The May, 2017 issue of Thinking Aloud comes with the theme of ‘Challenges to achieve the SDGs’. The first article titled “Are South Asian countries experiencing premature deindustrialization?” highlights the importance of the targets under SDG 9, which postulates the need for substantially raising the manufacturing value-added share in GDP. The analysis suggests that, with the exception of Bangladesh, all other South Asian countries have been experiencing premature deindustrialization. The article advocates for the improvement in human capital and pro-active trade and industrial policies in terms of setting up special economic zones and FDI for manufacturing industries. The second article titled “Financing of SDGs in Bangladesh” identifies five major sources of financing the implementation costs of SDGs in Bangladesh and they are private sector, public sector, public-private partnership, external financing and NGOs. The article emphasizes that the private sector would need to bear 40-50 percent of the total SDGs costs over the next 15 years, while the public sector contribution should be between 30 to 40 percent. The analysis estimated 20 percent of the resource requirements to be met by contribution from less conventional sources, which include external financing, public-private partnership and NGOs. In this issue, SANEM interviews Mr. Sudipto Mukerjee, the Country Director of UNDP Bangladesh, on the challenges and policy issues regarding smooth implementation of SDGs in Bangladesh. Mr. Mukerjee stresses on prioritizing the two most challenging areas for Bangladesh – development in human capital and reducing climate change vulnerability. He has also emphasized on increasing the coverage of social protection and social safety net programs to reduce inequality within country. The fourth page covers the events that took place in the month of April, 2017.
