By Véronique Salze-Lozac’h, Nina Merchant-Vega, and Syed Al-Muti

Any casual observer walking through the heart of a district capital like Bangladesh’s northeastern city of Sylhet or Rangpur, further north, would be impressed by the bustling economic activity. In the early morning, streets are filled with colorful trucks honking their way toward the market place. Their paths are crossed by overloaded rickshaws delivering raw materials to nearby tailors and small manufacturers. Despite such signs of a vibrant economy, doing business in Bangladesh is far from easy.

In Bangladesh, business people, such as this shop worker, face basic challenges that stunt their growth potential, including cumbersome administrative procedures and lack of transparency from authorities.

In Bangladesh, where The Asia Foundation works with micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the district level, business people often complain about cumbersome administrative procedures, unfair tax administrations, obsolete regulations, and an overall lack of transparency from authorities.
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In late 2008, in the midst of the financial and economic crisis, factory owners in Bangladesh showed remarkable confidence in the future of their industry in Bangladesh. Government officials were also confident of the capacity of the private sector to adapt and remain competitive while workers themselves were confident of their capacity to deliver quality products at a competitive price. But, although Bangladesh has done well in the garment and textiles sector, if the country wants to expand even more and remain competitive, finds the first paper in The Asia Foundation’s new “Occasional Paper” series, it will need to make investments in human capital and technology, rather than just reduce input costs. Research for this paper included extensive interviews with factory workers and government officials, and seven focus-group discussions with 33 factory workers.

The paper offers policy recommendations to improve efficiency at the factory level, including providing improved benefits to workers and developing coalitions between the private sector and local and international NGOs, as well as factories, to establish industry standards. It also suggests reforms of the business environment that could provide an overall boost, not only to the garment industry, but to the economy as a whole. Download the paper.

This article is the first in a three-part blog series exploring the barriers to women’s advancement in Asia and how The Asia Foundation is working to address them.

By Jill Kosch O’Donnell

After months of advocating for access to credit from their local bank, the members of the District Women’s Business Forum (DWBF) in Sylhet, Bangladesh, have something to celebrate: 12 of them recently received bank loans to grow their businesses. One has already opened a new outlet for her business and hired 10 women to work there. Another has recruited five women for the planned expansion of her handicraft and garment enterprise. All of them are already in a position to repay the bank. Fifteen more loan applications are in the pipeline.

In many Asian countries, including Bangladesh, cultural tradition dictates that property and assets are almost always registered in the name of a male member of the household, denying Bangladeshi women the chance to gain collateral, needed to get bank loans to start businesses. Photo by Jon Jamieson.

These may be small numbers, but they represent a breakthrough that could add up for Bangladesh in the long run. Currently, women have extremely limited access to the capital that exists in their own country, which is a major impediment to expanding their businesses and creating jobs.
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In Cairo, President Obama declared a renewed commitment to fostering interfaith dialogue and called for a new beginning in relations with religious communities worldwide. On the heels of this historic speech, religious leaders have gathered from across the world for two international conferences to engage in dialogue and debate and affirm the president’s call. In addition to a recent interfaith conference in Indonesia, Whitehouse.gov highlights the March 2010 conference in Dhaka, convened by USAID and The Asia Foundation, on “The Role of Religious Leaders in Advancing Development in Asia” in connection with the work of the administration’s Inter-religious Cooperation Task Force of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The conference provided a forum where over 70 religious and community leaders from 14 countries could share views and experience drawn from different country contexts and working environments. The Asia Foundation’s Bangladesh Leaders of Influence program, which since its launch in 2004 has introduced over 15,000 religious and community leaders to key development issues, served as a working model for conference participants. Upon return from the conference, many enthusiastic participants shared their thoughts on the Leaders of Influence blog, and demonstrated a keen interest in developing similar programs in their home countries.

Read a recent in-depth blog piece about the conference by participant Kim McQuay, The Asia Foundation’s Regional Director for Law and Governance, or visit the Leaders of Influence website to learn more.

By V. Bruce J. Tolentino

As tantalizing hints of recovery from the global financial crisis pop up in international economic statistics, a curious dichotomy of narratives about the status of various Asian economies has emerged in the international media:

China Dominant

First, there is the big story, related with relish and surprise, of unexpected and robust economic recovery in most countries across Asia, with a dominant, triumphant China leading the way. Meanwhile, more-developed Asian economies – such as Japan, which is commonly portrayed as somewhat stuck in a low-growth, lack-luster rut – are seen as mere supporting players.
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Water, sanitation, traffic, and regular electricity and fuel shortages are severe problems facing Bangladesh’s citizens. By 2020, the country will have nearly 170 million people; half will be women. “For the sake of Bangladesh,” explains The Asia Foundation’s program officer in Dhaka, Suparna Hasan, in this video, “we need to bring women into the development process.” She says, although Bangladeshi women love to take on challenges and are very hard working, the society is still very male-dominated, making it difficult to gain the collateral usually needed to secure bank loans. Now, in the Northeastern Bangladesh city of Sylhet, a group of women entrepreneurs have joined together to advocate for better access to loans for women. Through their efforts, they have formed a network that has been successful in getting banks to change their policies and make more loans available to women. Now, more women are finding the means to grow their own businesses and boost employment in the region.

In Asia speaks to The Asia Foundation’s Deputy Country Representative in Dhaka, Jerome Sayre, on climate change in Bangladesh.

Q: The latest Global Climate Risk Index ranks Bangladesh as the most vulnerable nation in the world to extreme weather and climate change. What does “climate change ground zero” look like on a daily basis?

A: Since floods and cyclones are part of life in Bangladesh, and climate change is expected to contribute to the intensification of these, the average Bangladeshi may experience this as “more of the same,” only more destructive and more frequent. Bangladesh is also grappling with declining water tables and river flows, and salinization of crop lands along the coast due to non-climate change related phenomena. Climate change can intensify these trends.

These are slow but real changes that affect people’s lives, but the more dramatic and visible shift I’ve noticed over my five years in Dhaka is in public awareness of the issue. Members of Parliament, government agencies, NGOs, and the general public are all now much more aware of the potential for losses due to climate change. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister spent a significant amount of her time abroad in her first year in office raising the issue at several international venues.

Q: And, Bangladesh happens to also be one of the most densely populated areas of the world which would make this a humanitarian crisis as well.

A: Over the long term, an estimated 17 percent of Bangladesh’s land area could be submerged, displacing about 20 million Bangladeshis.
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By Jerome Sayre

The Bangladesh Parliament Building is a striking combination of cubes and cylinders in pale gray concrete, surrounded by water and a rare expanse of unbroken green in the nation’s otherwise densely congested capital of Dhaka. On a quiet Saturday morning recently, a group of Bangladeshi Members of Parliament came together in the building’s Oath Room to unknowingly create a small piece of history in the global pursuit of health, education, poverty-reduction, and environmental targets known collectively as the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs. Adopted by 189 nations during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000, the eight goals set a series of ambitious development targets, measured by 48 separate indicators, to be achieved by 2015.

Bangladesh's parliament building, designed by architect Louis I. Kahn. Photo used under a Wikimedia Commons license.

An active NGO sector working to deliver health, education, and sanitation services, combined with steady economic growth and some successful government initiatives, have all contributed to significant progress on the MDGs in Bangladesh.
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By Kim McQuay

There is an instant before the start of a large event when, with logistical arrangements set and the agenda fine tuned, attention shifts to participants. One draws a breath and wonders what the chemistry of personalities, perspectives, and experience will yield. So I reflected at the start of last week’s regional conference on the role of leaders of influence in national development efforts in Dhaka. Over 80 participants representing 14 South, Southeast, and Central Asian nations sat in country teams, a human landscape of traditional white and saffron robes, capes, and headscarves, elegant saris and shalwar kameez, colorful batiks, and jackets and ties. Microphones crackled to life from the podium, and the session began.

Convened by The Asia Foundation and USAID, the conference provided a forum where those gathered could share views and experience drawn from different country contexts and working environments.
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Upon their return from the Leaders of Influence (LOI) regional conference in Dhaka March 21-24 that convened over 80 participants from 14 countries, In Asia spoke with Rosita MacDonald, program officer for The Asia Foundation’s Governance, Law, and Civil Society program, and Russell Pepe, chief of party for the LOI program in Bangladesh, on what they heard.

Q: Was there a sense from conference participants that progress has been made since U.S. President Obama’s much-heralded Cairo speech last year in which he declared the U.S.’s commitment to reengage with the Muslim community?

Rosita MacDonald: There was a lot of talk from the U.S. delegation about the shift to enhanced engagement with the Muslim community as well as with other religious communities. This point was acknowledged by several of the delegates, but they also made the point that the U.S. needs to be more effective in its public diplomacy efforts in Asia and to highlight tangible examples of engagement with, and support for, the Muslim world. There is optimism to be sure, but still a lot of uncertainty as to what this “engagement” actually involves and how deep it runs.

Russell Pepe: Participants were encouraged by President Obama’s speech, but several also expressed a need to see more concrete actions. LOI was cited as a very good example of how the U.S. can support a wider engagement with the Muslim community, and can effectively build bridges between different faiths and secular groups.
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