Bangladesh needs broader economic and political inclusion if it is to revive private investment, according to an argument centred on the idea of ‘re-engagement’ as a key component of economic recovery.
Economist Dr Birupaksha Pal, writing in an editorial published by Prothom Alo on 6 October 2026 under the title ‘Inclusive Economy: Why Is Investment Still Not Rising?’, used the metaphor of a rainbow nation to illustrate the need for diversity and wider participation. He observed that a rainbow requires seven colours and cannot be created with only three.
The reference to three colours has been interpreted in the article as potentially pointing to Jamaat, BNP and NCP, although Dr Pal’s precise intention is not established in the text. The wider argument, however, is that an inclusive political and economic order cannot be built by relying on a narrow combination of political forces.
The concept of a ‘rainbow nation’ has a prominent association with post-apartheid South Africa. The term became closely linked with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who used it in 1994 to describe the country’s aspiration to move beyond racial division. Nelson Mandela subsequently embraced the broader vision of a South Africa in which people of different racial, ethnic and social backgrounds could live together as part of a common national identity.
Mandela’s vision was particularly significant given South Africa’s complex social composition. The country’s transition from apartheid required more than a change of government; it involved an effort to build national cohesion among communities that had been deeply divided for decades. The idea of reconciliation therefore became an important part of the country’s post-apartheid political discourse.
Bangladesh has also used the language of national inclusion in its political debates. BNP’s 27-point ‘state reform’ programme, announced at a rally at Golapbagh field in Dhaka on 10 December 2022, included a proposal to establish an inclusive ‘rainbow nation’ based on Bangladeshi nationalism rather than a politics of revenge and retaliation.
The programme has been discussed in the context of earlier political initiatives, including the 19-point programme associated with former president Ziaur Rahman. The comparison reflects a recurring theme in Bangladesh’s political history: the search for a framework capable of accommodating people with different political positions and social backgrounds.
The reference to South Africa also brings the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission into the discussion. Established after apartheid, the commission sought to address serious abuses committed during the previous political order through a process focused on truth, accountability and reconciliation rather than relying solely on punitive measures. Recent discussion in Bangladesh about the possibility of a similar mechanism has inevitably prompted comparisons with the South African experience.
Yet the economic dimension of inclusion may be just as consequential as its political aspect.
Dr Pal has proposed revisiting the three ‘Rs’ of Recovery, Restoration and Reconstruction mentioned by the Prime Minister at the United Nations General Assembly and replacing them, in strategic terms, with Revision, Reform and Re-engagement. Of the three, he places particular emphasis on re-engagement.
The reasoning is straightforward. Private investment depends not only on capital and financial incentives but also on confidence, stability and the ability of entrepreneurs and workers to participate in economic activity. If people who were not involved in economic wrongdoing have nevertheless been pushed out of productive activity for political reasons, bringing them back into the economy could be essential to restoring investment momentum.
The argument extends beyond business owners. Skilled workers and other productive participants who have become internally displaced or moved abroad because of political circumstances may also represent lost economic capacity. Reconnecting such people with production, employment and enterprise could help widen the base of economic activity.
There is also a fiscal consideration. A substantial increase in public investment would require the government either to borrow more or raise additional revenue through taxation. Greater borrowing would increase the state’s financial obligations. Higher taxation, meanwhile, could reduce disposable income and private consumption, potentially weakening incentives for private investment and putting further pressure on economic growth.
For that reason, relying solely on public spending may not provide a durable solution to weak private investment. A stronger investment climate requires confidence among entrepreneurs, predictable economic conditions and opportunities for productive participation.
The wider political metaphor of the rainbow nation therefore intersects with a practical economic question. Political diversity, social inclusion and economic participation cannot easily be treated as separate issues when the objective is to restore confidence and investment.
Bangladesh has frequently been compared with other countries in political and economic debates. At different times, public discourse has invoked Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and Singapore as examples of possible futures or models. The latest discussion turns instead to South Africa and its experience of reconciliation and national integration.
But copying another country’s political model is not necessarily the central issue. The more immediate challenge is determining how the principles behind such models can be adapted to Bangladesh’s own circumstances.
If investment is to recover, entrepreneurs and workers who remain capable of contributing to the productive economy need an environment in which they can participate without unnecessary political barriers. That, ultimately, is the significance of the proposed third ‘R’—re-engagement.
The argument is that economic recovery cannot be sustained simply through new government spending or policy declarations. Restoring confidence and reconnecting productive people with the economy may be equally necessary. Without that process, expectations of a meaningful revival in private investment could remain difficult to fulfil.
