Sixth five-year development plan to be introduced from FY11

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh is going to reintroduce the five-year

development plan from the next fiscal replacing the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
(PRSP) aiming to meet basic need of the nation, officials said.

"We're formulating the plan, which will be a homegrown one in terms of ideas and
philosophies, to fulfill the needs of the nation," Member of the General Economics
Division (GED) of the Planning Commission Shamsul Alam said on Tuesday.

A 12-member panel of economists, headed by Professor Wahid Uddin Mahumud, has

been formed to provide necessary inputs and advices to the GED of the Planning
Commission to formulate the Sixth Five Year Plan (SFYP) for fiscal 2011-15.

The first meeting of the panel is scheduled to be held at planning commission on

Wednesday to discuss different aspects of the new five year developed plan, they added.

Members of the panel are President of the Bangladesh Economic Association Qazi
Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman, Director General of
the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Mustafa K Mujeri, Professor of
the Dhaka University Abul Barkat, Professor of the Chittagong University Moinul Islam,
Professor of the Jahangirnagar University Abdul Bayes, Executive Director of the Centre
for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Mostafizur Rahman, Director of the Economic Research
Group Sajjad Zohir, Executive Director of the BRAC Mahabub Hossain, Chief Executive
Officer of the Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) MA Taslim and Member of the
GED of the Planning Commission Shamsul Alam.

Professor Alam also said the commission will consult with other stakeholders, including
businessmen and media representatives, before finalizing draft of the national document.

"We expect that the draft of SFYP will be finalized by May 2010," he said, adding that the
commission will also seek opinion from different ministries in this connection.

Bangladesh adopted the PRSP in 2003 through a participatory process involving civil
society and development partners that will be continued up to 2010.

The critical concern of the SFYP would be to achieve higher growth and make the growth
pro-poor such that the poorer sections get a proportionately greater share of the benefits of
growth that can lead them to move out of poverty, the commission said in a 10-page
concept paper of the SFYP.

The paper also said the reduction of inequality in income and opportunities would be
required for making growth more pro-poor apart from its value in creating a more
egalitarian and stable society.

"In line with the pro-poor growth strategy of the present government, the SFYP would
address the issues of poverty reduction and equity simultaneously," the commission noted.
"The market mechanism will be the driving force of the economic growth during the
SFYP," the paper said, adding that market institutions would be strengthened to lead
economic growth towards efficient allocation and distribution of resources.

It also said the private sector will play the central role for generating wealth and income
for faster economic growth.

"The role of the public and the private sector will assume new dimensions through the
explicit adoption public private partnership (PPP) in SFYP," the commission said, adding
that the public-private partnerships would be aimed at promoting efficiency of overall
investment.

The SFYP will focus on significant improvement of science and technology base for
increasing productivity and efficiency across the economy. "Special emphasis will be
given on ICT to transform Bangladesh into a digital and knowledge based society," it
added.

The SFYP will pursue development options that would improve good governance through
promoting local level development plans and preserve human rights within a democratic
framework with democratizing and strengthening local government institutions, the
commission noted.

BBN/SS/SI/AD-29July09-9:14 am (BST)