The Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of the Bangladesh economy, its key policy challenges, domestically, and in a rapidly integrating global marketplace. PRI is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased policy-oriented economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community.
PRI’s staff pursues this mission by performing timely, accurate research on key policy issues and effectively disseminating these findings to its primary audiences. PRI’s current areas of research include but not limited to the following:
Macroeconomic management focusing, inter alia , on fiscal policy, monetary management, interest rate, and exchange rate policies;
Poverty reduction approaches and strategies;
Trade, openness and competitiveness;
WTO issues in a development perspective;
Regional cooperation and issues of bilateral and multilateral trade arrangements;
Study of agriculture, industry and service sectors;
Private sector development;
Reforms in tax policy and tax administration;
Board-based economic and governance reforms.
To complement the above mentioned research, PRI has been providing technical and policy support to the Government of Bangladesh in the following Ministries: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, Planning Commission, Bangladesh Tariff Commission National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh Bank, and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. In July 2011, PRI completed drafting of the Sixth Five Year Plan 2011-2015 for the Government and re-drafted the final version of the Perspective Plan 2010-2021. Recognizing the need to maintain strong and sustainable partnerships with the private sector and civil society, the Institute works closely with Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI), the Yunus Center (established by Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus), South Asia Network of Economic Research Institutes (SANEI), Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), SME Foundation (SMEF), Asian Tiger Capital Partners Ltd, and Bangladesh Development Initiative, USA.
As a leading think-tank in Bangladesh, PRI’s focus is on the application of the latest advances in theoretical and empirical research to policy relevant analysis. In this connection, PRI also works closely with leading international research and development agencies such as The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, IMF, UNDP, International Growth Centre (IGC) at LSE, USAID, and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Organization:
The PRI is housed at Banani, Dhaka and is constituted as a trust under The Trusteeship Act of 1882. It is governed by a Board of Directors. The founding members of this Board Dr. Ahsan Mansur, Dr Zaidi Sattar and Dr.Sadiq Ahmed have served in government and multilateral institutions and are experienced economists specialized in the field of macroeconomics, trade theory and policy, and economics of poverty and growth. Furthermore, PRI is also comprised of a number of research fellows, economists, research associates, analysts and administrative assistants who have wide ranging experience in the fields of academia, public and economic policy. Along with PRI core staff, the organization also when required, consults with high quality national and international experts. PRI staff has also presented their research findings at a number of international conferences and organizations such as at The World Bank, The Asian Development Bank, IGC in LSE, Institute of South Asian Studies, Singapore.
