Thailand is interested to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Bangladesh to increase bilateral trade as tariff and non-tariff barriers stand in the way of promoting business potentials between the two countries.
Thai trade counselor in Dhaka Khemathat Archawathamrong expressed this view while talking to Dhaka Tribune recently.
He said that high tariffs on Thai products are stifling exports to Bangladesh to the desired level in spite of high demand.
Bangladesh has become a member of the middle-income group this year with its economy growing at 7-8% per annum before the Covid-19 outbreak last year.
Citing high tariff and non tariff barrier (NTB) as bottlenecks in promoting trade, the Thai Minister Counsellor (Commercial) demanded removal of both the predicaments.
Referring to high level meetings between two countries in Bangkok on several occasions, he also said that Thailand has raised the issue of high tariff and has urged Bangladesh to reduce high tariff on Thai products.
Citing an example, he said Bangladesh imposes some 62.50% on rice and 89.32% tax on mango.
Further, mango import is banned until August in Bangladesh.
Emphasizing increasing trade between the two countries, he said prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, both sides had agreed to set a target of $2 billion in 2020, in the JTC meeting held in Bangkok.
He believes that Thai products are getting popular in Bangladesh with the expansion of the local economy.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen in a meeting with Bangladeshi diplomats working in Asean countries stressed on increasing trade within the regions.
Former Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed while opening the Thai trade exhibition in Dhaka in 2018 showed his interest in signing an FTA with Thailand. The agreement has to cover all major areas of cooperation, such as trade in goods, services and investments, ensuring mutual benefits, Tofail Ahmed added.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said Bangladesh is working to create sustainable trade facilities by signing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with different friendly countries.
Bangladesh has been a major beneficiary of an open market economy and globalization; naturally, the government will continue the practice of an open economy to encourage and facilitate businesses, he also said.
Apart from this, the discussion will also focus on how to strengthen the regional forums Bimstec and Asem.
To a question of recruiting Bangladeshi workers in Thailand, Khemathat Archawathamrong said that the pandemic has hit the economy and restricted movement of people.
He, however, said that the Thai fishing industry may review the situation when the pandemic is over and normalcy returns.
Dhaka asked Bangkok to revive the proposal of recruiting skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled Bangladeshi workers for its labour-deficit sectors.
In the past, the fishing industry wanted the government to work with authorities in Bangladesh to supply 50,000 workers to solve a labour shortage in Thailand’s growing fisheries industry.
Praising the role of microcredit in reducing poverty, Khemathat Archawathamrong said Thailand has introduced this model to uplift people out of poverty.
On complications in obtaining a Thai visa, he said he will discuss the issue with the relevant authorities in removing barriers and speeding up the visa process.
He has expressed the views that members of reputed and established trade bodies like the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry) FBCCI, Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), DCCI, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) can get privilege in getting Thai visa besides other reputed and established businessmen.
Meanwhile, in January 2020, Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister of Thailand Jurin Laksanawisit at the fifth Thai-Bangladeshi Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting with Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshu held in Bangkok laid emphasis on promoting trade between the two countries and focused on agriculture, fisheries, livestock, health services and transportation.
Thailand regards Bangladesh as an important strategic partner in terms of trade, investment and transportation. It was Thailand’s third-largest trading partner in South Asia in 2018, he said.
The $1.2 billion worth of annual trade between the countries includes $1.2 million worth of Thai exports to Bangladesh and $59 million worth of imports from Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Dhaka requested Bangkok to expand duty and quota-free market or DFQF access facility to include more Bangladeshi products having export potential to Thailand.
It also handed over a list of 36 products for Thailand’s consideration in the review of DFQF list this year.
In the first 11 months of 2019, Thai imports from Bangladesh rose by 38.3% over the same period of 2018. And Thai interest is increasing in key products such as jute yarn, shoes and ready-made garments.
Thai direct investment in Bangladesh from 2006-2019 amounted to $1.5 billion, with much of it going into agro-industrial and agro-processing businesses, construction and hotels.
Bangladeshi direct investment in Thailand in the same period was worth $1.12 million.
The partners are in advantageous geographical proximity for mutual trade and extension of their trade across the region. Thailand is central to Southeast Asia and has infrastructure and policy in place to support investment in the form of development projects as the Eastern Economic Corridor, by which Bangladesh will be able to distribute its goods across the region and to East Asia. Bangladesh on the Indian Ocean has the modern infrastructure to facilitate Thai products and services in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, he said.
Thailand is seeking to more closely link Ranong Port with Bangladesh’s Chittagong Port as a channel for transporting goods.
In the meeting Thai Commerce Minister JurinLaksanawisit invited Bangladeshi businesspeople to visit the international exhibitions held here annually, such as the Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair, Thaifex and Style Bangkok, and he urged Dhaka to pursue a free-trade agreement with Bangkok.
Meanwhile, after two decades, in July 2017, foreign ministers of Bangladesh and Thailand have termed the Seventh Joint Commission of the two countries a major milestone in bilateral relations.
The meeting held in Dhaka was the first of its kind in two decades.
The then foreign minister, AH Mahmood Ali, and his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai agreed that the meeting was a major milestone and a harbinger for a vibrant chapter in our bilateral relations.
Both sides were pleased at the cumulative Thai investment in Bangladesh to the tune of $1.5 billion and the recent investment proposal worth $250 million in the energy sector.
Former foreign minister Ali invited fresh Thai investment in tourism, Buddhist Circuit tourism, health, hospitality, food processing, taking advantage of the SEZs and IT Park.
Meanwhile, Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said that a free-trade agreement (FTA) involved cooperation between at least two countries to reduce trade barriers, such as quotas and tariffs, and to increase the trade of goods and services with each other.
Citing an example, Moazzem also said that the automotive industry of Thailand was the largest in South Asia.
Thailand can invest and establish an automotive assembly plant in Bangladesh so that the latter can re-export the automotive parts and components to Thailand, he added.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh, some major import items from Thailand to Bangladesh are cement, cereals, plastic, man-made staple fibres, sugar and sugar confectionery, machinery and mechanical appliances, and cotton and cotton fabrics.
High tariffs on Thai products are stifling exports to Bangladesh to the desired level in spite of high demand, says a Thai official
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Policies are ethereal. Instead of a specific set of instructions, it is a general sense of being and a spatial sense of direction as to where we might be heading as a country, an institution, a society and an individual. Foreign policy sits at the heart of the art of statecraft. Its evolution is non-linear. Foreign Policy deals both with the vernacular and the elite and everything that falls in between.
The birth of modern foreign policy and the international legal regime underwriting it started with the Treaty of Westphalia. The Treaty gave shape to the jurisdiction of a very peculiar form of governance never seen before in the world: The Republic. This was the first time the world was experiencing governance based on mutual recognition amongst established status quos and the sovereign universality of law. The jurisprudence of international law, and thus the formulation of "foreign policy" as a definitive subject of governance further evolved and entrenched itself as subjects of public scrutiny and debate as Hugo Grotius adopted the concept of
jus gentium directly as "international law" and Emer de Vattel articulated the
droits des gens as benchmarks for interactions at state levels.
Foreign policy is a vast area almost as complex as human psychology. Foreign policy is closely related to the vortex of power – another mercurial construct. It is always a constant struggle to gain and retain power and to be accepted as powerful. All forms of security, sustenance, wealth and wellbeing can be connected to a form of power. A deep understanding of the history, culture and ethnic identities of the human societies – coupled with an ever-increasing understanding of the evolution of the political, economic, social, cultural, technological, environmental and legal nature of the tangible structures that these societies uphold – under the prying eyes of both the mainstream and social media and above all – the people – is what is necessary for contextualising the foreign policy of any country at any given point in time.
Bangladesh started with scorched earth, three million dead bodies and two hundred thousand women who were raped. On 16 December 1971, there was nothing but an indomitable resolve to survive the harsh winters of December. Fifty years have passed since then, and what some "foreign policy" pundits once referred to as a basket case with no hope of survival has now evolved into a "development miracle" and a "land of opportunity" under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the able daughter of the assassinated Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Thanks to a strong agricultural sector; a rapidly expanding RMG-led production and export; an unbroken remittance inflow – coupled with robust structural reforms – expanding and reconfiguring public sector investments into the formation of infrastructure assets; diversification of exports – to higher-value brands and integration of essentially middleware design and software components, have contributed to Bangladesh's journey in becoming an epic saga of determined and charismatic leadership. The country's economy has been growing at a sustained rate of more than six percent per annum for the last four decades, and had it not been stifled by the sudden onslaught of the COVID-19 paradox, it would have been lifted to an eight percent paradigm starting 2020. Even after nearly two years of COVID-19-induced constrictions, Bangladesh's economy grew an astonishing 5.2 percent in 2021.
The astute foreign policy dimension of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina not only complements but also acts as a primary vortex for international connectivity, fiscal stability and economic growth. As a sovereign, independent nation-state, Bangladesh is formulating its foreign policy goals and objectives to advance its legitimate national interests based on the core dictum of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, "Friendship to All, Malice to None".
Bangladesh is located at the cusp of the vast North Indian landscape, particularly of Bengal and the Indian seven sisters, i.e., the North-eastern region, coasting on the frontiers of the Bay of Bengal funnel and touching the northwest tip of the troubled Myanmar territories. Its geo-spatial triangulations make it strategically important for invariably all major powers of the world. Apart from its regional development partners and neighbours, global warming and a rising sea level, Bangladesh also hosts two intersecting strategic "constructs" crossing their tactical pathways across the cone of the Bay of Bengal – and the landmass that is Bangladesh, i.e., the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) and the Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI). On top, we are blessed with more than 160 million upwardly mobile and highly ambitious men and women whose median age is 27.6 years. As state-level functionaries and government operators, we are continually challenged with finding the right mix of both the head and the heart to keep this population engaged – a part of them globally.
Bangladesh as a country was conceived from the highest ideals imaginable by humans – ideas of freedom, democracy, equality, justice and inclusivity. Amongst these, the concept of democracy was the primary driving force even for the very sovereignty and independence of the country. For a war-ravaged country, the first challenge was to achieve recognition from the international community and rebuild the economy to feed 75 million people. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman manoeuvred his foreign policy to forge a bipartisan position in matters related to international politics.
Safeguarding the national interest and sovereignty of the country was his first and foremost concern. While strengthening ties with his trusted friend India and Indira Gandhi, and the erstwhile USSR – which vouchsafed the birth of the country itself with its United Nations Security Council (UNSC) veto power, Bangabandhu reached out to both the USA and China despite their institutionalised opposition for the cause of the liberation war. Bangabandhu believed that without peace and stability, no country could develop or prosper and therefore, he wanted Bangladesh to be an "Island of Peace". Bangabandhu agreed to join the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit held in Lahore in February 1974, and much before that, he joined the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
Bangabandhu's vision was far-reaching. His address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1974 called for the sharing of technology and resources on a global scale so that the human race could begin to enjoy at least the minimal conditions of a decent life. Till now, Bangladesh's foreign policy centres on the sharing and leveraging of resources in a symbiotic and synergistic manner to create a better future for all of humanity – avoiding confrontations and provocations. To date, Bangladesh is sheltering 1.1 million Rohingyas from Myanmar despite its own constraints of resources - for not only guaranteeing their safe and sustainable return but also to ensure justice and accountability – so that the atrocities which they suffered, just like those sustained by the Bengalis in 1971, never happen again, anywhere.
Bangladesh's foreign policy priorities emanate from a deep-rooted wish for synchronising our efforts with all our neighbours and partners in the geosphere that we share. True to the election manifesto of 2008, Bangladesh has already reached the financial strength of a stable lower middle-income country. We aspire to become a developed country by 2041, and we are working on the Delta Plan for 2100. Pragmatism, peace and stability, humanitarian responsibilities, innovation, and alliance building are some of our instruments of choice.
Bangladesh, under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, pursues a value-based foreign policy. Despite the resource constraints, the foreign policy and the Foreign Office have stood up to the challenge. For decades, the Foreign Ministry was a rehab for the assassins of the Father of the Nation, but no more. With zero tolerance for terrorism, stabilising the economy and poverty alleviation remain our foremost priority. Our foreign policy priorities intend to complement this objective with a greater depth in external trading – coupled with a greater inflow of foreign remittance. During the next few years, we expect to gain: (a) equitable market access, (b) expansion of our export basket, (c) transfer of critical technologies, and (d) employment of our professionals and workers in foreign economies. We have expanded our global footprint 1.4 times in the last ten years, and now we have 78 odd missions and expanding!
Our priority is our immediate neighbourhood. We have resolved the seven-decade-old land boundary issues with India. We have delimited our maritime boundary with both India and Myanmar by means of arbitration and application of the principles of law. We have embarked on reviving the land and river routes that connected the millennia-old value chains of the Indian sub-continent. We have given port access to our land-locked neighbours like Nepal and Bhutan, and we have allowed others to use our communication channels for transporting heavy equipment and aid. We have invited China, Japan and Korea to be our preferred development, trade and technology partners. Our regional and sub-regional organisations and processes, such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative, Bangladesh, India and Nepal (BIN) initiative, Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation (BCIM), etc., both overlap and complement each other for creating a space for understanding and negotiation which can transcend national ''thought boundaries''. So long as the purpose is development and the aim is a legitimate civilian objective, we are fully prepared to allow everyone to join hands with us.
In our list of priorities come both the Gulf and the African region. Our commitment to the OIC, to the cause of Palestine and the stability of the Ummah concentric to the two Holy Mosques, is unquestionable. The principle is enshrined in our constitution itself. We believe that the whole world can reap the benefits from a stable Gulf. More than sixty percent of our expatriate workers are in the Gulf. In the eighties, the bulkhead of the workers migrated at an unskilled level, but the situation has changed now. We are opening avenues for adding more value to their host communities and countries by creating agro-based, ICT-intense and service-driven endeavours. Bangladesh Government is ready to work with joint ventures to retain and retrain retrenched workers from the COVID-19 pandemic. We have already taken initiatives through yet another OIC affiliate body, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation (D-8), of which Bangladesh became the Chair this year to augment our efforts in ensuring public health, productivity, trade and specialised economic zoning.
With North America, we share a continuous dialogue across almost all channels. We have ongoing solid cooperation in combating terrorism and violent extremism and continued collaboration for institution-building, trade, finance and technology. We are designing products for American and Canadian companies, ranging from t-shirts to nano processors.
We also have strong bonds of friendship with Europe. In addition to strengthening our cooperation in the institution-building, particularly in judicial, workers' safety, health and hygiene, we are also working on innovation, technology and finance. The first-ever Bangladesh-taka denominated Bangla-bond was launched in London Stock Exchange in 2019.
The United Nations sits at the core of our global multilateral initiative. During the 66th UNGA in 2011, Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave the world a six-point multi-dimensional peace model for championing democracy and people's empowerment. The six multipliers of her proposed model include (i) eradication of poverty and hunger, (ii) reduction of inequality, (iii) mitigation of deprivation, (iv) inclusion of excluded people, (v) acceleration of human development, and (vi) elimination of terrorism. Our professionals, particularly our armed forces and police, have played a pivotal role in effecting this change. Bangladesh has remained a top Tripartite Consultative Council (TCC) country for decades now. Our formations have an impeccable record of serving with dignity and honour and earning the trust and respect of the host nation. Our forces are our ambassadors of peace, security and nation-building to the entire world.
Bangladesh and Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are also at the forefront of global climate diplomacy initiatives. Bangladesh has been very active in all United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) led negotiations. As one of the most vulnerable countries, Bangladesh has been at the forefront to create comprehensive global action to adhere to climate accords. Bangladesh is leading the Climate Vulnerability Forum (CVF)- an organisation of more than one billion people of the world's most vulnerable countries – for the second time.
In the last two years, we have launched two specific programmes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We have consolidated economic diplomacy as a foreign policy vertical, and we have launched public diplomacy as a priority project.
We envisage our engagements with the complex political theatre of the world in the thematic framework of technology, markets, and organisations which encapsulates the common threads of economy and ecology to secure governance priorities. To multiply the outcome of the economic diplomacy, Bangladesh is designing "systems" with flexible and adaptable designs; building
"infrastructures" with the capacity to host multi-level networks; and developing "capabilities" to create and sustain superior technological efficiency. Two of the core areas of our economic diplomacy focus are: (a) the ICT sector – inspired by the ICT Advisor to the Prime Minister Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and (b) the Blue Economy sector.
To support and project the achievements of Bangladesh foreign policy goals, enhance national security and advance national interest, the Foreign Office has adopted a policy of "public diplomacy" outreach through the foreign office and its missions across the world. Amidst the growing global threat of terrorism and violent extremism, and an ever-expanding horizon for economic opportunities, various public diplomacy tools will gradually be installed to propagate the secular values of the country emanating from our glorious war of liberation and our continued struggle for democracy, justice and development.
The world should have been perfect, but it is not. We do not expect it to be, either. But there needs to be a way to deal with the constraints – like our positioning in the Ease of doing business index or the ratings from international agencies. Let me borrow a term from the marketing textbooks here: the Aspirational Sub-Class! We have referent groups and natural groups of countries, but where we wish to belong is our aspirational group. If not AAA, we wish to be a BBB+ at the least – because our productive capabilities say so. More than sixty percent of a manufactured good's value lies in its brand equity – which is always underwritten by research and innovation. The whole of the design space in ICT is equity. More labs and investments are needed in the design space so that our youth know how to huddle. I believe that the days of remaining constrained with purchased technology are over.
Bangladesh Foreign Policy is now at a critical juncture in time. Choices abound, and not all are optimised for the attainment of our national priorities. We must awaken ourselves to understand that a new era has already begun. We will see an AI-driven world order within a very short period – possibly in our own lifetime. What ought to be our preferred behaviour for attaining what we desire would be calculated in numbers and percentiles. Despite these dire shifts in our thought processing capabilities, I wish to give empathy, love and other positive human emotions a chance. Our enemies are hunger, disease, malnutrition, ignorance, intolerance and hatred. I would like to see a world where tanks and guns would give way to the roses. It is a beautiful world. Let us all see with open eyes and warm hearts. Joy Bangla. Joy Bangabandhu.
Dr A. K. Abdul Momen is the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh.
Policies are ethereal. Instead of a specific set of instructions, it is a general sense of being and a spatial sense of direction as to where we might be heading as a country, an institution, a society and an individual.
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