Thinking Aloud: Volume X, Issue 1: June 1, 2023

The theme of the June 2023 issue of Thinking Aloud is “Shocks and Development Strategies: Towards a Resilient South Asia”—which was also the theme of the Fourth SANEM-World Bank North America Discussion Forum 2023, held on 5 May 2023. The first page article, “Is the Bangladesh Paradox Sustainable?” analyses the validity of ‘Bangladesh surprise’ or ‘Bangladesh paradox’ argument. While Bangladesh’s economic growth and development performance over the past few decades have been impressive, the sustainability of Bangladesh’s development model, in which growth has been largely driven by a single sector (the RMG sector) and overseas remittances, faces serious questions, due to increasing pressures on the growth sectors and from a seeming inability to develop others. The article concludes that the poor pace of improvement of formal institutions will remain a binding constraint to meeting many of the development targets mentioned above. The second, third, and fourth pages of this issue present a brief overview of the Fourth SANEM-World Bank North America Discussion Forum 2023. South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), The World Bank and South Asia Economic Policy Network organized the Fourth SANEM-World Bank North America Discussion Forum 2023 at the World Bank premises in Washington, D.C., USA. The keynote speech of the conference was delivered by Mr Hans Timmer, Chief Economist for the South Asia region at the World Bank. A special address regarding regional cooperation in South Asia was delivered by Ms Cecile Fruman, Director of South Asia Regional Integration and Engagement, World Bank. The conference was streamed live through the web conferencing app Webex. The one-day conference held eight sessions on macroeconomics, health, education, inequality, gender, environment, energy, trade and labor market where scholars and economists from leading institutions of South Asia, Europe and North America presented their research works. The Forum is a platform for academicians, researchers, policy advocates and young aspiring economists to initiate a strong network among them. The conference concluded with a renewed commitment to strengthening the Forum and promoting quality economic research on development pathways and associated challenges in the context of South Asia.