Thinking Aloud: Volume IX, Issue 8: January 1, 2023

The January 2023 issue of Thinking Aloud focuses on the contemporary issues facing tomorrow’s Bangladesh including agriculture and food security, energy security, and youth development. The first-page article titled “Expectations about the economy of Bangladesh in the new year” overviews the challenges Bangladesh’s economy faced in 2022 and outlines the expectations for 2023. The article concluded with an optimistic view and suggested a couple of recommendations to mitigate the challenges. For instance, the article suggested expanding the social security net, critical reforms in the taxation sector, banking sector, capital market, trade policy, and management of the exchange rate. Such reforms, along with the faster and cost-effective implementation of some mega infrastructural projects and some Special Economic Zones, are expected to make the Bangladesh economy more resilient to shocks. The second and third-page articles of this issue discuss some crucial issues regarding Bangladesh’s future of agriculture, youth and green energy. The article titled “Agricultural production potentials: Where are we heading to?”, highlights crucial factors of Bangladesh’s food security including land and capital utilization, import dependency and natural disasters. Highlighting the adverse effects of climate change on agricultural production, the article proposes incorporating climate-smart agriculture and other innovative techniques for sustaining food security in the long term. The article titled, “Towards a greener future for Bangladesh”, discusses some key challenges in Bangladesh’s transition towards a clean and renewable energy structure. It points out that there are three significant concerns regarding financing, technology transfer and political economy that will require special attention from policymakers and relevant stakeholders. The article titled, “Youth development: What gets the gears moving toward a demographic dividend” discusses the potential of the youth in furthering the development of Bangladesh. To do so, the article argues, there need to be strong policy interventions in the areas of health, education, employment and governance. The fourth page draws attention to the events that took place in December 2022. Last but not the least, the editorial team would like to wish the well-wishers and friends of SANEM a happy new year!