International Conference on
Belt and Road Initiative
Positioning Bangladesh within Comparative Perspectives
8th September 2019 | 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
Organised by: Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
The Context
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) announced by President Xi Jinping of China in 2013 was welcomed by countries, which expected to benefit from implementation of this initiative. The BRI initiative was conceived with the aspiration to eradicate poverty, create jobs, address the consequences of international financial crises, promote sustainable development, and enhance market-based industrial transformation and economic diversification. These are to be achieved through deepening connectivity in all its dimensions: trade, investment, people-to-people, logistics and knowledge.
There were also tensions among countries on the implications of the BRI. Many would like to interpret the BRI as a strategy mixed with security and military objectives. Thus, there is a strong view, that it is not just an economic initiative with the objective of a win-win cooperation among the participating countries. Moreover, there is also apprehension that BRI will benefit only the Chinese economy, while the gains for other countries, particularly the smaller ones, will be negligible.
The BRI has important significance for Bangladesh and the other South Asian countries, as some of them have multi-dimensional economic ties with China. A number of countries within South Asia has already been part of this initiative, while the others are still observing. A number of issues have surfaced in connection with the participation of the South Asian counties in the BRI. Some of these include the following: how the BRI can be beneficial to the South Asian countries; what measures will the South Asian countries have to undertake to reap benefits from the BRI; what are the challenges of being associated with the BRI and how those challenges can be overcome; and whether the BRI can help in strengthening economic cooperation between China and the South Asian countries.
Bangladesh is strategically located in a sub-region that includes two economic powerhouses of the twenty-first century—China and India. Bangladesh is also a gateway to the Maritime Silk Route that passes through the Bay of Bengal. Therefore, Bangladesh has a unique opportunity to emerge in the region as an important economic hub of the twenty-first century. In realising this ambition, the BRI could serve as an important opportunity for Bangladesh. While engaging itself with the BRI, Bangladesh will of course have to take into consideration its relationship with its other big neighbour, India. Thus, an effective balance of relationship with the two big regional neigbours will also be a major task to be taken into consideration by the policymakers of Bangladesh. Additionally, BRI is also likely to have implications for the interests and engagements of extra-regional powers, such as the USA and the EU in Asia. In this respect, it is of interest to observe the role of the proposed Maritime Silk Route in ensuring security in the Indian Ocean region. For Bangladesh to seize the emergent and emerging opportunities originating from the BRI, the benefits and concerns will have to be scurtinised objectively. In this respect, there is possibly a need to have an effective multi-stakeholder platform to discuss the interests and concerns regarding the BRI in South Asia, and in particular, in Bangladesh.
In view of the multi-dimensional opportunities and challenges attached to the BRI, it is important to have an objective analysis focusing on both economic and political aspects of this ambitious initiative. This will help governments to adopt informed policies to reap the fullest benefits of the BRI, and mitigate the risks associated with it.
Organisation of an International Conference in Dhaka
CPD has been generating intellectual inputs towards the advancement of the regional connectivity and trade in various forms, including research, dialogue, publication and outreach, both within and outside Bangladesh. Some of these issues relate to various regional and global frameworks, such as the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation (BCIM), the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Initiative (BBIN), the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In continuation of its efforts on pursuing policy discourse on important national, regional and global issues, CPD will organise a day-long international conference titled Belt and Road Initiative: Positioning Bangladesh within Comparative Perspectives. The conference, to be held on 8 September 2019, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, will have three sessions. In addition to the inaugural session, there will be two important sessions—one on the economics of the BRI, and the other one is on politics of the BRI.
The conference will be attended by participants from both Bangladesh and some South Asian countries, as well as from China. High-level policymakers, political leaders, academics and experts, business leaders, civil society members, international development partners and representatives of the media will take part in various sessions of the conference, and make contributions to the deliberations during the conference.