<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Prominent Economist Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed has said that social values have eroded severely at the individual level as competition for wealth has risen.</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>He said this at a discussion meeting titled 'Inclusive Development in Bangladesh Challenge and Opportunity' organized by The Business Eye, at Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia Hall of the National Press Club on Saturday.</div><div><br></div><div>Dr Kholiquzzaman said, “The country has progressed a lot. There has been economic development. People's income increased; the poverty rate decreased. But the inequality in the country did not decrease at that rate.”</div><div><br></div><div>“In order to reduce this disparity, it is necessary to break the triangular power syndicate of politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen along with fighting corruption,” he pointed out.</div><div><br></div><div>The eminent economist said Bangabandhu took all the measures for the development of the people, he focused on people-centered agriculture, and he focused on everything from education. But after Bangabandhu, it did not exist anymore.</div><div><br></div><div>“This economist said, we have moved out of human centricity and towards capital centricity. Till 2009 we were mired in poverty. Then in 2015, we became a middle-income country. Since then, there has been a lot of development in the country,” he pointed out.</div><div><br></div><div>Former state minister Dr. Shamsul Alam said that the country's remittances have increased and Bangladesh has become a country with a $465 billion economy, from $72 billion.</div><div><br></div><div>“Poverty decreased; education rate increased. Inequality has increased somewhat due to the rapid growth of the country. The government has given importance to social security to reduce inequality,” he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Dr. Alam said, “We could not reduce inequality because of corruption. To reduce this inequality, corruption should be reduced. Similarly, taxes should be paid fairly. The government will adopt a zero-tolerance policy on corruption in the future. The government will be rigorous to both loan defaulters and bill defaulters.”</div><div><br></div><div>Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Dr. Atiur Rahman said that most of the development over 50 years has taken place in the last 15 years, reports UNB.</div><div><br></div><div>BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said that inclusive development took place in Bangladesh.</div><div><br></div><div>He said, “98 percent of cotton is imported and the petrochemicals are 100 percent imported - despite this, Bangladesh is number two in the global market in terms of exports of cotton garments and number one in denim and knitwear."</div><div><br></div><div>A large portion of the population directly and indirectly are engaged with garment industries in the country, that is an example of inclusive growth, the BGMEA president added.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>