The Miraculous Development of the Garment and Pharmaceutical Industries in Bangladesh

Only a very small number of industries have achieved successful development in developing countries other than several East Asian countries. Exceptionally, the garment industry and the pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh have grown from scratch into major producers in the respective world markets within a few decades after the early 1980s. They have enormously contributed to the economic development and the advancement of welfare of the Bangladeshi society. While the garment industry has created a huge number of jobs, especially for females, the pharmaceutical industry has drastically improved the access of ordinary people to essential drugs. This chapter attempts to learn from these examples about what the key to industrial development is.