Utilise foreign remittance
Economists urge govt
Noted economists at a seminar yesterday urged the government to pay more attention to utilising foreign remittance rather than putting emphasis on seeking foreign aid.
Speaking as the chief guest Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation, said it is a matter of regret that we do not utilise foreign remittance amounting to 10 to 11 percent of our GDP but seek foreign aid.
The discussion titled "Joint cooperation strategy: Context of aid and development effectiveness" was organised by Aid Accountability Group at Cirdap auditorium in the city.
Kholiquzzaman said government officials while negotiating with foreign countries and organisations for aid and loans should be more efficient and careful about securing national interest.
He said government had to take several policies and decisions according to the prescription of donor agencies, for instance, the closure of Adamjee Jute Mills (AJM).
Kholiquzzaman suggested adopting plans and policies according to the reality and need of the country, not following prescriptions of foreign donors.
Former finance adviser to a caretaker government Mirza AB Azizul Islam differed with Kholiquzzaman about the closure of Adamjee jute mills saying it was shut due to corruption and mismanagement.
Mirza Aziz also said foreign aid is needed for the development of the country but should be utilised effectively.
Speaking at the seminar, Prof Anu Mohammad said foreign donor agencies take away Tk 90 out of every Tk 100 they give as aid.
He said the money they give us is not at all aid but is mainly loans.
The main chunk of their aid is being spent to appoint consultants of the donor agencies, airfare, office equipment and computers, he said.
The donor agencies prescribed to shut our jute mills and at the same time funded India and Pakistan to revive their jute mills, said Prof Anu.
He said the expatriates send 10 billion US dollar as remittance while foreign aid is only 1 billion US dollar but government does not pay any honour to our fellow countrymen rather follow prescription of the donors.
He suggested the government to be more interested in utilising foreign remittance.
Lawmaker Anisul Islam Mandal, former finance secretary Siddikur Rahman Chowdhury and women rights leader Khushi Kabir also spoke at the seminar.
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