WHEN Bangladesh emerged on the map of the world back in 1971, it was expected to fail. Henry Kissinger, the US secretary of state, famously called it a `basket case` The country did have its ups and downs, but today it is an economic giant of sorts in the region. Maybe just maybe there are a few lessons that we in Pakistan need to learn from what happened in Bangladesh.

Intheinitialyears ofindependence, Bangladeshhad averyfragile bureaucratic mechanism as it adopted the structure of civil servants from India. Then there were natural disasters, famine and food insecurity in its infancy years. Currently, Bangladesh has better disaster management capacity and is self-sufficient in food. Its economy is 45 per cent richer than that of Pakistan. The per capita income of a Bangladeshi is higher than that of an Indian or a Pakistani.

In the initial years of its inception, its currency, the taka, had the least value in the world. People used to travel to Pakistan in orderto earn theirlivelihood as Pakistan had a robust economy and its currency was more valuable. But the story has changed and the value of the currency has come a long way.

Bangladesh lagged behind Pakistan on many fronts, including passport ranking, literacy rate, women empowerment, human development index and poverty alleviation.

Dhaka realised the importance of education and worked to improve the education system to address the remaining issues. The literacy rate of Bangladesh today is 74.68pc which is far better than the neighbouring countries. Similarly, the participation and share of Bangladeshi women in national labour force is greater than that of Pakistani women. Besides, it hasbeen able topulloutthousands of people from the poverty trap by improving their living standards. Life expectancy in the country has increased to 72.5 years compared to Pakistan`s 66.5 years.

Also, Bangladesh realised that the country cannot afford a massive population and took effective measures to keep it under control. In 1971, the population of Bangladesh was around 70 million compared to Pakistan`s 60 million.

According to current statistics, the population of Bangladesh is 164 million compared to Pakistan`s 220 million.

From export to foreign exchange reserves, Bangladesh is doing much better than does Pakistan. All this should not work against us. The fact is that if we learn the lessons right, today`s negativity may lead to tomorrow`s positivity.

Pakistan should focus on key areas to put its economy back on track.

Around 65pc of our population happens to be young.

Using their energy and the vision ofthe leadership, we can produce creative, innovative and productive human resources and create job opportunities for the prosperity ofthe country.

Amjad Gul Abro Hyderabad