Medicines - Credit. Bigstock
The growth of Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical sector into an economic powerhouse has helped the country meet the necessary criteria for graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status.
But upon graduation, Bangladesh will need to begin bringing its policy landscape into compliance with the trade and intellectual property rules at the World Trade Organization (WTO) it was previously exempt from. As a result, Bangladesh’s pharmaceutical sector is set up for a potential collision course with the WTO, as the country must begin phasing out the flexibilities that allowed the sector its dynamism in the first place.
Exploring this predicament, a new working paper from the Boston University Global Development Policy Center demonstrates the potential for industrial policy to promote access to medicines, economic growth and development – and the implications when policymaking capabilities are constrained.
In 2018, Bangladesh met the necessary criteria for graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status and is now slated to graduate by 2026.
Bangladesh is one of few LDCs that has been able to gain a foothold in the global medicines market, which is characterized by significantly high entry barriers compared to other traded goods. The country’s pharmaceutical industry, which reached a market revenue of $2.8 billion in 2019, was shaped in the context of almost complete freedom from international trade and investment rules and has played a critical role in the country’s economic growth.
Upon graduation, Bangladesh’s policymakers will likely face an unfamiliar landscape of international commitments with the potential to slow down or undermine much of the economic progress Bangladesh has made in the past 40 years.
The lessons they learn won’t only apply to Bangladesh – they will also extend to other LDCs on the path to graduation.
A webinar in this regard will be held on Thursday, September 23 from 7:00AM to 8:30 AM, says a press release