The economic history of the People's Republic of Bangladesh

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Trade liberalisation kills Bangladeshi small business
By Tabibul Islam, Third World Network/InterPress Service, 2 May 1998. Trade liberalisation—removal of non-tariff barriers and reduction of import duties—is said to have adversely affected some 7,000 businesses in Bangladesh, mainly small and medium enterprises, with many closing or on the verge of collapse.
Bangladesh: Lessons in survival
By Md Kamal Uddin & Jeremy Seabrook, Third World Network Features, March 1999. There is, of course, some truth in the negative view of Bangladesh. But it all adds up to a harmful and one-sided view of the country. In reality, Bangladesh is a far softer place than any of this suggests; and its people retain, through all the epic disasters, a stoicism, an innocence and hospitable concern for others.
Row over hybrid crops
By David Chazan, BBC Neww, Tuesday 1 June 1999. Hybrid rice is being introduced in Bangladesh, forcing farmers to buy new seeds each time they plant. The seeds produced by the hybrid crops are unusable because their quality is poor. Farmers become consumers, dependent on seeds supplied by a biotechnology company.
WB Country Director Temple says: Bangladesh's growth rate must be at least 6 pc to eliminate poverty
The Independent (London), 17 May 2000. World Bankl Country Directory noted that Bangladesh succeeded in raising its average annual growth rate from around 4 per cent during the 1980s to an average of about 5 per cent during the 1990s. This rate is quite a good achievement for a poor country, but it is not good enough to reduce the incidence of poverty by at least 2 per cent a year.
Bangladesh in the grip of globalised trade
By Cedric Gouverneur, Le Monde diplomatique, August 2005. Globalisation in Bangladesh means manufacturing clothes and raising shrimps for western markets. This has caused poverty and human rights violations. Representative democracy has broken down; Bangladeshis are turning to voluntary associations to practise direct democracy.