Dhaka, July 21: Shifting emphasis from multilateral to bilateral economic ties.
Bangladesh is to revive the Joint Economic Commissions (JECs) with its principal trade partners India and China.
The JEC with India has not met since 2003 and with China since 2005, though the two countries have taken turns to be the number one trade partners of Bangladesh.
Beijing will host the 12th meeting of the JEC on July 27-29, Economic Relations Division Secretary M. Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, who will lead the Dhaka delegation, told New Age newspaper.
However, Bhuiyan did not indicate any timetable for the meeting of the JEC with India.
Bangladesh has so far been relying heavily on global lenders and bilateral development partners for financial and technical assistance for implementing development projects.
Bangladesh’s annual trade deficits with China and India would exceed $5.55 billion, as per the latest official figures released earlier this month. The newspaper said Bangladesh’s limited export capacity would not be able to fill the widening trade gaps with two Asian giants.
The newspaper spoke to trade experts and economists who suggested that Bangladesh should invite more investments from China and India in productive sectors and physical infrastructure.
The flow has been uneven and mired in controversies. Some of the projects China took up ran into trouble over corruption charges levelled during 2007-08 when a military-backed caretaker government was in office.
A $3 billion investment proposal of India’s Tata Group in Bangladesh’s coal, steel and electricity was shelved after the Khaleda Zia government (2001-06) and the caretaker government found the offer ‘politically sensitive’.
–IANS