BEI 
On behalf of the BEI family, I have the honour and pleasure to present this commemorative volume on the occasion of the completion of 20 years of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) as a reputed Think Tank in Bangladesh. On this happy occasion, we gratefully acknowledge the gracious support extended to us by all the individuals, organizations, donors, patrons, partners and well wishers during this glorious journey.
We also take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Chairman of the Board of Governors and other distinguished Members of the Board of Governors for their continuous guidance and support, and we look forward to receiving their active guidance in the years to come. In the same breath, we also acknowledge the valuable contribution made by Ambassador Farooq Sobhan with his dynamic leadership as the President of BEI since its inception and we are proud to have him now at BEI as the Distinguished Fellow. Indeed, he was a beacon and intellectual powerhouse for all of us and led BEI with a vision, dedication and high degree of professionalism. BEI is known nationally, regionally and globally thanks to his tireless effort to reach out to and build bridges with others in the fraternity, both at home and abroad. As BEI steps into the third decade, it is perhaps the time for reflection over the past experience and demonstrate a resolve to explore the horizon in the future with equal level of energy and enthusiasm.
BEI’s journey coincides with the dramatic changes occurring in the domestic, regional and global environment. Bangladesh has seen a vibrant transition toward a steady growth pattern, necessitating a new awareness, understanding and policy approaches to overcome the emerging challenges effectively and efficiently. Bangladesh's economy has picked up pace, with corresponding positive effects on the reduction of poverty, strengthening the flow in trade and remittance with growing international footprints, offering Bangladesh a window of opportunity for making a qualitative lift to a middle income country. External realities have also significantly transformed, demanding nuanced understanding, incisive assessment and professional judgment to navigate through the choppy waters of regional and global milieu. Therefore, the need for close collaboration between the government and the Think Tanks has never been more pressing. Through its dynamic contribution, BEI has tried to perform its mandated role, and is still ready to do so in the coming years with all its humility and ability.
Three Ds
During the past decades, BEI has evolved around three distinct phases in terms of its work experience. They could be identified in three Ds: Development phase, Diversifying phase and Deepening phase. In its first decade, BEI was focused mainly on building its infrastructure and engaging itself on governance and economic issues, including the effort to update the work process of the corporate world in Bangladesh, improving the investment climate, and enhancing the transparency and accountability in governance, including within the government. Having started as a private sector development platform within a short period of time BEI grew as a policy entrepreneur, policy catalyst and policy advocate on issues of common interest and concern with focus on development to social issues to empowerment to mobilization to policy advocacy to building network.The second decade began with an effort to diversify BEI’s approach and outcomes. In the process, BEI played a pioneering role in familiarizing the key policy makers and relevant stakeholders in Bangladesh on the emerging regional and global challenges heavily impinging on us and mobilizing them to address them suitably. At the same time, BEI took a massive effort to inform and activate the relevant social stakeholders with a view to equipping them to address the emerging risks with some degree of creativity and mobilizing collective efforts. It also remained engaged in actively promoting conflict resolution and peace building processes to enhance the trust and confidence among affected communities and institutions. BEI also undertook initiatives to empower the reputed civil society organizations to deal with the changing realities and emerging challenges. Parallel to that, BEI also deepened its outreach and traction deep down to the farthest corner of the country engaging and empowering citizens and communities, and in the process making BEI a household name in around 55 out of 64 districts of the country and creating millions of direct and indirect beneficiaries. Messages of social cohesion, inclusiveness, respect for diversity and pluralism as well as that of creativity and entrepreneurship were advanced to mobilize the strength of common people and communities with a view to creating an alternative, positive and powerful dynamic toward strengthening democracy, promoting a culture of peace, powering development and creating a decent and inclusive society.
In the process, BEI has mustered its strength standing on three legs - its traction within the government policy process, its strong presence in the civil society domain including at the business community, and its wide outreach and network with the international partners and community. In this connection, we would be remiss in our responsibilities if we do not gratefully acknowledge the generous encouragement and support, which we have received from our development partners and sponsors throughout the process, and it is our hope that they will stand by us in our creative journey in the coming days as well.
Four challenges
As we stand at a crossroads, it would be worthwhile to explore our possible vision for the future and identify the challenges, which may visit us. Four challenges are currently staring at us, which will indeed define all of us in the coming decade. Firstly, Covid-19 pandemic has been a great lesson for all of us. We have learnt how to live in a completely different work environment and how to innovate ourselves to deal with unanticipated challenges, including how to use new tools and techniques to remain connected and remain productive. Secondly, another defining element will be our transition to a developing country status, which is likely to be framed again by the rise of a strongly aspirational generation, urgency for combining democracy, development and diplomacy to ensure a smooth transition, growing inequality and tension in society, impending climate crisis and demand for building a sustainable society. Needless to say, BEI will have to reinvent and reenergize itself to remain relevant and engaged with those and other emerging issues and offer its services for the common purpose. In practical terms, BEI will have to actively pursue online initiatives, in addition to offline services, educate the interested stakeholders about the nuances of developments and the delicate nature of new pathways in a highly complex and competitive world, build more collaborative nature of activities with more partners from the government and civil society domain, including the business community and private sector to create tangible opportunities for the younger generation. BEI also will have to further strengthen its partnership with the international community to build a vibrant network with multiple think tanks and research outfits, and enlarge our space in the global policy discourse and decisions on evolving issues.
Thirdly, any creative effort will need adequate financial support, the flow of which has been badly affected due to Covid-19 pandemic and it may persist for some time. New mechanisms will therefore have to be explored to meet this new reality. Perhaps, the government could come forward to fill in this space within a collaborative framework and partnership. Indeed, there has been a better understanding and partnership on this issue in our neighbourhood and many governments have been supporting the local Think Tanks to do research, assess the risks and suggest policy measures to overcome the emerging challenges. It is now well recognized that with their relatively better network and trust among common people Think Tanks and civil society organizations have better capacity to build and sustain public support for public policies, particularly at the community level. Fourthly, public policy space for the civil society actors, including the Think Tanks, has somehow diminished in recent years, notwithstanding the fact that it is extremely important to create and maintain an enabling work environment for the Think Tank and CSO to allow them to remain and flourish as idea entrepreneurs, policy catalysts, and productive partners to create a dynamic partnership and network among the government, civil society and the international community. The message articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations is loud and clear in this regard, as much as the commitment of the government to achieve those goals in partnership with all stakeholders, so that no one is left behind! BEI is ready to contribute to strengthening and enlarging this process for common benefit.
This volume is our modest effort to capture a wide landscape in a few pages. The task is clearly daunting, yet our colleagues have remained undaunted in their pursuit. Any shortcoming may be seen from that light and hence may be forgiven.In the meantime, my sincere thanks go to the team members, who have worked hard to bring out this commemorative volume.
Let me conclude with a note of thanks to all my dear colleagues for their hard work, partners for their generous support and beneficiaries for their graciousness in allowing us to stand by them as well as our millions of well-wishers for their prayers for the continued success of BEI. On our part, we promise to remain engaged with all of you in our journey ahead in the coming decades!