Coping with the big governance challenge
Submitted by secretariat on Mon, 2005-08-29 17:38.
Appropriate economic and social policies are needed at the national level in Bangladesh to capture global opportunities in trade, capital flows and migration, and to protect people against the vulnerabilities that globalisation creates. For example, the government can manage trade and capital flows more carefully, invest in human capital and in more flexible sets of workers' skills, foster small enterprises -- these will contribute to job-creating growth; manage new technology, and provide safety nets.
At both the national and global level, the governance challenge is to reduce the threats of financial volatility which have become increasingly common and all their human costs. The costs of governance failures in this arena are larger than generally perceived.
The East Asian crisis and its global repercussions resulted in output losses (over a three-year period) estimated at nearly US$2 trillion, while the human costs included civil conflict, rising unemployment, declining school attendance, erosion of the social fabric, more crime, more violence, etc. At the national level, emphasis should be given to liberalising the capital account more carefully, subjecting financial institutions to greater transparency and accountability, integrating macroeconomic management and social policies. At the international level, the focus should be on strengthening international action to regulate and supervise banking systems, developing better systems of early warning and crisis management and establishing an international lender of last resort.
Information communication technology (ICT) can improve education, health, governance and trade. It is dramatically changing social and economic relationships and interactions, giving people, businesses and governments the tools with which to devise more productive, more inclusive and more development-friendly societies and economies.
The government as a major stakeholder in the RMG industry must take proper steps to face the challenges posed by the post MFA period in order to steer it through the impending crisis to a prosperous future.
Rehabilitation programme of the unemployed persons from garments sector owing to the possible shock of post MFA era should be taken as a precautionary measure. As such, training and development programme for the garments workers are required so that if they fall victims of retrenchment, then they can rely an alternative ways for their livelihood. Social compensation and safety net programmes for the garments workers are required. Labour productivity in the garments sector must be improved; capacity utilisation should be strengthened and lead-time should be matched with demand for increasing efficiency and speed.
Motivations from the owners are required. Workers should think that they are the parts and parcels of the organisation. Sense of participation, sense of identification and sense of development among the workers should be grown so that they can be motivated to work.
Development of develop human resources through creation of appropriate institutional facilities, training, researches etc. are needed. Owners should invest more on training for workers so that they can be turned as efficient. There might be night school for educating workers and also special correspondence courses for them so that they can be trained on weekly holidays. Open University may come forward with this sort of course module. Intensive training is required. Most of the unskilled workers who are trained add to value and this is needed in these days of globalisation for having a competitive edge. Pharmaceutical Industries of the country should be boosted up so that they can increase export volume. Moreover, not only IT sector but also greater emphasis should be given to develop English language skill.
Due acknowledgement of the contribution of the women labour force national economy by the government is required. Women workers in the garments sector are valuable for earning foreign exchange of the country. The government may introduce prizes for awarding to the best garments workers.
Bangladesh bank must be concerned with the stability of exchange rates. Even when currencies are flexible, frequent exchange rate changes and sharp devaluations are undesirable in general. Small changes in flexible exchange rates are to be expected, but acceleration in the trend and abrupt changes pose problems. Recently Taka value is depreciating against US Dollar whereas in the global market value of the US Dollar is declining.
Bangladesh bank with a supervisory function has a key role to play in developing and implementing adequate prudential regulations and an effective supervision of financial institutions. Commercial banks in Bangladesh are not playing a proper role. Moreover, financial intermediaries like contractual and investment intermediaries will have to go long way.
Financial reform measures should be carried out so as to ensure financial transparency with identification of duties and responsibilities of all concerned. Independence of Bangladesh bank, allocation of capital funds, growth oriented resource mobilisation, designing of appropriate tax structure, removal of red tapism and removal of unnecessary control of bureaucratic machinery etc. are required. (Concluded)
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The writer is Associate Professor, School of Business Administration, The People's University of Bangladesh
At both the national and global level, the governance challenge is to reduce the threats of financial volatility which have become increasingly common and all their human costs. The costs of governance failures in this arena are larger than generally perceived.
The East Asian crisis and its global repercussions resulted in output losses (over a three-year period) estimated at nearly US$2 trillion, while the human costs included civil conflict, rising unemployment, declining school attendance, erosion of the social fabric, more crime, more violence, etc. At the national level, emphasis should be given to liberalising the capital account more carefully, subjecting financial institutions to greater transparency and accountability, integrating macroeconomic management and social policies. At the international level, the focus should be on strengthening international action to regulate and supervise banking systems, developing better systems of early warning and crisis management and establishing an international lender of last resort.
Information communication technology (ICT) can improve education, health, governance and trade. It is dramatically changing social and economic relationships and interactions, giving people, businesses and governments the tools with which to devise more productive, more inclusive and more development-friendly societies and economies.
The government as a major stakeholder in the RMG industry must take proper steps to face the challenges posed by the post MFA period in order to steer it through the impending crisis to a prosperous future.
Rehabilitation programme of the unemployed persons from garments sector owing to the possible shock of post MFA era should be taken as a precautionary measure. As such, training and development programme for the garments workers are required so that if they fall victims of retrenchment, then they can rely an alternative ways for their livelihood. Social compensation and safety net programmes for the garments workers are required. Labour productivity in the garments sector must be improved; capacity utilisation should be strengthened and lead-time should be matched with demand for increasing efficiency and speed.
Motivations from the owners are required. Workers should think that they are the parts and parcels of the organisation. Sense of participation, sense of identification and sense of development among the workers should be grown so that they can be motivated to work.
Development of develop human resources through creation of appropriate institutional facilities, training, researches etc. are needed. Owners should invest more on training for workers so that they can be turned as efficient. There might be night school for educating workers and also special correspondence courses for them so that they can be trained on weekly holidays. Open University may come forward with this sort of course module. Intensive training is required. Most of the unskilled workers who are trained add to value and this is needed in these days of globalisation for having a competitive edge. Pharmaceutical Industries of the country should be boosted up so that they can increase export volume. Moreover, not only IT sector but also greater emphasis should be given to develop English language skill.
Due acknowledgement of the contribution of the women labour force national economy by the government is required. Women workers in the garments sector are valuable for earning foreign exchange of the country. The government may introduce prizes for awarding to the best garments workers.
Bangladesh bank must be concerned with the stability of exchange rates. Even when currencies are flexible, frequent exchange rate changes and sharp devaluations are undesirable in general. Small changes in flexible exchange rates are to be expected, but acceleration in the trend and abrupt changes pose problems. Recently Taka value is depreciating against US Dollar whereas in the global market value of the US Dollar is declining.
Bangladesh bank with a supervisory function has a key role to play in developing and implementing adequate prudential regulations and an effective supervision of financial institutions. Commercial banks in Bangladesh are not playing a proper role. Moreover, financial intermediaries like contractual and investment intermediaries will have to go long way.
Financial reform measures should be carried out so as to ensure financial transparency with identification of duties and responsibilities of all concerned. Independence of Bangladesh bank, allocation of capital funds, growth oriented resource mobilisation, designing of appropriate tax structure, removal of red tapism and removal of unnecessary control of bureaucratic machinery etc. are required. (Concluded)
..........................................................
The writer is Associate Professor, School of Business Administration, The People's University of Bangladesh
Alliance:
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