Bangladesh is a developing country with huge prospects. A few good and realistic steps can lead the country towards enormous development and prosperity. There are, however, some challenges in the way of achieving the desired level of prosperity by the next two decades. If co-ordinated efforts are taken in certain crucial areas of development, Bangladesh is destined to be a prosperous country in the near future. Since poverty alleviation is a major challenge of the Government of Bangladesh, priority should be given on socio-economic development of the underprivileged groups. The main emphasis here will be on adoption of integrated (f) and comprehensive approach taking the family as the basic unit for social services programmes with emphasis on family and group development rather than individual development. More than 50% of the country's GDP comes from the rural sector. Development of this sector is thus crucial for making Bangladesh prosperous. Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB), the Department of Co operatives and the Academies for Rural Development at Comilla and Bogra play important roles in environmental efforts for rural development. Alongside the public sector, the NGOs need to play a key-role in rural development efforts. Organizations like the Grameen Bank and BRAC have earned world-wide acclaim in the field.
The present government has undertaken various measures to expand the opportunities for domestic and overseas employment. Remittances (car e) from Bangladeshis working abroad have marked a steep rise during the nineties due to a massive outflow of workers from Bangladesh. As an export item, manpower exports currently occupy the second position with an annual inflow of over 1 billion U.S. Dollars. The Middle Eastern countries along with Malaysia, South Korea and Japan are the principal destination for Bangladeshi workers. Vocational training institutes across the country produce skilled manpower both for domestic and overseas employment. Because of rapid population growth, human resource development and generation of employment opportunities should be attached topmost priority by the government. The Government is trying hard to integrate the womenfolk of the country into the mainstream of the development process. The National Women's Development Policy must aim at improving the lot of the neglected womenfolk of the country, ensure equality of men and women in all spheres of national life including state, society, family, politics, administrative and economic arena.
The youths are potentially the most productive force in Bangladesh. They constitute 36% of the total civilian labour force. The government has taken up various programmes for their socio-economic uplift. The Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Department of Youth Development are entrusted with the responsibility of providing unified direction and co-ordination to the youth development process. We will not be able to make Bangladesh a prosperous one overnight. But if we follow the above mentioned strategies, our Bangladesh will be prosperous very soon.
