Bangladesh's booming middle class

Bangladesh's business booms as nations from Europe to Asia struggle with the global economic crisis.

The middle class's appetite for consumption in this Asian country is boosting the country's economy. Statistics show that 30 million people make up the middle income bracket; this is more than the population of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark combined.

Atiur Rahman, the governer of the Bangladesh Bank, told Al Jazeera, "In a decade or so we will be one of the 30 largest economies of the world, and one should keep that in mind. It is not the size of the country that matters, it's the population and it's a very entrepreneurial population, and there lies our strength."

Despite only one per cent direct foreign investment, the country's GDP is growing at the rate of six per cent a year. The rising middle class is investing heavily in the stock market and in domestic businesses. It is they who are behind the economic growth.

Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque reports from Dhaka.