Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina delivers a keynote speech followed by a conversation with Alex Thier, Executive Director of ODI and a moderated audience Q&A.

In March 2018, Bangladesh, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, met the threshold for graduating from least developed country (LDC) status, marking a milestone in the nation’s development. It is the first ever country to graduate based on meeting all three criteria in economic and human development, with significant progress made in areas such as sanitation, health and education.

Bangladesh has now embarked on becoming a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041. However, challenges such as export diversification, infrastructure development, maternal health and gender gaps in the workforce remain. At the same time, Bangladesh has given shelter to over a million persecuted Rohingya who have fled the neighbouring Myanmar, and is working with the international community to alleviate the crisis.

At this event, Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina provides insights into Bangladesh’s development story, answering these key questions:

• What are some of the policies and programmes that have led Bangladesh to graduate from LDC status?
• What opportunities and challenges does this bring?
• What is the Government of Bangladesh’s vision for development progress in the short and medium term?
• How can the international community work with Bangladesh to resolve the Rohingya crisis?

A networking reception will follow the event. 

Biographies:

Honourable Sheikh Hasina is the Prime Minister of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and is the daughter of the country's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Since becoming the President of the largest political party in the country - Bangladesh Awami League - in 1981, she waged movements against autocratic regimes for establishing democracy and people's rights. She led her party to power in the 1996 general election and became the Prime Minister for the first time. Her party won landslide victories in the 2008 and 2014 general elections and she assumed the office of Prime Minister on 12 January 2014 for the third time. 

Biography provided by the High Commission for the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the UK.

Alex Thier is the Executive Director of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). Prior to joining ODI in January 2017, he was a senior official at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and founder of Triple Helix, a US-based consultancy firm which he founded to increase access to off-grid, renewable energy in Africa and Asia.