Dear Readers,

Like the previous years, The Daily Star is proud to present to you yet another colourful, well-illustrated 216-page special supplement in five segments on the occasion of its 32nd Anniversary. SEGMENT 1, which appears today, is titled: "Towards a smart Bangladesh"; SEGMENT 2: "The changing middle-class story" will appear on February 13; SEGMENT 3: "Where Showbiz meets the Internet" on February 15; SEGMENT 4: "In with the new: Lifestyle Chronicles" on February 16; and SEGMENT 5: "Celebrating the inspirers" on February 19.

After overcoming the immense tribulations brought forth by the coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh once again faces the mammoth task of stabilising its economy when the global economy seems to be entering unchartered waters. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent war, global supply chain issues, and various other external shocks have placed many new hurdles in front of Bangladesh. Our selection of this year's themes has been inspired by Bangladesh's great efforts to march on towards creating a developed, prosperous, and smart Bangladesh, in spite of all these challenges.

We are happy to say that the contributors, who are experts, practitioners, researchers, eminent economists, scholars and academics, have done a commendable job in presenting us with very insightful and rich articles.

We have tried to make the contents impactful, thought-provoking, objective, constructive, and positively directional, with appropriate suggestions and recommendations, which we are confident will add value to the existing work on the topics covered in the supplements.

We also take the opportunity of expressing our gratitude to our readers and patrons, who have inspired us consistently and have shown keen interest in our continuing progress and lent unstinted support in fulfilling our motto, Your Right to Know.

Mahfuz Anam

Editor & Publisher