Bangladesh must be ready for the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative

The ‘One Belt One Road’ (OBOR) initiative will spell seamless connectivity for Bangladesh and the rest of the region, and beyond. It is imperative for Bangladesh to prepare from now to reap full benefit of this initiative.

Speakers at a roundtable on ‘One Belt One Road’ termed it as a win-win initiative for all. The roundtable, held on Sunday at the Prothom Alo office in Karwan Bazar, was organised by Prothom Alo with support from Standard Chartered Bank.

Speaking as chief guest on the occasion, Minister for Planning AHM Mustafa Kamal said that China’s OBOR initiative was not exactly new, it could be seen as an extension of the trade route set up 2000 years ago by the Han dynasty of China. It was a purely trade route then, but now would be seen from the development perspective too.

From a banker’s perspective, Standard Chartered Bank’s CEO in Bangladesh Abrar A Anwar said OBOR is an opportunity which involves around 68 countries with a combined population of 4.4 billion and which constitute 40 per cent of the global GDP. China was investing one trillion dollars in the initiative.

Abrar Anwar said the three main aspects of this Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it was also called, were infrastructure connectivity, investment and trade facilities, and financial cooperation. It would be a big challenge to finance this cooperation. As savings in Bangladesh were low, dependency would be on international capital. China was now diversifying its investment into emerging markets and Bangladesh needs to take advantage of this economic opportunity.

China’s exports to Bangladesh amounted to US$12 billion, while Bangladesh’s exports to China were US$ 1 billion. Bangladesh needed to look into export diversification beyond the existing readymade garment and textile industries, Abrar Amin said. A special strategy could be adopted for labour intensive sectors.

“At Standard Chartered Bank, we want to position ourselves as a facilitator and support various initiatives,” he said, “And we have a dedicated China desk to that end. We are trying to work as a corridor to support this corridor.”

Distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue Dr Mustafizur Rahman said that OBOR was a very important initiative. Tariff barriers would be reduced up and Bangladesh needed to look into such easing of business. 

Dr Mustafizur Rahman said that the One Belt One Road initiative would have to be integrated into the 2041 perspective plan. Trade facilitation would require standardization, harmonization, electronic data exchange and so on, all of which must be done now, before the routes are fixed.

He also pointed out that India did not go to China to attend the OBOR forum in May. Bangladesh went albeit hesitantly. He said Bangladesh needed higher profile representation there. “We need policy alignment from now for seamless connectivity,” he stressed. The special economic zones needed to be equipped to accommodate the industries which China might be wanting to relocate. He said the key to making most of this opportunity was big investment with good governance.

“The OBOR initiative is close to my heart,” said Chairman of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) Munshi Faiz Ahmad, who has also been Bangladesh’s ambassador to China. He said this initiative would be beneficial for all, harmful to none. He said China’s objective behind this initiative was to create a sphere of friendship and to expand development.

Moderated by Prothom Alo Associate Editor Abdul Qayyum, the roundtable was also addressed by, Mohammed Nasir, VP BGMEA, Abul Kasem Khan, President of Dhaka Chamber, Rashed al Masud Titumir, Professor of Development Studies at Dhaka University, Nasir Ezaz Bijoy, MD and head of corporate banking, Standard Chartered Bank and others.