Why Bangladesh overtook Pakistan

[rak_987]

Reporting this topic, not relevant to this section which is dedicated to Pakistan economy.

 

[VCheng]

If Pakistan stands up to India it will need someone's backing. Earlier it was USA's backing because India was a Soviet ally. Now it is China as it is battling India's influence in subcontinent region. So Pakistan will likely end up as someone else's vassal.

Hey @Nilgiri do you want to weigh in on the contention posed above?

 

[Khan_21]

While pervez hoodboy is a great literate , Our cities have a much higher quality of life than BD's . Dhaka is one of the worst cities to live in the world while Chittagong is no better. Compare that to Islamabad or Lahore which are miles better. Our cities have less traffic , much more organised ,have better infrastructure and much more appealing to the eye.

 

[Pakistani E]

Whilst I respect Dr Hoodbhoy immensely, I don't agree with all of his points. BD is nestled in the armpit of India, secure and insulated from other external factors. All BD has to do is keep relationship with India strong, and it has no need to worry about anything else.

Pakistan on other hand is a highly diverse nation with different religious/ethnic faultines, sitting in the middle of two active warzones (Afghanistan and Kashmir), with volatile borders and interference from world powers. Pakistan's national interests rely on trying to remain afloat whilst sandwiched between two nations who covertly, or overtly, even refuse to accept its existence.

How can Pakistan think of transforming its economy when these realities are at play? Or, should we accept the "realities" that BD has accepted and surrender our sovereignty to India and give half of our land to Afghanistan? BD can afford to concentrate exclusively on economics. We simply can't.

 

[nahtanbob]

However the Pakistani approach is rooted more in ideology and less in realism. Ideology dictates sovereignty and independence even at the cost of economic stagnation. Both sides can judge each other and state the other is wrong.

what is exactly the ideology of the pakistani state ?

 

[Zee-shaun]

As the poster @Sher Shah Awan stated, BD is nestled in the armpit of India, secure and insulated from other external factors. Its population is largely homogenous and it has a very small area. I am surprised that despite this comfortable position BD hasn't made it to the league of asian tigers two days ago already. It's been 48 years since she got independence and only now the economy is getting on track and all of sudden she becomes the benchmark for the region? That's very shortsighted.

Mr Hoodboy may be an intellectual, a visionist and a pacifist but he fails to understand that without our nukes there would be no Pakistan today and he would most probably be teaching at JNU and writing articles about indian attrocities in IoK and cow vigilantes while receiving death threats. The same indians who worship him as a hero would be spitting on his face for going against the state.

Pakistan can not be compared with any countrty in the region unless they are plagued with same challeneges we are.

Imho Pakistan has done very well and survived many crises and hopefully IK will put us back on track. Sofar the signs are positive.

 

[Śakra]

Damn embarrassing.

 

[El Sidd]

Damn embarrassing.

so You like my Profile pic

 

[niaz]

I don’t have sufficient knowledge of Bangla Desh economic policies to adequately comment but they must be doing something right to achieve more than 6% GDP growth rate & export $40-billion worth of goods. Pakistan’s exports are limited to $25-bilion and GDP growth close to 4.5%.

I could, however, point out a few reasons that in my opinion may have tilted the balance in Bangla Desh’ s favour.

High population growth rates have historically been strongly correlated with poverty and high childhood mortality rates. Since population growth calls for an increase in efforts & resources to meet the needs for food, water, health care and education; fewer resources are available for economic development. Another effect is diminishing the availability of capital per head, which reduces the country’s capacity to save adversely affecting capital formation.

Bangla Desh managed to bring down the population growth from 2.82 % in 1979 to below 2 % in 2000 and below 1.5% in 2005. It has been hovering around 1.2% since 2008. Pakistan population growth was 3.19% in 1979; surged to 3.36% in 1983 (the zenith of the Zia era) and has been stagnating close to 2% since 2000

Even though of late, Bangla Dash has also experienced rise of the Islamist militant parties such as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), their penetration among the public in general, is minimal. Bangla Desh did not have Afghanistan as her neighbor, thus to a large extent escaped religious extremism and militant groups such as Taliban & LeJ and enjoyed better law & order situation.

The rule of law implies in the first instance the provision of security of person & property. On-going threats to personal security as well as property are major impediments to economic growth. It makes little sense to invest in a country if the economic agents engaging in these activities are targeted and feel insecure. From 2007 onwards, militants had gained control of regions of FATA (also Swat for a time) and from there they were able to cause mayhem in the rest of Pakistan.

Strangely enough, despite the fact that in the major cities such as Quetta, Peshawar & Karachi, the authority of the government had become non-existent; some mainstream parties such as PTI were against taking any action against the destroyers of peace and advocated a policy of appeasement. Hence FDI virtually dried up. Bangla Desh on the other never experienced this level of break down in law & order.

Lack of good governance & rampant corruption and lack of coherent economic policies during the last 10 years of PPP & PML-N regimes also contributed to Pakistan’s poor economic growth.

For example, cotton & textiles contribute nearly 60% to the export earnings. Successive gov’ts failed to expand the export base and to find new export markets. Agriculture accounts for about 20% of the GDP and 45% of the employment source but agricultural income is exempt from income tax. Only about one million out of the 210-million population pay income tax. In addition to enforcing the rule of law & elimination corruption; a fair assessment would conclude that broadening the export base and well-designed tax policies are badly needed.

Tax reform is, however, a very complex matter. Even though Tax Rate cuts encourage individuals to work, save, and invest; if the tax cuts are not financed by immediate spending cuts and broadening of the Tax base, the reforms could result in an increased federal budget deficit and causing inflation.

The reason for the better performance by Bangla Desh on the economic front is a combination of many factors. However, IMHO adverse law & order and absence of good long term economic policies coupled with corruption are the main causes.

 

[Nilgiri]

I'm afraid it's not going to be that simple though.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1461907/sp-downgrades-pakistans-long-term-credit-rating
The S&P said the GDP growth rate would fall to four per cent this year (2019) from 5.8pc last year (2018) and then stay 3.5pc for the next two years (2020 and 2021) and fall further to 3.3pc by 2022.

@Nilgiri @anant_s @Vibrio Check OP.

@ziaulislam Still think that 9 billion on defense yearly to try keep up with 62 billion of the 7+% growth guy (at higher base) is worth it?

@Dante80

You guys need to define what is a vassal state. Is Canada, America's vassal state?

And Pakistan have more possibilities to become a vassal state of China than BD to become India's. Most of the countries are under influence of some other country these days.

Canada doesn't rig its elections. So no, its definitely not a vassal state.

 

[VCheng]

@ziaulislam Still think that 9 billion on defense yearly to try keep up with 62 billion of the 7+% growth guy (at higher base) is worth it?

That is exactly what justifies the nuclear deterrent. It only needs to be credible to be the great equalizer.

Canada doesn't rig its elections. So no, its definitely not a vassal state.

However, it must give due consideration to its bigger trading partners, right?

 

[t_for_talli]

The reason is simply because Pakistan never wanted to be india's slave like bangladesh.In every field you begged from india and they supported you while we considered it a disgrace.Just do some searching on google and know for yourself that how much you begged from india and you literally licked their foots so don't consider us as pathetic as yourself.

BD never allowed foreigners to bomb its villages using its own airports
Abbottabad did not happen in BD
Salala never happened in BD
BD did not let Raymond David leave unharmed
BD did not let foreigner take over their infrastructure projects / exploit its natural resources
Civilian / Military leaders of BD did not offer the blood of own soldiers for a few billions/aids

You need to revisit your definition of slave,

BD has 1/5th land / resources compared to Pakistan
Still it has better per capita GDP than Pak
Twice foreign reserver than Pak
Twice Exports than Pak
Higher Literacy than Pak
Much Better life expectancy than Pak
Less crime than Pak

"Facts are delusion Killers"

 

[Nilgiri]

Hey @Nilgiri do you want to weigh in on the contention posed above?

Not really, given "vassal" is an "in vogue" word to throw around this forum for the hip and suave pretty lot....and you know me.....I'm a rough around the edges rebel without a cause.

 

[Chakar The Great]

Who cares about Bangladesh??? What is the role of BD in world's politics or even regional geoeconomics? Also did Bangladesh inherit a hostile neighbour like India and a war torn country like Afghanistan as its next door neighbour??

Pakistan economically is no way near where it should have been but nations do come under stress and bad times, Pakistan is on the right track and has learned from her mistakes.

Having said that quality of life in Pakistan is far greater than Bangladesh. Pakistan is a country world powers cant ignore while BD hardly matters.

 

[VCheng]

Not really, given "vassal" is an "in vogue" word to throw around this forum for the hip and suave pretty lot....and you know me.....I'm a rough around the edges rebel without a cause.

The definition fits in many situations:

vas·sal
Dictionary result for vassal
/ˈvasəl/
noun
HISTORICAL

1. a holder of land by feudal tenure on conditions of homage and allegiance.
   synonyms: villein, liege, liegeman, man, bondsman, vavasour, serf, helot, slave, thrall, subject
   
   • a person or country in a subordinate position to another.
     "a much stronger nation can also turn a weaker one into a vassal state"