Gross expenditure in research and development (GERD) in Bangladesh as a share of GDP was a mere 0.30 percent for fiscal 2020-21, according to a survey report of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) released on Sunday, May 27,
It was 0.35 percent and 0.31percent of GDP in the preceding two fiscal years, respectively. These figures place Bangladesh among the lowest spending country in the world in terms of research and development.
"Despite achieving an average GDP growth rate of 6.5 percent since the beginning of last decade, and transitioning from one of the poorest countries in 1971 to lower-middle-income country in 2015, Bangladesh continues to lag significantly in research and development," says the BBS report.
This shortfall is critical, as a countrys progress is directly tied to its R&D efforts, says the report, adding that insufficient investment in research can hinder overall progress.
Bangladeshs inadequate spending on R&D is evident in the Global Innovation Index 2022, where the country ranked 102nd. Compared to it, India ranked 40th, Indonesia 75th, Sri Lanka 85th, Pakistan 87th, and Cambodia 97th.
The total R&D expenditure for fiscals 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 was Tk101.92 crore, Tk98.85 crore, and Tk104.81 crore, respectively.
Binayak Sen, director general of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said, "There is no alternative to research for future progress."
He said, Bangladesh has achieved success in rice research to ensure food security, he said.
"Research is also important for the advancement of industrial sector. Both the government and private sector should come forward in this regard," he said.
The BBS report said research expenditure for experimental development constituted 50.41percent, 53.13 percent and 52.70 percent of the overall R&D expenditure in FY19, FY20 and FY21, respectively.
Applied research accounted for 39.34 percent, 37.40 percent and 38.32 percent of the total expenditure, while basic research, stands at the lowest at 10.25 percent, 9.47 percent and 8.98 percent for the stated periods.
The report indicates that R&D activities are increasingly focused on developing new products and processes rather than investing in fundamental research.
Moreover, a lack of adequate allocation of resources towards basic research may present a potential limitation in the countrys ability to make significant advancements and uncover groundbreaking discoveries, it reads.
Agricultural science tops in R&D expenditure: It received about 31.79 percent, 31.27 percent and 31.36 percent of total research and development expenditure in FY19, FY20 and FY21 respectively.
Natural science came in second with 22.16 percent, 21.85 percent and 22.27 percent and spending on engineering and technology research and development came in third with 17.83 percent, 18.13 percent and 17.82 percent, the BBS report said.
On the other hand, humanities-related research and development expenditure for these fiscal years was the lowest at 7.02 percent 7.01 percent and 6.95 percent respectively.
The majority of research and development funding comes from domestic sources, including the government and private companies. International partners are not the primary source of such funding, the BBS report said.
