At Marketing For Wellness we believe that people have power to transform lives through invention and implementation of breakthrough ideas that seemed impossible yesterday. Imagine an event that brings together visionaries and change-makers who are are known to disrupt the industries they represent while deeply caring about the impact their efforts will have on generations to come. This is TWIN Global.

Marketing For Wellness has been around the world of TWIN since its inception in 2009, and for the past 3 years we have been honored to be part of this initiative by taking TWIN to the social media universe. Through a short blog series we will expand upon what we learned at TWIN Global 2018.

Bangladesh is experiencing strong economic growth after a long history of struggle, even following their independence from Pakistan in 1971. So what is contributing to that growth? Munawar Misbah Moin, Group Director of RahimaFrooz, calls it “deliverable demand.” He says that countries must create deliverable demand in order to develop.

“We started with energy. Energy efficiency is changing the way you can deliver energy remotely. [It is] technology with a human aspect. [Examples include] solar power, clean tech, household products, electric vehicles. Doing good for society eventually pays off, [though it] may take some teething initially.” – Moin.

Among the top ten green garment factories in the world, seven are in Bangladesh. Garment manufacturing is one of the most successful industries in the country. Sayad Farhat Anwar, Professor Institute of Business Administration at the University of Dhaka, says, “We need to know the country in terms of what we are. What is it that we’re doing that is expanding growth economically? Probably social innovation. If the society benefits automatically there will be economic benefit.”

For example, “Land record is a matter of life and death for most people since the country has very little land. Entrepreneurs offer services to make this process easier – saving citizens 4.7 billion dollars.” – Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

The Digital Bangladesh initiative is also playing a strong role in the country’s growth. Chowdhury explains that the goal of the initiative is to see Bangladesh graduate to a middle income country by 2021. However, the process of growth and change is not an easy one.

“Combination of politics and deep seated old school bureaucracy [have] made the process very difficult. [We] invested in empathy training for the bureaucrats. Empathy requires taking risks. Empathy training shows bureaucrats they have authority to make change.” – Chowdhury.

Another notable accomplishment in Bangladesh is the country’s empowerment of women. Bangladesh ranked first in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index of 2017 among South Asian nations and the current Prime Minister is a woman, Sheikh Hasina. She is the only Muslim woman leader from the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The economic growth of Bangladesh is commendable. Incorporating efficiency, technology, and empathy the country continues to move forward showing that ethical solutions tend to prove most profitable in the long run. It is important to watch and learn from such valuable progress.