Tap Asia for growth Rehman Sobhan
Bangladesh must turn its growing economic links with Asia into greater export, investment and connectivity opportunities as global economic power shifts towards the region, eminent economist Prof Rehman Sobhan said on Saturday.
He said Bangladesh was already integrated into Asian manufacturing value chains and depended heavily on the region for imports and capital, but had yet to fully benefit from expanding Asian markets.
“We have certainly integrated our manufacturing process into the value chains of these countries. But we have not integrated Bangladesh’s export opportunities into the opportunities opening up for us over there,” he said.
Sobhan made the remarks at a session titled “The New International Economic Disorder” at the Bay of Bengal Conversation 2026 in Dhaka.
He said China and India, which he expects to become the world’s largest and third-largest economies respectively within about a decade, presented significant opportunities for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s exports remain concentrated in a limited number of markets despite its deep economic links with Asia, he said.
Greater regional integration could help diversify export destinations, expand trade and strengthen Bangladesh’s position in Asian supply chains.
He also highlighted Bangladesh’s geographic advantage, saying its strategic value extended beyond the Bay of Bengal to land links with neighbouring regions.
“The Padma and Jamuna bridges allow the country to link Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and eventually Europe,” he said, referring to the connectivity vision associated with the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) initiative, which he helped found.
Such connectivity could create opportunities for Bangladesh to expand trade, attract investment and strengthen its role in regional supply chains, he said.
Sobhan stressed the need for stronger long-term planning to capitalise on these opportunities.
“We are not very effective in terms of strategic planning for the future and even less effective in the way we set out to implement our strategic plans,” he said.
He also warned that changes in the global trading system could put additional pressure on Bangladesh as an import-dependent and export-oriented economy.
According to Sobhan, major economic powers, led by the United States, are increasingly using tariffs and other trade measures to influence economic decisions.
“We are witnessing a return to the colonial model of trade,” he said, arguing that some countries were being compelled to buy goods and invest under tariff pressure.
He said the developments reflected a broader response by established economic powers to Asia’s rise. With capital increasingly concentrated in Asia, developing countries now have more alternatives to Western aid and investment. China, he noted, has become the world’s largest source of official aid and loans.
For Bangladesh, Sobhan said, the changing global order underscored the need to diversify exports, deepen Asian economic integration and convert connectivity advantages into concrete trade and investment gains.
The global disruption has already affected Bangladesh, he said, citing the economic fallout from the conflict in the Middle East.
Earlier, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated the fifth edition of the Bay of Bengal Conversation, organised by the Centre for Governance Studies.
The three-day forum brings together around 200 speakers, more than 300 delegates and over 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries.
