Annual BIDS Conference on Development (ABCD) 2022
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) organized a three-day long international conference titled “Annual BIDS Conference on Development (ABCD) 2022: Post-Covid Challenges in an Uncertain and Divisive World” which was held on December 1-3, 2022, at Lakeshore Hotel, Gulshan, Dhaka. The conference, an annual flagship event of the institute, engaged the wider audience in charting the development agenda in the post-Covid period by bringing national and international scholars on a common platform through public lectures, academic presentations, book reviews, and panel discussions on the diverse socio-economic issues of Bangladesh.
M. A. Mannan MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, was present as Chief Guest in the inaugural session of the conference. Shamsul Alam, Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Planning, attended as Special Guest, and Abdur Rouf Talukder, Governor, Bangladesh Bank attended as the Guest of Honor. The Inaugural Session: Macroeconomic Challenges in Post-Covid Bangladesh commenced with a keynote speech by Sadiq Ahmed, Vice Chairman of the Policy Research Institute (PRI).
A total of 12 keynote speeches, 13 academic papers, and 5 book discussions were distributed over 7 sessions in three days. The session themes covered macroeconomic policy, Covid-19 and macroeconomic management; Covid-19 and vaccine take-up in developing countries; recent books on Bangladesh’s economy, women’s work in South Asia, Bangladesh’s growth, employment, and poverty; Transition in Japan’s view of Bangladesh; and expert panel’s addressing on economic policy in addressing post-covid challenges.
In addition, the keynote presentations drew insights from prominent national and international scholars like Branko Milanovic, Wahiduddin Mahmud, Geof Wood, David Hulme, Mushtaq Khan, Naila Kabeer, Sajeda Amin, Syed Akhtar Mahmood, Ahmed Ahsan, Tatsufumi Yamagata, and others on salient issues of contemporary development discourse.
The conference drew to a close after an expert panel discussion titled ‘Economic Policy: Addressing Post-Covid Challenges’ on December 3, 2022, which brought together prominent economists and academicians from diverse disciplines, policymakers, and civil society members. Mashiur Rahman, Economic Affairs Advisor to the Honorable Prime Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, as the Chief Guest, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, BB, Energy, Power and Mineral Resources Affairs Adviser to the Honorable Prime minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh as Special Guest and Salman F. Rahman, Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Honorable Prime Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh as Guest of Honor were present at the expert panel session. The distinguished panelists of this expert panel included Atiur Rahman, Bangabandhu Chair Professor, Department of History, University of Dhaka & Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank; Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Mamun Al Rashid, Secretary, Planning Division, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Sharifa Khan, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Md. Jashim Uddin, President, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI); Anwar-Ul Alam Chowdhury, President, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI); Syed Mainul Ahsan, Visiting Fellow, BIDS & Professor Emeritus, Concordia University, Canada; M. M. Akash, Professor & Chairman, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka; Sultan Hafeez Rahman, Director, BIDS Graduate School of Economics (BGSE); Zaidi Sattar, Chairman, Policy Research Institute (PRI); Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD); Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD); and Imran Matin, Executive Director, BRAC Institute of Governance & Development (BIGD).
The concluding session on Global Inequality was addressed by Branko Milanovic, a Senior Scholar, at the City University of New York. The three-day long conference was concluded by a vote of thanks by Binayak Sen, Director General, BIDS.
The presentations and videos of the program are available below.
Inaugural Session: Macroeconomic Challenges in Post-Covid Bangladesh 
Opening Remarks: Binayak Sen, Director General, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS)
Keynote Speech 1: Macroeconomic Management in Post-Covid Uncertain Global Environment 
Sadiq Ahmed, Vice Chairman, Policy Research Institute (PRI)
Chief Guest: M. A. Mannan, MP, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Special Guest: Shamsul Alam, Hon’ble State Minister, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Guest of Honor: Abdur Rouf Talukder, Governor, Bangladesh Bank
Keynote Speech 2: Rethinking Socialism for Democratic Developing Countries
Wahiduddin Mahmud, Chairman, Economic Research Group (ERG) & Former Professor of Economics, University of Dhaka
Session Chair: Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) & Former Director General, BIDS
Keynote Speech 3: Debates, Dialogues and Decisions: A Historical Look at Policy Making in Bangladesh
Syed Akhtar Mahmood, Former Lead Economist, World Bank
Session 1: Recent BIDS Works
Paper 1: Livelihood Dynamics in the Haor Region of Bangladesh
Mohammad Yunus, Senior Research Fellow, BIDS
Paper 2: Micro Savings, Poverty Reduction and Economic Empowerment: Evidence from ‘Amar Bari Amar Khamar’ Project
S. M. Zulfiqar Ali, Senior Research Fellow, BIDS
Paper 3: Who are the Skilled Workers in Small Firms? Evidence from Bangladesh
Kazi Iqbal, Senior Research Fellow, BIDS
Session Chair: Sajjad Zohir, Executive Director, Economic Research Group (ERG)
Session 2: Recent Books on Bangladesh Economy
The Odds Revisited: Political Economy of the Development of Bangladesh
K.A.S. Murshid, Former Director General, BIDS 
Bangladesh’s Inclusive Development Journey: Past, Present and Future
Mustafa K Mujeri, Executive Director, Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM) and Former Director General, BIDS
Economy of Bangladesh: Fifty Years of Economic Development
Quazi Shahabuddin, Former Director General, BIDS
M. Mozammel Huq, Former Professor, Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde, UK
Session Chair: Salehuddin Ahmed, Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank
Keynote Speech 4: Mainstream Economics and Bangladesh’s Development: Some Issues
Ahmad Ahsan, Director, Policy Research Institute (PRI)
Keynote Speech 5: Resilience in Low & Middle-Income Countries: Lessons from Covid-19 Pandemic
Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Professor of Economics, Yale University, USA
Session 3: Women’s Work in South Asia
Distinguished Panelist 1: Alaka Basu, Visiting Scholar and Former Professor, Department of Global Development, Cornell University, USA
Distinguished Panelist 2: Naila Kabeer, Professor, London School of Economics, UK
Distinguished Panelist 3: Sonalde Desai, Distinguished Professor, University of Maryland, USA
Session Chair: Sajeda Amin, Senior Associate, Population Council, New York
Keynote Speech 6: Transition in Japan’s View of Bangladesh: How Two Middle Powers Should Behave along Hegemons
Tatsufumi Yamagata, Professor, College of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University & Director, Ritsumeikan Center for Asia Pacific Studies, Japan
Keynote Speech 7: Rethinking Dams
David Hulme, Professor of Development Studies & Executive Director of the Global Development Institute (GDI), University of Manchester, UK
Keynote Speech 8: Learning Loss During Covid-19 Pandemic
Asad Islam, Professor of Economics & Director, Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES), Monash University, Australia
Session 4: Challenging Mainstream Ideas
Paper 1: Disappearance of the Bengali Family Farm
Abdus Sattar Mandal, Professorial Fellow, BIDS & Former Vice-Chancellor, Bangladesh Agriculture University
Paper 2: Governance as it is: Critiquing Normative Epistemology
Geoff Wood, Emeritus Professor of International Development, Department of Social & Policy Science, University of Bath, UK
Session Chair: Binayak Sen, Director General, BIDS
Session 5: Informal Industries and Environmental Pollution: A Pathway to Inclusive Solutions
Paper 1: Transforming Brick Manufacturing to Promote Clean Air and Better Health in Bangladesh
Moogdho Mahzab, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, USA
Paper 2: Governance and Business Model Innovations that Can Reduce Pollution from Lead Acid Batteries in Bangladesh
Erica Plambeck, Professor, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, USA
Amrita Kundu, Assistant Professor, Operations and Information Management, Georgetown University, USA
Session Chair: A. K. Enamul Haque, Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics, East West University, Dhaka
Keynote Speech 9: Escaping the Family Shadow: Intergenerational Mobility in Developing Countries
Shahe Emran, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University, USA
Session 6: Growth, Employment & Poverty
Paper 1: Adjusting Bangladesh’s Growth Model to Sustain Progress
Nora Dihel, Senior Economist, World Bank
Paper 2: Import Tariff and Gender Difference in Employment
Gayatri Koolwal, Consultant, World Bank
Paper 3: Present and Future Climate Risk Across Bangladesh: Integrated Findings on Hazard Exposures & Poverty Vulnerability
Lander Bosch, Geographer, World Bank
Session Chair: Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Chairman, Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC)
Keynote Speech 10: The Idea of Political Settlement
Mushtaq Khan, Professor of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK
Keynote Speech 11: Human Capital and Gender Inequality in Middle-Income Countries
Dileni Gunewardena, Professor of Economics, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Session 7: Promoting Covid-19 Vaccine Take-up in Developing Countries
Paper 1: Identifying the Most Cost-Effective Way to Large Scale Covid-19 Vaccination in Rural Bangladesh
Diwakar Mohan, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Paper 2: The Role of Information and incentives on Covid-19 Vaccination in India
Debayan Pakrashi, IIT Kanpur, India
Paper 3: Promoting Covid-19 Vaccination Take-up at the Last Mile: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural Indonesia
Armand Sim, Monash University, Australia
Session Chair: Shafiun N. Shimul, Institute of Health Economics, University of Dhaka
Closing Session: Expert Panel on Economic Policy: Addressing Post-Covid Challenges
Chief Guest: Mashiur Rahman, Economic Affairs Adviser to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Special Guest: Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, BB, Energy, Power and Mineral Resources Affairs Adviser to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Special Guest: Salman F. Rahman, Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Guest of Honor: Ahmad Kaikaus, Principal Secretary to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Moderator: Binayak Sen, Director General, BIDS
Distinguished Panelists:
Atiur Rahman, Bangabandhu Chair Professor, Department of History, University of Dhaka & Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank
Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Mamun Al Rashid, Secretary, Planning Division, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Sharifa Khan, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Md. Jashim Uddin, President, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI)
Anwar-Ul Alam Chowdhury, President, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI)
Syed Mainul Ahsan, Visiting Fellow, BIDS & Professor Emeritus, Concordia University, Canada
M. M. Akash, Professor & Chairman, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka
Sultan Hafeez Rahman, Director, BIDS Graduate School of Economics (BGSE)
Zaidi Sattar, Chairman, Policy Research Institute (PRI)
Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
Imran Matin, Executive Director, BRAC Institute of Governance & Development (BIGD)
Keynote Speech 12: Global Inequality
Branko Milanovic, Senior Scholar, City University of New York