Article published in AmCham Journal, Bangladesh Moving Forward: Volume 16, Issue 3, pp. 11-17. Dhaka, July-September 2022.
Issues relating to the quality of investment concerning public infrastructure projects, in developing country contexts, have been attracting increasing attention in recent times, for several reasons: firstly, as countries move forward along development trajectory, the demands for socio-economic infrastructure and the associated services tend to rise significantly; secondly, since these infrastructures are by nature public goods, the state and public sector have to take up the responsibility of underwriting these investments; thirdly, since large sums are involved in implementing the public investment projects (PIPs), ensuring good governance has assumed heightened importance in view of implementing the PIPs; fourthly, lack of good value for money has emerged as a major concern in many developing countries; and fifthly, resource-constrained developing countries often struggle to come up with appropriate and contextualised frameworks to ensure and embed good governance practices in PIP implementation. In this backdrop, the paper focuses on four areas, presented in four dedicated sub-sections, which concern issues of raising quality of implementation of PIPs in Bangladesh: the growing importance of PIPs to sustain and accelerate socio-economic development of developing countries such as Bangladesh; the emerging good governance deficits in PIP implementation in Bangladesh; OECD good governance framework as a reference point for Bangladesh; and recommendations in going forward.
Author: Mustafizur Rahman
Publication period: September 2022