China is keen to step up investments in Bangladesh and relocate factories, especially of the apparel sector. “The Chinese economic and industrial zone in Chittagong and the garment industrial parks have been the focus of discussions at the Bangladesh-China Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting held yesterday,” said senior secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), Mohammad Mejbahuddin, while briefing reporters at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka. China’s vice minister of commerce, Gao Yan, and the ERD’s senior secretary, Mohammad Mejbahuddin, led their respective government delegations at the meeting. Representatives of China’s ministry of commerce and the Exim bank of China and representatives of relevant Bangladeshi ministries took part. According sources, China is keen to invest roughly USD 4.5 billion in two industrial parks to meet the growing domestic and global demand for Bangladeshi products. The industrial parks, one on 774 acres in Chittagong and the other on 500 acres in Dhaka, will be situated in two designated special economic zones (SEZs).
The ERD secretary said they want to set up a garment park in Munshiganj to relocate their apparel industries to Bangladesh. Replying to a question, the ERD secretary said China had agreed to give 17 Bangladeshi products duty-free access to its markets.
He added five to six projects were in the pipeline, waiting for agreements to be signed with China. But he did not disclose the amount of assistance involved. Mejbahuddin said project implementation was jointly reviewed with the Chinese embassy every three months to identify weaknesses and problems. Currently, some Bangladeshi products benefit from duty-free privileges under the Asia-Pacific Agreement, formally called the Bangkok Agreement, which also includes India, Laos, South Korea, and Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh can export foodstuff and some machinery to China with tariff concessions. But as far as textiles are concerned, only finishing agents, yarn from animal hair, some knits, and sewing machines are among the handful of goods that benefit from it. Chinese investors may be persuaded to set up joint-venture units in the fields of leather goods, IT, light engineering, agro-processing, shipbuilding, and high-value-added textile products. Besides, the Chinese authorities may also set up a design institute in the leather sector. The full range of bilateral relations was discussed in the meeting to further strengthen cooperation between Bangladesh and China in various fields, the ERD secretary added. “The JEC explored the possibility of enhancing cooperation in the areas of bilateral trade, economy, and investment.” “Issues related to the strengthening of cooperation on Chinese assistance to Bangladesh, enhancement of cooperation on major projects, strengthening cooperation on trade and investment, and the promotion of cooperation on industrial zones were discussed.” He said Bangladesh requested China to increase financial assistance under grants and concessional loans. Bangladesh also requested the Chinese side to reduce the trade imbalance to a reasonable level.