The 1999 Annual General Meeting was held in Boston on January 8, 2000.  Tanweer Akram prepared the minutes.

 

1999 AEDSB Annual General Meeting

Saturday, January 8, 2000
Westin Hotel/St. George D, 
Boston, USA
4.30 pm - 5.15 pm

Present: M. G. Quibria (chair), M. Quddus, T. Akram, A. Hasnat, A. Karim, Z.Sattar, T. Hasan, I. Alam, S. Quayes, M. Hasan, and others

The 1999 AGM of the Association for Economic & Development Studies on
Bangladesh was held during the Allied Social Science Association/American
Economic Association meetings in Boston on January 8, 2000 (Saturday). The
AGM followed the panel discussion organized by AEDSB.

Meeting

The meeting was chaired by Dr. M. G. Quibria. Professor Munir Quddus
presented the report of the executive committee on behalf of the General
Secretary. He distributed copies of the 1999 Report of the Executive
Committee, the treasurer's report, and the results of the elections for the
2000 executive committee. He presented the highlights and invited comments
and suggestions from those present. Hopefully, the incoming executive
committee would consider suggestions made in the meeting.

AEDSB panel at AEA/ASSA Boston meetings

Professor Quddus said that the executive committee believes the AEDSB
session on development issues of Bangladesh was largely successful. The
theme "Development Issues in Bangladesh in the 21st Century" was appropriate at this turn of the century point of time. The call for papers was widely publicized by mail and through the Internet starting in April 1999. The
selection process of papers, based on blind reviews, was competitive. Five
out of the seven papers that were submitted were selected. In the month
prior to the meeting, after the program was fixed, two of the five authors
informed program organizer that they were unable to attend due to different
reasons. Two of the five discussants also were unable to attend. Three
papers were presented and discussed.

2000 Executive Committee

Professor Quddus announced the election results of the executive committee
for the year 2000:

President: Professor Haider Ali Khan (University of Denver)
Vice President: Professor Kabir Hassan (University of New Orleans)
General Secretary: Professor Farida Khan (University of Wisconsin)
Treasurer: Professor Iftekhar Hasan (New Jersey Institute of Technology and
Stern School of Business, NYU)
Assistant Secretary: Mr. Tanweer Akram (Columbia University)
Members (listed alphabetically): Professor Nasir U. Ahmed (Gramlin
University), Professor M. Faizul Islam (South-Eastern University), Dr. Zaidi
Sattar (World Bank), and Ms. Iffath Sharif (World Bank)

2001 AEDSB panel and Annual General Meeting in New Orleans

Professor Quddus pointed out that the 2001 AEDSB panel and Annual General Meeting would be held in New Orleans, Louisiana. The call for papers at the AEDSB session will be made around April. A question was asked if it would be possible to arrange two panels rather than one. Professor Quddus replied that in 1998 ASSA authorities had decided to allocate only one session to AEDSB based on a random survey of attendance. Other organizations also lost session space. However, the new executive committee could pursue this matter with AEA in the future, as well as look for opportunities with other
associations such as the Western Economic Association and the SEA.

The Journal of Bangladesh Studies

Professor Quddus reported that AEDSB has been involved in an important new initiative. It joined forces with the Bangladesh Development Initiative,
another professional organization of academics and practitioners including
engineers, in bringing out a new journal, The Journal of Bangladesh Studies
(JBS). It is presently edited by Professor Syed Saad Abdaleeb (Email:
ssa4@psu.edu) of Penn State Erie. He also said that at the discretion of the
AEDSB a special issue of the journal could be printed with papers accepted
and presented at the AEDSB session at the AEA annual meetings. This would
enhance the quality of submissions. Earlier the AEDSB executive committee
made a commitment to share half the cost of publication. The Association
has contributed US$500 this year. All due-paying members of the Association
were mailed complimentary copies of the first issue of the Journal. In
response to a query from the audience, Professor Quddus said that the
Journal is multi-disciplinary and the editorial board welcomes contributions
from all scholarly disciplines related to the development of Bangladesh.

Home Page: http://www.aedsb.org

The executive committee is grateful to Dr. S. A. Mahmood (World Bank) for
his dedicated efforts in creating and maintaining a useful home page for the
association (http://www.aedsb.org) with news, resources, and links to
related sites.

Washington DC Seminar Series

Professor Quddus reported that the AEDSB has continued its successful
Washington DC seminar series with prominent speakers. Among others, Dr.
Syed Mahmood, Dr. Ahmad Ahsan and Dr. S. M. Hossain helped organize these seminars. The list of seminars held in 1999 is given below:

1. "Trade Union Perspectives on the Reform and Development Process in
Bangladesh," Mr. Nazrul Islam Khan, General Secretary, Bangladesh
Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal and Secretary-General, Bangladesh Institute of Labor
Studies. September 1999.
2. "Judicial Reforms in Developing Countries with a Focus on
Bangladesh," Justice Mustafa Kamal, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
Bangladesh. August 1999.
3. "Bangladesh: Some Windows of Optimism," Mr. A. M. A Muhith,
Chairman, Porosh, and former Minister of Finance. July 1999.
4. "Bangladesh: Future Prospects," A. Z. M. Obaidullah Khan, Chairman,
Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies. May 1999.
5. "Policy Reforms and Governance in Bangladesh," Professor Rehman
Sobhan, Executive Chairman, Center for Policy Dialogue. April 1999
6. "Private Capital Flows to Bangladesh: Upside Opportunities and
Downside Risks," Dr. Zaidi Sattar, Economist, the World Bank.
7. "Winner & Losers of Reform: Getting to Know the Incentive System
Better," Mr. Pierre Landell-Mills, Senior Adviser, The World Bank.
8. "Combating Corruption in Bangladesh: The Work of Transparency
International-Bangladesh," Mr. Manzoor Hassan, Executive Director,
Transparency International-Bangladesh, 1999.

Newsletter

After a five-year long pause, the AEDSB Newsletter was reactivated in 1999.
Professor Quddus and Professor Farida Khan worked on the June issue. They
took advantage of new electronic media to distribute it directly to the
members. Scanner and EB2000 assisted in the process of disseminating the
AEDSB newsletter.

Membership Drive

Professor Quddus told the audience that the number of life members of the
Association jumped from 6 to 33 in 1999. This exceeds the target the
executive committee had set for the year. Membership drives via the
Internet and the direct mail continued throughout the year. It is believed
that much more can be done to attract students, scholars and professionals
in disciplines outside of economics.

Cooperation with Other Organizations

Professor Quddus reported substantial progress in cooperation with other
organizations. He said the AEDSB has established good working relationship
with EB2000, which is dedicated to bring together professionals on solving
problems in Bangladesh, and Bangladesh Environmental Network (BEN). He also mentioned that he met both the president and the general secretary of
Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA). It is expected that a formal linkage
will be established in the near future and joint projects undertaken.

Database Project

Professor Quddus mentioned that the Association has decided to collaborate
with EB2000 to create a database of professionals with specific expertise
that can be employed for solving development problems of Bangladesh. An
informal monetary commitment of $600 has been made to cover half the costs
of this project.

Scanner: A Clarification

In response to a question during the meeting, Mr. Tanweer Akram (Columbia
University) pointed out that Scanner is a completely independent,
non-corporate media. The views and opinions expressed in Scanner should not
be attributed to AEDSB or any other organization. If someone does not wish
to receive the newsletter, they should send an email to:
tanweer@freepcmail.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. (In the near
future, Mr. Akram hopes to conduct a survey to determine the content, form,
and frequency of Scanner.)

Treasurer's Report

Professor Quddus also presented the Treasure's Report since the treasurer
was unable to attend the meeting. The highlights of the Treasure report are
given below.

Account Balance (December 31, 1998): $3,545.44
Total Inflow in 1999: $2,564.02
Total Expenditure in 1999: $800.00
Account Balance (December 31, 1999): $5,309.46

The expenditures were as follows: (a) $500 was paid directly to Penn State
University to defray half the cost of publishing The Journal of Bangladesh
Studies; and (b) $300 was paid to Professor Munir Quddus for his payment to
Dr. S. A. Mahmood who had earlier paid the same amount for AEDSB home page domain address.

Future commitments were as follows: (a) $600 for Web based data bank,
covering 50 percent of the cost with EB2000; and (b) Approximately $1,000
annual commitment for The Journal of Bangladesh Studies for two issues each
year. This amount will decrease as subscriptions increase.

Most of the cash inflow was from membership renewal and new membership dues. Total dividend/interest income in 1998 and in 1999 were respectively $111.21 and $102.47.

Conclusion

There were some questions from the audience on how the membership base can be broadened to include more members from outside the economic profession. Professor Quddus reiterated that it was the strong desire of the executive committee to achieve this. He pointed out that the JBS is edited by a
marketing professor and has many engineers on the board of advisors.
Although, generally, there was praise for the new journal, someone
questioned if it will be commercially viable. Dr. Quibria suggested that
perhaps a press in a major research university would be interested in
sponsoring this journal. Members are encouraged to subscribe to make this a
successful venture.

After the executive committee Report was presented, discussed and accepted,
the chair concluded the meeting at around 5.15 pm.

Respectively submitted by
Tanweer Akram
January 13, 2000