China or India ahead in economic relations with Bangladesh?
The country's economists have advised Bangladesh to remain a silent spectator if the ongoing crisis between China and India turns into a war. They say neighboring India and China are both economically important for Bangladesh. However, not only are they contributing to the economy of Bangladesh, Bangladesh is also playing a big role in the economy of these two countries. Both China and India are benefiting by exporting to Bangladesh and investing in Bangladesh. However, the question of observers, China or India is more advanced in economic relations with Bangladesh? Or who contributes more to these two countries?
According to Ahsan H. Mansoor, executive director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), a private research institute, India and China are of equal importance to us in terms of exports. In other words, Bangladesh exports less than one billion dollars worth of goods in both the countries. And even though we are more dependent on China for imports, we are able to easily import essential food items from India as a neighboring country. He thinks that India is a very good neighbor in terms of food supply. However, Bangladesh has to depend more on China for other essential commodities, especially for industrialization. He also said that China was ahead of India in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI).
Ahsan H. Mansoor said, "China's contribution to Bangladesh's economy is still high. However, if war breaks out between India and China, both countries will try to get closer to Bangladesh. For that, various proposals and pressures may come from both the countries. But Bangladesh should not go to any side. In this case, it would be better to be a silent spectator. '
Bangladesh's trade with China and India is also known, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Product import:
According to statistics, Bangladesh imported goods worth ৭ 6,748 million from India in 2019. In the same year, goods worth ১৩ 13,636 million were imported from China. In other words, Bangladesh has imported almost twice as many products from China as India.
Export of goods
According to the Bureau of Statistics, exports of goods from Bangladesh to India in 2019 amounted to দশ 930.8 million. And the export of goods to China is 846.06 million dollars.
Trade deficit with the two countries
According to the Bureau of Statistics, India's trade deficit with Bangladesh is ৬ 6,617 million. And Bangladesh has a trade deficit with China of 12 thousand 691 million US dollars.
Investment
So far, the investment from China to Bangladesh (stock investment) is ৯ 2,908 million. And the amount of stock investment from India is only 602 million dollars. In other words, China has invested about five times more in Bangladesh than India.
New investment
In 2019, new investment from China to Bangladesh came to হাজার 1,406 million. And in 2019, only বিনিয়োগ 150 million in new investment came from India. India is not even close to China in terms of new investment.
Khandaker Golam Moazzem, a researcher at the private research institute CPD, thinks that Bangladesh is contributing to the economies of these two neighboring countries as much as China and India are contributing to the economy of Bangladesh. The two countries are benefiting by exporting to Bangladesh and investing in Bangladesh. Bangladesh also gives equal importance to the two neighboring countries. In order to increase the investment of these two countries in Bangladesh, separate economic zones have been created. For example, special economic zones have been set up for Chinese investors in Anwara and for Indian investors in three regions - Mongla, Pakshi and Mirsarai. "Meanwhile, our trade and investment with the two countries is growing," he said. Khandaker Golam Moazzem said, "On the one hand, Chinese investment in Bangladesh has increased. On the other hand, our exports to India have increased.
In fact, in the first 11 months of the current financial year (July to May), Bangladesh exported goods worth ৯ 3,95.91 billion. Of this, 105 crore 72 lakh dollars worth of goods have been exported to India. And China has exported goods worth 556.1 million dollars.
Dependence on consumer goods is a cause of danger
According to economist Ahsan H. Mansoor, Bangladesh's large dependence on Indian consumer goods is also a source of danger. He said, "As India has recently stopped exporting onions, the price of onion has gone up from Tk 20 to Tk 220 to Tk 250 per kg."
It may be mentioned that the products exported from Bangladesh to India include readymade garments, jute and jute products and engineering products. And Bangladesh imports goods from India - textile yarn, consumer goods, machinery and equipment.
On the other hand, the contribution of China to the economy of Bangladesh cannot be said, but 35 percent of the amount that Bangladesh imports from all over the world every year comes from China. The most imported of these are yarn and garment fabrics. Then a large quantity of various types of electronics products and spare parts are imported. However, Bangladesh is exporting more goods to India than China. In such a situation, so that Bangladeshi products can easily enter the Chinese market or increase Bangladesh's exports to China, China has recently decided to provide trade facilities to Bangladesh.
As a least developed country, Bangladesh has got 97 percent duty-free access to 5,161 more products in the Chinese market. Bangladesh will get this facility from July 1 this year. And it will remain in force till 2024. However, Bangladesh was already getting duty-free access to 3,095 products from China under the APT. Out of that facility, 97 percent duty free facility was given. As a result, 6,256 Bangladeshi products came under the duty-free facility in the Chinese market under the duty-free facility.
Researcher Golam Moazzem said, ‘Many Chinese are working in Bangladesh. Similarly, Indian citizens are also working in different organizations in Bangladesh. Almost twice as many Indians are working in Bangladesh as in China. '
Chinese citizens are working in various government projects as well as business establishments. And most of the citizens of India are working in the garment sector of Bangladesh. As a result, both the countries are taking huge amount of remittances from Bangladesh. Indian products are also entering the country through the black market. The advertisement is running on the TV channel. Apart from this, many are also going to neighboring India for treatment and shopping, he said.
He said Bangladesh is the second largest importer of goods from India after China. The bulk of Bangladesh's imports from the country are industrial raw materials, capital equipment and intermediate products. Besides, huge amount of food products are imported from India.
It is known that even a few years ago, Bangladesh used to import most products from India. But now China has overtaken India. Bilateral trade between China and Bangladesh was only কোটি 900 million in 2000. It is expected to reach ৮ 16 billion by 2021. China is currently Bangladesh's largest trading partner. And Bangladesh is China's third largest trading partner in South Asia. Bangladeshi jute products have also gained popularity in the Chinese market. China has already implemented several state-of-the-art construction projects in Bangladesh. The country is also associated with the construction of the Padma Bridge, the 'dream bridge' of the people of Bangladesh. Apart from this, Chinese industrial companies are involved in the construction work of Bangladesh in various fields including transport, power, energy and telecommunication.
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