{"id":118517,"date":"2021-09-23T16:21:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T23:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=118517"},"modified":"2021-09-23T16:21:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T23:21:00","slug":"bangladesh-as-a-gateway-between-asean-and-saarc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/09\/23\/bangladesh-as-a-gateway-between-asean-and-saarc\/","title":{"rendered":"Bangladesh as a Gateway Between ASEAN and SAARC"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Re-establishing the Himalayan-South Asian connectivity can occur if political solutions can be found.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\u2019s\n271km border with Myanmar can play a strategic role as a potential trade\ncorridor between the two countries. However, at present, the area is\nmilitarized due to ongoing internal conflicts in Myanmar. Were this to be\nresolved, Bangladesh could develop routes via Myanmar to access China to the\neast, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to the\nsouth, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC<\/a>) to the west.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cambodia\nis also close to Myanmar, with Thailand a neighboring state of both countries.\nWere the Rohingya conflict to be resolved, Myanmar and other ASEAN countries\ncould access South Asia through Bangladesh. If the\nBangladesh-Myanmar-Thailand-India trilateral highway project and the\nBangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) corridor were integrated, ASEAN members\ncould access the markets of Bangladesh, northern India, and the Himalayan\ncountries of Bhutan, and Nepal. Achieving improved ties between Bangladesh and\nMyanmar is therefore very important to develop strategic trade and investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myanmar\ncan also use Bangladesh as a transportation route to reach markets such as\nNepal, Bhutan, and India. Both Bangladesh and Myanmar are members of the Bay of\nBengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation\n(BIMSTEC), an organization consisting of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,\nMyanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand that seeks to foster regional and economic\ncooperation. Other ASEAN nations, such as Cambodia should join BIMSTEC to\nutilize the benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\nbetter access to the SAARC free-trade bloc through Bangladesh, Myanmar and\nother ASEAN nations would benefit in boosting their own regional trade ties\nwith India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Central\nAsia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare signs that Myanmar and Bangladesh, with assistance and mediation, can\nresolve their disputes. Their maritime borders have recently been defined\nthrough the International Court of Justice. As a result, the rights of\nBangladesh maritime assets have been established in an area of 111,000 square\nkilometers. Myanmar\u2019s waters have also been properly identified. Therefore,\nBangladesh, Myanmar, and ASEAN have the potential to develop joint maritime\nprojects in the Bay of Bengal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nis additional potential for trade through the proposed construction of the\nAsian Highway, funded by the Asian Development Bank. This can increase land\nconnectivity increase trade in products such as agriculture, aquaculture,\nfertilizers, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and light manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\u2019s ongoing cooperation with ASEAN members<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\nalready has bilateral cooperation with ASEAN members such as Cambodia. In 2010,\nthe two countries agreed to set up a joint commission for bilateral\ncooperation. Ten agreements signed in 2017 are expected to enhance\nbilateral ties and strengthen economic cooperation between the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\nhas proposed a long-term land cultivation agreement for farms and the country\nis also keen to sign a long-term agreement to import rice from Cambodia. Both\ncountries regularly conduct agricultural joint research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\nhas also provided assistance to Myanmar in the form of counter-terrorism\ntraining as well as COVID-19 vaccine distribution. The Rohingya refugee problem\nhas, however, continues to create tension between the two countries, and\nfinding the solution can serve the longer-term interests of Bangladesh and\nMyanmar. Cambodia can assist in this regard through its good relations with\nMyanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh,\nMyanmar, and Cambodia can also increase joint investments in the agriculture\nsector, particularly for products such as rice and spices. products including\npulses, spices, fish, and rice. This, in turn, can enhance trilateral relations\nand encourage trade and investments between ASEAN and BIMSTEC countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan Re-establishing the Himalayan-South Asian connectivity can occur if political solutions can be found. Bangladesh\u2019s 271km border with Myanmar can play a strategic role as a potential trade corridor between the two countries. However, at present, the area is militarized due to ongoing internal conflicts in Myanmar. Were this to be resolved, Bangladesh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118517","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=118517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}