As Bangladesh charts its course to become a developed economy by 2041, invaluable lessons can be drawn from Singapore’s remarkable transformation under the visionary leadership of Lee Kuan Yew. In an article, Syed Samiul Huq points out that Singapore, despite having no natural resources and dealing with major difficulties after gaining independence in 1965, embraced a daring vision and practical approaches. policies to achieve unprecedented prosperity. This economic blueprint offers a powerful model for Bangladesh to navigate its own development journey. A core lesson for Bangladesh is the emphasis on Total Factor Productivity (TFP). Singapore’s success stemmed from its focus on the efficient utilization of existing resources like labor and capital, rather than merely increasing their quantity. This involved a strategic shift from low-cost assembly to high-value sectors such as biomedical sciences and financial services, driven by deliberate choices in skill development, adoption of foreign technology, and streamlined policy execution. For Bangladesh, this translates into an urgent need for investment in vocational and STEM education, modernizing logistics and digital infrastructure, and establishing a regulatory environment that enhances operational efficiency across all sectors. Another critical takeaway is the paramount importance of strong institutions and effective governance. Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) is cited as a prime example of a strategic investor, actively enabling growth rather than acting as a bureaucratic hurdle. Similarly, Bangladeshi agencies like the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) must evolve from procedural bottlenecks to proactive facilitators of growth. This requires concerted efforts in digitization, depoliticization, and implementing performance-linked governance structures. Furthermore, Singapore’s success in efficient resource allocation through targeted industrial policies, exemplified by its Government-Linked Companies (GLCs), suggests Bangladesh should strategically focus its support on catalytic sectors like electronics, medical devices, agro-processing, software, and light engineering. Singapore’s journey also underscores the power of reinvesting high domestic savings, often mobilized through mechanisms like the Central Provident Fund (CPF), into vital areas such as housing, infrastructure, and technology. This approach significantly reduced reliance on volatile external debt. With Bangladesh facing growing external debt and a relatively lower national savings rate, considering a contributory pension system linked with sovereign investment funds could offer a sustainable pathway for domestic capital formation. Ultimately, Singaporeโs predictable, rule-based environment, which effectively separated long-term economic strategy from short-term political fluctuations, presents a fundamental principle for Bangladesh to adopt, potentially through robust institutional frameworks like a financial council that includes members from both sides or a strengthened planning group. While Bangladeshโs context is unique, the economic logic underpinning Singapore’s TFP-led transformation holds universal applicability.
