Bangladesh, Nepal And Laos Granted Graduation To Developing Countries Bloc

By Our Special Correspondent

The United Nations General Assembly on November 24, 2021 passed a historic resolution, A/76/L.6/Rev.1, that grants three countries Bangladesh, Nepal and the Laos People’s Democratic Republic—graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category to the Developing Country (DC) grouping, marking a significant step forward in all three countries’ development, “The three countries will graduate from the LDC category after an exceptionally long preparatory period of five years (the standard period is three years) to allow them to plan for a post-Covid-19 recovery and implement policies and strategies to reverse the economic and social damage caused by the Covid-19 shock,” the United Nations said in a statement.

Bangladesh will formally become a developing country in 2026, after a United Nations commission suggested that the country be given five years instead of three to prepare for the transition because of the economic impact of the Covid-19. Bangladesh’s poverty rate was 83% when the United Nations classified it as an LDC in 1975. Since then, poverty decreased throughout, reaching 20.5% in 2019-20 before the pandemic destroyed many people’s jobs and economic options. In two triennial reviews, the country met all three graduation criteria: per capita income (PCI), human assets index (HAI), and economic and environmental vulnerability index (EVI).

Nepal was designed as the LDC in 1975. It is being promoted to the DC status by just meeting the indicators related to the HAI and EVI in three consecutive triennial reviews in 2015, 2018 and 2021. Its per capita income, at $1,191, has remained less than the minimum threshold required for the graduation i.e. $1,222.

The socialist Southeast Asian country of Laos, which was included in the LDC category in 1971, is scheduled to graduate to Developing Country status in 2026. According to World Bank, Laos, with a per capita income of $2,625.61 in 2021, was all set to achieve a GDP growth of 3.6% in 2021.

According to the United Nations Committee on Development Policy (UNCDP, there are now 46 nations on the LDC list. Every three years, membership is reviewed based on the average gross national income (GDP plus net income from overseas); human assets (under-five mortality rate, gross secondary enrolment ratio, and adult literacy rate); and economic vulnerability.