Bangladesh’s trade with Myanmar amounts to only US$6m which is just 0.2% of Myanmar’s total border trade with its neighbours.
China leads the way, but India and Thailand are also far more active than Bangladesh with trade and investment in Myanmar.
We need to catch up quickly. Biman Bangladesh Airlines’ launch of twice-weekly direct flights to Yangon this month is only a tiny step towards improving trade relations.
Myanmar’s opening up to foreign direct investment is both a huge challenge and an opportunity for Bangladesh. As a competitor for FDI, Myanmar’s natural resources give it an advantage, which can be seen for instance, by Malaysian investors announcing a $500m deal to manufacture Nissan cars there and Hong Kong and South Korea injecting funds into its garment industry.
Bangladesh on the other hand has a larger population and market and we only have ourselves to blame for not making better use of foreign investment opportunities. Fears of political violence caused a delegation from DP World, the major UAE based port operator, to call off a scheduled visit last month to discuss major shipping investments. As our own economy is large enough on its own to justify a new modern deep sea port, the government needs to act in the national interest to make sure one is developed soon.
Regardless of the competition for FDI, as neighbours sharing a land border, both Bangladesh and Myanmar would benefit from vastly increasing mutual investment and trade. We must make increasing trade with Myanmar a priority.
source: Dhaka Tribune
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