Revival of Southern Silk route to spur economic growth
Thursday, 21 October 2010
FE Report
International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICCB) has emphasized the need for re-establishing the Southern Silk Route with China through Myanmar to harness the economic benefit of connectivity.
"Bangladesh could become the commercial hub of the region through re-establishing the route with China through Myanmar and for this a well-planned investment in infrastructure is a must," an editorial of ICCB News Bulletin said.
It said in today's free market economy, connectivity not only opens the way to trade and commerce, but also plays a vital role in reinforcing relations among neighboring countries. China's Yunnan Province Governor Qin Guangrong during his recent visit to Bangladesh expressed the keen interest of China to have road and rail communications between the two countries through Myanmar. Besides, China is also interested for supporting Bangladesh in building a deep seaport.
The present bilateral trade between the two countries has surpassed US$ 4.5 billion, although Bangladesh has been suffering around $4 billion trade deficit. In spite of the world wide recession, the bilateral trade between the two countries did not affect in a big way.
China has emerged as the biggest source of import for Bangladesh; being ranked as the third biggest export destination for China in the South Asian Region. This July, China has extended a generous offer of tariff-free access to 4,762 products from 33 LDCs including Bangladesh. Earlier, duty free access to 84 products from Bangladesh under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) was offered to reduce the widening trade imbalance.
According to Board of Investment (BoI), Chinese investment in Bangladesh till 2007 is only about US$ 300 million. China is looking for relocation of a number of key export oriented industries to countries having cheaper labour force. Bangladesh can definitely attract such relocation and increase Chinese investment.
Yunnan Province of China is strategically very important as it connects China with the South Eastern and South Asian countries. Regional cooperation will be enhanced through connectivity for mutual benefit of the people of this vast region. The proposed rail and road connectivity between Kunming and Chittagong would link with the road running through Myanmar to the Chinese city and beyond. Once it is established, Bangladesh would be connected by road to almost the whole of the lucrative markets of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries.
Bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and Myanmar is also growing through a brick-by-brick process. The country is full of natural resources with huge economic potentials and the size of which is almost five times more than that of Bangladesh with one third of our population. Currently Myanmar and Bangladesh are engaged more in border trade than normal trade. Recent proposal of Myanmar to supply electricity through construction of hydraulic dam is a very positive indication of economic cooperation.
Furthermore, Bangladesh has shown its recent renewed interest in the proposed Trans-Asian Railway (TAR), a project of UNESCAP. Once materialized, it will link Bangladesh, among others, with six East Asian countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore as well as European countries through Turkey.
It may be mentioned that as part of TAR agreement which Bangladesh signed in November 2007, a 130-km-railway-track will be laid from Dohazari of Bangladesh to Gundum in the Arakan state of Myanmar via Ramu in Cox's Bazaar. The TAR and the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) will promote Bangladesh's economic interests to ASEAN and beyond.
The EWEC is considered as the sole land link, which will connect the Indian Ocean with the Pacific, the ICCB said.
International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICCB) has emphasized the need for re-establishing the Southern Silk Route with China through Myanmar to harness the economic benefit of connectivity.
"Bangladesh could become the commercial hub of the region through re-establishing the route with China through Myanmar and for this a well-planned investment in infrastructure is a must," an editorial of ICCB News Bulletin said.
It said in today's free market economy, connectivity not only opens the way to trade and commerce, but also plays a vital role in reinforcing relations among neighboring countries. China's Yunnan Province Governor Qin Guangrong during his recent visit to Bangladesh expressed the keen interest of China to have road and rail communications between the two countries through Myanmar. Besides, China is also interested for supporting Bangladesh in building a deep seaport.
The present bilateral trade between the two countries has surpassed US$ 4.5 billion, although Bangladesh has been suffering around $4 billion trade deficit. In spite of the world wide recession, the bilateral trade between the two countries did not affect in a big way.
China has emerged as the biggest source of import for Bangladesh; being ranked as the third biggest export destination for China in the South Asian Region. This July, China has extended a generous offer of tariff-free access to 4,762 products from 33 LDCs including Bangladesh. Earlier, duty free access to 84 products from Bangladesh under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) was offered to reduce the widening trade imbalance.
According to Board of Investment (BoI), Chinese investment in Bangladesh till 2007 is only about US$ 300 million. China is looking for relocation of a number of key export oriented industries to countries having cheaper labour force. Bangladesh can definitely attract such relocation and increase Chinese investment.
Yunnan Province of China is strategically very important as it connects China with the South Eastern and South Asian countries. Regional cooperation will be enhanced through connectivity for mutual benefit of the people of this vast region. The proposed rail and road connectivity between Kunming and Chittagong would link with the road running through Myanmar to the Chinese city and beyond. Once it is established, Bangladesh would be connected by road to almost the whole of the lucrative markets of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries.
Bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and Myanmar is also growing through a brick-by-brick process. The country is full of natural resources with huge economic potentials and the size of which is almost five times more than that of Bangladesh with one third of our population. Currently Myanmar and Bangladesh are engaged more in border trade than normal trade. Recent proposal of Myanmar to supply electricity through construction of hydraulic dam is a very positive indication of economic cooperation.
Furthermore, Bangladesh has shown its recent renewed interest in the proposed Trans-Asian Railway (TAR), a project of UNESCAP. Once materialized, it will link Bangladesh, among others, with six East Asian countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore as well as European countries through Turkey.
It may be mentioned that as part of TAR agreement which Bangladesh signed in November 2007, a 130-km-railway-track will be laid from Dohazari of Bangladesh to Gundum in the Arakan state of Myanmar via Ramu in Cox's Bazaar. The TAR and the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) will promote Bangladesh's economic interests to ASEAN and beyond.
The EWEC is considered as the sole land link, which will connect the Indian Ocean with the Pacific, the ICCB said.