Southern region uplift, elevating ties to figure in Xi-Hasina talks

Chinese support for the Southern Integrated Development Initiative (SIDI) centring the Payra Port in Patuakhali, a fresh loans amounting to $20 billion, announcement on starting negotiations for a free trade agreement, financial assistance to meet the budget deficit, strengthening political ties between the two countries and elevated Bangladesh-china relationship from "strategic partnership" to "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership" are to dominate the tete-e-tete between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President Xi Jinping scheduled to be held on July 9 in Beijing.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry has finalized the agenda of the meeting jointly with the help of ERD and also finalized the joint statement that will be adopted by Bangladesh and China during the PMs visit from July 8 to July 11. However, there was no indication of engaging China in the Teesta project during the prime ministers visit.

Prior the Sheikh Hasinas visit to China, Minister of the International Depart-ment of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Liu Jianchao visited (23 June to 26 June) Bangladesh to discuss issues of mutual interest between Bangladesh and China.

During the visit he met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud and top political leaders of Awami League to understand the expectations of Bangladesh from China during the visit.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina highlighted the coordinated development plan of the government centring the Payra deep sea port. The prime minister also mentioned that Bangladesh wants China to be a part of the development works in the southern part of the country, as the government has taken initiative to run the development programmes in the southern parts of the country keeping the Payra port at the core, a senior official said.

"This communication also plays a role in adopting the right policy for each other. This communication is important," while talking to the media during his Dhaka trip, Liu Jianchao said.

Chinas main focus is to elevate the relations further. China has proposed to elevate the relations to "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership" in the draft. The relation between the two countries was elevated to "strategic partnership" level when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Dhaka in 2016.

 A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed regarding Bangladeshs joining the Belt and Road Initiative…now they (China) are thinking one step ahead, a Foreign Ministry official said.

However, the visit comes just two weeks after Hasinas first state visit to India after taking the charge as the PM for a fourth straight term.

"SIDI will see the establishment of an electric vehicle plant, a hi-tech park and a logistic hub at a strategic location, this will be an integrated development plan for the southern region involving projects on transport and communication, ICT, power and energy, logistics and a special economic zone," said an ERD official.

Bangladesh will seek fresh loans amounting to $20 billion during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas upcoming visit to China. Of the sum, $15 billion would be for infrastructure projects and $5 billion -- which would be disbursed in yuan -- would be to facilitate payments for imports from China, according to the officials involved in preparing the proposals.

Bangladesh is interested in Chinese loans for 12 specific fresh projects including metro rail Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (line-6), nine road and railway projects, and the issue could be raised during Sheikh Hasinas upcoming visit to China.

An announcement on starting negotiations for a free trade agreement may also come up during the visit as Bangladesh is eager to boost exports to China to reduce the trade gap.

Apart from this, financial assistance to meet the budget deficit and financing new projects would be prioritised during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas visit.

A delegation of Chinas EXIM Bank visited Bangladesh for last-minute discussions on proposed loans to meet the budget deficit and financing new projects, officials said.

Speaking about the preparations for the Prime Ministers visit to China, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said, "The discussion between the two sides is going on, we have been going through the matters regarding taking budget assistance from China alongside taking assistance through other processes."

The Economic Relations Divisions (ERD) will take the initiative for infrastructural development in the southern parts. It is basically the future outline for that region. Different ministries will be submitting the proposals for their desired projects in the region to the ERD. After that a list of projects will be prepared based on the proposals submitted, he said.

Bangladesh earlier sought a loan in Yuan worth $5 billion to facilitate importers to make payments for goods and services procured from China amid Bangladeshs strained dollar stockpile.

Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and China stands at $23 billion, with imports by Bangladesh accounting for almost the entire sum.

"This visit will surely inject vibrant impetus into the bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields, and promote new achievements in the Strategic Partnership of Cooperation between China and Bangladesh, and elevate the relationship to a new height," Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen said on Thursday at a press conference.