As Bangladesh prepares to graduate from its Least Developed Country (LDC) status, the country faces a major reckoning: its health sector remains drastically underfunded, and traditional sources of development finance are drying up. Donor priorities have shifted, concessional funds are tapering off, and the domestic economy is under strain. Amid this uncertainty, Bangladesh must turn to a powerful but underused tool in health sectorâits foreign policy.
So far, diplomatic efforts have focused primarily on trade, labor migration, and attracting investment into manufacturing and infrastructure. Health, despite being central to human capital formation and national resilience, has rarely been promoted as a strategic economic sector. This gap in our diplomacy is no longer sustainable.
Around the world, health is emerging as a serious investment frontier. Global interest in health-tech startups, telemedicine, medical tourism, and tertiary care infrastructure is soaring. Countries like India and Vietnam have already capitalized on this trend, attracting billions in foreign investment into hospital networks and digital health ventures. Bangladesh cannot afford to be left behind.
The way forward lies in public-private partnerships (PPPs), which offer the most realistic path to mobilize new health sector resources. But PPPs donât succeed in a vacuum. They need policy clarity, investment incentives, andâcruciallyâdiplomatic support.
Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) has made encouraging moves by offering incentives in tertiary care, diagnostics, and medical manufacturing. Yet uptake from foreign investors remains unclear, and health still appears as a side note, not a headline, in economic diplomacy.
We need to change that. Health sector proposals should become part of every bilateral investment dialogue, joint commission meeting, and high-level visit. Diplomats should be equipped with concrete investment casesâproposals for hospitals, training institutes, diagnostics networks, and health innovation hubs. Bangladesh already has a few examples to build from: the PPP renal dialysis unit at NIKDU and Chinaâs proposed tertiary hospital could both serve as flagship models of health diplomacy.
We must also innovate. Just as Bangladesh established special economic zones to boost industrial investment, it should explore the idea of âhealth parksââdedicated zones offering streamlined regulations, shared infrastructure, and co-location opportunities for healthcare investors. Imagine a cluster housing a hospital, medical college, diagnostics hub, and digital health startupsâall supported by foreign capital and local expertise.
To unlock this potential, Bangladesh must adopt a sector-specific PPP guideline for health. A clear roadmapâoutlining operational models, risk-sharing strategies, and accountability mechanismsâwill help reduce uncertainty and attract serious investors.
This is not just about infrastructureâitâs about recognizing that while multilateral engagement on global health policy remains vital, the post-LDC era demands that we also elevate health investment as a priority in our bilateral diplomatic efforts.
Itâs time to elevate health in Bangladeshâs diplomatic playbook. We have the institutions, the need, and now, the moment. Whatâs required is strategic intentâand the political will to act.
Zakaria Bin Amjad is a career Foreign Service Officer with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh. A medical doctor turned diplomat, he has a keen interest in exploring the intersection of health and foreign policy amid shifting geopolitical dynamics. His broader areas of focus include global health security and the political determinants of health. He holds an MBBS from Mymensingh Medical College and an MPH from Johns Hopkins University.
