BCIM corridor to top agenda as leaders meet in October

Business leaders of BCIM countries will push for finalising the establishment of economic corridor as they meet in Dhaka in October to boost regional trade and investment, officials said.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) will organise the business council meeting of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) in October next.

Businessmen of BCIM and high government officials and researchers will participate in the event.

The businessmen in the country think that the establishing BCIM corridor will help gear up trade, investment and regional economic growth.

"We must have connectivity among the BCIM countries for mutual economic benefits. Establishing this corridor is important for our economic growth," President of FBCCI Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed told the FE Sunday.

He said once the economic corridor is established, the economic activities between India, China and Myanmar could be done through Bangladesh that will help increase the country's economic growth.     

To push the issue forward, the government has endorsed a proposal from China to start the feasibility study on the Bangladesh part to develop necessary infrastructure of the proposed 3,000-kilometre BCIM- EC.

The BCIM plan originated from an initiative of private sector through establishing a forum in Kunming of China in 1999. Later the idea has been turned into a BCIM -EC after it was endorsed by the governments of all the four member-countries last year.

The two-fifth of the world population live in BCIM countries that produce one- tenth of the global gross domestic product (GDP).

The BCIM- EC will increase socioeconomic development and trade in South Asia. The initiative seeks to improve connectivity and infrastructure, energy resources, agriculture, and trade and investment. It will connect India's northeastern provinces, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and the Chinese province of Yunnan through a network of roads, railways, waterways, and airways under a proper regulatory framework.

The BCIM- EC is a win-win arrangement. The linkages of transport, energy, and telecommunications networks will help the region to emerge as a thriving economic belt that will promote social development of communities along the corridor.

The BCIM-EC is a modern version of the Silk Road and a revision of the 1999 Track II Kunming initiative between BCIM countries.

It is planned to run from China's Kunming province to Kolkata in India, and link Mandalay in Myanmar and Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh.

Senior secretary of the Ministry of Commerce said the upcoming meeting will focus on establishing EC in the BCIM region.  

"We will mainly discuss on economic corridor (EC) issue among the BCIM countries for increasing regional trade and investment," Mr Mamoon told the FE Sunday.