Assignment Sample on C11IB International Business Context
Introduction
Bangladesh is a country situated in South Asia and surrounded by India in the west, east and north and shares a short border with Myanmar in the south-east and in the south bordered by Bay of Bengal. In order to expand the business in Bangladesh, it is necessary to execute the country analysis such as political, economic, social and operational through which the anticipated challenges faced by the business may be identified and mitigated in a positive way. In this report, country analysis will be done properly to support the business to flourish effectively and positively impact the country’s economy.
Political Issues in Bangladesh
Political relations are a highly important aspect in any country’s development as it helps in the trade and commerce of the country and the environment of the inner state highly influence the outer state. Moreover, the Bangladesh government has an extensive growth in the area of industrial policy and export-oriented growth strategy which increased from the past years (Trade.gov. 2021). The country has good foreign diplomatic relations with its neighbouring countries for which it helped the country in the area of trade such as the country has the largest delta which is famous for Ilish fish, which has a high market in India especially in West Bengal. However, the country has highly strict measures when it comes to trade especially in imports in which case the country has a registration process and the licensing is required in every small business (Privacyshield.gov. 2021). The recent political problems and added corruption and poverty are making the country cripple in case of education which is posing a great problem in the secular-democratic government of the country (Ict.org.il. 2021).
Although in the previous years due to such kinds of problems, elections have been suspended by the high court and with times people fear about the rising Islamic problems in the secular state, the people are hopeful for the future. Bangladesh is a multiparty state yet there are two dominant parties in the states which make the work of both the government and small business including export trading highly difficult to work in the state. Therefore, the government officials are trying hard to keep on a check regarding such issues. The Bangladesh government although has good diplomatic relations with other neighbouring countries yet some problems still arise in case of trade for the foreign countries. The restrictions in case of trade are there although the investors have raised some concerns about the lack of transparency in case of regulatory and administrative systems which frustrates the investors. The violence in the country is much prevalent with the proof from the recent events as may be seen where more than 40 people got killed and hundreds injured in political violence during a parliamentary election (News.bbc.co.uk. 2021).
The violence and agitation remained for many years even after the country became independent from British rule due to the influence of Pakistan. On the other hand, Bangladesh has spent 15 years under military rule although democracy was restored in 1990, yet the political scene in the country remained unstable with Islamic extremists rioting the tolerant country (BBC News. 2021). Most specifically, the constitutional flexibility of the country has been able to save the country from time to time and also the leaders’ good handling of the situation. Additionally, with the increase in the agitation of such extremist violence in the country the democratic rule has been in great doubt for the country by extortion of money to get more political back up in the country has increased in the due course. In the given issues the government may be able to take some measures such as to reduce the economic problems the government may be able to increase the military influence more so that such kind of violence may be reduced in the future.
Economic Issues in Bangladesh
Bangladesh has become the fastest growing country to eradicate poverty and the increase in such eradication has been highly impressive. Although due to the Covid-19 situation, the country has to face some challenges in order to maintain such a record with a good preparedness and response plan by the government. The worldwide lockdown had a grave impact on all over the world with every small to big business to companies remained closed except the emergency services, this too affected Bangladesh which poverty eradication reduced and increased to 18.1% from 14.4% in several dimensions in 2020 (Worldbank.org. 2021). Although the country successfully was able to vaccinate people who became possible with the added finance which the Ministry of Finance incorporated, that is 2.5 billion Tk. for the preparedness and response plan for the Covid-19 situation (Imf.org, 2021). However, this helped the country in the sustenance during the pandemic situation by providing a special fund for the workers, who lost the jobs yet the whole finance was not enough for such a huge population.
Furthermore, with all such problems and the added finance of the country put the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in an exceptionally problematic place according to the IMF, which made the country to remain under the poverty line. Moreover, the country due to such poverty is mostly rural with little indication of urbanization which puts the country industrially more lacking although having inclined to agricultural processed industries. Bangladesh being a more agricultural country than an industrial one, sometimes puts the country in a bad position when it comes to advancement in the country irrespective of the field. Thus, according to the World Bank, Bangladesh’s lower middle-income status in 2015 was GNI per capita of $1,190 which increased in 2020 to $2.010 (Trade.gov. 2021). Additionally, during the pandemic situation the currency exchange service got disrupted in Bangladesh which put the foreign nationals as well as Bangladesh nationals to face huge travel problems.
The recent repatriation and external payments which have created quite a lot of problems with America and other foreign investors by raising concern about the fact of huge corruption and high tax disputes. Furthermore, as the country is based mostly in the rural economy, so, the disruption of the economy such as the delay in the cases of the lack of farm produce, material cost disruptions and the increase in the cost which directly affected the transfer in money and non-farm business sales. On the contrary, as livelihoods vary depending on the geographical locations, it is always hard to say who were beneficial and who were most affected even after getting compensation from the government although the most affected was the household headed by female members. Although due to such grave problems in agriculture the rural people started to take up other business or work which might help them to earn a living for the family.
Moreover, it may be stated that the huge problems that Bangladesh faced during the pandemic may be mitigated by the government by maintaining equilibrium among the compensation which the government provided to the rural people. Furthermore, as the country is mostly rural and urbanization still has not touched so much so it may be stated that the export market may be able to increase the country’s growth rate and also the faster the country vaccinates the people the more the people may be able to start the work. Therefore, whatever measures the country takes it has to be extremely careful as the pandemic has already hugely affected the country in every dimension.
Social Issues in Bangladesh
Bangladesh being a secular democratic country has helped in keeping the equality status among both men and women quite well in the workplace situation. Moreover, in 2021 the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised to end child marriages in case of girls fewer than 15 years though little has been done in that area (Human Rights Watch. 2021). The inequality in case of gender increased more in the pandemic with the increase in several other dimensions which caused a lot for the country. However, the growth of population was quite low which helped in taking up skilled workers and increase in the case of employment, although after the pandemic hit the unemployment rate started to increase due to the increase in population (Refer to Appendix 1). Furthermore, new and better kinds of programs for the students have been incorporated so that the students become aware about the social issues of the country and necessarily help in mitigating such issues of the country (Cia.gov. 2021). In addition to this, in a low-income country such as Bangladesh maintaining social distancing norms in the countries especially in some areas is quite difficult.
The slum dwellers and low-income families who are not even aware about the pandemic did not have any kind of idea and for these kinds of people as education is quite low so, maintaining Covid-19 protocols is quite not possible. Therefore, awareness among these kinds of people was utmost necessary to curb the spread of the virus. The limited resources during the pandemic and on top of that fear among the people increased concern in both the government and also of the people because lack of resources means decrease in the chances of cure. Moreover, inadequate testing facilities too increased the concern among the people and shortage of health workers and help in the lockdown have increased the concern of the people even more. The government is trying to take utmost measures by providing proper hygiene on supplying free sanitizers and washroom facilities. The shortage of funds and economy have kept the government from taking proper measures in case of social awareness which lead to the more spread of the Covid-19.
Furthermore, as Bangladesh is a rural country mostly the food shortages occurred as the transportation stopped due to the lockdown situation and it highly created a problem for people living all over the country. Additionally, the food distribution process got so much restricted due to the safety protocols that the low incomes families started facing hunger and starvation. Although the problem arose with the agricultural farmers who were not able to supply the food produced due to the shortage of transportation which created a lot of problems in the economy in the household of the farmers too as lack of finance created food shortages too in the farmers’ houses. The pandemic however, had a huge impact on the poor because the poor rural people had no other option to buy food if those people did not sell the produce which heavily affected the rural people. The pandemic although put a huge impact on the people of Bangladesh similar to the rest of the world yet it may be stated that certain measures may have been taken such as the awareness among the poor people by the government and some facilities of the transportation which might be absolutely helpful for the rural people to earn the living.
Operational Issues in Bangladesh
The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic has shook the whole world and it did not even leave Bangladesh, which got a lot affected being an agriculture based economic country. Moreover, the country after such a surge tried the best in maintaining the cases of Covid-19 by incorporating social distancing norms, incorporating lockdown all over the country and tried to help the low income families by providing compensation and relief measures. Furthermore, the government included finances in the country’s economy and tried to bring out the best of the economy although it was not enough. The more affecting condition for Bangladesh occurred when thousands of Rohingya refugees took shelter in the pandemic in the country which affected the already affected economy of the country. Although the pandemic is not only the thing which is bringing the backwardness in the business, environmental concern is also a major issue in case of business backwardness in case of Bangladesh because a lot of businesses are not even aware about the environmental concern in the world. Additionally, the small businesses and other big companies are not even aware about the environmental sustainability which may cause grave effects not only in the economy, also in the case of social plans and projects as well (Oecd.org. 2021).
However, many private sectors put the environment too in danger even when a lot of measures have been taken and which might be possible as there are huge cases of corruption in the case of Bangladesh. Tourism and transportation are the potential medium of economic surge for Bangladesh which completely went off due to the pandemic which affected the economy a lot. However, the transportation had to slowly start as the medical facilities were mandatory during the pandemic and also many people were badly affected in the pandemic situation in remote areas who needed special care. The export and import trading were practically off which too affected the economy yet the government made sure that with the ease in the cases the trade facilities may slowly start as it might be a big problem for the economic conditions of the country due to the stagnation in trade. The Supply Chain got mostly disrupted in the country as many garment industries were not able to work because of the shortage of the supplies and even due to inadequate trade as many materials are imported from the foreign lands.
Furthermore, because of such a nation rather than a worldwide lockdown situation have affected not only domestic trade, furthermore, also the foreign trade too. Moreover, due to less idea about environmental sustainability, the private sector especially lacks in the waste management area which affects the climate protocols of the industry management and also which affects the environment as a whole. Moreover, to increase the influence of international trade and business in the country the government has taken up many advanced measures so that it might help the country to grow in the future and also the work during the Covid-19 situation and the increase in the poverty growth have impressed the international arena.
Bangladesh has undoubtedly worked a lot hard during the pandemic yet in some cases the country lacked in some areas. Additionally, in case of the curbing the cases during the pandemic situation the country did worked well although the trading and other small business may have been able to tackled in a different way such as giving these people a little privilege when the question arises about the livelihood and also the compensation the government gave did not reach the desired people and those people remain below poverty.
Conclusion
It may be stated that Bangladesh, similar to most other developing countries, struggled a lot during the Covid-19 pandemic yet it came out of it successfully with an increase in the less poverty-stricken people in the country. Thus, it may be suggested that after such political, economic, social and operational hardships the country was able to stand up straight and was able to handle the situation of the country well throughout.
References
Imf.org. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Policy-Responses-to-COVID-19#B> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Worldbank.org. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/bangladesh/overview#1> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
BBC News. 2021. Bangladesh country profile. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12650940> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Cia.gov. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.cia.gov/careers/student-programs/> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Human Rights Watch. 2021. World Report 2020: Rights Trends in Bangladesh. [online] Available at: <https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/bangladesh#> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Ict.org.il. 2021. Challenges Facing Bangladesh. [online] Available at: <https://www.ict.org.il/Article/979/Challenges%20Facing%20Bangladesh#gsc.tab=0> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
International Trade Administration | Trade.gov. 2021. Bangladesh – Market Overview. [online] Available at: <https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/bangladesh-market-overview> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
News.bbc.co.uk. 2021. BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Is Bangladesh heading towards disaster?. [online] Available at: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6241263.stm> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
Oecd.org. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.oecd.org/env/cc/21055658.pdf> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
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