On a mission – Rehman Sobhan

Originally published in China Daily Asia Weekly February-March Issue on 27 February 2015.

On a mission

By Krishna Kumar VR in New Delhi (CAI MENG / CHINA DAILY)

Rehman Sobhan understands better than most the role that regional cooperation and collaboration play in helping to eradicate abject poverty.

The Bangladeshi chairman of the Dhaka-based Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) was a leading advocate in the late 1990s for establishing the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor, also known as the modern “southern silk route”.

“I realized the need for a more integrated economic relationship embracing the BCIM countries, as it stimulates economic activities and opportunities that will benefit poor people,” Sobhan tells China Daily Asia Weekly.

The vision for the BCIM economic cooperation was first proposed by Professor Che Zhimin of the Yunnan provincial people’s government during a visit to India in 1998.

Sobhan subsequently backed the idea in two books published a year later — Transforming Eastern South Asia: Building Growth Zones for Economic Cooperation and Rediscovering the Southern Silk Route: Integrating Asia’s Transport Infrastructure.

He gave sound economic reasons for a proposed transportation link of around 2,800 kilometers between Kunming in China’s southwestern Yunnan province and Kolkata, a city in the eastern part of India, connecting with Mandalay in Myanmar, and Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh.

“Earlier, I focused only on cooperation within South Asia, but since the 1980s I recognized and worked on the wider theme of Asian cooperation, extending from West to East Asia,” Sobhan says.

Initially, to discuss the wider scope of subregional cooperation at an academic level, the CPD — the policy advocacy center that Sobhan established in 1993 — joined hands with the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi and the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences in Kunming.

The first conference held in 1999 in Kunming in this regard was dubbed the “Kunming Initiative”.

“In the beginning, it progressed at the level of a civil society discussion. However, both China and Bangladesh had long argued that it should evolve into an intergovernmental initiative,” he reveals.

Now, the BCIM Forum for Regional Cooperation is an intergovernmental platform where major stakeholders meet and discuss issues in the context of promoting economic growth and trade in the region.

In December, the second meeting of the intergovernmental joint study group of the BCIM forum was held in Bangladesh; the first took place the previous year in Kunming.

At the latest meeting, with an objective of accelerating the progress of the BCIM corridor, all four countries agreed to prepare a combined country report on seven thematic areas including connectivity; investment and financing; and social and human development and poverty alleviation.

The participating countries have agreed to present their visions for the economic corridor at the next meeting, to be held in Kolkata later this year.

“I am happy that the graduation of the BCIM (forum) has taken place,” the 79-year-old economist says. “I took up the issue as a mission of my life.”

Prior to his work for BCIM cooperation, Sobhan played a prominent role in the Bangladesh nationalist movement. He was a close associate of former Bangladesh president Mujibur Rahman during the liberation war, who later became the prime minister of independent Bangladesh.

The liberation war lasted from March to December 1971, and saw East Pakistan, as Bangladesh was then known, (later joined by India) at war with West Pakistan. It led to the establishment of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, as the country is officially known.

During this time, Sobhan served the independent government as envoy extraordinary with special responsibility for economic affairs. His involvement in the independence movement began in the 1960s.

“In the beginning itself I supported the idea. However, at its high point in 1971, I was an active participant in Bangladesh’s liberation struggle,” he says.

After the liberation of Bangladesh, his close ties with Rahman led to him being invited to set up the Bangladesh Planning Commission, the country’s central planning organization.

“I first met Mujibur Rahman in 1957, but we became very close later. I always was a great admirer of Mujibur as he had many special qualities,” he says.

“Even when there were differences over various policy matters, he always remained respectful towards his academic advisers.”

Sobhan’s career as a professor of economics in Dhaka University began in 1957 after returning from Cambridge University with a master’s degree in economics. He remained in this post until his retirement in 1977.

From 1974 to 1993, as a scholar and researcher, he also participated in various projects with the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, a public body that conducts policy research on development issues.

Sobhan has written extensively on reducing poverty and promoting development in the region. His most recent work, Challenging the Injustice of Poverty: Agendas for Inclusive Development in South Asia, addresses the challenges of poverty and inclusive growth in South Asian countries.

For current development projects in Bangladesh, Sobhan is seeking more help from China. “China should be encouraged to create a $50-billion dedicated fund to underwrite infrastructure projects in Bangladesh,” he says.

He points out that such a fund has already been established for Pakistan. “Our relationship is growing strong, so China and Bangladesh should develop some joint investments projects directed towards targeting markets in other countries.”

At present, China is one of the largest sources of imports for Bangladesh. The second-largest economy in the world is engaged in a large number of infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, mostly through the provision of loans and credits.

“But aid financing remains modest, and little Chinese foreign direct investment has reached Bangladesh. There is much scope and prospect for acceleration of flows of Chinese capital into Bangladesh,” he says.

On the subject of a free trade agreement with China, he says Bangladesh should approach it with caution.

“Most of the Bangladesh industries, at their current level of competitiveness, would find it difficult to withstand a surge of Chinese imports.

“We should, therefore, seek what we have recently obtained from India, a duty-free access for all our exports, in return for a phased reduction of duties on imports,” he says.

However, Sobhan’s immediate suggestion for Bangladesh is to meet the Millennium Development Goals, and move toward reducing economic disparities within society, which have widened in recent years.

The United Nations-backed time-bound and quantified targets include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education and ensuring environmental sustainability.

Poverty is an issue he raises regularly in the annual CPD reports. To work toward poverty reduction and further development in the region, he says, it is necessary to invest heavily in enhancing the productivity of human resources.

“My organization has been one of the key partners in establishing the BCIM forum, and now we are one of the prime movers in coordinating with developing countries to voice the concerns of the poor while shaping the new development goals,” Sobhan says.

krishna@chinadailyapac.com