Professor Pursell was of the view that Bangladesh has not substantially liberalised its economy and that next to India, Bangladesh now remains the most protected economy in South Asia. His remarks were contested by a number of participants at the dialogue. Among others, Commerce Secretary Suhel Ahmed , Tarrif Commission Chairman Humayun Azad Baksh, former President of MCCI Latifur Rahman, ICC-B President Mahbubur Rahman, FBCCI Director A Rouf Choudhury, Dr. Debapriya Bhattachrya, Prof. Mustafizur Rahman and Dr. Zaidi Sattar took part in the dialogue which was presided over by CPD Chairman Prof. Rehman Sobhan.
A number of discussants questioned some of the evidences and conclusions of the keynote speaker and were of the opinion that Bangladesh has liberalised her economy faster than any other country in South Asia

Fresh study needed to clear
Confusion over gas reserves

Suggest the experts

Experts, academics, intellectuals, politicians as well as representatives from donor agencies and international oil companies were of the view that scientific study should be undertaken afresh to clear the confusion over Bangladesh's gas reserves. However, they could not reach a consensus on some of the important issues related to the gas resource of the country and whether Bangladesh should export gas through pipeline.

This diverse group of policy stakeholders were brought together in a dialogue titled, Energy Sector of Bangladesh: What are the knowledge gaps? organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on January 24, 2002 at CIRDAP Auditorium, Dhaka. Presided over by Prof. Rehman Sobhan, Chairman of CPD, the key-note paper was presented by Prof. AKMA Quader and Prof. Edmound Gomes of the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Engineering Department of BUET. The report suggested that gas export through pipelines promised better returns compared to other forms of gas export.

State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources A.K.M Mossarraf Hossain, the Chief Guest, said that the actual amount of gas in the country cannot be determined unless drilling was carried out and lamented the financial constraint in undertaking such works.

The State Minister informed the participants that the Government is yet to take any decision on gas export. He also suggested that the gas export issue should be comprehensively discussed in the parliament.

Former State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Abul Hasan Chowdhury said that there was strong protest from the opposition when Awami Leage government talked of exporting gas after ensuring a 50-year reserve. He said that he was unsure about what caused the U-turn in the mindset of the then opposition party on the gas export issue.

Some participants felt that the country should not consider gas export before having actual figures on gas reserve. They also observed that there was a need for considering an alternative market for gas in the country.

Bangladesh can produce 2.1 million metric tons of additional rice annually worth US $420 million by ensuring quality seeds. However, this would require an efficient seed delivery system with active participation of private and public sectors and also various farmer organizations.

This view was expressed by Dr. Mahabub Hossain, Head of the Social Sciences Division of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines while presenting a keynote paper at a dialogue on Rice Seed Delivery System and Seed Policy. The dialogue was organised by the CPD on January 8, 2002 in collaboration with IRRI under the Poverty Elimination Through Rice Research Assistance Programe (PETRRA) project. The dialogue, held at the CIRDAP Auditorium, was moderated by CPD Chairman Prof. Rehman Sobhan.

Former Agriculture Secretary Dr. AMS Shawkhat Ali noted that the rate of variety replacement in the country was 10 per cent, which, according to him, should be enhanced to 20 per cent. He called for creation of an inventory of plant genetic resources and underscored the importance of setting up of an institute for plant genetic resources.