Bangladesh should not join China bloc: Wahiduddin Mahmud
Business Report :
Given the absence of a trade balance between Bangladesh and China, it would not be prudent for Bangladesh to join a China-led bloc due to the political and economic considerations of its production capacity, eminent economist Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud has said.
“Bangladesh is heavily dependent on China and India for imports.
However, the market for its manufactured products is mainly in Europe and America.
As a result, Bangladesh must maintain an equilibrium in relations with all countries.
There is no scope for Bangladesh to join any alliance,” he said while speaking at the solo speech event titled ‘Conversation with Prof Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud’ organised by the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) on Saturday.
Last month, an inter-ministerial meeting in principle decided in favour of Bangladesh joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest trading bloc led by China.
The RCEP countries have taken 10-25 years to reduce their tariffs.
In this case, Bangladesh will have to do separate negotiations with each country if it joins the bloc.
On Saturday, Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud presented his analysis of the country’s infrastructure development, monetary policy, fiscal policy, education, health, environment, geopolitical strategy, and various sectors of macroeconomics.
He also answered various questions from the journalists.
The former Dhaka University professor said Bangladesh should engage with China and India for imports and should associate with Western countries for exports.
There are political considerations involved, he said, adding that if the European Union does not provide Bangladesh with GSP+ benefits due to human rights issues, it will not be good for Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh will graduate from the status of a least developed country (LDC) in 2026. As a result, it will no longer enjoy preferential market access in world trade.
But, the country is not adequately prepared for graduation from LDC status,” he said.
He went on to say that Canada has given benefits to Bangladesh but only Canada’s assistance is not enough.
“Vietnam has bilateral agreements with 25-30 countries.
What is the situation in Bangladesh in this regard? Bangladesh is a member of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (Safta).
But it didn’t work,” he added.
Mentioning that the United States has granted GSP benefits to 130 least developed countries since 1972, Wahiduddin said, “Bangladesh was also one of them, but it was suspended in 2014 due to labour rights and human rights issues.
However, the GSP facility is not needed for the garment industry in the US, but it is needed for export diversification in the handicraft sector.”
He stated that trade deals are linked to politics, so there should be a national policy in this regard.
Regarding BRICS, he said, “It is a new geopolitical alliance.
However, this alliance does not seem to be very successful because countries such as Brazil and India will not be helpful in fulfilling China’s objectives.”
He thinks that those who talk about human rights, democracy, individual freedom, and freedom of expression are doing it in their own interest.
“This is because countries that deal with these issues want to show their citizens that they are doing something.
It remains to be seen how effective BRICS will be in this new equation.”
In the current economic situation, it is more important to work for the lower middle class and lower class than prestigious projects so that the standard of living of this class of people can be maintained, he observed.
“Apart from this, human resource development should be emphasised in line with infrastructure development.
If human resources are not developed, the infrastructure will remain a skeleton.
This is because developed human resources are the blood and flesh of infrastructure.
“On the other hand, if there is no development of human resources, there is a fear of Bangladesh getting stuck in the trap of a lower-middle-income country,” he added.
