Harvard Advisers

Researchers from the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) are preparing to launch a two-year, $4 million project to advise the government of Bangladesh on a variety of trade-related issues.

The Harvard group, which will begin sending 11 economists to Bangladesh this month, was selected by that country in November over competing consulting groups from the United States, Australia, and England, to carry out the World Bank-funded program.

The task force plans to suggest a series of reforms that will make Bangladesh's industries more competitive on the world market, said HIID Fellow and Project Coordinator Joseph Stern.

One overriding goal is to train the country's economists to sustain the work after the group leaves, he added.

Textile production is central to the nation's economy although the country has untapped resources of timber and national gas. Bangladesh received more than $1.1 billion in foreign aid last year, and is one of the poorest nations in the world, with an annual per capita income of less than $140.

The HIID has been involved in similar operations in developing countries since the mid 1950s, and is engaged in ongoing projects in Kenya, Indonesia, and the Ivory Coast.