Introduction

As a Bangladeshi national, I am always thinking about the future of my country. Bangladesh is the only country I can call home, and with few travel opportunities, I have minimal first-hand experience of the outside world. Thus, I love my country dearly and hope to be part of the change my country is going through.

As a millennial, I was born during a time when most of the fellow citizens of my country were poor. Once dubbed a basket case by the famous American diplomat Henry Kissinger, Bangladesh has seen prosperity in recent years.

We were left with a war-torn state and millions of broken dreams when Bangladesh first took birth on the international stage back in 1971, but I am sure that most of the freedom fighters that gave their lives for our freedom would be proud of what we have achieved in the 50 years since our Independence.

The current outlook of Bangladesh

The World Bank and many reputed foreign international organizations have projected a bright outlook for Bangladesh, and all the recent developments are making us citizens hopeful about our future.

Currently, Bangladesh is sitting on a massive demographic dividend, with a significant amount of the population under the age of 40. This means that a massive amount of potential workforce is waiting to enter the job and contribute to the country's economic development.

Almost one-third of the population of Bangladesh is below the age of 18, and all of these people will be in their 40s and 50s when Bangladesh enters the decade 2050. So, it is up to them and our millennial generation to pull ourselves together and work hard to achieve the dreams of our collective conscience.

The current government of Bangladesh has set a target to achieve the status of a developed nation by 2041, when the country enters the 70th year of Independence. Although the target may seem to be too difficult to achieve at the moment, realistically, we can become a developed nation by 2050 if we start implementing sound economic policies right now and focus on heavily industrializing our nation and shifting our society from an agriculture-dependent one to a manufacturing hub of South Asia.

Bangladesh faces several challenges towards becoming a developed nation, but current developments point toward a bright future. We recently graduated from a Least Developed Nation (LDC) to a developing nation, and the UN granted us the honor at the start of 2021.

What lies ahead?

Bangladesh currently exports around $40 billion worth of goods worldwide, with ready-made garments (RMG) making up almost 80 percent of our export figure. Although the export figure sounds impressive on paper, we rely too heavily on a select amount of goods which is not a good sign for a sustainable economic future.

Thus, we have to shift our focus towards manufacturing more high-value items, such as automobiles, and start exporting them to other nations in Asia and Europe. This will help us increase our export figure substantially while slowly waning our heavy dependence on RMGs.

Bangladesh is also a prolific exporter of the workforce, with some 10 million Bangladeshis living outside its borders. That is around 6 percent of the population of the motherland, and they tirelessly break their sweat day in and day out to send money back home to their families. This has resulted in the country receiving more than $24.77 billion in the fiscal year of 2021.

Thanks to the work of our expatriate Bangladeshi brothers and sisters, our foreign reserve hit a record $47 billion in September of 2021. Expatriate Bangladeshis have contributed massively to the country's socio-economic development, and we need to focus now on outsourcing a skilled labor force in the coming future so that our economic development can be sustained well into 2050.

The Awami League-led government of Bangladesh has also headlined several massive infrastructure projects, such as the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and the Padma Bridge project, which are set to revolutionize the country.

Infrastructure is crucial in uplifting people from poverty and connecting a nation's people. Another plan to set up 100 economic zones spread across the country will help Bangladesh become a significant manufacturing hub in South Asia.

Conclusion

All the current signs indicate that Bangladesh will be a significant player in South Asia and on the global stage in the coming future. Our young population, coupled with our strategic geographic location, means that we are at the cusp of achieving glory if we all keep our heads together and work towards improving our society and our nation. After all, every citizen of this great country loves Bangladesh with all their heart.