15-01-2019

EDITORIAL
TUeSDAY,
JAnUArY 15, 2019
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
Telephone: +8802-9104683-84, Fax: 9127103
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Welcome treaty with
the netherlands
B
angladesh
signed a memorandum of understanding
with the Netherlands recently. The news was
headlined in this paper. Called the Bangladesh Delta
plan 2100, it envisages the establishment of cooperation
with the Dutch in all respects of water management from
50-100 years. One would only wish for the best for this plan
and for it to continue because Bangladesh stands to be
benefited immensely from it.
Information-- indicating the future of Bangladesh most
of the time -- appear to be short of hope. It is generally
made out that the future of the country is rather hopeless.
Far too many people are already seen living in this tiny
country in the physical sense. Thus, anxiety is expressed
about the living space for this population which would
become even greater in the future not to mention finding
the means of sustenance for the growing number.
But Malthus and all other prophets of doom have been
proved wrong in the context of Bangladesh. Bangladesh's
population nearly doubled in the last three decades.
However, so did its food production. Agricultural
production has been more than keeping pace with
population growth.
Thus, Bangladesh has not become a failed state like
Sudan or Somalia. It is still a land of hope for its
hardworking and resilient people. If only its political
leadership improved in their sincerity to truly lead the
country in the desired path, then, as most Bangladesh
watchers say, this country could achieve a much higher
level of economic progress by now.
As for the other formidable worry - land shortage - there
is good news waiting for this country. Although there has
been a long standing projection about a part of
Bangladesh's coastal areas sinking into the sea in the near
future from the greenhouse syndrome, regularly received
satellite imageries and other tangible supporting evidences
suggest that Bangladesh is rather about to receive the gift
of a huge land mass from its adjoining sea.
The size of this land mass, eventually, could be as big
as the present size of Bangladesh or even bigger. But it
will depend considerably on what the Bangladeshis
themselves do-- like the people of the Netherland did --
for lands to rise from the sea and for the same to be
joined to the mainland.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
is no doubt the most authoritative forum as regards
worldwide climate change and its consequences. But only
last year, IPCC had to eat its own words and confess that
some of its projections were flawed such as the imminent
disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers that could most
dramatically raise sea levels in the South Asian region.
Scientific data also indicate that nothing can be absolutely
said, yet, about the extent of sea level rise or the height of
its occurrences in different parts of the world.
Thus, it may eventually become quite possible for
Bangladesh to gain in elevation or new lands in its coastal
area in the likelihood of deposition of silt in its coastal
areas being faster or greater than the anticipated sea level
rise in this region.
Unfortunately, nothing has been noted so far in the
country's annual development plans (ADPs) to the effect
that the government is paying attention to this issue. No
allocations have been made over the years to build dams
and other structures to put a pace on the process of
accretion of coastal lands. Let us hope that the agreement
signed with the Netherlands will reverse this trend.
Already, substantial territories have surfaced in the
coastal areas of Bangladesh. Some of these places have
completely surfaced and have human habitations on them
while others remain submerged during tides to emerge
with the ebbing of the tide. The latter types of accreted
lands are likely to gain in elevation to be permanently
joined to the mainland. Indeed, a part of present day
Bangladesh including the districts of Faridpur, Barisal,
Noakhali, Patuakhali, etc., were formed in this manner
over time.
Lands have already emerged from the sea in the coastal
areas and more lands from the sea will hopefully rise in the
future. But the natural process is a long one. It can be
hastened and the technology for it is not so prohibitive or
complex either. For Bangladesh, it involves only
quickening the process of accretion by establishing
structures like cross dams to speed up the rate of
deposition of silt in areas that have accreted or nearly
accreted.
The country is likely to get a generous response from the
international community in matters of fund availability
and technical supports if it can show that it is really keen
to accrete more lands and has put the endeavour under a
systematic policy framework.
Netherlands is one country which has the most
experience in getting lands out of the sea. It had a situation
worse than Bangladesh in the sense that much of it was so
low lying and below the sea level that even high tides and
storms in the sea led to its severe flooding and continuing
inundation. Today, the Dutch have not only solved these
problems through sophisticated engineering works, they
have permanently reclaimed vast stretches of lands from
the sea and are keeping them dry for various uses within
secure barriers or sea walls.
Bangladesh can certainly gain from engaging the
Netherlands in doing similar work for it. If we can play the
Netherland card well, then in the near future we can also
expect to sustainably get huge lands from the sea. Not only
in land reclamation, the Dutch help will prove to be
invaluable in all fields of water management such as
fighting flood, river training, etc.
Dubai hopes to future-proof economy through university-linked free zones
What exactly is higher education
for? It's a question that few
pause to consider in an age when
education up to university level is not only
regarded virtually as mandatory, but has
also become a significant source of
income for many economies.
It is also a question that, indirectly, is
raised by the publication of a charter by
the government in Dubai that sets out
nine pledges designed to improve the
quality of life for future generations.
Some of these pledges, touching on
issues ranging from health-care,
investment and economic goals to selfsufficiency
in water, food and energy, are
natural extensions of the forwardthinking
philosophy that has seen Dubai
propelled from sleepy backwater to
vibrant global entrepôt in under a
lifetime. But as exciting as some of these
plans are, it is in the proposed
development of economic free zones
attached to universities that Dubai's
ongoing commitment to future-proofing
its citizens is most intriguingly evident.
Article 6 of the nine-point charter
recognizes a potential flaw in the
burgeoning of the education sector, and
sets out to correct it. "The end goal," it
states, should not be "only graduating
students but also coming up with
companies."
In other words, it's all very well to
educate citizens to the highest level, but if
there are no jobs for graduates, all that
has been achieved is the creation of a
highly educated class of unemployed,
with all that that portends for social
disruption. It's all very well to educate
citizens to the highest level, but if there
are no jobs for graduates, all that has been
President Emmanuel Macron will
launch this week a three-month
"great national debate" on the future
of France after prolonged 'yellow vest'
anti-government demonstrations
protests. The demonstrations have badly
weakened Macron and one of the key
political questions in 2019 is whether he
can recover some of his former sky-high
popularity.
The answer matters not just to France,
but also Europe and the world at large,
given that Macron has emerged as
perhaps the most authoritative defender
of the liberal international order in his
short period in office. Indeed, the French
president alongside his United States
counterpart Donald Trump currently
embody more than any other democratic
leaders the present 'battle' in international
relations between an apparently rising
populist tide and the centre ground, which
will continue to play out in 2019.
Macron's victory in 2017 against
Trump's preferred far-right National
Front candidate Marine Le Pen was so
striking as it defied the march of populism
in numerous countries that had seen
parties of the centre ground sometimes
taking a political battering. Macron's win
then appeared to represent at least a
partial turnaround in fortunes - in Europe
at least - for centre ground politics.
From the perspective of French
domestic politics, a critical question for
Macron in 2019 will be whether the yellow
vest protests have extinguished his
programme of economic reforms. These
achieved is the creation of a highly
educated class of unemployed, with all
that that portends for social disruption
Starting next year, Dubai intends to
create economic free zones alongside
private and national universities "to
support students in education, research
and finance while setting up their
businesses." This, in other words, will be
education with a tightly defined and
facilitated purpose. Dubai's initiative is
one of many in a United Arab Emirates
striving energetically to transform itself
into a post-oil knowledge economy in
which skilled citizens, rather than
imported talent, will play an increasingly
central role. Within days, the
announcement was followed by a study
from the UAE Ministry of Education,
based on the experience of 13,000
graduates, identifying which degrees
were most in demand in the jobs market
among those who graduated in 2017.
The message to the nation's schools was
clear: Steer pupils into subjects that will
benefit the development and economic
well-being of the nation. There is a note of
JonATHAn GornAll
caution to be sounded. Not everyone
wants to be an engineer or a contract
lawyer when he or she grows up, and
individual hopes and dreams must not be
trampled in the rush to fulfill the national
destiny. The UAE should take care to
ensure that the society it is so deliberately
shaping is a balanced one, in which
citizens' lives are enriched as much by art
and culture as they are by economic
success. That said, there can be no
arguing with the fact that financial
stability is the basic foundation stone that
Dubai's initiative is one of many in a United Arab
emirates striving energetically to transform itself into a
post-oil knowledge economy in which skilled citizens,
rather than imported talent, will play an increasingly
central role. Within days, the announcement was
followed by a study from the UAe Ministry of education,
based on the experience of 13,000 graduates, identifying
which degrees were most in demand in the jobs market
among those who graduated in 2017.
changes were thrown into doubt after the
president announced in December that he
has backtracked on a fuel tax hike and
gave billions of pounds in aid to try to end
the several weeks of protests.
In his New Year address, Macron
asserted that the reforms will continue,
and insisted that his government "can do
better" at improving the lives of citizens
across the nation. Yet, many yellow vest
protesters are calling for him to leave
office. The anger was underlined in a poll
released last week showing that 75 per
cent of the population are unhappy with
the way Macron is running the country.
The survey, for franceinfo and the Figaro
newspaper, compares bleakly for Macron
to one from April 2018 when 'only' 59 per
cent of those surveyed were unhappy with
the government, and that the top priority
for the French populace is finding ways to
boost consumer purchasing power. The
poll underlines the volatility of the political
mood in France which, ironically, helped
propel Macron's meteoric rise into power
AnDreW HAMMonD
must be in place if the UAE is to leave oil
behind and successfully face the
challenges of the future as a knowledgebased
economy. And Dubai's plan to
revitalize its education sector as an engine
of growth is a bold step in that direction.
The ambitious scheme is a radical
development of a successful model
already in action in individual universities
around the world, but which has never
before been applied to an entire national
education system. Proof of concept can be
found at the University of Cambridge,
which in 2006 formed Cambridge
in 2017. It was this similar antiestablishment
political sentiment that put
the country into uncharted territory by
ensuring Macron's En Marche! party -
which was only founded in April 2016 -
could not just win the presidency, but also
handsomely win the legislative ballots
with one of the biggest majorities since
former president Charles de Gaulle's 1968
landslide victory. In this continuing
volatile context, the outlook is highly
From the perspective of French domestic politics, a
critical question for Macron in 2019 will be whether
the yellow vest protests have extinguished his
programme of economic reforms. These changes
were thrown into doubt after the president
announced in December that he has backtracked on
a fuel tax hike and gave billions of pounds in aid to try
to end the several weeks of protests.
uncertain for the remainder of Macron's
presidency. Although a majority of voters
decided to favour hope (Macron) over
anger (Le Pen) in 2017, the tide could
potentially now turn decisively against
him if he fails to address the antiestablishment
anger fuelled by economic
pain, which has seen the country suffer
years of double-digit unemployment and
also low growth which pre-date his
presidency. Part of the challenge here for
Macron, the youngest president in the sixdecade-long
French Fifth Republic, has
been the very high initial expectations
Enterprise "to help?staff and students
commercialize their expertise and ideas,"
which it does by offering help to staff and
students in business creation,
consultancy and intellectual property
management.
Last financial year alone Cambridge
Enterprise supported 1,714 researchers,
filed 276 patents, generated 349
consultancy contracts, invested £5.2
million (US$6.7 million) in spin-off
companies and won £13 million in seed
funding for university clients.
Dubai doubtless also has an eye on the
success story that is Stanford University
in the US state of California. It blazed a
trail with the construction of Stanford
Research Park, which became a hotbed of
research and development that spawned
an entrepreneurial culture, generated
income for the university and kickstarted
Silicon Valley.
Not that Dubai requires much
instruction in entrepreneurship. Lacking
oil wealth, from the outset it was obliged
to build its own fortune, business venture
by business venture. Today, 90% of
Dubai's income is from commercial
activities, many linked to the shipping,
aviation and tourism sectors it developed
in the face of much contemporary
skepticism, and which today are worldleading
enterprises. As Dubai has clearly
recognized, a country that equips its
graduates to think and act like
entrepreneurs is a country that is
investing in its future in the most practical
way. It's an example that other economies
in the region, also facing the inevitable
end of oil, would do well to follow.
Source : Asia times
Why fate of Macron matters to the world
China's President Xi Jinping speaks
during an event to commemorate the
40th anniversary of the Message to
Compatriots in Taiwan at the Great Hall of
the People in Beijing on January 2, 2019.
(AFP)
The unfolding geopolitical contest between
China and the US has been described by
many as a new Cold War. If it ever becomes
a hot one, the flashpoint could be Taiwan,
owing in large part to Chinese policy toward
the island.
China's government suspended diplomatic
contact with Taiwan in June 2016 because
the pro-independence Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), which had just
returned to power, refused to recognize the
so-called 1992 Consensus, the political basis
for the "One China" principle. Since then,
however, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen
has pursued a moderate policy,
disappointing hardline DPP supporters.
That is not good enough for China, which
has continued to tighten the screws on
Taiwan. For example, it persuaded five other
countries to follow it in severing diplomatic
ties, reducing the number of countries that
maintain formal relations with the island to
just 17. China has also taken steps to stifle
tourism from the mainland: Whereas nearly
4.2 million mainland Chinese tourists visited
Taiwan in 2015, when the pro-Beijing
Kuomintang government was in power, the
total fell to just 2.7 million in 2017.
Taiwan's government has not blinked. But,
last November, the DPP did suffer
devastating losses in local elections, largely
because of anemic economic growth - an
outcome that drove the politically weakened
Tsai to resign as party leader.
For China, this seemed like the ideal
moment to turn up the heat. So, on Jan. 2,
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a
major speech on Taiwan, in which he made it
clear that China remains determined to seek
reunification.
Xi dismissed the argument that China's
autocratic political system is fundamentally
incompatible with Taiwan's boisterous
democracy, insisting that the "one country,
two systems" formula, first applied to Hong
Kong when it reverted from British to
Chinese rule in 1997, would be sufficient to
protect Taiwan's interests and autonomy.
The formula is, however, now unraveling in
Hong Kong, where freedoms have been
eroding during Xi's tenure.
Nor did Xi indicate that he would offer
concessions to entice Taiwan back to the
negotiating table. On the contrary, despite
declaring that "Chinese will not fight
Chinese," he refused to renounce the use of
force to prevent Taiwan from seeking formal
independence. China must, in his words,
"reserve the option to take any necessary
measure," though he claims that the threat is
aimed at "external forces and at an extremely
small number of 'Taiwan independence'
separatists."
Although Xi's tough stance toward Taiwan
may end up reinvigorating flagging support
for Tsai and the DPP, there is no reason to
think that he will abandon it any time soon.
Again, Taiwan's government was unfazed.
Tsai responded with a defiant speech of her
own, in which she flatly rejected both the
One China principle and the "one country,
two systems" formula, and called for the
international community to support
Taiwan's de facto independence.
Although Xi's tough stance toward Taiwan
may end up reinvigorating flagging support
for Tsai and the DPP, there is no reason to
surrounding his presidency. Here he will
be acutely aware how early optimism
during the last two presidencies of Nicolas
Sarkozy and Francois Hollande fizzled out
with both ultimately becoming unpopular
one-term heads of state. Indeed, Hollande
- who became the least popular president
since records began - decided not to even
seek re-election, the first incumbent not to
try for a second term in the Fifth Republic.
The stakes in play are so high because,
given voter discontent with the traditional
political duopoly of centre-right
Republicans and centre-left Socialists, if
Macron fails with his political
programme, the primary beneficiaries of
popular discontent with him may well be
extreme anti-establishment figures,
especially the leader of the far-right
National Front Le Pen. Although she was
comprehensively beaten by Macron in
2017, she nonetheless secured more than
40 per cent of the vote and is young
enough to run potentially in several more
presidential elections.
To regain the political initiative in this
context, and become a powerful
contender for a second term of office,
Macron needs to rebuild public
confidence in his policy agenda. During
his election campaign, he showed that
politicians of the centre ground often
benefit from having an optimistic,
forward-looking vision for tackling
complex, long-term policy challenges like
tackling stagnant living standards.
Source : Gulf news
China's perilous Taiwan policy causing friction with US
Minxin Pei
That is not good enough for China, which has continued to tighten
the screws on Taiwan. For example, it persuaded five other countries
to follow it in severing diplomatic ties, reducing the number of
countries that maintain formal relations with the island to just 17.
China has also taken steps to stifle tourism from the mainland:
Whereas nearly 4.2 million mainland Chinese tourists visited
Taiwan in 2015, when the pro-Beijing Kuomintang government was
in power, the total fell to just 2.7 million in 2017.
think that he will abandon it any time soon.
But nor is there reason to think that China's
policy will stop backfiring. While inflicting
economic pain and diplomatic humiliation
on Taiwan may produce some short-term
psychological satisfaction for China, the
island will adjust over time, and Chinese
actions will yield decreasing returns.
For example, after China cut the number
of mainland visitors, Taiwan turned its
attention to attracting tourists from other
countries. Despite the decline in visitors
from the mainland, 11 million tourists - a
new record - visited the island in 2018. To
reduce its economic dependence on the
mainland, Taiwan has also been aggressively
diversifying its overseas markets.
Moreover, although China's economy is far
larger, Taiwan has some important sources
of leverage. For example, restricting its
electronics industry - which forms a vital link
between China and global information
technology supply chains - from doing
business with the mainland would
significantly accelerate the exodus of exportoriented
manufacturers from China spurred
by rising US import tariffs.
Perhaps the most dangerous consequence
of China's Taiwan policy is that it raises
further tensions with the US. As the ultimate
protector of Taiwan's de facto independence,
the US has already taken steps to convey the
message that it will not just sit by and watch
China bully the island into submission.
Source: Arab News