SE Asian economic bloc high priority

The south-east Asian economic bloc is a “high priority” for Bangladesh to emerge as a middle income country by 2021, Dr Gowher Rizvi, adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told a seminar yesterday.

The Centre for East Asia Foundation (CEAF) organised the seminar on Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor and Maritime Silk Road across the Bay at a city hotel. 

 “We are absolutely thrilled by the idea of BCIM economic corridor,” said Rizvi, adding that Bangladesh's aspiration to emerge as a middle income country was set out and BCIM sub-regional economic cooperation was an important arrangement to achieving that end.   

Without such regional cooperation, the countries cannot mutually benefit from the hydropower resources in south Asia, he said, adding that Bhutan had a proven capacity to generate 25,000 megawatts of electricity while Nepal could generate up to 75,000 megawatts of hydroelectricity.   

Bangladesh must emerge as the hub of south-east Asian connectivity with an easy access to almost one-third of the world population, he said.

Bangladesh is very important in south-east Asia because of its geographical location, lying between two emerging economic giants, China and India, and having excellent relations with both countries, said Rizvi.         

Rizvi, however, regretted the fact that attempts to know Myanmar were very little in Bangladesh for “no good reason” despite the close proximity to the country.

Myo Myint Than, ambassador of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, said priority areas of the BCIM grouping were connectivity, energy cooperation, poverty alleviation and people-to-people contact and Myanmar was working on making the economic corridor successful.

The corridor would provide access to markets in south-east Asia, trade and investment, infrastructure development and tourism, he said.

Dr M Jashim Uddin, senior research fellow of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), said the Chinese premier last October mentioned the Maritime Silk Route across the Bay for the development of the BCIM economic corridor to enable better physical connectivity in the region.

The maritime silk route would revive an ancient route stretching across China through south-east Asia and the Indian Ocean to Europe, he said. 

Qu Guangzhou, chargé d'affaires of the Chinese embassy, said China stood ready to cooperate with the regional efforts to build up the regional economic corridor.

Brig PC Thimmaya, defence attaché of the High Commission of India, who was present at the dais representing his country, left the venue halfway through the seminar without saying anything.     

The BCIM process was initiated in 1999 and the cooperation area, encompassing road connectivity, stretches from Kunming of China to Kolkata of India and connecting Mandalay of Myanmar and Chittagong and Dhaka of Bangladesh.

Prof Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir of Dhaka University's development studies department also spoke while Prof Shukomol Barua of Pali studies chaired the seminar.