Annual General Meeting of AEDSB

Association for Economic and Development Studies on Bangladesh (AEDSB)

Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2008

Minutes

The 2008 Annual General Meeting was called to order at 1.30pm January 04, 2008 at Evergreen Room of Sheraton Hotel, New Orleans, LA. The participants are Farhad Ameen, Abul Basher, Mohammad Bhuiyan, Shahe Emran, Hasan Faruq, Nazrul Islam, Farida Khan, Ahmed Saber Mahmud, Khawaja Mamun, Shaikh Rahman, Quazi Shahriar, Abdus Salam, Zafrul Q. Siddiquee and Munir Quddus.

The AGM was preceded by the ASSA session. The session kicked off with Paul Schultz, then continued by Mukesh Eswaran and Mark Rosenzweig. Each paper followed by their discussants. Then, the poster presentations by Farhad Ameen and Pataporn Sukontamain followed. Session chair Farida Khan then allowed each speaker 1 minute to answer the discussants and then she opened the session for questions from the audience. The minutes of the January 04, 2008 meeting were approved as written:

Report of the General Secretary: Khawaja Mamun (Member of the Executive Committee AEDSB) read the report for the general secretary ABM Nasir, who couldn't attend the meeting due to illness. Mamun stressed on the importance of the next session in San Francisco as well as the regional conference participations. He briefly mentioned about other activities of AEDSB. A link to the full report is available below (or the AEDSB website?).

Report of the Treasurer: Khawaja Mamun also read the report. He mentioned the transfer of funds from several accounts to one account for better fund management.

Questions, Answers and Comments: After the reports, the meeting was turned over to questions, answers, and comments from the attendees.

Farida Khan and Nazrul Islam mentioned the importance of regular Newsletters and/or short notices from AEDSB.
Concern was raised about members not receiving e-mails by Nazrul Islam and Munir Quddus requested that the membership list be re-visited and ‘bouncing’ e-mails verified.
A question was asked by Abul Basher if there are ways for AEDSB to reach out to Bangladesh. Munir Quddus noted that AEDSB has held a conference at BEA meetings once. Nazrul Islam mentioned the recent Non-Resident Bangladeshi (NRB) conference in Bangladesh in this regard.
Farida Khan asked if AEDSB membership fees should be raised since they had remained unchanged for 10 years. It was noted that the AEDSB currently lacks funds to paying for speakers like Prof Yunus to future AEDSB sessions, and it would have to raise funds in such an event.
Mohammad Bhuiyan mentioned that he may be able to finance a conference for Prof. Yunus, however, that session must coincide with the Fayetteville State University calendar as that kind of session will be arranged through university collaboration.
Planning for the San Francisco meetings, members suggested the names of Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz, Fazle Abed of BRAC, and Iqbal Quadir of Grameen Phone.
On the session at the ASSA, Farida Khan asked if the AEDSB should have a policy of a mix of speakers who originate from Bangladesh. There were mixed opinions on whether such a policy is desirable as a general rule. There was also a discussion on the mix of invited and contributed papers.
Nazrul Islam inquired about what happened to the second session that AEDSB used to have at the ASSA. It was noted that the AEDSB lost the second session few years ago.

Remembering Munir Bhai: Later Munir Quddus gave a heartfelt remembrance of Dr. S. M. Hossain (Munir Bhai). Farida Khan remember him as a mentor of many Bangladeshis and encourage everyone to follow his footsteps. Farhad Ameen described Munir bhai's contribution in making "Orhtoniti Chorcha Kendro" a vibrant forum.

New Business: No New business is VOTED on. The meeting was adjourned at 2.30pm.

Report of the General Secretary

Report of the Treasurer