A.B.M. Md. Azizul Islam, PhD

Taught in  Boston University, USA, East-West University, Bangladesh and currently teaching in BRAC University

Microeconomics, Public Finance and Macroeconomics.

• 25 July: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam appeared on NTV talk show. The subject matter of discussion was “what should be the stance of Monetary Policy for the second half of 2016”. The other discussant was Dr. Ahsan Mansur, Executive Director Policy Research Institute.

• 28 July: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a discussant in a discussion on the implications of recently announced Monetary Policy for the capital market broadcast by ATN Bangla TV. The other participants were Mr. Ibrahim Khaled, former Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank and Mr. Samanat former President, Merchant Banks’ Association.

• 02 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam participated in television talk shows on FY 17 budget aired by Bangla Vision, Channel 24, Channel 71 and Jammuna.

• 26 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam delivered a lecture on “Management of National Economy: Bangladesh Perspective”. The participants were more than 70 officials of the level of Brigadier-Generals/Joint Secretaries from Bangladesh and several other Asian and African countries.

• 25 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a Special Guest at an expert consultation on Illicit Financial Flows in the Context of Bangladesh. The other Special Guest was Dr. Akbar Ali Khan, Dr. Farash uddin, Dr. Ahsan Mansur and Mr. Matlub Ahmed (President FBCCI).

• 04 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a panelist in a discussion on FY 17 budget organized by Bangladesh Tribune and Channel 71 jointly. The participants included eminent economics and business representatives.

• 04 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was the Chief Guest at the concluding session of two-day long annual conference of the Institute of Management Consultants. He delivered a lecture on the role of management consultants in accelerating private investment which is the main driver of economic growth.

• 06 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was the key note speaker in a seminar on “A Retrospective on FY’17 Budget” organized by BRAC University’s Business School. The session was chaired by Dr. Rahim B Talukdar and attended by Dr. Hafiz G.A Siddique, Associate Professor RezaurRazzak and some other faculty members and students of BRAC University. A number of print and electronic media attended the event which received extensive media coverage.

• 12 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam delivered a lecture on the methodology of analyzing a country’s macroeconomic performance and in that light also gave an assessment of Bangladesh’s achievements. Suggestions are also offered regarding policy actions for improving country’s performance. The participants were the new recruits of BanikBarta.

• 21 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a panelist at a seminar on FY 17 budget organized by Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC. Prof. A Bayes made the keynote presentation. Dr. Akbar Ali Khan was another panelist.

• 4 May: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam participated in an Expert Group consultation organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in connection with the preparation of CPD’s annual publication Independent Review of Development of Bangladesh. The participants included Dr. Farashuddin, former governor Bangladesh Bank and many other eminent economists. There was intensive discussion on recent macroeconomic and important sectoral changes in the economy of Bangladesh and policy measures needed to deal with emerging challenges.

• 13 May: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a panelist in a dialogue on upcoming FY 17 budget organized by Metropolitan Chamber and Commerce and Industries and Masranga Television. The other panelists were Mr. A.M.A. Muhit, Finance Minister and Mr. Syed Nasim Manzur, President Metropolitan Chamber. The dialogue was moderated by Barrister Nihad Kabir.

• 19 May: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam participated in a dialogue on “Measuring Multi-dimensional Poverty” organized by BRAC Institute of Governance and Development(BIGD) and Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). The participants included eminent economists of the country.

• 20 May: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a panelist in a discussion on expectations from FY 17 budget organized by Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) and television channel NTV. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Matlub Ahmed, President, FBCCI. The other panelists were Mr.A.M.A. Muhit, Finance Minister, Mr. Tofail Ahmed, Commerce Minister and Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud, an eminent economist (Former Professor of Dhaka University).

• 28 May: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was the Chief Guest at a roundtable on “Zakat: an effective tool for poverty alleviation” organized by Centre for Zakat Management. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, Former Adviser to the Caretaker Government. The participants included many retired and serving senior government officials and representatives of private sector corporations and NGOs.

• 24 April: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a panelist at a discussion session on critical constraints facing Bangladesh economy organized by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies. The session was chaired by Dr. Farashuddin, former Governor Bangladesh Bank. Dr. MashiurRahman, Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister was the Chief Guest. The participants included Prof. Syed SaadAndaleeb, Vice-chancellor, BRAC University and eminent economists and business leaders. The discussions focused on the achievements of Bangladesh in economic and social development, constraints which affect private sector investment and growth acceleration and policy measures needed to address them.

• 23 April: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam delivered a lecture on the “Role of commercial banks in promoting private sector investment” at the Islamic Bank Training Academy. The training session was attended by about 50 mid-level officers of Islamic Bank. The lecture emphasized the need for banks to play a more proactive role in accelerating presently stagnant private sector investment and ensuring allocation of resources in favor of sectors which promise maximum benefits for the disadvantaged areas and population groups.

• 21April: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a designated discussant at a dialogue on governance in the banking sector organized by “Shujon”—a well-known civil society organization. The dialogue was attended, among others, by Mr. Hafizuddin Khan (former Advisor, Caretaker Government), Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed (former Governor, Bangladesh Bank presently Professor in BRAC University) and Dr. Abu Ahmed (Professor, Dhaka University) and eminent former bankers. Discussions highlighted the problems afflicting the banking sector, specially the state-owned banks and actions needed for addressing them through improved governance.

• 02 April: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was adesignated Speaker at a dialogue organized by Policy Research Institute and Channel 71 where Dr. Akbar Ali Khan and Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed also participated. The objective was to identify the challenges that the banking system of Bangladesh is presently facing and suggest remedial measures

• 20 March: Spoke as a designated speaker at a Round Table discussion on “Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Challenges for Bangladesh” where the Minister for Commerce was the Chief Guest. The discussion was organized by International Chamber of Commerce (Bangladesh Branch).

• 09 March: Key-note Speaker at the seminar on “Review of Monetary Policy” organized by BRAC University Business and Economics Forum.

• 6 January, 2016: Participated in an Expert Group meeting on “More and decent jobs” organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue.

• 7 January, 2016: Participated in a consultative meeting on “Monetary Policy for the second half of FY 16” convened by Bangladesh Bank.

• 13 January, 2016: Attended a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management of which I am the Vice Chairman.

• 16 January, 2016: Was a designated Speaker at a seminar on “Challenges to the banking system of Bangladesh” organized by Dhaka development Forum.

• 16 September 2015: Chaired a session on “Bangladesh and Plurilateral Trading System” organized by Institute of International Strategic Studies.

• 29 July 2015 Delivered inaugural addressed at a training program for Capital Market participants organized by FinExel.

• 04 July 2015 Chief Guest at a round table on “International Context and 2015-16 budget” organized by Bonik Barta and Lanka Bangla.

• 01 July 2015 Guest of Honor in a Seminar on “Food Security, Hunger and Malnutrition” organized by United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

• Made presentations in seminars, workshops in over 25 countries.

• Gave talks in numerous seminars in Bangladesh.

• Presided over a dissemination seminar on“Bangladesh RMG Factory Mapping” conducted by Centre for Entrepreneurship Development of BRAC University. The participants included representatives of ready-made garments (RMG) producers and workers. The objective was to pinpoint the location of RMG factories to facilitate monitoring of their performance and compliance with safety, labor standards etc.

• Participated as a designated discussant in the launching ceremony of a book “MadhyabitterBikash O BhogbaderUthan” authored by Mr. Mamun Rashid, Former Dean, BRAC Business School.
Mr. Mashiur Rahman, Economic Advisor to the Prime minister was the Chief Guest. The participants included eminent economists as well as others interested in economic development of Bangladesh.
The objective was to disseminate the findings in the articles included in the book regarding various issues such as financial sector, challenges to private sector investment, export performance etc.

• Attended as Chief Guest a round table discussion on the valuation and recognition of women’s labor without pay organized by ProthomAlo.
The participants included Member, General Economic Divisionof the Planning Commission and representatives of various women’s organizations.
The objective was to identify the areas where women’s contribution to the economy is not valued at all or undervalued in order to strengthen advocacy for proper valuation and eventual inclusion in national income estimation.

• 25 July, 2016: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam appeared on NTV talk show. The subject matter of discussion was “what should be the stance of Monetary Policy for the second half of 2016”. The other discussant was Dr. Ahsan Mansur, Executive Director Policy Research Institute.

• 28 July, 2016: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a discussant in a discussion on the implications of recently announced Monetary Policy for the capital market broadcast by ATN Bangla TV. The other participants were Mr. Ibrahim Khaled, former Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank and Mr. Samanat former President, Merchant Banks’ Association.

• 24th September: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a discussant at a discussion programme broadcast by the newly inaugurated DBC television channel. The topic of the discussion was the heist of Bangladesh Bank reserves, actions that should be pursued towards recovery and preventive measures for the future. The other discussant was Prof. Kaikobad of BUET, an IT Specialist.

• 26th September: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was the lead speaker of an international seminar organized by Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM). The topic was the role of the banks in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs)

• 28th September: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a discussant as a special guest at a seminar on how to concentrate economic cooperation between Bangladesh and India for mutual benefit. A state Minister of India was the chief guest. The other special guests included the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh M.K. Alamgir MP, Chairman of the Parliament Standing Committee on public accounts.

• 29th September: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was the sole discussant at a discussion programme broadcast by channel 24 on World Economic Forums’ low ranking of Bangladesh in competitiveness. The underlying causes and the actions needed to improve ranking were highlighted.

Determinants of economic growth and inflation; Monetary, Fiscal, International trade and Exchange Rate policies; Human Resource Development policies; and market structures.