Bangladesh-Cambodia ties

Bangladesh is in a flurry of diplomatic dashes for economic cooperation right now. On conclusion of two such successful itineraries by the Bangladesh premier to Japan and China, it has just hosted the prime minister of Cambodia. Diplomatic forays to the world's second and third wealthy countries in the world has naturally overshadowed the Cambodian premier's visit to Bangladesh but cooperation between these two Third World countries almost with identical political history is important in more ways than what is perceived by the mere look of it. During the Cambodian prime minister's visit, the two countries have signed three accords. These concern issues like the establishment of a joint commission for promoting bilateral cooperation, promotion and reciprocity of investment and strengthening of cultural ties. Besides, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed. The areas of cooperation identified for the two countries have obviously been industry, trade and commerce, agriculture and cultural exchanges. Education and tourism are other potential areas where the two countries will have a meeting place to cooperate with each other.

However, to Bangladesh it will be of particular interest to get Cambodia's support for gaining membership of the Ganges-Mekong Cooperation. This will facilitate Bangladesh's ambition to cement its position in the proposed Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) club as mooted out by Japan. Through this a wider vista of economic cooperation, investment and marketing will unfold. True, Cambodia may be a competitor in some areas but if countries like Japan and China are interested in industrial collaboration with both countries, they will know exactly how to make them partners in progress in the emerging realities of global economy. Also the two countries will have the opportunity to make industrialisation or collaboration in their respective countries on the basis of a rational assessment. Thus they will be able to avoid overlapping of production or commerce either in case of domestic consumption or export. Both countries may benefit from each other's experiences in industrialisation as also from greater bilateral commerce between them.

Cooperation between Bangladesh on the one side and countries like Cambodia and Vietnam, on the other, is different because it is likely to show both the strength and weakness of South-South collaboration and management of their bilateral interests. Both countries can learn from each other in areas of addressing social and economic problems. For example, the proponents of micro-credit in Bangladesh have pushed for its further extension but in Vietnam and Cambodia the main focus was on its utilisation for productive purposes. So, a strong foundation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been established in those two countries. This is a key to rationally distributing wealth at the grass-roots level. China did it successfully in the early days when it set up industrial villages. Now, Cambodia and Vietnam are following in its footsteps. Bangladesh's micro-credit will find a better use if it is wisely channelled to the development of SMEs. Here is a potential area for cooperation between Bangladesh and Cambodia.