Turning BD into hub of connectivity

The four member countries of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation (BCIM)) are set to sign an agreement in next December to build a trans-national highway. The highway will eventually turn Bangladesh into a hub of connectivity between South and Southeast Asia.
For long, Bangladesh has been aspiring to be the hub for connectivity, and the corridor fits exactly into that. Experts say Bangladesh stands to gain because it will allow the country to expand economic ties with the neighbouring states. The geographical location of the country would help it maximise the potential lying in the huge market with 40 per cent of world population in the proposed four-nation economic bloc, they said.
The K2K (Kunming-Ruili-Bhamo-Lashio-Mandalay-Tamu-Imphal-Sylhet-Dhaka-Kolkata) route, which is 2,800 kilometres (km) long and part of the historic Silk Route, offers the best condition to be used as the corridor. With roads, railways, airlines, water routes, telecommunication networks and energy pipelines in place, the proposed corridor will connect South-western China, Eastern and North-Eastern India, Myanmar and Bangladesh to form a thriving economic belt.
Growing competition between China and India on political and economic fronts and the Myanmar refugee issue remain as areas of concern at country level. Inadequate market access, non-tariff barriers, insufficient physical connectivity and lack of favourable banking and financial mechanisms might pose challenges at sector level.
According to a study, intra-BCIM trade has remained fairly low though it increased -- mainly driven by China and India -- from $6.0 billion in 2001 to $90 billion in 2011. And the contribution of Bangladesh and Myanmar is meagre. The trade potential of the corridor stands at $132 billion, it said.
On its part, Bangladesh can benefit immensely from regional cooperation on energy, as it can purchase unused power from Sikkim in India that plans to exploit its hydrocarbon resources. The country can also increase trade with Myanmar, as the two countries share a border of 160 miles. It can also gain similar benefits from China and India.
Allowing China to link up with the planned deep-sea port in Sonadia will be a lucrative offer for the economic giant, as Yunnan province is nearer to Chittagong than it is to Shanghai or Beijing. The BCIM-Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC) initiative began mainly as a private sector effort in 1999. It got a boost last year when China and India showed interest in utilising the BCIM framework for enhancing connectivity in the region. Bangladesh and Myanmar also responded positively.
The framework agreement may be inked in December in New Delhi at the third intergovernmental meeting on the proposed Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC). The deal is aimed at boosting trade and investments and tapping regional economic potentials. It will help Bangladesh get optimum return from its proposed deep-sea port that could be used by all four countries.
Initiated by civil society members of the four countries, the proposed economic bloc has got importance in recent period to the respective governments. BCIM is a land bridge between South-Southeast/East Asia and Southeast-Central Asia. From geo-political point of view, Bangladesh lies at the heart of BCIM region.
A concept paper prepared by Bangladesh foreign ministry said that allowing China to link up with a Bangladesh sea port would be a lucrative offer to China's booming commerce. As a result, Bangladesh's trade with China and Myanmar will burgeon, it said, adding that Bangladesh might encourage both Chinese and Indian investment in the country's deep-sea port.
According to a report of the commerce ministry, however, 77 per cent or $ 70 billion of the total trade was driven by India and China. It said that developing a multi-modal transport linkage within BCIM region and linking it to global market beyond the region through development of deep seaport in the Bay of Bengal were of critical importance.
The proposed economic corridor would cover 1.65 million square km, encompassing an estimated 440 million people in China's Yunnan province, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bihar in Northern India. It would cover the area from Kunming (China) in the east to Kolkata (India) in the west.
It may be mentioned here that the BCIM is a regional grouping of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar. Earlier, Bangladesh and six neighbouring nations formed South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Afghanistan joined it later. South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) was formed to deal with business issues of the member countries. But SAFTA faces criticism for failing to play an effective role in bolstering economic and business facilities among the member countries.
Discussions on BCIM forum got momentum last year after being discussed around for a decade. Indian and Chinese prime ministers discussed the project last year during their visits to Beijing and Delhi last year.
Both the countries decided to 'explore' the possibility of developing a BCIM economic corridor, alongside the Kolkata-Kunming highway through Bangladesh and Myanmar. Last month, the BCIM forum decided to start 'joint research' on developing the proposed corridor.
The concept of connectivity is now becoming broader in its application. It is growing beyond the old-fashioned concept of transit, which used to be discussed between India and Bangladesh earlier. Many experts are now talking about a broad-based connectivity to be the solution of the problems.
There is, of course, a need to create a fund to remove infrastructure deficits and improve connectivity. Trade agreements among the four nations should be implemented true to their potential. There is also a need for introducing fast visa processing to enhance intra-regional trade. The multimodal transport system is necessary to explore new business corridors and opportunities. Of late, India is working to launch a multimodal transport system with Myanmar.
Despite having enough potential, South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) failed to grow up as an effective regional institution. On the contrary, countries within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) have witnessed robust growth in respect of trade facilitation through greater connectivity. Let's hope the proposed BCIM corridor makes a steady growth through greater connectivity for the betterment of common people in the region.                      
szkhan@dhaka.net