Post-independence, Bangladesh has quickly transformed itself into a manufacturing powerhouse in readymade garments (RMG), the country’s highest export income earner. Despite the impressive economic growth, devastating fires and building collapses have become all too common in Bangladesh. Is the RMG sector at a crossroads? What strategies can the country adopt for long-term RMG sustainability? RMG...Read More

The USA’s long-awaited ‘Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity’ (IPEF)[1] was released on 23 May at the Tokyo meeting of the Quadrilateral Dialogue (Quad). The IPEF complements the ‘The Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States’ (Executive Office of the President 2022) launched on 11 February and the two documents have much in common, which reflects the...Read More

The worst floods in 122 years have hit Sylhet and Sunamganj in the northwest of Bangladesh. Millions have been displaced, property and livelihoods have been destroyed, highlight once more how vulnerable Bangladesh remains to flooding. Starting on the 16th and 17th of June 2022, heavy upstream rainfall from Meghalaya and Assam states in India have...Read More

In 2020, 195 people were killed across Bangladesh by law enforcement agencies during ‘shoot-outs’ according to data from Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a Dhaka based human rights watchdog. To date, the government has been reluctant to investigate any such killings, however, this changed when police killed retired army officer Major Sinha.   Not only...Read More

The USA’s long-awaited strategy for the Indo-Pacific (I-P) was released on the 11th of February (Executive Office of the President 2022), it contains few surprises.  The stated goal is to work toward a free, open, connected, secure, and resilient region by anchoring the United States’ interests and values more firmly within it.  This is set...Read More

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic hit Bangladesh in March 2020, the poverty rate doubled, household income declined, and the health and education sectors suffered. The country is in the midst of the third wave of Covid-19, which makes the national budget for fiscal year (FY2022) the most challenging to date. This article will look at...Read More

The unveiling of Japan’s US$490 billion fiscal stimulus package in November coincided with the announcement by the UK Department of International Trade of a new export strategy. This is committed to boosting exports to an annual £1 trillion ($1.35 trillion) by 2030, from the current yearly £600 billion. While the two policy measures were wholly separate events, their...Read More

Several decades ago, East Asia became the epicentre of superpower rivalry during the Cold War. Following a stalemate war in Northeast Asia’s Korean peninsula, in the early 1950s, military and ideological rivalry shifted to the Indochina peninsula and broader Southeast Asia in the 1960s. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST.Read More

The UK’s successful rolling out of its vaccination programme, the attendant government and media hype, not least with respect to how our ‘world beating’ science, technology and enterprise culture ‘beat the virus’, should not be allowed to gloss over the UK’s extremely high Covid death rate and the extent to which this reflects the government’s...Read More

The AUKUS (Australia-UK-US) alliance announced on 14 September 2021 will facilitate Australia building at least eight nuclear powered, but not nuclear armed submarines, collaboration and technology sharing on AI, cyber warfare,. With overall closer alignment of regional security policies. While there was no mention of China in the announcement, AUKUS is without doubt the latest...Read More