The latest of what could be gathered on establishing a stronger regional economic connectivity with important neighbouring counties suggests that things are moving on track to have in place a wider financial and economic and geographic linkage among Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar. A joint work programme on an 'economic corridor' connecting the four South Asian countries has been officially agreed, setting up the mechanism to promote cooperation among the four nations. Spearheaded by China and India over rounds of discussions at the highest level, the deal is believed to be a huge watershed in strapping up collaboration and connectivity in the region.
The agreement came at the first meeting of the joint working group on the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor held in December last year in the south-western Chinese city of Kunming - the provincial capital of Yunnan, bordering Myanmar. A broad consensus has been reached on cooperation in transportation infrastructure, investment, financial services, commerce and trade, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and other specific areas. Senior government officials of the four countries and representatives of relevant international organisations attended the meeting for in-depth discussions on the economic corridor, priority areas of cooperation and institution building.
The corridor, it was agreed, would run from Kunming to Kolkata, linking Mandalay in Myanmar as well as Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh. The plan would "advance multi-modal connectivity, harness the economic complementarities, promote investment and trade and facilitate people-to-people contacts" said a joint declaration.
For quite sometime now, physical connectivity has been figuring in news reports, though in a narrowed content among India and Bangladesh with occasional references to Bhutan and Nepal. Whatever has been done so far does not seem to serve the cause of connectivity even on a limited scale, and observers tend to find those stray attempts as of no benefit to Bangladesh. The issue of Bangladesh-India transit, believed to have generated serious controversy over the modalities of operation, has gone muted for a while.
With the talks going on over a wider framework of connectivity amongst the aforementioned countries, it is time that the government considered it highly important to address the matter in a spirit of collaboration for the collective benefit of all four neighbours. Bangladesh should give the BCIM due importance as two regional economic powerhouses like China and India are part of it, creating a scope for Bangladesh to benefit from its location right in the middle of the region.
The BCIM countries seem highly eager to have an integrated mechanism for closer connectivity among their financial and economic institutions, as a starter, to strengthen and simplify financial cooperation and transactions. A high level Chinese team visited Bangladesh recently to discuss the issues with its Bangladesh counterparts. The team's visit, as part of the future planning, centred mostly around examination of the nature and scope of activities in areas such as bank credit, stock market and insurance services that could be the core components of such connectivity, to start with. The purpose, among others, is to explore potentials of boosting trade within the BCIM countries with the help of the financial services available in these countries, and to firm up an effective, time-saving and simplified mechanism of connectivity. Such a mechanism is expected to facilitate multilateral transactions among the regional countries in a number of areas.
Some progress is already in sight. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been inked between the Chittagong Stock Exchange and the BCIM forum. Further works on the matter would facilitate regional financial integration, cross border listings and collaboration in other aspects of financial marketing among the BCIM countries. A preliminary meeting prior to the formulation of work plan of the BCIM trade group is scheduled to be held in June this year in Chittagong. The meeting will be a starter to strengthen promotion of trade and investment in the region. A subsequent meeting towards devising an integrated work plan will be held in New Delhi, India in September this year. It has been learnt that the BCIM countries have already exchanged among themselves their draft work plans on matters of cooperation in respect of trade and financial matters. Three committees have been set up to work on the work plans.
Speculations on increased trade as a result of the connectivity suggest remarkable growth in exports for Bangladesh within the region. Some initial discussions were held in the meantime on identifying the products meant for trade among the member countries. These and many other related issues will emerge through discussions on a continuous basis. The business community in Bangladesh is hopeful that once the process of connectivity commences in a meaningful way, newer avenues of economic cooperation are sure to emerge for collective benefit of all the members.
Reports quoting the Bangladesh commerce minister say that preliminary works are going on in full swing. The commerce minister has reiterated the need for physical connectivity within the region and for improving infrastructure to facilitate cross-border trade and investment. Understandably, simultaneous progress in facilitation of financial servicing and trade related transactions would be greatly reinforced through progress in physical connectivity. For Bangladesh being an active member of the forum means the ushering in of new frontiers in the eastern direction, a long cherished path to tread on for growth and prosperity.
wasiahmed.bd@hotmail.com
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