{"id":117439,"date":"2021-08-24T23:37:12","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T05:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117439"},"modified":"2021-08-26T15:18:40","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T22:18:40","slug":"possibilities-of-economic-cooperation-between-bangladesh-and-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/08\/24\/possibilities-of-economic-cooperation-between-bangladesh-and-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Possibilities of Economic Cooperation between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan,<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The\ngovernment has taken initiative to export 21 products from Bangladesh to Sri\nLanka with duty free facility. At the same time, Bangladesh-Sri Lanka has\nstarted work to expand bilateral trade, increase investment, and develop the\nshipping and tourism industries. Ready-made garments, medicines, jute and jute\nproducts, ceramics, juices, food products, vegetables, peppers, construction\nmaterials, melamine, paper and paper boards, flowers, plastic products, leather\nand leather products, shoes, soybean oil, potatoes, fertilizers and cosmetics.\nThere is a huge demand in the Sri Lankan market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ntime the government is working to get duty free market facility for the export\nof these products. Sri Lanka is becoming increasingly important in increasing\nregional trade. As a result of various official initiatives, Bangladesh’s trade\nrelations with that country will be further strengthened. The government is\nplaying an important role in increasing trade and investment by maintaining\nfriendly relations between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\nLanka has already allowed Bangladesh to use the seaport of Hambantota. This\nproposal is a huge opportunity for Bangladesh. Bangladesh-Sri Lanka has a trade\nvolume of US 61 million. The government is thinking of increasing it further.\nApart from this, the government is also thinking of providing various\nfacilities to bring investment to Sri Lanka. Chittagong port has historic\nconnectivity with Colombo port. Now using Hambantota port, Bangladesh can reach\nCentral Asia, West Asia, Eurasia, Russia, Chia through utilization of\nPakistan\u2019s Gwadar port, Iran\u2019s Chabahar port, The International North South\nEconomic Corridor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\nLankan Prime Minister Rajapaksa visited Bangladesh to mark the birth centenary\nof Its Founder Father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Golden Jubilee of\nBangladesh\u2019s Independence.  He met with\nPremier Sheikh Hasina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsummit meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan Prime\nMinister Mahinda Rajapaksa agreed to take trade relations between the two\ncountries to new heights. The meeting also signed six memoranda of\nunderstanding on bilateral cooperation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

various\nregional and international issues were discussed during the one-hour bilateral\nsummit. In particular, the two countries have agreed to take trade relations to\nnew heights. During the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stressed on the\nneed for a free trade agreement between the two countries, saying the amount of\ntrade between the two countries is less than expected. For this, both sides should\nquickly go for a free trade agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto the Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh’s foreign trade with Sri Lanka is very low.\nIn the 2019-20 financial year, only goods worth Tk 473 crore were imported from\nSri Lanka to Bangladesh. In the same financial year, only Tk 325 crore worth of\ngoods were exported from Bangladesh. Bangladesh has signed the trade agreement\nwith Bhutan in this regard. Now the People of Bangladesh and Bhutan are getting\nmutual benefit. If a trade agreement is signed, then only sky would be limit\nregarding Bangladesh-Sri Lanka business relations <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nhave many bright potentials of many Bangladeshi products in the Sri Lankan\nmarket. On the contrary, there have huge possibilities of Lankan products in\nBangladesh. Now it is high time to address the need to increase the\nparticipation of the private sector in the two countries. Sri Lankan\nentrepreneurs should invest in Bangladesh to serve their own business interest.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\nLanka has invested in Bangladesh’s power sector. Some opportunities are waiting\nfor Sri Lankan investors to invest more in Bangladesh’s special economic zones,\nindustrial parks and high-tech parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exchange\nof experiences between the two countries in the field of agriculture including\npaddy cultivation and freshwater fish farming, tourism, cricket diplomacy,\nCovid-19 vaccine diplomacy are some potential sectors for both parties.\nBangladesh has interest in acquiring technical knowledge from Sri Lanka on\ncoastal, aquaculture, marine culture and deep-sea fishing. More institutional\ncooperation in the field of education for technical training and skill\ndevelopment can strengthen the ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntraining of Bangladeshi nurses and other health workers in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka\ncould benefit by importing world class medicines from Bangladesh. Bangladesh\nhas always taken its relations with Sri Lanka seriously. Bangladesh is\nproducing capable electronics. Bangladesh electronics are available in Nepal\nnow. Sri Lanka can import these to fulfill the demands of its people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even,\nPrime Minister of Sri Lanka Rajapaksa praised the digital transformation of\nBangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and emphasized\non increasing trade and expanding the scope of business between the two\ncountries. He lauded the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in tackling\nthe Kavid-19 epidemic. He expressed interest in exchanging experiences on\nBlue-Economy and Disaster Management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombo\nSecurity Conclave has brought opportunities for both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka\nfor maritime security. Bangladesh has already proved itself that Bangladesh is\na true friend and well-wisher of Sri Lanka. Maritime trade can boost up the\nties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\nLanka has been suffering from a foreign exchange reserve crisis in recent\ntimes. At present, they have only 500 million in foreign exchange reserves.\nWith this reserve, it is not possible to meet their import expenses for 3\nmonths. In order to keep the reserves risk-free, at least three months of\nimport expenditure has to be kept equal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\nhas decided to lend 250 million to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka from its\nforeign exchange reserves. To this end, Bangladesh Bank is going to sign a\nmemorandum of understanding with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. According to\nSri Lankan media outlets, Bangladesh has already disbursed 50 million US\ndollars to Sri Lankan authority. Bangladesh will pave the way to go ahead of\nnew multi-dimensional economic relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nPrime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina is very keen to strengthen ties\nwith all South Asian States. She is very interested in \u2018Economy Diplomacy\u2019 of\nBangladesh. She ordered all government officials to ensure that. Maritime trade\nand blue economy are another point of her agenda. There are potentials in Bay\nof Bengal area in case of marine resources. Sri Lanka can assist Bangladesh in\nthis sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nis a little initiative taken by Bangladesh. But its significance is huge. This\nlittle cooperation would boost the ties between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.\nHowever, Bangladesh is going to be an Asian Miracle. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh\nare both South Asian countries. Both states should strengthen their business\ninterest for serving the mutual benefit. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MD\nPathik Hasan, Dhaka based NGO activist and Writer on contemporary international\nissues. He can be reached at pathikhasan1141@gmail.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan, The government has taken initiative to export 21 products from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka with duty free facility. At the same time, Bangladesh-Sri Lanka has started work to expand bilateral trade, increase investment, and develop the shipping and tourism industries. Ready-made garments, medicines, jute and jute products, ceramics, juices, food products, vegetables, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}