Bangladesh, EU ‘heading for strategic ties’

Bangladesh and the EU are moving towards a strategic and political partnership and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attending the first Global Gateway Forum on October 25-26 in Brussels is a definitive step towards that end, said foreign ministry officials.

Launched in 2021, the Global Gateway is the EU's response to China's Belt and Road Initiative and is aimed at mobilising funding for infrastructure building in developing countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Hasina is one of the 20 heads of state -- along with those of Senegal, Namibia and Moldova -- invited to the two-day event, which will bring together representatives of governments from the EU and from around the world with the private sector, civil society, leading thinkers, financing institutions and international organisations.

Under the Global Gateway initiative, the two partners would work on infrastructure and connectivity, migration, green energy, climate change, blue economy, maritime cooperation, security and regional and global strategic issues of mutual interest, said Charles Whiteley, the EU ambassador to Bangladesh.

"The Global Gateway will be a different vision for connectivity. There are big global actors who have funded infrastructure projects but those have not always been sustainable or beneficial."

The EU offers an alternative vision where the loans and grants for infrastructure and connectivity projects are underpinned by the ideas of sustainability, ecological friendliness and commercial viability.

"When we have a loan or a grant, we try to combine those with policy discussions so we learn from each other. It is about working together and sharing ideas -- and not saying that this is our vision for the world," Whiteley added.

To flag off the initiative, a loan agreement for 350 million euros will be signed to aid in the transition to green energy in Bangladesh. This will be the first loan to Bangladesh from the European Investment Bank, said an official of the Bangladesh embassy in Brussels.

"Now the EU is eager to come to Bangladesh and so are we. If we can design good projects, we can have much funding."

Asked if there would be stringent conditions for loans, he said: "Good governance, environmental sustainability and innovation are some of the basic principles that the EU will consider when providing funds."

During the PM's Brussels tour from October 24 to 27, negotiations for the Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) will begin, according to foreign ministry officials.

PCA is a legally binding agreement through which the EU works to support the democratic and economic development of a country. But a few years of negotiations are needed to strike an agreement on the PCA, they added.

Meanwhile, Hasina is likely to visit Saudi Arabia to attend the International Conference on Women in Islam on November 6-8, reports UNB.

Saudi Arabia and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are organising the conference, which aims to clarify women's rights and responsibilities in Islam, especially with regards to education and work, with broad participation from scholars of the Islamic Ummah.