Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina with representatives of the Second Asia-Pacific Water Summit in Thailand on May 20 (PID)

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinapaid a three-day visit to Thailand from 19th May.



Although she went to Bangkok to attend the Second Asia-Pacific Water Summit, bilateral talks were held with her counterpart YingluckShinawatra on the sidelines of the summit. Prime Minister Shinawatra visited Bangladesh on 21-22 December 2012 and the visit ushered in a new horizon of cooperation between the two countries.



During the talks on 20th May, it is reported that the following topics were raised, amongst others.



• Activities of Joint Trade Commission

• Duty free access of Bangladeshi goods to Thailand

• Dhaka Elevated Expressway and Thai participation

• Rohingya issue





Bangladesh prime minister expressed her happiness over the recent ministerial–level meeting of the Joint Trade Commission which was held in Bangkok on May 13-15 which set the target to double the trade volume between the two countries by 2016.



Bangladesh delegation was led by the Commerce Minister and at the meeting besides duty free and quota fee access to Bangladeshi products, it was also discussed that Thailand could invest in Bangladesh on construction of hotels in Dhaka and Chittagong and may concentrate on building infrastructure, and in service sectors, such as hospitals, and shipping. Thai investment or joint ventures on fabricated metal products, machinery and transport such as cars and bus are most welcome.



About the duty free access, the Thai prime minister informed Bangladesh premier of her government’s decision to extend duty and quota free access to some selected Bangladeshi products under WTO LDC provision to reduce the trade gap in favour of Thailand.



Bilateral trade has increased significantly since 2001. During 2011, the total volume reached a little over $1,000 million, although Bangladesh’s exports to Thailand were comparatively much smaller than that of Thailand.



While Bangladesh’s imports include aluminium, fabrics, leather products, electrical goods and rubber, Bangladesh’s exports consist largely of shrimps, leather, fibres and fertiliser. After China and India, Thailand has reportedly become the third major source of yarns and fabrics for local export-oriented garment manufacturers.



One important fact is that a country should specialise in products and services in which it has a comparative advantage. Bangladesh-Thailand trade and economic cooperation may identify the areas of comparative advantage. In this way both countries become better off and gain from trade.



Bangladesh prime minister informed her Thai counterpart that the government selected the revised alignment-2 of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway project and hoped that the Italian-Thai Development Company would start work on the 26-kilometre expressway soon.

Sheikh Hasina sought Thai support to convince the Myanmar leadership for giving citizenship to the Rohingyas to stop their displacement as refugees.Sheikh Hasina also sought Bangkok’s support to become ASEAN dialogue partner, integrated part of East West Corridor and Mekong- Ganga Cooperation.



The Thai prime minister revealed that Thailand would recruit Bangladeshi nationals for fishery and construction sectors and the two countries would sign a MOU at the shortest possible time.About 40 Thai companies are now in Bangladesh on a range of either joint ventures or with investment plans. Cooperation between small and medium enterprises of both countries has been taking place including exchange of technological know-how so as to compete in globalised market.



It is reported that Thailand was keen to extend its cooperation, particularly in agriculture, fisheries and IT sectors in Bangladesh. Thailand was also interested to expand trade and commercial relationship with Bangladesh through establishing a road-link via Myanmar and through coastal shipping. Ranong Port of Thailand could be a new gateway to accommodate trade expansion between Bangladesh and Thailand.



The Thai and Bangladeshi private sectors need to engage to exploit fully the potential of each other. Many suggest tourism and auto-component manufacturing are potential sectors of bilateral cooperation in trade.There is a clear need for action by both countries to establish and develop a satisfactory information base to set the stage for much-increased economic cooperation between the two countries.



Thai Promotion Council and Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau signed an MOU to facilitate the exchange of export products between the two countries. There have been at least 25 agreements between the two countries to cover almost all types of economic and cultural cooperation.



The number of Thai people in Bangladesh has increased. No wonder Thai restaurants and Thai food have become popular in Dhaka and in major cities in Bangladesh. A few enterprising Bangladeshis have opened restaurants in Bangkok to cater primarily the needs of South Asians in Thailand. Bangkok is also hub of many UN organisations and expatriate Bangladeshis enjoy the facilities provided by Bangladeshi restaurants.



Tourists from Bangladesh have increased considerably and more than 60,000 Bangladeshis reportedly visit Thailand. Besides Bangladeshis visit Thailand for medical treatment and the market is booming.



Both sides may explore the possibility of gradual elimination of visa so as to boost the people-to-people contact between the two countries.



Both countries are members of Non Aligned Movement (NAM), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, (BIMSTEC), Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), Asean Regional Forum (ARF) and Asean –Europe Meeting (ASEM ).



Both countries supported each other’s candidatures to the UPU Postal Operations Council (POC) and the Council of Administration (CA) for 2013 – 2016. Both sides reportedly agreed to consider each other’s candidatures for non-permanent seats in the UN Security Council and each other’s candidatures for the membership of the UN Human Rights Council.



During the bilateral meeting on May 20th, Bangladesh prime minister sought support of Thailand to Bangladesh’s candidature for the position if regional director of South East Asian Regional Office of WHO for period of 2014-16.



The relation between Bangladesh and Thailand is based on mutual trust and respect. They are bound to grow as both countries have similar goals which could be achieved by cooperative efforts.



The visit of the Bangladesh prime minister was important in the context of shifting economic weight towards Asia and so also is a strategic shift. Both countries need to reflect on the direction in which their great potentials will move in the 21st century. n



Barrister Harun ur Rashid, Former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.