Bangladeshi firm among world heavyweights

It is good news – one Bangladeshi company now ranks among the world's largest 5,000 firms in McKinsey Global Institute's latest index.

The total revenue generated by the company stands at $1bn, says a July report of the American management consultancy firm. This number is based on data from 2017.

However, the name of the Bangladeshi company was not explicitly mentioned in the report. 

Cathy Gui, McKinsey's head of external affairs for Asia Pacific region, told The Business Standard in an email reply that disclosing company names in their research is against the policy of the firm. 

McKinsey also says the number of internet users in Bangladesh has risen considerably, meaning the country is becoming part of Asia's dominance in shaping global digital innovation.

Asian corporations have shown substantial growth in the recent decades, as the region rose to account for 43 percent of the largest 5,000 corporations, up from 36 percent back in 1997.

The McKinsey report titled 'Asia's future is now' also says Bangladesh has managed to grow its exports of labour-intensive manufactured goods by 7 percent annually in the past decade, with textile being the predominant item.

Labour-intensive work is a form of work needing a large workforce or a large amount of work in relation to output. 

Meanwhile, data from Bangladesh's Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) released this month shows garment export earnings registered an 11.49 percent growth in fiscal year 2018-19, reaching $34.13bn.    

Vietnam's notable rise

Vietnam's exports of labour-intensive goods rose by 15 percent annually in the last decade while it was 8 percent for India, according to the report.

Fifteen Vietnamese companies made it to the global 5,000 list in 2017, making $18bn in revenues.  Of the countries that were not on the 1997 global 5,000 list but made it to the 2017 list, Vietnam outshined everyone.

The decline in China's exports of such goods has allowed other countries to step into that role and this trend can turn unknown cities into new manufacturing hotspots, the McKinsey report says. 
 

Growth in SAARC countries
 

Two SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) countries – India and Pakistan – were on the global 5,000 list in 1997, and 2017 marked Bangladesh's inception on the list.

As expected, India posted the highest growth (6178.57 percent) among the three countries in 20 years.

During the same period, revenues generated by Pakistani firms increased by $25bn, as six more Pakistani companies made it to the list.  
 

China leads the block in growth

Of the Asian countries, China has seen astounding growth in two decades.

In 1997, 57 Chinese companies were among the largest global 5,000 corporations, generating $36bn in revenues.

20 years later, in 2017, the number of such companies rose to 738 and they contributed $7,504bn to the Chinese economy, leading to a whopping 20,744.44 percent growth.
 

Digital boom

Bangladesh is also part of Asia's flourishing digital innovation scene.

The McKinsey report says the number of internet users in Bangladesh has grown immensely, jumping from 0.1 million in 2000 to 92 million in 2019. 

Asia now accounts for 50 percent of the world's total internet users, and Bangladesh's share in this is 2 percent.

China and India lead the way, with the share of internet users in the countries being 19 percent and 13 percent respectively.

Bangladesh's progress in providing internet connectivity is noteworthy, given the lack of access to the Web in many rural areas of India and China despite boasting the two highest connectivity rates across the region.