

ARTICLE instability, government must raise enough internal tax revenue. Particularly to respond to the appeal for achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030, Bangladesh must be manned with an efficient and fair taxation system to collect the much needed revenue to support the SDG goals. Municipal tax net must be expanded with a view to crossing the benchmark level of tax to GDP ratio. At the same time capacity must be built to deal with international taxation issues. With this end in view, international tax cooperation must be increased, appropriate transfer pricing regulations must be implemented along with other important guidelines as suggested by the recent adoption of Multilateral Convention to ImplementTax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS (MLI). Recommendations It is evident that to achieve the SDG goals by Bangladesh what is more urgent is raising tax revenue by crafting a modern, balanced and fair taxation system. There is no other alternative to collecting necessary amount of tax revenue to underpin the SDG goals. However, to increase the tax to GDP ratio the government should take a holistic approach to expand the tax net by fighting tax evasion by the wealthy people of the country and base erosion and profit shifting by the multinational corporations. The following issues might provide some useful suggestions for the authority to consider. It is to be noted that the recommendations made in this part are not comprehensive. These are few recommendations among many more to be done. Broadening the Tax Base The present tax base in Bangladesh is narrow.For example, in direct taxes, agricultural land has not been a buoyant source of revenue as the rates have not been revised periodically (McCarten, 2005). A significant number of tax expenditure measures exist in both direct and indirect taxes which creates an adverse impact on the overall revenue effort (Begum 2007). So Bangladesh needs to explore how the tax base can be broadened and how people in the informal sector can be brought within the tax base. Use of Information Technology ICT offers many advantages for both the tax department and the taxpayers. ICT can deliver quick service in terms of return filing, e-taxpayemtns, online notice service and many others. ICT can make the process of paying taxes simpler, faster and easier. Consequently voluntary compliance can be ensured in

an efficient and easy way. Currently Bangladesh is using ICT, but ICT based broad reform is necessary rather than isolated approaches regarding specific taxation types. Increasing Resources Income tax department is suffering from shortages of resources both in terms of human resource and logistics. The government should urgently endorse an expansion program so that tax offices can reach the remote hub of economic activities. Projects should be taken to build tax office in every district and the important growth center. Appropriate budgets and other logistic supports like car, housing, computers, internet services should be provided for the income tax officers so that the can collect revenue in an efficient manner. Capacity Building The capacity of the income tax department should be strengthened to deal with the current surge of global business activities. The income tax officers must be trained assessing the needs. A project can be approved to this end. Particularly, without proper knowledge and training it is not possible to deal with the issues of transfer pricing and other intricate international tax issues. International Tax Cooperation Given the volume of cross border business activities and also the base erosion and profit shifting by the multinational corporations, it is imperative that Bangladesh increases cooperation in the field of international taxation. Particularly Bangladesh should review the recent development in the field of international taxation. The multilateral tax convention has been adopted following the BEPS 15 action plans thrown by the OECD. Bangladesh should consider signing the MLI particularly inter alia, in the field of transfer pricing and dispute resolutions. Improving Tax Culture Tax evasion is related to the cultural background of the taxpayer. Strumpel (1969) puts emphasis on the importance of national culture in comprehending tax evasion.The taxpaying culture in Bangladesh is very weak. Poor tax net speaks for the truth. There is very low coverage of population in the tax net. Less than 1% of the population pays the individual income taxes. So it is vital that the tax administration takes appropriate measures to improve the tax culture in Bangladesh.

October - December 2018 | 49

Improve Service Delivery to Taxpayers Taxpayer service is important to improve voluntary compliance. Alm, Jones, and McKe (2007) say, “It seems plausible that the tax agency can improve its public perception by providing taxpayer services such as pre-ﬁling information, and that the increased service level would translate into higher compliance.” Currently the income tax department is trying to improve taxpayer service by establishing taxpayer service centre in each taxes zone around the country. Also the National Board of Revenue is organizing income tax fair from 2010 to render one stop services to the taxpayers. The income tax fair has been a paradigm shift in providing services to the taxpayers. However more holistic approach should be taken to improve the taxpayer perception regarding taxpayers’ service. Bibliography Akgun,O et al, (2017), “The capacity of governments to raise taxes”, OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No.1407, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/6bee2df9-en. Alm et al, (2007), “Taxpayer Services and Tax Compliance” Bridgewater State University, Faculty of Economics Publication. https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/ viewcontent.cgi?referer. https://www.google.com/ &httpsredir=1&article=1007&context=econ_fac Atkinson, Anthony B. et al (2017),“Reducing poverty and inequality through tax-beneﬁt reform and the

50 | October - December 2018

minimum wage: the UK as a case-study”, Euromod Working Paper Series, EM 13/17. https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/research/publications/wo rking-papers/euromod/em13-17.pdf Burman, Leonard E. (2013), Taxes and Inequality, 66Tax Law Review, 563-592. Dom,Roel and Miller,Mark (2018), Reforming tax systems in the developing world: What can we learn from the past? Overseas Development Institute https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/ﬁles/resource-doc uments/12280.pdf Hellstern, Monika and Dembowski, Hans (2018), “Taxes serve SDG achievement", Development and Cooperation. https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/ achieve-sdgs-tax-policies-must-be-drafted-prudentlyand-global-coordination-would-make-sense ICC (2018), “5 ways tax policy can help achieve the UN Global Goals”. https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/5-waystax-policy-can-help-achieve-un-global-goals/ International Chamber of Commerce, Tax and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, ICC Position Paper. https://cdn.iccwbo.org/content/ uploads/sites/3/2018/02/icc-position-paper-on-tax-and -the-un-sdgs.pdf

» About the Author Commissioner of Taxes

ARTICLE

Climate Change: A Big Challenges for Sustainable Development Goal Md. Shiful Islam ACS

he Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 as published on June 20, 2018 found that conflict and climate change were major contributing factors leading to growing numbers of people facing hunger and forced displacement, as well as curtailing progress towards universal access to basic water and sanitation services. Therefore, undoubtedly climate change claims to causes big challenges for achievement of Sustainable Development Goal. The annual United Nations climate change conference has opened with calls for urgent action to prevent runaway climate change and devastating impacts for the planet. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, with the top four in the past four years. The concentration of carbon dioxide is the highest it has been in 3 million years. Emissions continue to grow. Ahead of COP24, WMO issued its provisional statement on the state of the climate in 2018, showing that the global average temperature for the first ten months of the year was nearly 1°C above 1850-1900. The report gives details of climate change indicators, including sea level rise, ocean heat and acidification and sea-ice and glacier melt. It also includes details of impacts for climate change based on contributions from a wide range of United Nations partners. Though there are number of years ahead to achieve of the goals, the world communities are experiencing a high challenging situations in the beginning years instead of realizing expected improvement towards sustainable development goal. All the government and non-government agencies are paying focus on the different aspects of each and every goal to be achieved by 2030. Researchers, development organizations started extending their research based analysis and suggestions as regard to the achievement of sustainable development goal. The background comprising of the above discussion and statement by the different authorities led us to put

importance on the Goal No 13: Climate Action. Before entering into detailed discussion on the Goal No 13, we bring a general understanding on the climate, causes of climate change and its impacts on human life and earth. Climate refers to the statistics of weather over long periods of time. It is measured by assessing the patterns of variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological variables in a given region over long periods of time. Whereas, climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time. Climate change has no borders and to fight against it, planned and coordinated effort should be taken by the countries around the globe. Society is more or less well aware about the impacts of climate change. Mentionable impacts or consequences of climate change are global warming, greenhouse effect, melting ice, rising seas, glacial retreat, flooding and erosion of coastal and low lying areas, extreme weather and decreasing water qualities. The consequences of climate change which result to developing countries is talked with utmost importance and urgency around the world. In this regard, the IPCC Special Report and the outcome of COP24 climate change conference ended on December 14, 2018 could be brought into consideration. The IPCC report released in October 2018, highlighted the vital importance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This conference drew huge expectation towards the successful implementation of Paris Climate Change Agreement (2015). Yes, significant development has been experienced as the countries agreed on the rules that will guide the implementation of the Paris Agreement. But the negotiation stage where the interest of the affected countries particularly LDC countries were discussed could not conclude with expected result. As the 47 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) rely heavily on the

October - December 2018 | 51

land for their livelihoods, it causes severe impacts on the life of them even the basic needs of those turn into an uncertain condition. Some powerful countries were reluctant to adopt the conclusion of a technical plenary which ultimately led climate vulnerable countries wait for the next session of 2019. Scientists in the United States and the world have drawn an overwhelming consensus that climate change is real and caused primarily by human activity. Respected scientific organizations such as the National Academy of Science, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and World Meteorological Association (WMO) have all identified climate change as an urgent threat caused by humans that must be addressed. In this regard, the human and corporate actions which are very common in nature could be enlisted here. Combustion of fossil fuels, release of greenhouse gases causes greenhouse effect, releases carbon dioxide through increased biomass decay. Agricultural expansion, cattle breeding, timber extraction, mining, oil extraction, dam construction and infrastructure development contributes to deforestation. Burning coal and oil and cutting down tropical forests, have increased atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping gases. The mining of sand and gravel along beaches and in the surf-zone will cause erosion by depleting the shore of its sediment resources. The causes of freshwater pollution are varied and include industrial wastes, sewage, runoff from farmland, cities, and factory effluents, and the build-up of sediment. Emissions from factories and vehicles create acidic conditions that damage ecosystems, including forests and lakes. The pollution that passes directly into water from factories and cities can be treated and managed at source. On the other hand, it is harder to reduce the varied forms of pollution that are carried indirectly, by runoff, from a number of widely spread non-point sources, into freshwater and the sea. As the climate change phenomena is very contemporary and claims to attract serious attention from all around the world. Sustainable Development Goals, a very timely and target oriented goal rightly kept provisions for managing the climate change issues. United Nations developed 17 goals taking into consideration the necessity of better living in the planet. The SDGs build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social

52 | October - December 2018

protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. Among them Goal 13 is the Climate Action. Goal 13 in its title calls for take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. The targets of the goal are: •

Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries

•

Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning

•

Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

•

Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible

•

Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities

There might have a number of actions to be suggested to ﬁght against the climate change issue, among all I think the ﬁrst and foremost job is to ensure immediate steps from all who are concerned. As the issue is related with human health and the well-being of the planet, only taking immediate steps by the respective country and its allied organizations might give us a situation to handle it. Without delay government of every country should bring awareness engaging people from all corners to discharge eco-friendly role in his or her arena. A gross level of awareness in regard of the basic causes and consequences of climate change should be ensured. All the countries particularly developed countries as per UN climate change negotiations should come forward to limit organizational activity which attract the climate turn above its hazardous level. As the success of business or economy of any country depends on the well-being of human health and

ARTICLE society, all should pay due concentration on taking measure to ﬁght against climate change. Corporate world should play ethical and revolutionary role. In one side, corporate world should limit their business activity when it causes hazardous emissions and malfunctioning of the eco-system. In other side, it should search for innovative ideas to create alternate businesses without compromising the eco-system of world i.g. using renewable energy, deploying innovative low-carbon technologies etc. Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics Robert Hughes pointed out that in their Business & Professional Ethics journal article titled “Business, Ethics and Global Climate Change,” Denis G. Arnold and Keith Bustos “have made a compelling argument that when governments fail to regulate emissions adequately, ﬁrms have a moral responsibility to limit their emissions voluntarily. Emitting greenhouse gases affects everyone,” says Hughes. In line with measures of all other authorities, institute of chartered secretary profession ie. Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh should engage itself in the area of creating awareness among the

people associated with it. Furthermore, it can formulate guidelines to promote an environment friendly business and ensure extended role of corporate world towards an eco-friendly journey. Source: a. http://www.iisd.org b. http://www.un.org c. http://www.worldbank.org d. https://www.ipcc.ch e. https://public.wmo.int/en

» About the Author Associate Member of the Institute

October - December 2018 | 53

Preparation of Bangladesh for Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Babul Meah ACS

he Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) sponsored by the United Nations (UN), otherwise known as the Global Goals or Agenda 2030, are a universal call of action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people, irrespective of their country of origin, enjoy peace and prosperity. At the Seventieth session of the UN General Assembly was held on 25-27 September 2015, member states have adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The SDGs came into effect in January 2016, and will continue to guide UNDP's policy and funding for the next 15 years. The global agenda is a “comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centered set of 17 universal and transformative goals and 169 targets and 241 indicators in quest of universal peace, humanity free from poverty and a progressive planet. The agenda’s bold and ambitious aims are intended to make the world more resilient and sustainable, and therefore more livable for its entire inhabitants for ultimate beneﬁt of the Homo sapiens, who rule the roost. 17 Goals of agenda 2030

•

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (Affordable and clean energy);

•

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and full and productive employment and decent work for all (Decent work and economic growth);

•

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation (Industry innovation and infrastructure);

•

Reduce inequality within and among countries (Reduce inequality);

•

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (sustainable cities and communities);

•

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (Responsible consumption and production);

•

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact (climate action);

•

End poverty in all its forms everywhere (No Poverty);

•

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture (No Hunger);

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (Life below water);

•

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertiﬁcation, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss (Life on land);

•

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels (Peace justice and strong institutions) and

•

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages (Good Health and Well-being);

•

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (quality education);

•

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (Gender equality);

•

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (Clean water and sanitation);

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• Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development (Partnership for the goals).

ARTICLE SDGs as the successor of MDGs The SDGs built on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), include new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities. The MDGs successor, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is comprehensive and aims to put all countries on the path towards sustainable development. The ambitious targets to be achieved by 2030 demand not only transition, but also transformation, driven by social innovations and close collaboration to maximize the utilization of all possible resources. Here we put forward some difference between SDGs and MDGs: •

MDGs were based on UN Millennium Declaration (2000) and SDGs are based on UNCSD (Rio+20 declarations, 2012).

•

In the SDGs, unﬁnished agenda of MDGs are carried forward along with inclusion of human rights, peace, access to justice, energy, growth & employment, innovation & industrialization, urbanization & climate change issues.

•

The MDG period was 2001-2015 and the SDG period is 2016 to 2030.

•

MDG started with 8 goals, 18 targets and 48 indicators. SDGs start with 17 goals, 169 targets and 232 indicators.

•

MDGs were built on top down approach, but SDGs are built on bottom up approach.

•

MDGs were mainly focused for the LDCs but SDGs are universal.

•

MDGs focused on National level only quantitative data. But SDGs focuses on quantitative and qualitative disaggregated data.

•

Means of Implementation (MoI) were absent in MDGs but well-coordinated MoIs are present in SDGs. (MoI Target=> 43; MoI Indicators =>48)

•

Hunger was treated as part of poverty in MDGs but hunger is now treated as part of food security and nutrition in the SDGs.

•

Private sector was not involved in the MDGs implementation, but in SDGs they are treated as important players.

Where Bangladesh stands in terms of implementation of Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) A) Initiatives taken by the Government Governments are the key actor and sole responsible for execution of these goals with international support. Bangladesh being one of the top performing countries in terms of reaching the Millennium Development Goals is equally conﬁdent in embracing the new SDG targets and the Prime Minister has expressed her deep commitment to achieving these before the year 2030. Bangladesh initiates SDG implementation adopting a whole society approach for its implementation involving government machinery, NGOs, INGOs, civil society, development partners, private sector and other relevant stakeholders. Bangladesh started working on attaining SDGs in 2015 and ﬁrst phase has been completed on June 30, the minister revealed that the mid-term phase to attain the goals will be completed in 2020 while the long-term phase will end in 2030. In order to achieve the SDGs goal, Government has started formulating policies and action plans after launching the global agenda 2030 taking the success experience of the MDGs. The initiatives so far undertaken by the supreme level have discussed as under: •

PMO has created an inter-ministerial committee, “SDGs Implementation and Monitoring Committee” which includes 20 Senior Secretaries/ Secretaries from different ministries/ divisions. GED is the secretariat for the committee to coordinate the implementation at policy level along with monitoring and reporting SDG attainment status of Bangladesh.

•

On top an ofﬁce of Principal Coordinator for SDGs Affairs has been established in PMO to coordinate and facilitate overall implementation and monitoring of SDGs.

•

SDGs Mapping among the Ministries/Divisions have been ﬁnalized and published.

•

SDG Data Gap Analysis has been ﬁnalized and published.

•

National Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework for SDGs is in the process of ﬁnalization.

October - December 2018 | 55

•

A study on SDGs Need Assessment and Financing is being done.

•

An on-line SDGs Data Repository system is in the process preparation.

•

Instruction has been given to include SDGs issues in the different training institutions.

- Reduce proportion of stunting among under-5 children from 36.1% to 25% - Reduce proportion of underweight children among under-5 children from 32.6% to 20% •

- Under-5 mortality rate to be reduced from 41 to 37 per 1000 live births.

B) Alignment of the SDGs in the Seventh Five Year Plan (FYP)

- Maternal Mortality Ratio to be reduced from 170 to 105 per 100,000 live births.

The formulation of the seventh ﬁve-year plan (2016-2020) coincides with the end year of MDGs and launch of the Post 2030 agenda. Therefore, in the preparation stage of the plan, the goals of SDGs were considered and included. In these sense, Bangladesh can be called the early starter in implementation of SDGs. SDGs are aligned in the 7th FYP, the National Developmental Plan of Bangladesh in the following manner.

- Immunization, measles (% of children under 12 months) to be increased to 100% - Births attended by skilled health staff to be increased to 65% - Reduction of Total Fertility Rate to 2.0 - Increasing Contraceptive Prevalence Rate to 75% •

A total of 14 goals (82%) are found to be thematically fully aligned with the plan document and 3 Goals -Goal 14, Goal 16 and Goal 17 (18%) are partially aligned.

- Ensure quality education at primary, secondary and tertiary education. - Percentage of cohort reaching grade 5 to be increased to 100% from current 80%. •

The Government has integrated the SDGs into its 7th Five Year Plan 2016-2020 (7FYP), which reﬂects its core sustainable development goals. •

- 500-meter wide green belt to be established and protected along the coast •

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

- Reduction in extreme poverty by about 4.0 percentage points (i.e., 8.9% in 2020)

- Develop law & regulations in pollution control including sea vessel and ship breaking industries.

- Spending on Social Protection as a share of GDP to be increased to 2.3%

• Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

- Creation of a Lagging Region Fund. •

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. - Environmental, Climate Change and disaster risk reduction considerations are integrated into project design, budgetary allocations and implementation process.

End poverty in all its forms everywhere: In order to eliminate the poverty within the time frame of SDG, Government has taken following plans: - Reduction in the head-count poverty ratio by about 6.2 percentage points (from 24.8% to 18.6%)

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all: - Achieving 100% net enrollment rate for primary and secondary education

A total of 58 (34.3%) SDGs targets are found to be aligned with 7th FYP.38 (22.5%) targets are partially aligned and 73 (43.2%) targets are not aligned. C) Integration of the SDGs into Seventh Five Year Plan (FYP)

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture: - Consolidation of Food Transfer Program as suggested by National Social Security Program.

56 | October - December 2018

- To ensure all persons are able to live securely under the rule of law. - Enhancing Integrity& Controlling Corruption

ARTICLE - Strengthen Right to Information (RTI) and Access to Information process. - Making parliamentary process effective •

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize Global Partnership for Sustainable Development. - Develop effective Aid Information Management System (AIMS) - Ensure development partners’ policy alignment and system harmonization - Effective national Policy on Development. Cooperation to guide development cooperation in Bangladesh

D) Financial Projection to implement SDGs In June 2017, the government published the SDGs Financial Strategy. It has done an estimate to determine the financing needs for SDG implementation with a view to mobilizing internal and external resources (first of such a study in the SDG world community). The study estimates that to achieve the SDGs Bangladesh will need US$ 928.48 billion at for the period 2017-2030 at constant prices, which is 19.75 per cent of the accumulated GDP. The annual average cost of SDGs would be US$ 66.32 billion (at constant prices) for the same period. It is estimated that 85 per cent of the additional resources has to come from domestic sources. Of the domestic financing, Govt: 33.5%, Private: 42%, PPP: 5.6%, NGOs: 4%. Of the external, FDI: 9.95%, Aid & Grants: 4.94%. Experts estimate that to achieve the SDGs in Bangladesh, domestic resource mobilization needs to be raised at least is far from that (14.2-16.2% of GDP) in the 7th FYP. So, resource mobilization in this regard is still a big 18 percent from the present 12.1 percent over the next 5 to 10 years, but the projection of domestic resource mobilization concern. Challenges/Bottlenecks for Bangladesh to achieve the Goals To achieve the SDGs, Bangladesh faces some considerable challenges. The Sustainable Development Solution Network has recently published a global report on the SDGs, which provides an SDG index of 149 countries, ranking them in terms of their 2015 status on each of the goals.2 According to the

report Bangladesh ranks last (118) among the BIMSTEC countries (India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand) and second last among the SAARC countries (Afghanistan 139, Bhutan 82, India 110, Myanmar 117Nepal 103, Pakistan 115). According to the estimates in the final report by the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (ICESDF), achieving the SDGs in all countries will require additional global investments in the range of US$5 trillion to US$7 trillion per year up to 2030. A country like Bangladesh will need a huge investment for basic infrastructure like roads, rail and ports; power stations; water and sanitation and also for sectors like agriculture and rural development, climate change mitigation and adaptation, health and education. But recent trends in investment in these sectors are not up to desired level. Climate change will be a serious threat to Bangladesh in achieving the SDGs. Another big problem in achieving the SDGs is the relative lack of integration of these goals into the national planning process. High Population growth Bangladesh population has been growing rapidly. Population has been projected to grow to over 200 million by 2050. A large population together with high population growth requires a faster growth of the agricultural production to ensure food security. The growth rate of the crop sector has been declining.The increase in agricultural production will inevitably put significant pressure on the environment. Poverty and inequality If economic growth is not shared equally and fairly, if the resources are not distributed properly, sustainable economic growth is not possible; rather it creates other types of economic crises. Development and income inequality is pretty much evident in Bangladesh, which has been another challenge for sustainable development. Despite progress in reducing poverty head count rates, around 39 million people still live in poverty and approximately 21 million live in extreme poverty ($1.90 a day). Some of the factors that correlate with poverty are limited access to financial resources, human resources and natural and health shocks Unplanned urbanization Bangladesh has been experiencing a rapid increase in the urban population. The rapid migration to urban

October - December 2018 | 57

areas and the inadequate infrastructure to meet the demand are serious problems for the country. Natural disasters and climate change

government needs to build collaboration at bilateral, regional and global levels for capacity building and sharing of best practices.

The Bangladesh coastal region covers about 20 percent of its geographical area where more than 50 million people are living and most of the populations are poor and living below the poverty line. A multidimensional impact of climate change is being observed in coastal areas. Salinity intrusion along with severe water crisis is causing lower crop yields and scarcity of drinking water, thus endangering livelihoods. Bangladesh is considered one of the most climate vulnerable countries. Climate change will intensify the natural hazards the country already faces.

Localisation of SDGs

Managing the fund from internal sources:

The United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) administrator Achim Steiner said that "Poverty eradication is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda, and so is the commitment to leave no one behind. The Agenda offers a unique opportunity to put the whole world on a more prosperous and sustainable development path. In many ways, it reﬂects what UNDP was created for".

SDGs are all-encompassing requiring huge resources for implementation. Traditional sources of funding are insufficient to implement the SDGs. The government needs to find innovative ways of financing from both the public and private sectors, development partners and ensure effective and efficient ways for utilization. Domestic resource mobilization has to be enhanced to keep pace with the demand. Stakeholders' Participation: SDG implementation requires a multi-stakeholder approach involving private sector, NGOs, CSOs, Media and Major Group of Other Stakeholders. Bangladesh has been working towards enhancing participation of all the stakeholders in its efforts to implement the SDGs and that need to be translated into action by all stakeholders. Data insufficiency and management: One of the biggest challenges for monitoring the progress of SDGs is the insufficiency of data. For the performance assessment by SDG indicators, the GED conducted a review of the existing survey, census, national accounts and data generating system of statistical organizations. The output of this review is "Data Gap Analysis for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Bangladesh Perspective". The analysis reveals that for 70 indicators, data are readily available, for 108 indicators, data will be available from modification, aggregation and disaggregation. A survey will be required to generate data for the assessment of the remaining 63 indicators. This implies massive data generation effort has to be there, particularly to generate disaggregated data for some SDG indicators. There are enormous challenges in collection, analysis, disaggregation, and dissemination of data. The

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Localization of SDGs in line with domestic development plans using local governments and NGOs has come up as a big challenge. The government has been encouraging inclusive and enhanced stakeholders' participation for local level ownership of the SDGs. Localisation of SDGs requires local government level planning and implementation. High altitude view on SDGs may not work much as the Agenda is very much action-oriented which needs participation of all segments and classes of population.

SDGs demand more concerted efforts with continuing strong political commitment. The 2030 Agenda comes at a time when Bangladesh has already started its journey towards achieving her cherished goal of becoming a developed country by 2041. The Government has adopted a visionary and inclusive approach to development so that the poorest and the most vulnerable of the country are integrated into its national development pursuit. Bangladesh is conﬁdent to set an example as a leading SDG achiever in the course of transformational development path to the cherished dream of attaining Sonar Bangla. References 1) http://www.socialwatch.org/node/1 2) Transition from MDGs to SDGs: lessons learned by-Mohammad Abdul Wazed Ph D,Deputy Director, BBS. 3) Achievement of MDGs and Adaptation of SDGs: Bangladesh Context – Shimul Sem, Assistant Chief, GED,Bangladesh Planning Commission. 4) Building on MDG success to face SDG challengesDr Shamsul Alam is Member (Senior Secretary), General Economics Division (Government Focal Point for Poverty and SDGs), Bangladesh Planning Commission, Ministry of Planning.

» About the Author Associate Member of the Institute

ARTICLE

SDGs Issues in Agenda 2030 and Bangladesh Dr. Md. Rashedul Azim ACS

ntroduction

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September 2015 to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), is the central UN platform for achieving ‘integrated and indivisible’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across three dimensions: social, environmental and economic. The SDGs came into action in January 2016 aimed at offering a broad and inclusive framework for ending poverty worldwide in the next 15 years. It is widely recognised that successful achievement of this agenda, which is comprised of 17 SDGs and 169 targets, requires national, regional and local efforts across all sectors of society. For some, the SDGs are seen as an opportunity to bring together the development efforts of different sectors under a single agenda. SDGs Issues in Agenda First, the 2030 agenda emphasizes that the SDGs are interlinked, and that ensuring integration across all 17 goals is critical to achieving sustainable development. Second, each of the SDGs can be characterized as a goal primarily attributed either to the economic, environmental or social system. In depicts the 17 SDGs of the 2030 agenda (UN 2015), and indicates the system with which it can be mainly associated. For example, there are seven economic system goals, ﬁve environmental system goals, and ﬁve social system goals. However, I have attempted to assign each of the 17 SDGs to the primary system goal that it represents the best. i) No Poverty: End poverty in all its forms, everywhere (Economic) ii) Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture (Economic) iii) Good Health and Well Being: Ensure healthy lives

and promote well-being for all at all ages (Economic) iv) Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (Social) v) Gender Equality: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls (Social) vi) Clean Water and Sanitation: Ensure available and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (Economic) vii) Affordable and Clean Energy: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (Economic) viii) Good Jobs and Economic Growth: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all (Economic) ix) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation (Economic) x) Reduced Inequalities: Reduce inequality within and among countries (Social) xi) Sustainable Cities and Communities: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (Environment) xii) Responsible Consumption and Production: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns (Environment) xiii) Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (Environment) xiv) Life Below Water: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (Environment)

October - December 2018 | 59

xv) Life on Land: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertiﬁcation, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss (Environment) xvi) Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels (Social) xvii) Partnerships for the Goals: A successful sustainable development agenda requires partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society. These inclusive partnerships built upon principles and values, a shared vision, and shared goals that place people and the planet at the center, are needed at the global, regional, national and local level (Social). Key Role of Bangladesh The Bangladesh governments can exercise a leadership role in policy formulation, the development of legislation and most importantly its implementation at national level. The governments represent citizens and can give expression to the will and voice of citizens. (i) Set National Priority and Turning SDG into reality: SDG is a global target that will drive the world development for next 15 years. This requires each country to set their own agenda based on their priority that reﬂects they social, economic and political structure of each country. In Bangladesh, government is at the suitable position to bring SDG to the citizen at both national and local level and engage all stakeholders to set national priorities and make all stakeholders accountable. Successful implementation of SDG is not only the responsibility of the government, rather all civil society members, NGOs, think tanks, academicians and other public, private organizations or platforms has equal role to play. (ii) Ensure quality of SDGs: The Bangladesh governments through their oversight function can monitor leadership actions in relation to the progress of SDGs implementation. Government can bring SDG and its progress and the importance of ensuring quality to people’s attention through bringing SDGs into various discussions including plenary and committee meetings. The governments monitor and observe government’s work and achievements the goals by the agreed 2030deadline.

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(iii) Ensure Financing: Government as the authority to allocate national budget can ensure appropriate financing for SDG implementation, Parliamentary board can analyze and identify areas of priority and allocate budget that ensures effective implementation. Implementation of SDGs requires allocation of enough resources to implement SDGs and campaign for a suitable share of the budget. (iv) Co-operation with executive power: Integrating SDGs agenda in established national strategies obliges cooperation between the legislative and executive powers, by which the government and other state institutions provide the practical and technical support for the agenda approved by the respective authorities in shaping and implementing the national sustainable development strategy. (v) Form active partnerships: Active partnerships are every important to attain this very high ambitious goals. It is not possible only for the government to ensure effective implementation as well as quality of the implementation. All partners and stakeholders have equal responsibility to take part in SDG implementation can play a key role in this regard. (vi) Ensure Governance: ‘Governance’ is such a strong prerequisite for quality of SDGs, it can be backed by the endorsement of a specific goal 16 in the SDGs that emphasize on promoting governance, peace, justice, strong institutions. This goal is not just an individual goal like others but it is a tool and means to attain other 16 goals of SDGs to uphold people’s will and give it top most priority. (vii) International Cooperation and Conference: Another big duty of governments is to maintain continuous communication with UN Bodies, development donors and partners. In implementing the SDGs, it is important to stay up to date on what is happening and where the agenda is heading. This can be achieved by being part of the international network working on the SDGs. (viii) Cross Party Collaboration and forming a Government Caucus on SDGs: Achieving SDGs as a county depends on collective work and shared efforts of a country. Governments from different parties who share the same interest in SDGs, or in one specific goal, can join forces and create cross-party group as a platform to discuss and support the SDGs. Conclusion Bangladesh as a signatory to this global agenda also share the same responsibility like all counties of the

ARTICLE world, regardless of poor, developing developed, to act upon this. SDG recognized that only focusing on ending poverty would not bring sustainability that the world community intends to bring; rather it at the same time needs strong strategies for economic growth and addressing all other social needs. No countries are legally bound to implement SDGs, however, it is a global commitment by global leaders to make a better world for future. All countries are expected to take ownership and establish national framework to attain SDGs and at the same time ensure monitoring and quality an effective mechanism and success in this regard..

References Bangladesh Bureau Statistics, Bangladesh. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 28th May 2015. Belgium. /www.un.org/press/en/2015/ sgsm16800.doc.htm (19 February 2017, date last accessed). Sustainable Development Goal indicators website . https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/ (19 February 2017, date last accessed).

Âť About the Author Associate Member of the Institute

October - December 2018 | 61

SDGs: Implementation Status and Challenges for Bangladesh Md. Nazrul Islam Chowdhury ACS

Five Potential Sources of Financing

ntroduction

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are the universal call of action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The Special Session of the UN General Assembly on 25th September 2015 has endorsed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This Agenda comprises of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is a set of 17 goals and 169 targets. Out of 17 goals of the SDG, 9 goals are mainly linked with business and industry stakes. Ofcourse all of the goals are almost interconnected. Each goal has speciﬁc targets to be achieved over the next 15 years within the deadline of 2030. These new goals were built upon the earlier Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are aimed to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for the world citizen as part of a new sustainable development agenda.

1. Private Sector Financing 2. Public Sector Financing - Enhancing the SDG orientation of the Budget - Bond Financing - Deregulation of Energy Prices - Debt-Financing - Enhanced Tax Effort - Savings from Efﬁciency Gains 3. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) 4. External Financing - Foreign direct investment

Overarching Headline: Leaving No One Behind • Youth • Women and Children • Elderly people • Tribal • Transgender • Autistic and children with special needs • People in Island and Haor. • Other backward section.

SDG Financing USD 3-5 trillion annually throughout the world will be required for implementing SDGs. In Bangladesh, 928 Billion USD additional funding will be required which accounts to USD 66 billion annually.

- Foreign Aid and Grants 5. Non-Government Organization (NGO) The 7th Five Year Plan and SDG SDGs are aligned with the 7th FYP (2016-2020), the National Development Plan of Bangladesh. In the context of Bangladesh, SDGs will be implemented under three ﬁve years plans: 7th FYP (2016-2020); 8th FYP (2021-2025); and 9th FYP (2026-2030). – 56 SDG targets are directly reﬂected into 7th FYP – 102 targets are almost similar – SDG targets are included in the Annual Performance Agreement (APA).

62 | October - December 2018

ARTICLE Government Strategy for SDG implementation

Government Initiatives for SDG Implementation

massive transformation in socio economic, industry and trade development, technological and environmental and human development aspects where private sector can play unprecedented roles in the long run. FBCCI, being the apex body of business organizations, has taken some initiatives to engage private sector in the SDG implementation process. For this reason, FBCCI in association with PM ofﬁce formed 10 thematic consultation groups targeting SDG goals to discuss the role of private sector where various sectoral business leaders are representing their respective sectors. The 10 thematic groups are:

1. SDG Implementation and Monitoring Committee was formed headed by a Principal Coordinator of SDG Affairs involving all relevant stakeholders.

1. Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment

2. Translated the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into Bangla language

3. Decent work, gender equality & Right issues

2. Quality Education and Skills Development

4. Resilient Cities and Urbanization

3. SDGs mapping among the Ministries/ Divisions has been ﬁnalized and published.

5. Infrastructure and Innovation

4. Data Gap Analysis for SDG has been conducted.

6. Access to food/nutrition, agriculture and food processing

5. SDGs needs assessment and ﬁnancing strategy analysis was conducted.

7. Health care and Sanitation

6. A training handbook on Implementation of the 7th Five Year Plan was published. 7. SDG localization mechanism was developed. 8. Monitoring and Evaluation Framework of SDG was developed. 9. An online SDGs Data Repository (SDG Tracker) system has been developed. It allows tracking of each goal and target, indicator by indicator. 10. Bangladesh has participated in the Voluntary National Review (VNR) along with 42 countries. Private Sector Initiative Private sector has historically been playing an important role in the economic development of Bangladesh. Almost all past medium-term development plans have relied on private ﬁnancing to implement the plans. Considering the private sector as pivotal and holding of lion share of our socio economic activity, engagement of it in achieving SDG is indispensable. The global charter of SDG acknowledges all out inclusion in the process of

8. Environment and Climate Change 9. Public-Private Partnership and global partnership for achieving the goals. 10. Monitoring Private Sector role to achieve SDGs. Review Mechanism Development Mirror)

(SDG Tracker-Bangladesh’s

The Access to Information (a2i) Programme of the Prime Minister’s Ofﬁce–with technical support from UNDP and USAID–in collaboration with General Economics Division (GED) of Planning Commission and other government and private stakeholders, designed and developed SDG Tracker aimed at creating a data repository for monitoring the implementation of SDGs, to strengthen timely data and improving situation analysis and performance monitoring of achieving the SDGs along with other national development goals. The Challenges  Policy related Challenges 1. Infrastructural development, renewable affordable energy and its security, skills development,

October - December 2018 | 63

technology adaptation, policy framework, long term strategies are big challenges for SDG implementation. 2. Financing $66 Billion per year will be a key challenge for Bangladesh. 3. The seventh five year plan endorsed the SDG goals but marked no clear indications on sourcing of fund, allocation and explicit roadmap with plan of actions to implement the goals. 4. Strengthen international development cooperation and building effective partnership. 5. Over 1.1 million Rohingya a big headache too. 6. SDGs localization by Government, INGOs and NGOs 7. According to the data gap analysis of GED, data for 70 indicators are readily available, where data for 63 indicators are not available and data for 108 indicators are partially available. 8. For few indicators, targets to achieve within FY2030 are not clearly specified and few indicators are not quantifiable. 9. Overlapping among the goals and targets pose another major challenge. 10. Other challenges could be promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all, energy security outlook for Bangladesh based on fossil fuel mix of imported and local, LNG and natural gas demand and supply, Transition to planned and sustainable industrialization and manufacturing considering consistent but unplanned growth, Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

measures for disaster resilient environment-friendly business operation.

and

7. Climate change vulnerability impact threatens large, SME and micro business in all industries. 8. Complicated bottlenecks of Non-tariff measures in cross border trade and business. Recommendations 1. Private sector should be integrated in the national policy formulation process. 2. Social change and investment friendly environment need to be ensured to have profit that in turn encourages for financing for SDG’s. 3. Make public-private partnership functional and to attain increased foreign direct investment and quality investment in infrastructure 4. Ensure enhancement of the government’s project implementation capacity, creating skilled workforce and ensuring transparency should also get priority. 5. ODA commitment needs to be translated; Private sector activities need to be aligned with SDG agenda, foreign remittance needs to be mobilized to investment. 6. Technology and innovation led SME business in cross-sectional Industries is to be promoted. 7. Policy and process simplification, coordination and coherence aligning business and industrial enabling environment required for SDGs. 8. A new and low cost SDG fund can be introduced in central bank.

 Industries and business related challenges:

9. Increase sub-regional connectivity which can facilitate 20 percent additional cross-border trade growth by 2030.

1. In-country relocation and shift of Industries in planned and sustainable mode.

10. Renew promise from the developed countries on their promises of aid, grant and ODA.

2. Emerging industries like leather, Ship building and RMG Industries’ transition. 3. Long-held unplanned backward linkage of Textile Spinning, fabrics and Dyeing and Finishing are big polluters and toxic to water bodies and air require relocation at the cost of huge capital expenditure. 4. Relocation of Industries at the outskirt and planned economic zone will be challenged if supply chain communication to sea and land-port and to local market access remains inadequate. 5. Energy and electricity sourcing, generation, distribution system’s transition to clean and renewable energy mode being an energy-deﬁcit country 6. Expensive Compliance and preparedness

| October - December 2018

11. Private sector should be encouraged to adopt sustainable business practice through ﬁscal and non ﬁscal incentive. 12. Linking SDG with sector-wise business value chain. 13. Ensure capacity development of regulators in Banking and Capital Market. 14. Special attention is needed to reduce adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, by improving air quality, access to safe drinking water and water supply. And broader perspective in planning for sustainable city and improved urban quality of life.

» About the Author Associate Member of the Institute

ARTICLE

SDGs in Bangladesh: Achievements and Challenges Md.Noor-Ul-Alam ACS

he United Nations has six main organs and the General Assembly is one of them. Simply, the General Assembly is the main policymaking and representative organ of the UN. It is the only one in which all Member States have equal representation: one nation, one vote. All 193 Member States of the United Nations are represented in this unique forum to discuss and work together on a wide array of international issues covered by the UN Charter, such as development, peace and security, international law, etc.

crucial messages and challenges not only for developed countries but also for developing one alike.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals with 169 targets set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.The SDGs are part of Resolution 70/1 of the United Nations General Assembly by adopting a motto title: "Transforming our World : the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."

GDP growth rate is stable for last ten years. That has made a signiďŹ cant impact on living standard of the population by reducing unemployment and poverty. Besides, substantial higher output and export growth have been achieved while maintaining macroeconomic stability. The projected per capita annual income to rise can be approximately USD 2000 by 2021 that will advocate the country to cross the long cherished middle income threshold. Gross national savings and gross domestic investment will reach at 39 percent and at 38 percent of GDP respectively if the country wants to achieve and sustain the high rate of growth with headcount poverty dropping by 13.5 percent. All these targets of perspective plan is consistent with the post MDGs phenomenon SDGs. Although Bangladesh is having a huge shortage in all types of investment, the gross successful achievement has been made by the country through Millennium Developments Goals. So, Bangladesh can make another enriched successful story by employing target based efforts to implement about all targets and goals of SDGs.

These 17 global goals cover poverty eradication, hunger eradication, health improvement, education improvement, reduction of gender discrimination, drinking water and sanitation improvement, affordable energy for all, full employment and economic growth ,infrastructural and industrial development, reduction of economic inequalities , healthy and sustainable urbanization , eco friendly consumption and production , action for climate change , protection of life below water , protection of life on land , accountable institutions for Peace and justice and the last one is global partnerships for the goals. To me all these goals lie behind the following goals ; ensuring basic needs for all ,reduction of economic gap, reduction of gender discrimination , infrastructural & industrial development, protection of ecosystem and accountable institutions . Thus, the SDG agenda is an action plan for the planet to ensure global peace and freedom by ending poverty in all its forms from everywhere. These goals are to make sure a better planet for future generation. Therefore, all of the goals generally, have been realized by pertaining both as ambitions and as challenges to all countries. Moreover, all goals and targets bear

Being a developing country Bangladesh is facing some challenges in all level of targets and goals of SDGs. Bangladesh has already announced its Vision 2021 targets of which are closely aligned to some of the SDGs goals. The fundamental vision of this country is to reach Middle Income Country by 2021. To implement this vision Bangladesh has already made a perspective plan from 2010 to 2021.

Bangladesh is marching ahead to reach the various targets to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. No poverty and zero hunger are the ďŹ rst two goals of SDGs that Bangladesh will achieve by 2021. It`s because poverty in Bangladesh has declined remarkably since the early-2000s, as result decades of accelerated economic growth. The remarkable progress in poverty alleviation has been recognized by international institutions. According to the World Bank, Bangladesh's poverty rate has fallen from 82% in 1972, to 18.5% in 2010, to 13.8% in 2016, and below 9% in 2018, as measured by the percentage of people living

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below the international extreme poverty line. Based on the current rate of poverty reduction, Bangladesh is projected to eliminate extreme poverty by 2021, first nation in South Asia to do so. Bangladesh has ensured safe water supply to 87% population and improved sanitation access to 61% while it has successfully decreased the open defecation rate to mere 1%, says a study. Thus, it is very near to meet SDGs goal number three and six. Bangladesh will be able to ensure quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030 to fulfill SDGs Goal number four as Bangladesh’s literacy rate is 72.9% in 2018. Gender equality by empowering women and girls is another SDGs Goal (Goal five) where Bangladesh’s achievement is significant in the world. Gender inequality has been improving a lot in Bangladesh as women have great political freedom. In 2015, Bangladesh was ranked 139 out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index and 47 out 144 countries surveyed on the Gender Inequality Index in 2017. On the other hand, rest other goals like full employment , reduce income inequality , infrastructural and industrial development , protection of ecosystem , promote renewable energy and affordable energy for all will be a bit tougher for Bangladesh . To achieve all these Bangladesh needs huge investment what she seems lack due to her poor business environment. Nowadays, innovation is a big issue for any country without what development work does not sustain. But unfortunately in a study Bangladesh has been labeled a nation where innovation rarely takes precedence over conservative thinking and traditional values. According to a Global Innovation Index report published in July 2018, Bangladesh is ranked 116th out of 126 nations, the lowest score in Asia. Bangladesh is below the likes of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (ranked 84th), which was only recognized as a country by the UN as recently as 1993, as well as conflict zones and low-income nations such as Rwanda (ranked 99th).

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Besides, provide access to justice for all and build accountable institutions at all levels will be the biggest challenge for Bangladesh as Complex procedures, case backlogs, and a lack of effective case management are key constraints to the court system in Bangladesh. They put pressure on the capacity of the system, and create challenges for citizens in accessing justice. We are very hopeful that in spite of all these pretty daunting tasks; Bangladesh will achieve SDGs by 2030. Since, achieving the SDGs requires the partnership among the government, private sector, civil society and citizens; we shall work hand in hand together to achieve SDGs. References: 1. Jocalyn Clark: Why has Bangladesh had such success in improving sanitation, but not neighboring India? 2. Abu Hayat Mahmud , Study: 87% get safe water, 61% have improved sanitation, The Dhaka Tribune 3. http://www.un.org 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Develop ment_Goals 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_ Bangladesh 6. https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2018/09/06/ba ngladeshs-literacy-rate-jumps-60-points-to-72.9-ina-year 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_inequality_in_ Bangladesh 8. https://www.thedailystar.net/star-weekend/spotlight /news/startups-success-story-1636564

» About the Author Associate Member of the Institute

ARTICLE

SDGs and Bangladesh: An Observation Muhammadul Hye Didar

n September 2015, world leaders attended a special summit at the United Nations in New York and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs). The SDGs, seventeen goals along with 169 targets which is the successor of MDG (for 2000-2015). SDG (2016-2030) provided a holistic framework, applicable to all countries, aiming to eradicate poverty and deprivation, but also to grow our economies, to protect our environment, and to promote peace and good governance. Paragraph 54 of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/70/1 of 25 September 2015 contains the goals and targets. The UN-led process involved its 193 Member States and global civil society. The resolution is a broad intergovernmental agreement that acts as the Post-2015 Development Agenda. According to Jeffrey D. Sachs, the Special Advisor of UN and the main planner of MDG and SDG “Sustainable Development recommends a set of goals to which the world should aspire. In this normative (or ethical) sense, sustainable development calls for a world in which economic progress is widespread; extreme poverty is eliminated; social trust is encouraged through policies that strengthen the community, and the environment is protected from human-induced degradation. Noticed that sustainable development recommends a holistic framework, in which society aims for economic, social, and environmental goals”. In his writing, he also mentioned a shorthand which is “sustainable development calls for socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic growth. He also says that, to achieve the economic, social, and environmental objectives, a fourth objective must also be achieved which is good governance. Good governance has been acknowledged as a fundamental element of long-term development. According to Bowler (2001) the deﬁnition sustainability is mentioned in the following ﬁgure

Social Bearable

Equitable

Sustainable

Environment

Viable

Economic

This SDG is a comprehensive one. The goals are broad and interdependent, yet each has a separate list of targets to achieve. Achieving all 169 targets would signal to accomplish all 17 goals. The SDGs cover social and economic development issues including poverty, hunger, health, education, global warming, economic development, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, urbanization, environment and social justice. In 2013, Bangladesh met several targets of the MDGs such as reducing the poverty gap ratio, attaining gender parity at primary and secondary education, under-ﬁve mortality rate reduction, children under ﬁve sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets, detection and cure rate of tuberculosis under directly observed treatment short course and others. In addition, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in the areas of poverty reduction, reducing the prevalence of underweight children, increasing enrolment at primary schools, lowering the infant mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio, improving immunization coverage and reducing the incidence of communicable diseases. This targets mostly achieved by using own resources despite having a resource constraint. Bangladesh mainly stunted entire world by achieving goals of MDG. That is why Bangladesh made place among the best 18 countries of the world in 2013 UN report. As we performed successfully in MDG we kept our head high in world stage so we are looking forward to do well in SDG. In MDG, socio economic issues were there but economic issues were not elaborated properly. However, in SDG economic issues are in elaborated way along with different environmental issues (especially SDG Goals 11-15 are related to

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ecology). Bangladesh is taking SDG positively and seriously. Each ministry has their own plan by following major targets of SDG. Synchronized 7th Five-year plan has been developed by keeping SDG in mind. In last 03 years (2016-18) different activities have been started. Planning Commission is working on it and Prime Minister’s Office is closely monitoring all the activities. SDG tracker: Bangladesh’s Development Mirror is the digital apps to track and analyze improvement of activities. The Access to Information (a2i) Program of the Prime Minister’s Office–with technical support from UNDP and USAID–in collaboration with General Economics Division (GED) of Planning Commission and other government and private stakeholders, designed and developed SDG Tracker aimed at creating a data repository for monitoring the implementation of SDGs, to strengthen timely data and improving situation analysis and performance monitoring of achieving the SDGs along with other national development goals. Last year Planning Ministry submitted a partial report to UN and in this year they will submit a complete report. Bangladesh achieved a good success in MDG. Despite this success, poverty standard has not been achieved and some other target has been left alone. The new SDGs and the broader targets, go much further than the MDGs, addressing the root cause of the universal need for development that works for all people of Bangladesh. In today’s world there is nothing more significant than a sustainable economy. Blue economy has become a part and parcel of development agenda. The goal no. 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) says, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans and seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Bangladesh government is advancing with some specific plan and it is believed that there is no alternative other than focusing on the blue economy. We must have to implement the plan encompassing the potentials of the entire coastal belt. If we do this, only then we can cash in on the blue economy and transform the country sustainable. There are some major constraints to achieve sustainable development goals. Major problem is lack of money. Required resources are not available for implementing SDG. Managing resource is difficult or a big challenge. Govt. is looking for innovative financing. It was told to manage money from the private sector. However, the private sector wants profit, they actually do not work or spend money directly for SDG unless in the form of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Data gap for proper planning is another challenge for us. We have data but it is not updated or as per

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requirement based on SDG targets or measurable data. We need to convert it into information. Achieving 169 targets is difficult or challenging one. However, we need to set our priorities, we can redesign it to set priorities by keeping our context in mind. It is expected that the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) would work for further improvement of corporate management and good governance in Bangladesh. Achieving SDGs without proper development of Commerce and Industry is very difficult. They are the backbone of every economy. We have the believe that we could achieve SDGs and Chartered Secretaries would be one of the important actors to achieve this goal. To achieve SDG, Bangladesh will have to shift its focus from providing basic services only to ensuring improved quality of those services and work to forge stronger partnerships between the government, non-governmental development actors and private sector to fulfil the targets of the sustainable development goals. Bangladesh need to set development priorities. We have Vision 2021 and Delta plan 2100 but we need to implement it properly. Bangladesh has a huge potential to achieve goals of SDG. But the main challenge will be the national unity leaders. If we can do so then I believe that Bangladesh will perform outstandingly to achieve goals before 2030. We mustn't give up hope. Partly because we have identified very specific ways through our back casting and road mapping. Of which we've only touched the surface, but illustrated those two processes of how we can get from here to where we need to be. Before 2030 the end of SDG, Bangladesh will be under the charismatic leader who can dream of things that never were, and ask why not. Reference: • Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh (2017), ABOUT SDG TRACKER. Retrieved December 17, 2018, from http://www.sdg.gov.bd/page/aboutsdgtracker • Bowler, I.R. (2001), The sustainability of rural systems, Kluwer Academic Publisher, 169-187 • Wikipedia contributors. (2018, December 15). Sustainable Development Goals. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09:45, December 19, 2018,from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? title=Sustainable_Development_Goals&oldid= 879068209

» About the Author Assistant Director, Publication Research & Development, ICSB

NOTIFICATION OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2018

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NOTIFICATION

Calendar 2019 January S 6

M T 7

February W

10 11

S 3

M T 4

March W 6

T 7

S 3

M T 4

W 6

T 7

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

27 28 29 30 31

24 25 26 27 28

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

April S

May W

10 11

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

10 11

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

28 29 30

26 27 28 29 30 31

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

M T

10 11 12 13

June

M T 6

M T

S 1

12 13 14 15

July S 7

August

M T

10 11 12 13

M T

10 11

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

12 13 14 15 16 17

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

28 29 30 31

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

29 30

October

November

December

M T 7

10 11

S 3

M T 4

September

W 6

T 7

12 13 14

M T

10 11

12 13 14

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

27 28 29 30 31

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

29 30 31

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THE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF ICSMB (NOW ICSB)