Better China-Bangladesh connectivity a must

As China wants to make major investments in Bangladesh, legal harmonisation and multimodal connectivity between the two friendly nations are imperative, said officials and researchers from China and Bangladesh yesterday.

“China wants legal harmonisation to smoothen the path of investments in Bangladesh. Apart from that, building roads and railway connectivity at the soonest possible time is a need of the day,” said Maj Gen ANM Muniruzzaman (retd), president of Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS).

He said this while summing up the discussion on the first day of the two-day long 6th Joint Forum for China-Bangladesh Cooperation, organised by BIPSS at Hotel Lake Castle in the capital.

This forum is held annually between China’s Yunnan Development Research Centre (YDRC) and BIPSS, alternately in Kunming and Dhaka.

The forum consisted of an eleven-member Chinese delegation led by Bian Mingshe, deputy director-general of YDRC. The Bangladeshi delegation included academics and businesspersons.

The annual trade volume between the countries is around US $15 billion, with Bangladesh having heavy trade deficit. Bangladesh government officials say China may invest around $50 billion in the next 15 years here.

Muniruzzaman said due to the China-US trade war and loss of competitiveness for rising labour cost in China, the country is relocating many businesses. However, lack of road and rail connectivity is a major hurdle for relocation to Bangladesh.

It is, therefore, important that the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor that connects Kunming, Yunnan of China; northeast India and Bangladesh is implemented on a fast-track basis, Muniruzzaman said.

If India is not willing to join BCIM, the corridor can start from Kunming and then enter Bangladesh through Myanmar, he added.

“This corridor is a great gateway for Bangladesh to China and southeast Asia,” Muniruzzaman said.

The forum also discussed various ways of improving China-Bangladesh relations through tourism, education, and youth exchange programmes, he said.