Bangladesh first: reimagining economic diplomacy

The international conference titled "Roadmap for Trade, Growth and Economic Diplomacy: Navigating Risks, Leveraging Resilience," jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) delivered a timely and powerful message: the diplomacy of the future will be economic diplomacy.

The conference underscored a fundamental shift in national priorities. Investment, trade, technology, skilled human capital, and market expansion must now become the core pillars of Bangladesh's engagement with the world. The question is no longer whether Bangladesh should embrace economic diplomacy. The real question is whether the country can institutionalize it quickly enough to remain competitive in an increasingly uncertain global economy.

WHY ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY MATTERS NOW: The global landscape has changed dramatically. Geopolitical tensions, supply chain realignments, technological disruption, climate risks, and shifting demographics are reshaping trade and investment flows worldwide. Today, a country's influence is measured not only by its political relationships but also by its ability to attract investment, integrate into global value chains, access new markets, and export skilled talent.

Economic diplomacy has therefore become one of the most powerful tools for national development. For Bangladesh, this means asking difficult but necessary questions: How quickly can we attract investment? How effectively can we diversify exports? How can we position ourselves in emerging industries? And how can we transform our demographic dividend into a globally competitive workforce?

These questions cannot be answered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alone. Economic diplomacy must evolve into a whole-of-government mission.

MAPPING FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES: Effective policymaking begins with data. Bangladesh needs a dedicated National Global Market Intelligence Platform to systematically analyse evolving global demand patterns. Such a platform should identify which products and services are likely to experience rising demand over the next decade, which countries are emerging as new export destinations, where shortages of skilled workers are developing, and which industries are restructuring their supply chains.

Several sectors are expected to witness significant growth globally over the coming years. These include artificial intelligence, digital services, renewable energy, semiconductor support ecosystems, healthcare and the care economy, agri-tech, pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity, business process outsourcing, and the creative economy. The challenge is not identifying these opportunities; it is determining where Bangladesh can realistically compete.

ASSESSING BANGLADESH'S COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: Global demand alone is not enough. Bangladesh must rigorously assess whether it has the capacity to capture these emerging opportunities. A comprehensive National Competitiveness Audit should be conducted across priority sectors, evaluating factors such as workforce readiness, infrastructure quality, energy security, technological capability, logistics efficiency, policy stability, production costs, export readiness, and compliance with international environmental and social standards.

The country must also undertake an honest comparison with its competitors. How does Bangladesh compare with Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, or Mexico? In which sectors can it create greater value? Where can it differentiate itself?

Low-cost labour can no longer be Bangladesh's primary competitive advantage. The future belongs to countries that can combine skills, technology, innovation, and policy predictability.

PRIORITISING SECTORS STRATEGICALLY: Bangladesh cannot pursue every opportunity simultaneously. A clear framework is needed to categories sectors based on potential, preparedness, and expected returns.

Pharmaceuticals, ICT and artificial intelligence, renewable energy, light engineering, logistics and port development, and the export of skilled human capital should be considered top-priority sectors. The creative economy, medical tourism, food processing, the blue economy, and sports-related industries may be positioned as medium-priority sectors. Low value-added industries and highly import-dependent, low-technology sectors should receive lower priority.

FROM INVESTMENT PROMOTION TO INVESTMENT READINESS: Investors do not invest in narratives; they invest in certainty. For every priority sector, Bangladesh must develop investment-ready proposals backed by robust market analysis, financial projections, expected returns, tax incentives, risk management frameworks, and clear profit repatriation and exit mechanisms.

This is where the Bangladeshi diaspora can play a transformative role. Bangladeshis living abroad possess valuable market knowledge, business networks, and credibility within their host countries. They can serve as investment ambassadors, connecting local opportunities with global capital.

SETTING MEASURABLE TARGETS: Economic diplomacy must move beyond rhetoric and focus on outcomes. Bangladesh should adopt clear and measurable targets for the next five years, including doubling foreign direct investment, entering at least 20 new export markets, increasing the share of non-RMG exports, and tripling the export of skilled human resources.

Achieving these goals will require a phased roadmap. In the short term, the focus should be on policy reforms, investment facilitation, accelerating trade agreements, and strengthening one-stop services. The medium term should priorities skills development, industrial diversification, technology transfer, and operationalising special economic zones. The long-term objective must be to build a knowledge-based economy driven by innovation and high-tech industries.

THE IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE: Bangladesh does not suffer from a shortage of policies. It suffers from a shortage of implementation.

The greatest obstacle to effective economic diplomacy is the lack of coordination among ministries and agencies. Investment promotion cannot succeed if foreign missions work in isolation from BIDA. Export diversification cannot happen without close coordination between the ministries of commerce, industries, labour, and finance. Investor confidence cannot improve without reforms in taxation, customs, energy, and logistics.

ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY REQUIRES A WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT APPROACH: One possible solution is to establish a high-powered National Economic Diplomacy Council under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister's Office. The council could bring together representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, BIDA, the ministries of finance, commerce, industries, and labor, Bangladesh Bank, the National Board of Revenue, and the private sector.

Regular progress reviews, supported by digital dashboards and real-time monitoring systems, could ensure accountability and accelerate decision-making. Strong political ownership at the highest level will be essential.

A NATIONAL MISSION: Bangladesh's investment potential continues to be constrained by bureaucratic delays, policy inconsistency, energy shortages, skills gaps, weak logistics infrastructure, and complex tax administration. These challenges are not insurmountable, but overcoming them will require decisive leadership, institutional coordination, and sustained implementation.

The country's embassies must evolve into investment and trade promotion hubs, while diplomats must become economic envoys. The private sector and diaspora communities must emerge as active partners in development.

Most importantly, all stakeholders must rally around a shared national vision. "Bangladesh First" should not remain a slogan; it should become the organising principle behind economic policymaking. Now is the time to move from a reactive economy to a strategic one, to position Bangladesh as South Asia's most competitive investment destination, and to make economic diplomacy the principal driver of national development.

Ferdous Bappy is an analyst, media & corporate Personality fbappy@gmail.com