AS THE entire country united to celebrate Bangladesh’s fiftieth year of independence this month, many commentators around the world took this opportunity to recount the chronicles of successes in the economic and development sectors, especially in an era where growth is elusive.
In five decades since its birth, Bangladesh’s transition from being a country beset by famine, poverty, and cyclones to a middle-income country and an international powerhouse today has decidedly been fueled and sustained by the private sector entrepreneurs and supported by favourable public policies. This economic landscape has been most evident in the last two decades, as the small and medium-sized businesses outnumbered large corporations, generated most employment, and made most contribution to the gross domestic products in Bangladesh. Unsurprisingly, as the world has become more globalised and connected with the proliferation of internet, there is an increasing reliance on its use to precipitate business growth.
Without a doubt, the internet is a powerful catalyst for innovation, economic growth, and social well-being in Bangladesh. It has introduced infinite possibilities to catapult businesses and increase productivity growth in a variety of distinct, but mutually reinforcing ways. This is especially true for SMBs and self-employed workforces, as the web-based tools and technologies have made connectivity, competition, and consumer choice more democratic and inexpensive, while reducing cost of transactions by a significant margin. Indeed, the local service providers in ridesharing, food delivery and mobile financial services sectors are excellent examples of how technology and innovation can generate employment and revolutionise markets overnight. On the other hand, global platforms like Facebook and Google are creating sustainable and cost-effective ways for citizens to connect with the global and local markets, seamlessly communicate, generate jobs, and contribute to the national economy. It is undeniable that sustainable economic growth is inextricably linked to unrestricted access to internet. This view was endorsed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2016 in a non-binding resolution, wherein it was recognised that the global and open nature of the internet is a driving force in accelerating progress towards development in its various forms, and that people online should have the same rights as people offline.
As Bangladesh graduates from LDC status, the country needs to adopt robust, nuanced and inclusive measures to ensure access to the internet and websites remain unobstructed. Mobile internet is reportedly costlier in Bangladesh compared to its neighbouring countries, such phenomenon being attributable, at least in part, to the increase in supplementary duty from 10 per cent to 15 per cent in the July 2021, which must be addressed by the government immediately. Additionally, while mobile internet penetration has increased manifold in recent years, there are only 9.5 million active users of broadband internet connections in Bangladesh as of February 2021 — a statistic that needs to be changed for the better. Moreover, conflicting pressures within the government to meet broader policy objectives in ways that may make the internet less open, like the recent and ongoing restrictions on Facebook in the country, should be reassessed and approached with nuances. According to Net Blocks [https://netblocks.org/cost/] (which estimates the economic impact of an internet disruption, mobile data blackout or app restriction using indicators from the World Bank, International Telecommunication Union, Eurostat and US Census), Facebook disruption costs the Bangladesh economy approximately $4 million each day. As a rising middle-income country, it is essential we realise the importance of cross-border connectivity and information flow to boost local economy, and the need to move towards more sustainable policies. Furthermore, the requirement for the small, upstart entrepreneurs to obtain trade license and VAT registration for engaging in small-scale trading activities on platforms, such as Facebook under the proposed digital commerce regulation should be reconsidered, as it imposes an onerous burden on the entrepreneurs. For these, and a lot more reasons, Bangladesh came 168th in the World Bank’s 2020 Ease of Doing Business rankings, proposing that the regulatory environment is not as helpful for a flourishing private sector.
Facilitated by high mobile internet penetration, with over 103 million mobile internet subscribers in the country (according to the official statistics of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, as of February 2021), slowly but surely internet has become the backbone of the Bangladesh economy, with the internet and technology companies at the forefront of this digital economy revolution. As Bangladesh graduates, which in itself is a testament and an accolade to its ongoing economic success, it is imperative for the government to adopt policies which fosters a competitive and conducive business environment. Overall, given the magnitude of the internet’s potential to accelerate economic growth, and the self-evident interconnection between access to the internet and a sustainable economy, there is a strong case for the government to take a more calculated approach towards its economic and connectivity policies.
Zillur Rahman is the executive director of Centre for Governance Studies and a television talk-show host.
This article was originally published on New Age.
Views in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect CGS policy.
