What lies beyond the football romance with Argentina?
It was quite remarkable that people were so excited about the reopening of a foreign embassy in Dhaka.
On Monday afternoon, there was a large crowd in front of a building in the capital's Banani, where Argentina Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero was about to reopen their embassy in the country after 45 years.
Football and Bangladeshis' love of the Albiceleste was at the centre of the whole occasion, and that love was at its peak during the Qatar World Cup in December last year, when many Argentines were overwhelmed to see Bangladeshis celebrating their win with such gusto.
Cafiero acknowledged the importance of Bangladesh's love for Argentine football in the decision to reopen the embassy.
"The people of Bangladesh never forgot to show love for Argentina. So, we today humbly came here and reopened the embassy in Bangladesh as a new channel to cement our relations."
While the shared love of Argentine football triggered the diplomatic step, it has the potential for deeper benefits for the two countries.
Bangladesh and Argentina have been working for quite some time towards South America's second biggest country opening an embassy in Dhaka. The need for the full-fledged embassy was felt more as Argentina's export to Bangladesh was growing, especially agricultural products like soyabean oil, soyabean meal and wheat.
Bilateral trade with Bangladesh reached around $800 million in 2021 and 2022 from only $450 million in 2020. Bangladesh's annual export was just around $20 million, which means the trade was in favour of Argentina.
Argentina has realised the potential of Bangladesh, a country of nearly 170 million people, and among the fastest growing economies of the world.
When the global supply chain was seriously disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine war, Argentina was among many countries that were compelled to identify alternative sources of imports and markets for exports. The upper middle-income country, with a strong agriculture and food processing industrial base, chose Bangladesh as a potential market.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, is definitely exploring new export markets as it is striving to diversify its products ahead of LDC graduation due in 2026. Currently, the country's major export item is readymade garments. Pharmaceuticals, IT and leather goods are some of the products with high potential for export.
Trade apart, there is change in the global geopolitical landscape. The world is getting more and more polarised with the China-Russia bloc and US-led western bloc. Furthermore, Asia, specifically the Indo-Pacific region is now the focus of the global powers.
Bangladesh lies at the epicenter of the Indo-Pacific, connecting south and southeast Asia and east Asia. It is no wonder that Argentina is deepening its ties with Bangladesh from that perspective.
Cafiero, while reopening their embassy in the country after 45 years, said while trade and business will be there, it is the people, their emotion, that brought the two countries closer.
Argentina reopened the embassy within three months of their announcement that they would do so. The embassy in Dhaka was closed in 1977 by a dictator of the South American nation.
Bangladesh State Minster for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said relations between Bangladesh and Argentina was not only diplomatic and political, but also emotional.
During the three-day visit of Cafiero, who left Dhaka today, the two countries signed several MoUs and agreements on football, trade, exemption of visas for official and diplomatic passport holders and diplomatic training. He watched an Under-17 women's football match. He also met the Brac leadership in Dhaka exploring if Brac could collaborate with Argentina in the areas of microfinance and inclusion of women.
From all the conversations between the 34-member Argentine delegation and Bangladesh authorities and private and development sectors, we can see a variety of avenues of cooperation.
Bangladesh is not great when it comes to football, although the women's team is doing quite well. Argentina can surely provide technical assistance to Bangladesh for improving the country's football. On the other hand, Bangladesh, which is an expert in RMG and textile sectors, can provide all sorts of sportswear to Argentina, apart from other products and services where it has an edge.
Signing a preferential trade agreement with the South American common market – that was discussed during Santiago's visit here – can be a gamechanger for Bangladesh's export.
Brac, the world's largest development organisation with operations in Africa and Asia, can definitely extend its wings to Latin America, starting with Argentina, in promoting economic development and women empowerment among the low-income communities.
So, it is all about the power of people, not the authoritarians or dictators who cut relationship or disempower people. This goes in line with what Cafiero explained in reference to the emotion of Bangladeshi fans' love for Argentine football that triggered the two nations to deepen relations.
At the reopening of the embassy, he recited from Tagore -- "Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service. Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might," as he emphasised on compassion for people, especially during times of austerity and war.
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