In many respects, Bangladesh provides a potentially instructive story of development.
The country, with a relatively small and extremely vulnerable economy, is characterized
by high population density, low resource base, recurrent natural disasters, and persistent
socio-political instability.1
Despite such formidable constraints, Bangladesh has
performed relatively well especially in recent years, showing that a country can achieve
significant human and social development even at relatively low levels of per capita
income.2

Such ‘a quiet transition’ and ‘the silent ascent’ of the Bangladesh economy, which took
place in sharp contrast to the widespread pessimism that persisted until the 1980s,
points out that facilitating policies are important in achieving social and economic
development; that success in ensuring ‘right’ incentives is crucial in creating positive
responses even under extremely adverse situations.