Bangladesh can benefit from Chinese experience: envoy

Bangladesh can tremendously benefit from Chinese experience on transportation, power and trade with a regional connectivity, the Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh said yesterday.   
Ambassador Li Jun spoke at a programme organised by the Confucius Institute of North South University (NSU) to discuss Chinese reforms and China-Bangladesh cooperation on the university premises in the capital.
The economic corridor linking Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar would greatly help regional connectivity, he said.  
China is going to expand its zero tariff privileges to 97 percent of Bangladeshi goods, said the ambassador.
While Bangladesh has long been suffering from power shortage, a lot of highly experienced Chinese companies could help building grid networks and power plants and energy-saving technology in this country, Jun said.
The location of Bangladesh, surrounded by south Asia and Southeast Asia, has all the potential to become the regional transportation hub and so the country should work together with China to explore regional road links, railways, waterway and airway, he said.
China will continue to facilitate Bangladesh's three fast-track high-profile projects including the deep-sea port, Padma Bridge and metro rail for communications, he said.
China-Bangladesh trade volume reached a record high of $10 billion in 2013 with a growth rate of 22 percent year-on-year, Jun said.  
The accumulated Chinese investment including that of Hong Kong and Taiwan to Bangladesh reached $1.42 billion last year, creating job opportunities for 76,000 Bangladeshis, he said.
Bangladesh with close traditional bilateral relations with China can take advantage of $500 billion Chinese investment and $10 trillion Chinese imports in the next five years, Jun said.   
Bangladesh as a developing country has a lot to learn from China that has turned itself into an economic powerhouse, said ANM Meshquat Uddin, pro-vice chancellor of NSU.
Despite global sluggish economy, the $9 trillion Chinese economy remained one of the fast-growing economies among the G20 in 2013 with a growth rate of 7.7 percent with an extensive market that bought 21 million cars, a fourth of global sales last year.