The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) was established in 1993 by Professor Rehman Sobhan, its founder Chairman, in partnership with leading civil society institutions in Bangladesh, to service a growing demand originating from the civil society in Bangladesh for a more participatory and accountable development process. CPD seeks to address this felt need through organising multi-stakeholder dialogues, backed by research, on issues of critical national, regional and global importance, through dissemination of knowledge and information on key developmental issues, and by influencing the policy making processes.

Over the past twenty years CPD has emerged as Bangladesh's premier civil society think-tank, and has established its credibility as one of the very few platforms in Bangladesh where civil society organisations, stakeholder groups and political parties, often with diverse views and perspectives, have been able to come together, over two decades, to discuss key issues of public concern and policy interest. Over the years, CPD has come to be recognized as a centre of excellence across South Asia where it has also attained credibility as a focal point for addressing issues of concern at the bilateral, regional as well as global level particularly as they pertain to least developed countries (LDC). The Centre was recognised as one of the top 228 leading think-tanks by the first global Go to Think Tank Survey in 2007, and was selected for support under the Think Tank Initiative through a globally competitive process.