High-speed railway, telecom, BD blue economy attract China

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming on Thursday expressed optimism over more investment cooperation with Bangladesh in high-tech fields such as 5G telecommunications, high-speed railway, aerospace, and blue economy.

“I am very optimistic about the future of China’s investment in Bangladesh,” he said recognising the continuous economic and social development of Bangladesh.
He said China’s investment in Bangladesh will not only maintain the lead in net inflows but also lead other foreign capital sources in terms of FDI (foreign direct investment) stock in Bangladesh.
The Chinese Ambassador was addressing a virtual dialogue organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh Ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman, former Bangladesh ambassador to USA and President, Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) M Humayun Kabir, CPD Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun, CPD distinguished fellows Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Prof Mustafizur Rahman, Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) President Major General (Retd) ANM Muniruzzaman, Chief Executive Officer, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited Bangladesh Md Mahbub Ur Rahman, Prof Cheng Min and Dr Wang Shida, among others, took part in the discussion chaired by CPD Chairman Prof Rehman Sobhan.
Ambassador Jiming said there is still much room for improvement in Bangladesh’s services for investors and some institutions in Bangladesh are not efficient enough.
He said vocational skills training in Bangladesh needs to be strengthened.
Emphasising on increased political mutual trust, Ambassador Jiming said the Chinese Embassy will continue to work diligently to promote the continuous development of bilateral relations, and facilitate the baking of a bigger cake of mutually beneficial and pragmatic cooperation between China and Bangladesh.
He said under the “Belt and Road” initiative, Chinese investors have enthusiastically participated in Bangladesh’s economic construction and contributed to the economic and social development of Bangladesh and the improvement of the welfare of the local community.
“The Chinese embassy, together with our friends here, will continue to make the “Belt and Road” initiative more popular in Bangladesh, allowing more participants to benefit from “Belt and Road” cooperation and achieving multi-win,” he said.
In recent years, the ambassador said, China-Bangladesh PPP cooperation has become more popular, and important power plants, such as Payra power plant, have adopted the PPP cooperation model.
“Promoting the signing of currency swap agreement MOU on PPP cooperation can better promote investment cooperation and provide financing for a large number of high-quality projects in Bangladesh,” he said. – UNB