Bangladesh’s geographical location between three major regions of Asia — South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia — provides a unique opportunity for cross-border movement of goods and services and investment flows, the International Chamber of Commerce and Industry said yesterday. It will boost sustainable growth by promoting regional economic integration through freer movement of goods, services and investment, and help regional development by creating jobs, the ICCB said in its news bulletin. Bangladesh’s real income gains will be 6.9 percent of its gross domestic product and export will grow 86 percent by 2030 if connectivity between South Asia and Southeast Asia improves, the chamber said, quoting studies by the Asian Development Bank. However, Bangladesh needs to spend some $14.268 billion to prepare its roads, rail, ports and energy infrastructure to contribute to the integration, according to the ADB. The ADB has agreed to invest $505 million for railway link and the World Bank has expressed willingness to provide $1 billion for infrastructure development in Bangladesh for connectivity between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. Bangladesh is also likely to receive $5.9 billion between 2016 and 2018 from the ADB for its infrastructure projects. Bangladesh can transform its geographical advantage through the new initiatives and gain from accelerating the pace of business cooperation among the countries, the ICCB said. The three key areas for Bangladesh to emerge as a regional economic hub are: development of deep-sea ports; energy cooperation with Bhutan, Nepal, India and Myanmar; and establishment of more economic/industrial zones, it said. Since 2013, the initiative of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor has maintained good momentum of development with collaboration of the BCIM countries, but lot is yet to be done, the chamber said. The linkages of transport, energy, and telecommunications networks will enable the region to emerge as a thriving economic belt that will promote social development of communities along the Corridor. The BCIM Economic Corridor is a priority element of the Chinese “One Belt and One Road” initiatives which will connect Kolkata in India, Mandalay in Myanmar, and Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh. The initiatives will enhance trade due to greater market access and improved connectivity, the chamber said. Motor vehicle connectivity agreements among Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan were signed during the Indian premier’s visit to Bangladesh recently. Bangladesh has also signed six bilateral trade deals with its largest trading partner, China, to build mega infrastructure projects in both public and private sectors. It is estimated that in the next five years, China will invest an additional $500 billion in other countries, import over $10 trillion worth of products and send 400 million tourists abroad. Bangladesh can take an even more favourable posture to make good use of “Chinese opportunities,” the ICCB said. Also, China is set to invest about $22 billion in India for economic collaboration, which will benefit all four countries of the economic corridor, the chamber added.
