Category: Economic Reform


  • Post-1975 policies of Zia shaped Bangladesh’s development: Stefan Dercon

    Post-1975 policies of Zia shaped Bangladesh’s development: Stefan Dercon

    Professor Stefan Dercon of Oxford University explained Bangladesh’s social and economic development.

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  • President Zia Has Reputation as ‘Bangladesh’s No. 1 Motivator’

    President Zia Has Reputation as ‘Bangladesh’s No. 1 Motivator’

    Stuart Auerbach, Washington Post (March 28, 1981) Ten years ago today an obscure Army major named Ziaur Rahman proclaimed to the world over a captured radio station Bangladesh’s independence. Now Zia, a retired general, is Bangladesh’s president. Zia is described by correspondents who cover him regularly as “Bangladesh’s number one motivator.” His agriculture secretary, A.…

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  • Bangladeshi Villagers Despair at Loss of President

    Bangladeshi Villagers Despair at Loss of President

    William Branigin, Washington Post (June 3, 1981) Iman Ali Sarder paused by the side of the road outside this village northeast of Dacca, holding up an old black umbrella with a carved, wooden handle to shade himself from the blazing sun. The 67-year-old farmer listened stoically to a visitor’s question, but as he answered a…

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  • Joint Statement: Meeting with President Ziaur of Bangladesh

    Joint Statement: Meeting with President Ziaur of Bangladesh

    President Carter and President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh met for one hour today. The two Presidents held a wide-ranging discussion on bilateral and international matters. Others participating in the talks included Foreign Minister Shamsul Huq, Agriculture Minister Nurul Islam, Information Consultant Daud Khan Majlis, Ambassador Tabarak Husain and Additional Foreign Secretary Ataul Karim for Bangladesh…

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  • The Times Biography: Zia Ur-Rahman

    The Times Biography: Zia Ur-Rahman

    The Times: Biography (June 1, 19781) President Zia ur-Rahman of Bangladesh, who was killed at the age of 45 in Chittagong on May 30 during an insurrection against the government, had been the effective instrument of power in the country since soon after the overthrow and assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by a group of…

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  • Don’t Write Off Bangladesh

    Don’t Write Off Bangladesh

    The New York Times Editorial (June 12, 1981) At first glance, the recent news from Bangladesh seems only to confirm that nation’s pathetic image. Born out of a fracturing of Pakistan only a decade ago, Bangladesh early on gained a reputation as an international ”basket case,” a metaphor for misery and hopelessness. Only charity and…

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  • Analysis: The Garments Takeoff

    Analysis: The Garments Takeoff

    Mushtaq Husain Khan [This article is extracted from a working paper of Professor Mushtaq Husain Khan of SOAS University of London to allow the readers to understand the story of Bangladesh’s RMG industry in the late 1970s and the role of Ziaur Rahman] The growth of the ready-made garments industry in Bangladesh has often been…

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  • Bangladeshi Leader Tireless in Pep Talks to People

    Bangladeshi Leader Tireless in Pep Talks to People

    Michael T. Kaufman, The New York Times (July 28, 1980) As he does three or four times every week, President Ziaur Rahman recently flew to villages and country towns in Bangladesh to exhort cheering crowds to produce more food and have fewer children. In this river port, the 43-year-old President walked into crowds waiting for…

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  • Where to Look for Aid: New Ideas for Third World

    Where to Look for Aid: New Ideas for Third World

    Bernard D. Nossiter, The New York Times (August 29, 1980) Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman, the President of Bangladesh, has been uttering heresy at the United Nations bargaining session between rich and poor. Unlike most spokesmen here for developing countries, General Zia does not think that the task of aiding the poor is exclusively a Western…

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  • Bangladesh’s Soft‐Spoken but Strict President

    Bangladesh’s Soft‐Spoken but Strict President

    One hot, sultry evening two years ago, shortly after he had taken over as the military ruler of Bangladesh, Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman was sitting in the living room of his white‐stone bungalow here explaining the country’s international relations. When a reporter raised the possibility of a regional alliance in southern Asia, General Zia paused…

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