Dr. SM Jahangir Alam :
SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) was created during the military-paramilitary regime. Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives were its members.
The discussion of SAARC reached such a stage that a businessman and adviser to the present government once said that the currency of ‘SAARC’ will be one.
Who said he was then president of the SAARC proposal. Needless to say, ‘Sarc’ died on the field a long time ago.
There is no point in discussing who is responsible. But I remember, a class of media in our country was strongly against SAARC. Their point was one: the economies of India and Bangladesh are competitive, not complementary.
The argument became more and more intense. The SAARC concept falls behind. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) then introduced a framework for regional cooperation.
They say Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan can create a quadrilateral cooperation.
Its objective will be utilization of regional resources, creation of regional markets, investment from a regional perspective, quadrilateral connectivity-rail, road, air, sea in all areas. It also aimed to build mutual trust by increasing communication between people.
Because it has been seen time and again, the main obstacle to creating regional cooperation is the lack of mutual trust and confidence. It has been observed since independence.
But there is hope now that the businessmen-industrialists of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan have established business relations among themselves.
The relationship of trust between them is slowly building. Import, export trade, investment, miscellaneous business is increasing day by day.
Governments are helping in this. All international organizations including World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank are helping.
It is clear that they are now emphasizing on connectivity to increase trade and commerce between Bangladesh and India as a complement to relations with Nepal and Bhutan.
Along with the quadrature development, they are adding a bigger project. Its name is Bangladesh Economic Corridor Development. I will come to this discussion a little later.
Meanwhile, we can see that the connectivity between Bangladesh and India has progressed quite a bit. Dhaka-Kolkata, Khulna-Kolkata, Dhaka-Agartala, Dhaka-Siliguri direct train connections have been established. Akhaura-Agartala train is starting.
By river, goods from Kolkata, Haldia, India are going to North East India as usual. Chittagong and Chalan ports are being used by India. Through this they can send goods to East India. Land trade is increasing day by day. The area will be open for border trade.
Seven new ground trade centers are slated to open. Bangladesh has provided transit facilities to Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam in eastern India. Bangladesh-Nepal cooperation is increasing.
Chittagong port, Mongla port will be connected with Kolkata, Murshidabad, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya through four waterways. Inter-country trucks will run from Bibirbazar to Srimantpur (Tripura) to Akhaura to Agartala etc.
Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) was formed to further expand the area of cooperation. It is seen that as a result of these millions of Bangladeshi-Indians are encouraged in tourism, medical tourism. Our exports are increasing.
India is our second source of imports after China. In the fiscal year 2021-22, the value of goods imported from India to Bangladesh was 1,619 million dollars. Exports are certainly very low at only 199 million dollars. However, exports especially of readymade garments are increasing in India.
The question of how to eliminate this huge trade deficit is now everywhere. The infrastructure we have built includes many mega projects. Full utilization of mega projects is not possible alone. Larger collaborative projects are needed with these projects.
Of course, this cooperation should be done with neighboring countries and other eastern countries. Developing countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam etc. are located to our east.
We need cooperation, connectivity with them too. In this case, the current Bangladesh Economic Corridor Development Project of the Asian Development Bank will be useful for us. A published news shows that there are many projects in this corridor.
These include 56 railway projects, 33 waterway projects, 114 road projects, 29 port development projects, 12,150 schools, 134,000 hospital beds and 12 manufacturing industries. Important economic zones that will be included in these projects are Kolkata, Benapole, Guwahati, Shillong, Imphal, Silchar, Agartala, Aizawl in India.
Thimpu, Bhutan. The economic zones that will be added to Bangladesh are Mongla Port, Payra Port, Khulna, Jessore, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Akhaura, Bibirbazar, Sylhet, Tamabil.
The Asian Development Bank said in their observation that the development of Bangladesh has been concentrated in Dhaka city and division and Chittagong division, which is not desirable. Now the question is whether Bangladesh will agree to this corridor proposal? If we agree, this project will increase production in the region by 32 billion to 286 billion dollars.
The Asian Development Bank estimates that this will create employment for more than 70 million people. It is seen that our 14 districts will benefit from this project and 34 percent of the total population will benefit.
Notably, our North Bengal areas are missing from this corridor. But that region is more underdeveloped. But having Thimpu means having Bhutan. Asian Development Bank can work more in the quadrilateral development framework of Bhutan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh.
I think Bangladesh-India relations are currently at a stage where the Asian Development Bank’s Corridor proposal is likely to be accepted. The issue is mainly related to economic-commercial connectivity.
Huge investment is required here. We do not have the money for this investment. Our private sector capacity is also limited. If the Asian Development Bank comes up with their financial support, the proposal may be accepted.
In the meantime, connectivity between Bangladesh and India has been established at an appreciable level. Commercial relations are also gradually strengthening. The relationship is collaborative. It seems that our private sector businessmen will look positively at this corridor proposal.
Only then will the relationship between the businessmen of the two countries develop. Our exports will increase, revenue will increase. Infrastructure will be developed. Most importantly, our trade deficit with India will be eliminated.
(Author: Bir Muktijoddha, Former Tax Commissioner and Director-Bangladesh Satellite Co. Ltd.)
