DU CORRESPONDENT
"Education will be the construction material to build a bridge between Bangladesh and China," remarked Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon while addressing the 'China-Bangladesh Roundtable on Governance Experience Exchange'. The Centre for China Studies, Dhaka University (DU) organised the event at Hotel InterContinental in the capital on Friday.
The minister said, "This conference will be a bridge between China and Bangladesh. But what will be the construction material to build the bridge? It is education."
"We are being benefited from the bilateral relationship, as the Global South is very vulnerable now. So, we have to restrengthen ourselves."
The minister stressed the importance of transforming Bangladesh's huge population into human capital through education. "Bangladesh is becoming more populated day by day. We are one of the most densely populated countries in the world. We must convert this population into human capital."
Milon said the DU recently signed two MoUs with Chinese universities to strengthen relation in higher education and research. "There's a reason behind the strategic relation between the DU and China. We are having MoUs to improve our strategic relation with China."
He also expressed optimism over future cooperation between the two countries in the education sector.
"The relation with China will continue. It will be very prosperous," he added.
Prof Dr A B M Obaidul Islam, Vice-Chancellor of DU; Dr Chen Dongxiao, Senior Research Fellow, President of SIIS and Chairman of CCS Academic Board; and Yao Wen, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh; also addressed the opening session.
Yao Wen said Beijing now views the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as a key partner in state management.
"The Communist Party of China and the BNP are both ruling parties; and the exchange of experience on state governance between the two is now embracing unprecedented opportunities."
He noted that exchange of personnel between the two countries has already seen a dramatic increase, with over 32,000 visas issued by the Chinese Embassy so far this year. The number might exceed 100,000 by the year end, supported by 45 weekly round-trip flights between Dhaka and different Chinese cities.
Economic data shared during the session showed that four Chinese firms have recently invested nearly USD 100 million in Bangladesh, creating around 10,000 jobs.
The ambassador noted that China remains a trustworthy and reliable partner, as Bangladesh seeks to diversify its industrial base beyond textiles and navigate global energy pressures.
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