Annual BIDS Conference on Development (ABCD) 2023
Bangladesh Institute of
Development Studies (BIDS) organized the three-day long international
conference titled “Annual BIDS Conference on Development (ABCD) 2023”. This
annual flagship event served as a pivotal forum uniting scholars, policymakers,
and civil society members. Through a series of public lectures,
academic presentations, and panel discussions, it delved into the intricate
nexus between development, justice, and freedom, aiming to address the pressing
challenges of both global and domestic uncertainty.
Dr. Binayak Sen emphasized the critical role of democratic institutions asserting, "
We have no reason to trade democracy and freedom of speech for development". Echoing this sentiment, Professor S R Osmani, the Keynote Speaker of the inaugural session, reiterated the significance of justice, freedom of expression, and freedom of speech in fostering economic development He underscored, “Development stems from the joint contributions of labour and enterprises; while the government facilitates development, it does not provide it". Professor Osmani implied that emphasizing development necessitates an equal emphasis on justice and freedom as core principles."
Planning minister M A Mannan expressed, “In Bangladesh, our government is trying to ensure that the people are fed and have a good life. Yes, we have more to do as there is some inequality. But life is product, while freedom and justice are by-products, not basic things,”
A total of 18 academic papers, 5 special seminars and 7 public lectures were presented in the three-day conference. Topics encompassed macroeconomic challenges and policy options, democratic socialism, exchange rate management, examining the productivity of the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) sector, growth experiences in South Asia, global price shocks and food security. The discussion also devolved into megatrends in gender, population, and development, taxation, unpaid care work, evolving global order, geo-economic spectrum, agrarian change in contemporary Bangladesh and the progress of the rural-urban health dynamics along with child undernutrition.
Esteemed scholars like S R Osmani, Ahsan H Mansur, Asad Islam, Atonu Rabbani, Sajeda Amin, Syed Moinul Ahsan, Atiur Rahman, Wahiduddin Mahmud, Ahmad Ahsan, M. Niaz Asadullah, Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak presented their invaluable insights. International scholars including Naila Kabeer, Angga Pradesha, Siddharth Sharma, Daniel Resnick, Zarina Nahar Kabir, James Thurlow, Mehtab S Karim, Paul Dorosh, Gaurav Datt, Dileni Gunewardena, Gayatri B Koolwal, Geoff Wood, and Patrick Alexander Kirby actively participated in the conference.
BIDS researchers, Binayak Sen, Kazi Iqbal, Mohammad Yunus, Anwara Begum, S M Zulfiqar Ali, Azreen Karim, Badrun Nessa Ahmed, M A Sattar Mandal, Abdur Razzaque Sarker, Taznoore Samina Khan and Nahid Ferdour Pabon, delivered academic papers addressing critical issues within the current discourse on development.
During the conference’s concluding session, a panel discussion titled
'Expert Panel on Economic Policy: Addressing Policy Challenges in the Context of Global and Domestic Uncertainty', brought together distinguished economists, policymakers and civil society members. Shamsul Alam, Former Honorable State Minister of Planning, adorned the session as the Chief Guest, joined by Abdur Rouf Talukder, Governor of Bangladesh Bank, lending his insights as the Special Guest. Binayak Sen, Director General of BIDS, skillfully moderated the session.
The three-day conference concluded with the Public Lecture titled, “The Return to International Migration," delivered by Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Professor of Economics at Yale University, USA. Dr. Binayak Sen, Director General of BIDS extended sincere appreciation to the esteemed participants, recognizing their invaluable contributions that greatly enriched the vibrant discussions and overall success of the annual conference. Finally, the closure of ABCD 2023 was marked by a vote of thanks from Dr. Kazi Iqbal, Research Director at BIDS and convener of the ABCD 2023 organizing committee.
The presentations and videos of the program are available below:
Day 1: Thursday, December 7, 2023
Inaugural
Session: Development, Justice and Freedom
Opening Remarks : Binayak Sen, Director General, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS)
Keynote
Speech
: Development, Justice and Freedom by S.R. Osmani, Professor of Development
Economics, University of Ulster, UK
Chief
Guest
: M.A. Mannan,
MP, Former Honorable Minister of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic
of Bangladesh
Special Guest: Mashiur Rahman , Former Economic Affairs Adviser to the Honorable Prime Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Guest
of Honor
: Rehman Sobhan,
Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Former Director General, BIDS
Public
Lecture 1:
Macroeconomic Challenges and Policy Options in Bangladesh 
Ahsan
H. Mansur
, Executive Director, Policy Research Institute (PRI)
Session Chair: Salehuddin Ahmed , Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank
Session
1:
Democratic Socialism: Debates, History and
Options
Session
Chief Guest
: Rashed
Khan Menon
, Member of the Parliament of Bangladesh
Paper: Bangabandhu, the 1972 Constitution, and the Idea of Democratic Socialism for Less Developed Countries
Binayak
Sen
,
Director General, BIDS
Session
Chair
: M.M. Akash,
Former Professor of Economics, University of Dhaka
Session 2:
Recent BIDS Works – I
Paper 1: Exchange Rate Management in the Post-Covid
Crisis Context: Implications for Macroeconomic Stability
Monzur
Hossain
, Research Director, BIDS
Paper 2: Export Processing Zones in Bangladesh: Enclave Industrialization Redux?
Mohammad
Yunus
, Research Director, BIDS
Nahid Ferdous Pabon,
Research Fellow, BIDS
Session Chair : Atiur Rahman, Professor Emeritus, University of Dhaka; Executive Chairman, Unnayan Shamannay and Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank
Special
Seminar 1:
Forced
Displacement, Mental Health and Child Development: Evidence from the Rohingya
Refugees
Asad
Islam
, Professor of Economics, Monash University, Australia
Session Chair : Sajjad Zohir, Executive Director, Economic Research Group (ERG)
Special
Seminar 2:
Examining
Productivity within the Bangladeshi RMG Sector: Dispersion, Determinants, and
Gender Advancement
Atonu
Rabbani
, Professor of Economics, University of Dhaka
Session Chair: Sajjad Zohir , Executive Director, Economic Research Group (ERG)
Session
3:
Update on Growth Experience in South Asia
Paper 1: South Asia Development Update and Regional
Economic Outlook: Toward Faster, Cleaner Growth
Siddharth
Sharma
, Lead Economist, World Bank
Patrick
Alexander Kirby
, Senior Economist, World Bank
Paper 2: How Do Agricultural Import Tariffs Affect
Men and Women Smallholders?
Gayatri B. Koolwal , Consultant, World Bank.
Session Chair: Mustafizur Rahman , Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
Day
2: Friday, December 8, 2023
Session
4:
Global Price Shocks and Food Security
Paper 1: Governance of Food System
Danielle
Resnick
, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI)
Paper 2: Structure of Bangladesh Food System
James
Thurlow
, Director, Foresight and Policy Modeling,
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Paper 3: Impacts of the Global Price Shocks on the
Bangladesh Food System
Angga
Pradesha
, Senior Scientist, Foresight and Policy Modeling,
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Paper 4: Implications for Policy and Further
Research
Paul
Dorosh
, Director, Development Strategy and Governance,
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Session
Chair: Paul Dorosh
, Director, Development Strategy and
Governance, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Public
Lecture 2
Megatrends
in Gender, Population and Development
Sajeda
Amin
,
Senior Associate, Population Council, New York, USA
Discussants: Zarina Nahar Kabir,
Associate Professor of Public Health and Principal Researcher, Department of
Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm,
Sweden
Mehtab
S. Karim
, Professor Emeritus, Aga Khan University, Karachi,
Pakistan
Ahmed
Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury
, Professor of Clinical Population
and Family Health, Columbia University, New York, USA
Session
Chair: Tasnim Azim
, President, Naripokkho and Adjunct
Professor, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University
Public
Lecture 3
Diverging
Stories of Son Preference in South Asia: The Case of Bangladesh and India
Naila
Kabeer
, Professor of Gender and Development, Department of
Gender Studies, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK
Discussant:
Alaka Basu
, Professor of Development Sociology, Cornell
University, USA
Session
Chair: Sajeda Amin
, Senior Associate, Population Council,
New York, USA
Special
Seminar 3
Deadweight
Losses or Gains from In-kind Transfer: Experimental Evidence from India
Gaurav
Datt
,
Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Deputy Director, Centre for
Development Economics and Sustainability, Monash University, Australia
Session
Chair: Binayak Sen
, Director General, BIDS
Session
5
Recent
BIDS Works – II
Paper 1: Déjà vu: The Untenable Reality of Pavement
Dwellers of Dhaka - Evidence from Three Decades
Anwara
Begum
, Research Director, BIDS
Kazi Zubair Hossain, BIDS
Paper 2: Employment Outcomes of National University
Graduates: Findings from Follow-up Tracer Study
Badrun
Nessa Ahmed
, Research Fellow, BIDS
S.M.
Zulfiqar Ali
, Research Director, BIDS
Rizwana Islam, Research
Associate, BIDS
Paper 3: Firms, Skill and Productivity
Kazi
Iqbal
, Research Director, BIDS
Session
Chair: Abdul Bayes
, Former Vice Chancellor, Jahangirnagar
University
Public
Lecture 4
The
Bangladesh Tax Structure: A Middle Income Vision
Syed
Moinul Ahsan
, Professor Emeritus, Economics, Concordia
University, Montreal, Canada
Session
Chair: Mustafa K. Mujeri
, Executive Director, Institute for
Inclusive Finance and Development (InM)
Session
6:
Unpaid Care Work
Paper 1: Valuing Unpaid Care Work in Bangladesh
Binayak Sen, Director
General, BIDS
Tanima
Ahmed
, American University, Washington DC, USA
Kazi Iqbal, Research
Director, BIDS
Mohammad Yunus, Research
Director, BIDS
Paper 2: Valuing Unpaid Care Work in Sri Lanka
Dileni
Gunewardena
, Professor of Economics, University of
Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Session
Chair: Fahmida Khatun
, Executive Director, Centre for Policy
Dialogue (CPD)
Special
Seminar 4
Changes
in Urban Development and Industrial Location: Preliminary Findings
Ahmad
Ahsan
, Director, Policy Research Institute (PRI)
Wasel Bin Shadat, Assistant Professor of IBA, University of Dhaka
Session Chair: Nazrul Islam , Professor Emeritus, University of Dhaka; President, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh and Chairman, Centre for Urban Studies (CUS)
Day
3: Saturday, December 9, 2023
Public
Lecture 5
Evolving
Global Order and Geo-economics: Implications for Less Developed Countries
Wahiduddin
Mahmud
, Chairman, Economic Research Group (ERG) and Former
Professor of Economics, University of Dhaka
Session
Chair: Zaidi Sattar
, Chairman and Chief Executive, Policy
Research Institute (PRI)
Session
7:
Recent BIDS Works - III
Paper 1: The Progress of Rural-Urban Health Dynamics
over Two Decades in Bangladesh
Abdur
Razzaque Sarker
, Research Fellow, BIDS
Paper 2: Women on the Move: The Role of Climate Risk
in Economic Empowerment, Voice, Agency and Gender Inequality
Azreen
Karim
, Research Fellow, BIDS
Session
Chair: Rumana Huque
, Professor of Economics, Department of
Economics, University of Dhaka
Session
8:
Agrarian Change in Contemporary Bangladesh
Paper 1: Recent Changes in Agrarian Economy of
Bangladesh: Some Evidence from Fields
M.A. Sattar Mandal, Professorial Fellow, BIDS and
Emeritus Professor, Bangladesh Agricultural University
Mohammad Golam
Nabi Mozumder, Research Fellow, BIDS
Geof Wood,
Emeritus Professor, Department of Social & Policy Sciences, University of
Bath, UK
Binayak Sen,
Director General, BIDS
Paper 2: Choice of Tenancy in Rural Bangladesh:
Evidence from BIDS-BARD Micro Survey
Binayak Sen, Director General, BIDS
Taznoore Samina
Khanam, Research Fellow, BIDS
Shishir Kumar
Munshi, Director, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD)
Sk. Mashudur
Rahman, Director, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD)
Muntasir Murshed,
BIDS
Panel Discussants:
Quazi Shahabuddin, Former Director General, BIDS
Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive
Chairman, Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC)
Session Chair: Geof Wood, Emeritus
Professor, Department of Social & Policy Sciences, University of Bath, UK
Special Seminar 5: From MDGs to SDGs: Understanding Progress in Child Undernutrition in Asia
M. Niaz Asadullah, Professor of Economics, Monash University, Malaysia
Session Chair: Syed Abdul Hamid, Professor, Institute of Health Economics, University of Dhaka
Panel Discussion
Expert Panel on Economic Policy: Addressing Policy Challenges in the Context of Global and Domestic Uncertainty
Session Chief Guest: Shamsul Alam, Former Honorable
State Minister, Ministry of Planning
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Special Guest: Abdur Rouf Talukder, Governor, Bangladesh Bank
Moderator: Binayak Sen, Director
General, BIDS
Distinguished Panelists:
Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Sharifa Khan, Former Senior Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Habibur Rahman, Chief Economist, Bangladesh Bank
Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, BRAC University
Sajjad Zohir , Executive Director, Economic Research Group (ERG)
Tahmeed Ahmed , Executive Director, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b)
Ahsan H. Mansur , Executive Director, Policy Research Institute (PRI)
Masuda
Yasmeen
, Professor and Chairperson of Economics, University
of Dhaka
Zafar Sobhan, Editor, Dhaka Tribune
Public Lecture 6
Recent Trends in Urban and Rural Economy
Hossain
Zillur Rahman
, Executive Chairman, Power and
Participation Research Centre (PPRC)
Session Chair: Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, Chairman, Dhaka School of Economics
Closing Address: Public Lecture 7
The
Returns to International Migration
Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Professor of Economics, Yale University, USA
Session Chair:Binayak Sen, Director General, BIDS