{"id":120791,"date":"2021-12-01T17:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T00:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120791"},"modified":"2021-12-01T17:57:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T00:57:00","slug":"myanmar-and-bangladesh-can-benefit-from-strengthening-trade-and-connectivity-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/12\/01\/myanmar-and-bangladesh-can-benefit-from-strengthening-trade-and-connectivity-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar And Bangladesh Can Benefit From Strengthening Trade And Connectivity Ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Myanmar\nis one of the closest neighbors of Bangladesh. Which is also known as Burma.\nBefore the Second World War, many people from Bangladesh used to travel to\nBurma in search of livelihood. Since then, the people of this country have\ndeveloped an economic and social relationship with Burma. Apart from India,\nBangladesh shares a border with Myanmar. The 271 km long Bangladesh-Myanmar border\nis very important for Bangladesh due to geographical reasons. Bangladesh can\nuse Myanmar by land for communication in Southeast Asian countries including\nChina. Road connectivity is possible through Myanmar. Maybe a new horizon of\nrelationships and possibilities unfolds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myanmar\ncan also use Bangladesh to reach South Asia specially Nepal, Bhutan, Mainland\nIndia. Bangladesh and Myanmar both share a common regional platform like\n\u2018BIMSTEC\u2019. On the other hand, Bangladesh is considered as a \u2018Hub \u2018between South\nAsia and South East Asia. It is true that Bangladesh is a South East Asian\ncountry geographically but South Asian country culturally, demographically and\nhistorically. This is an outstanding geo-strategic characteristic of\nBangladesh. Therefore, without the involvement of Bangladesh, any connectivity\namongst the states of ASEAN and SAARC is absolutely impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myanmar\nis a country rich in natural resources. There are huge amounts of natural\nresources like tin, zinc, copper, tungsten, coal, marble, limestone, natural\ngas, hydropower etc. The major resource of this country is mineral resources.\nMyanmar can be a major source of energy for Bangladesh to ensure its energy\nsecurity. Food and grains are produced in large quantities in Myanmar. Myanmar\ncan also be a big helper of Bangladesh in the field of food security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myanmar\nhas a huge potential of rice cultivation. But lands of Myanmar are unutilized\nfor decades due to lack of human resource. Myanmar needs labors. Rice production in Myanmar<\/a> accounts for approximately 43% of total\nagricultural production in the country, making it the seventh largest producer\nof rice in the world. Out of 67.6 million hectares of land, 12.8 million are\nused for cultivation. In 2019 alone, Myanmar accounted for 13,300 million\nmetric tons of milled rice production. Rice\nproduction in Myanmar is heavily dependent on human and animal power, both\ntraditional methods of cultivation. Myanmar has lack of Manpower and technology\nin this regard. But Bangladesh has these two things. Bangladesh has surplus\nhuman resource. Myanmar can utilize the human resource of Bangladesh for the\nmaximum gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nBangladesh has never been able to take full advantage of this opportunity. This\ncountry of 135 tribes and different ethnic groups has been under military rule\nfor many years. That may be one of the reasons why the relationship is not\ndeep. If Bangladesh had good relations with Myanmar, its dependence on India\ncould be reduced in many cases. If contacts were made in Southeast Asia and\nChina through Myanmar, there would be immense potential for investment and\ntrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\nand Myanmar are both on the way to be developed countries. Bangladesh is going\nto be a South Asian Economic Miracle. Bangladesh can play a significant role in\nMyanmar to some extent whole South East Asia. For this, Myanmar should increase\nits diplomatic relations with Bangladesh for the better mutual interest for\nwhole South Asia and South East Asia. EU, China, India, Russia and North Korea\nare becoming allies in Myanmar’s oil, gas, mineral resources and military\nmarkets. Taking advantage of the US negligence, Myanmar’s military junta\nextended a helping hand to China to invest. So, China is now the biggest\ninvestor in this country. According to Earth-Rights International, a private\ngroup, more than 26 Chinese companies are investing in Myanmar’s oil, gas,\nmineral resources and allied sectors. China has already become its biggest ally\nin building and supplying arms to Myanmar. Myanmar has developed relations not\nonly with China but also with India. India and China are building trade\nrelations with Myanmar. The United States is also changing its approach to the\nMyanmar question. That is why America, a strong economic country, has started\ntaking new initiatives to develop relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently,\na 41-year dispute over the maritime border with Bangladesh-Myanmar has been\nsettled by the International Court of Justice. As a result, the rights of\nBangladesh have been established in an area of \u200b\u200b1 lakh 11 thousand square\nkilometers. Myanmar’s waters have also been identified. As a result, this\nproblem has been eliminated. The path of creating tension in the Bay of Bengal\nhas been blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myanmar\nis rich in minerals, ores, oil, gas, precious stones and other natural\nresources. The country is a major supplier of natural wood to the world. While\nattracting foreign investment has been limited to the oil and gas sector, the\ncountry has recently shifted its focus to attracting production-based\ninvestment. The country is well ahead in power generation due to good\ninvestment in hydropower generation. The tourism industry is also a promising\nsector of the country. Myanmar’s economy has so far been limited to extracting\nnatural resources, said Nobel laureate economist Professor Joseph Stiglis, who\nwarned that the country would suffer a “curse of wealth” if it\ncontinued. Some resource-rich countries in Africa, including Nigeria, Sudan and\nBenin, have been plagued by corruption, internal strife and poverty. These\ncountries could not adopt proper wealth management system. Economists have the\nopinions that if democracy is restored in Myanmar and corruption is reduced, it\nwill not have to go to the level of countries that have failed in wealth\nmanagement. Therefore, it can be assumed that Myanmar will become a country\nwith rapid economic growth in a few years. The country’s biggest economic\nadvantage is that they are members of the ten-nation ASEAN. ASEAN is one of the\nthree most successful trade blocs in the world. The trade consists of\nSingapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam,\nCambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The alliance controls about 24 percent of total\nworld trade and their share in world trade is growing every year. Their trade\nrelations with China, Japan and South Korea are deepening due to the increase\nin trade. ASEAN countries account for more than 50 percent of total trade\nbetween themselves and the three countries. As a result, Bangladesh has the\nopportunity to benefit by strengthening ties with this trade alliance, that is,\nMyanmar. Bangladesh and Myanmar are among the seven member countries of the Bay\nof Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation\n(BIMSTEC). Therefore, there is ample opportunity to increase trade and\ninvestment relations between the two countries through BIMSTEC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare many opportunities to enhance Bangladesh’s bilateral trade and investment\nrelations with Myanmar. Through the import of gas and electricity, Bangladesh\ncan get future energy security. The two countries can jointly explore for oil\nand gas in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh can also contribute to the development\nof Myanmar’s infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nproposed construction of the Asian Highway, funded by the Asian Development\nBank and other donor groups, could also increase land connectivity between the\ntwo countries. And there is ample opportunity to increase shipping. Besides,\njoint investment can be made in fertilizer, plastic, cement, furniture etc.\nBoth countries will benefit if Myanmar produces raw materials and Bangladesh\nwith skills, technical knowledge and labor. Because, Myanmar imports every\nproduct. Bangladesh can also export readymade garments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\nproduces medicines, electronics. Myanmar can import these from Bangladesh\nhugely. On the other hands, Myanmar is a source of agricultural products.\nBangladesh can import these from Myanmar. During the moment of Bangladesh\u2019s\nonion crisis with India in 2019, Myanmar provided onions to Bangladesh.\nBangladesh understood the importance of bilateral trade with Myanmar at that\ntime. On the other hands, Bangladesh is keen to provide assistance to Myanmar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Covid-19\nvaccine diplomacy, counter terrorism approach for the regional security are\nsome sectors. Rohingya refugee problem has made distance between Bangladesh and\nMyanmar. Myanmar should solve this problem to serve its own and reginal\ninterest. Myanmar should understand that it is the issue of the region. Whole\nSouth Asia and South East Asia may be volatile and unstable for this problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\nthe two countries can also increase production in the agricultural sector\nthrough joint ventures. Apart from adopting joint investment projects,\nBangladesh can increase imports of various agricultural products including\npulses, spices, fish and rice. Thus, enhancing bilateral relations could\ncontribute to the growth of trade and investment relations with ASEAN and\nBIMSTEC countries. This will create an opportunity to solve the Rohingya problem\nand stop militant activities. Therefore, Myanmar should take effective steps to\nstrengthen bilateral relations. Pathik Hasan, Dhaka based NGO activist and\nWriter on contemporary international issues. He can be reached at\npathikhasan1141@gmail.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan Myanmar is one of the closest neighbors of Bangladesh. Which is also known as Burma. Before the Second World War, many people from Bangladesh used to travel to Burma in search of livelihood. Since then, the people of this country have developed an economic and social relationship with Burma. Apart from India, […]<\/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-120791","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\/120791","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=120791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120791\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}