Bangladesh is moving forward in term of economic development as the country’s most of the economic indicators showing positive growth despite the global crisis. The wage rate has been witnessing an uptrend as it reached 7.06% in January up from 7% in December while the remittance has been rising last several months to stand at $12.45 billion during the July-January period of the current fiscal year (FY23). The foreign currency reserve, which was hovering around $32 billion over the last couple of months, stood at $32.64 billion on February 8 and the export earnings also rose to $32.44 billion during the July-January period of the current fiscal year.

Padma Bridge is not just a single critical infrastructure, but also, it evolves into an entire project integrating a communication system, with a sustainable ecosystem. Apart from the rise in tourists visiting various attractions in the country’s southwestern region – facilitated by the improved communication thanks to the bridge, a large number of people are arriving just to see the Padma Bridge, a modern infrastructure marvel. Many hotels, restaurants, resorts, and parks have been built near the bridge. Many have changed professions in the hope of earning more. According to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority, some 27,37,590 vehicles from both sides of the river crossed the bridge until December 2022.

As part of its humanitarian efforts, the government has announced a programme to provide rice for free to 10 million (one crore) ultra-poor people as food support during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan. The government imported the rice from Myanmar for distribution among the people during Ramadan which will begin on March 23 subject to moon sighting. Moreover, the open market sale (OMS) programme will also continue along with the upcoming food distribution programme under under Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) scheme. A person of the lower income bracket could purchase rice at Tk30 per kilogramme (KG) while ata at Tk24 a kg under OMS programme.

A school-feeding program will be launched at all government primary schools in June with an aim at addressing nutritional deficiencies of primary-school children, and ensuring 100% enrolment in schools, regular school attendance, prevention of dropouts and timely completion of education cycle. Launched in 2010 in 104 upazilas of the country, the project, titled School Feeding in Poverty-stricken Areas ended in June 2022. This scheme stands among a raft of measures, devised by HPM Sheikh Hasina, to lift out people from the scourge of poverty and bring down drop out to zero at primary education level.

During a recent visit to Bangladesh, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said his country has total support to the leadership of HPM Sheikh Hasina, signaling a deepening engagement in bilateral ties between the countries. Describing the state of ties between two neighbouring countries as a very firm one, the diplomat said the whole world now values the Bangladesh-India relationships, which has already reached to a strategic level. This relationship is being strengthened further. In this context, the prime minister mentioned India as a trusted friend and hoped that this friendship would deepen further.

As a humanitarian gesture, Bangladesh will send another 10,000 tents to Turkey in addition to the 2,000 tents dispatched earlier to help the people made homeless by a massive earthquake. Bangladesh’s foreign minister Abdul Momen spoke to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to express condolences for the loss of life and offer support for people, according to media reports. Moreover, the government dispatched a transport aircraft from Bangabandhu Air Base, Dhaka to the Syrian capital of Damascus by special flight No. C-130 J.