Bangladesh’s Bilateral Future: Deepening the Old, Forging the New
Shaikh Afnan Birahim :
Bangladesh was born through a fusion of moral legitimacy and realpolitik, and it matured by mastering multilateralism, which is through peacekeeping, climate diplomacy, and LDC advocacy. That story is still true.
But bilateral partnerships are also an important matter for this country. Because in this era of supply-chain rewiring, AI regulation, climate volatility, and contested sea lanes, deals that most tangibly shape citizens’ lives, jobs, technology, energy, and skills are struck one country at a time.
The question now is straightforward: Which bilateral relationships have quietly built our resilience, and which new ones can future-proof Bangladesh through 2030 and 2041? If we calibrate our bilateral map toward technology, green energy, maritime security, and human capital, we can convert geopolitical uncertainty into a runway for national capability.
The Existing Bilateral Foundations
Firstly, we talk about South and Southeast Asia. First,it is worth notingthat theRegional anchors with India, cooperation runs across trade, power interconnections, border management, and people-to-people ties.
(ADB India-Bangladesh grid interconnection) Then, to mention China, which underwrites industrialization and connectivity through significant infrastructure investments (Chinese Embassy: BRI in Bangladesh).
Japan is our steady, system-building partnerfrom metro rail to deep-sea ports, shaping the hardware of growth (The Financial Express).
Bhutan and Nepal are crucial for hydropower and transit, integrating Bangladesh into a cross-border energy future (Nepal-Bangladesh power MoU; First trilateral power flow via India; The Financial Express).
The West & Transatlantic block ofthe United States, the United Kingdom, and European partners is our principal export market and reform partnerlinking trade to labor standards, compliance, and investment protection (EU GSP framework).
France, Italy, and Germany have become climate?industry partners, offering pathways into green manufacturing and circular economy value chains.
(BSS; BSS-Italy; Dhaka Tribune) The Middle East. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait sit at the heart of remittance, aviation, logistics, and energy relationsareas that touch everyday Bangladeshi households (Bangladesh Bank).
Structured, protective labor agreements and skills-upgrading pathways here can transform migration into a long-term human capital strategy.
Emerging Asia partners, such as Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, serve as Bangladesh’s diversification corridor for ICT services, electronics assembly, agrifood processing, and skills mobility.
These relationships pull us deeper into Asian supply chains. (Prothom Alo, BSS News, Dhaka Tribune, UNB, Daily Observer) Graduation from LDC status in 2026 (UN LDC Portal) is not just a ceremonial milestone; it is a renegotiation moment. Preferences will change. Compliance will tighten.
Our response should be to recode bilateralism toward capability?building: Green Transition Treaties:Bangladesh can establish strong partnerships with Denmark, Norway, and Canada to secure access to renewable technologies, offshore wind expertise, carbon markets, and industrial decarbonisation finance. Power purchase agreements and technology-sharing clauses should be embedded in state-to-state memoranda of understanding (MOUs).
Digital Economy and AI Cooperation: Through collaboration with Singapore, South Korea, and Estonia, Bangladesh can co-design frameworks for trusted data exchange, GovTech development, cross-border digital services, and AI safety, building on the Estonia-Bangladesh e-governance initiative (The Business Standard).
These partnerships should include provisions for regulatory sandboxes, cyber-capacity building, and mutual recognition of digital credentials.
Education, Skills, and Labor Mobility:Partnerships with Australia, Japan, and Germany should focus on negotiating skills compacts that connect vocational training in Bangladesh with overseas job placements.
Recognition of qualifications and labor protections must be central. Migration should be positioned as a strategic skills-export policy, not merely as workforce deployment.
Agri-Tech and Food
Security:Bangladesh can collaborate with the Netherlands to introduce precision irrigation, saline-resistant seed varieties, and cold-chain logistics systems.
These measures would help stabilise food prices and safeguard delta agriculture against climate-induced shocks.
Blue Economy and Maritime Security:Joint efforts with Indonesia, the Philippines, and Mauritius can strengthen fisheries management, port-resilience standards, and maritime domain awareness.
Such cooperation will protect coastal livelihoods and secure regional sea lanes as trade increasingly pivots toward the Indian Ocean.
The core idea is that the treaties of the 2030s should not merely sell garments or send workers; they should exchange ideas, data, and technology, compounding national know-how with every signature.
New Frontiers: Where to Engage Next Africa: Kenya, South Africa, and Ethiopia present strategic entry points into Africa’s expanding sectors in agriculture technology, pharmaceuticals, and financial technology.
Bangladesh can share its own development experience in ready-made garments, light engineering, and digital identification systems.
At the same time, it can import agricultural inputs and strengthen food security through new South-South investment partnerships.
Latin America: Brazil, Chile, and Mexico offer opportunities to expand Bangladesh’s exports of jute, garments, leather, and agrifood products.
Joint work on fertilizer supply and shipping connectivity can increase supply stability. Engagement with Latin America also brings market depth and a balanced position beyond any single Asian or Western power.
Non-Traditional Europe: Poland, Finland, and Sweden are natural partners for cooperation in offshore wind energy, green shipping, and vocational education.
Well-designed supplier development programs can help Bangladeshi companies enter European clean technology supply chains and reach higher industrial standards.
ASEAN and the Wider Indo-Pacific: Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia offer pathways for Bangladeshi small and medium enterprises to join regional value chains in electronics and agriculture-based industries.
Partnerships with Australia and New Zealand can build cooperation in education, climate research, and disaster-resilient infrastructure finance. These relationships will strengthen Bangladesh’s ability to manage economic shocks and develop advanced technical capacity.
Post-LDC diplomacy should pivot from aid to co-creation. Every new treaty must leave behind the capability of trained engineers, standards adopted, data connected, or firms certified, so that strategic autonomy grows with interdependence.
Principles for a Modern Bilateral Strategy
Strategic autonomy:Bangladesh should preserve equidistance amid great?power competitiondeepening with India and Japan on connectivity and manufacturing; with China on infrastructure and industrial upgrading; with the U.S. and Europe on standards, investment, and technology governance. Non-alignment is not passivity; it is optionality.
Economic pragmatism: Choose partners based on value added per Bangladeshi citizen, jobs created, emissions cut, risks diversified, and technology absorbed, rather than ideological affinity. Tie incentives to local supplier development and technology transfer.
Human-centered diplomacy:Engineer bilateral deals around citizens’ life chances through safer migration pathways, portable qualifications, flood-resilient livelihoods, affordable energy, and digital rights.
Embassies should act as innovative outposts, mapping climate funds, tech standards, and skill shortages, then converting that intelligence into bankable projects.
The operational steps to implement these initiatives include establishing a small Bilateral Capability Unit within the foreign and commerce ministries.
This unit will audit existing treaties, identify opportunities for renegotiation after Bangladesh’s LDC graduation, and propose template clauses for green finance, data protection, dispute resolution, and SME upgrading.
A diaspora industry council should be built in major partner countries to anchor investment and skill-development pipelines.
Economic wings in embassies should also be equipped with performance indicators linked to technological adoption and export diversification, rather than simply the number of MoUs signed.
As Bangladesh advances toward 2041, its global standing will be defined by how deftly it balances sovereignty with interdependence. Bangladesh must evolve as friendship becomes partnership; partnership becomes capability.
Bilateralism, once the grammar of borders, can become the language of possibility. Suppose we deepen our ties with old India, China, Japan, the US, the EU, and the Gulf, and forge new connections with Africa, Latin America, non-traditional Europe, and the Indo-Pacific.
In that case, every agreement will make Bangladesh a little brighter, safer, and more self-reliant.The assignment for policymakers for this is straightforward.
They must write treaties that teach, finance that decarbonizes, migration that upskills, and diplomacy that builds. Do this, and Bangladesh will stand not only as a bridge between rivers, but as a bridge between worlds, an economy resilient to climate and competition, and a society confident in its future.