China has many things to give, we also have things to take: Planning minister

Friendship with China is in the list of priorities for Bangladesh, said Planning Minister MA Mannan.

“We think China has many things to give and we also have things to take,” he said.

The planning minister said this on Tuesday as a chief guest at a discussion in a Dhaka hotel. Bangladesh-China Silk Road Forum held the discussion and photo exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The minister said that there is a need for development in various fields including road communication, railway, electricity in Bangladesh. “For this, I’m going for loans all over the world. But we need technology more than the loan as we lack technology more than that of money. China is an advanced country in terms of technology. We can bring not only capital from there but also technology. It can be done by maintaining transparency.”
Terming the friendship with China as multifaceted, MA Mannan said, why China? Because, China is an Asian neighbour. It is rather clear this is the time for Asia. China is in a leading position during the time of Asia. They achieved it with hard work. So, Bangladesh as an Asian representative is doing business with China. It is not about hatred or bias to anybody.

Almost all the speakers at the discussion described China's Belt and Road Initiative as positive. In the speech of the special guest, former minister and president of Bangladesh Workers' Party, Rashed Khan Menon, said when BRI was started, renowned economist Rehman Sobhan said in the seminar of Workers' Party that this initiative will advance the world in terms of a new international system. He said the new economic system will progress forward through BRI, Rashed Khan Menon recalled.

Menon further said the initiatives that are implemented or being implemented over the last 10 years, have all been changing the image of the world. Bangladesh also has observed structural development due to joining the BRI.

Bangladesh-China Silk Road Forum president and general secretary of Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal, Dilip Barua, presided over the meeting.

Former information minister and JSD president Hasanul Haq Inu, Bangladesh Communist Party president Shah Alam, Chargé d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh Yan Hualong, former Bangladesh ambassador to China Munshi Faiz Ahmed, Acting General Secretary of Bangladesh-China Silk Road Forum ABM Khorshed Alam also took part in the programme.

Apart from the discussion, the guests also visited the photo exhibition.