[🇧🇩] Bangladesh's Look East Foreign Policy and ASEAN.

[Bilal9]

In fact, the ASEAN countries have more "look West" policies than anyone else. Only in the sub-continent can one get away with such a myopic terminology as "look east."

What can they do bhai.

From Bangladesh, looking West is looking at India, from where no developmental help is going to come. Plus Bangladesh' relationship is at a pretty low level right now with Modi govt.

In fact most of India itself (North and North-East India) is in equal or rather worse situation than Bangladesh is. They have little industrial infra and China-hate, red tape and baboo-dom means these are not places ASEAN countries will invest anytime soon.

ASEAN Plus Three countries (like China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan) were (and still are) in a far better financial situation to invest in a semi-skilled country like Bangladesh.

Though there has been some higher value addition skilled industries in Bangladesh (like freelancing and backoffice) - most of the country's labor pool is largely semi-skilled, who have wage demands much lower than these ASEAN countries.

Unlike India, Bangladesh is a bottom-up sort of economy. India is a back-office top-down economy which drives the other sectors.

This means only way Bangladesh will develop is by low wage workers adding value in massive numbers.

Some Asian countries have almost same low wages too like Bangladesh, but these (Vietnam, Cambodia. Myanmar) have their own issues.

Vietnam is rapidly moving upward in wages, going into electronics and auto manufacturing higher value addition. Vietnamese wages are going to exceed Chinese wages (or close) soon. Brother @Beijingwalker can maybe confirm. My Thanks in advance.

Cambodia's labor pool is almost gone, they have a limited supply of workers.

Myanmar is a cluster-f. And will remain so for a while.

The only choice is Bangladesh and Pakistan.

 

[Old School]

What can they do bhai.

From Bangladesh, looking West is looking at India, from where no developmental help is going to come. Plus Bangladesh' relationship is at a pretty low level right now with Modi govt.

In fact most of India itself (North and North-East India) is in equal or rather worse situation than Bangladesh is. They have little industrial infra and China-hate, red tape and baboo-dom means these are not places ASEAN countries will invest anytime soon.

ASEAN Plus Three countries (like China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan) were (and still are) in a far better financial situation to invest in a semi-skilled country like Bangladesh.

Though there has been some higher value addition skilled industries in Bangladesh (like freelancing and backoffice) - most of the country's labor pool is largely semi-skilled, who have wage demands much lower than these ASEAN countries.

Some Asian countries have almost same low wages too like Bangladesh, but these (Vietnam, Cambodia. Myanmar) have their own issues.

Vietnam is rapidly moving upward in wages, going into electronics and auto manufacturing higher value addition.

Cambodia's labor pool is almost gone, they have a limited supply of workers.

Myanmar is a cluster*. And will remain so for a while.

The only choice is Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The real culprit is the rotten education system which continues to mass produce monkeys instead of knowledgeable people in a vicious cycle. The few who migrate to the West are owed to the Western education and their country of origins gave them birth only. You know how pathetic is the education system.

 

[Bilal9]

The real culprit is the rotten education system which continues to mass produce monkeys instead of knowledgeable people in a vicious cycle. The few who migrate to the West are owed to the Western education and their country of origins gave them birth only. You know how pathetic is the education system.

I guess we should not point the finger at India all the time, but lot of Bangladeshis are of the opinion that RAW with the help of Hasina's education ministry has ruined Bangladesh education system in the past decade, so that Indians will come in to fill the gap and run things in Bangladesh. There are plenty of Nateeja to support this opinion.

 

[Old School]

I guess we should not point the finger at India all the time, but lot of Bangladeshis are of the opinion that RAW with the help of Hasina's education ministry has ruined Bangladesh education system in the past decade, so that Indians will come in to fill the gap and run things in Bangladesh. There are plenty of Nateeja to support this opinion.

I am talking about those who are the products of the 70s and 80s. They are now the architects of producing monkeys. It all started right after 1971. The Chinese have been writing books for the last five thousand years, and your people often compare their language with the Chinese or Japanese, while all you can write in Bengali is poetry. Can you do scientific research in Bengali without learning English? Most Bengalis think so. Read below how Canada based Bengali professor hit the bull's eye:

 

[Bilal9]

I am talking about those who are the products of the 70s and 80s. They are now the architects of producing monkeys. It all started right after 1971. The Chinese have been writing books for the last five thousand years, and your people often compare their language with the Chinese or Japanese, while all you can write in Bengali is poetry. Can you do scientific research in Bengali without learning English? Most Bengalis think so. Read below how Canada based Bengali professor hit the bull's eye:

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You speak the God's honest truth brother.

Sheikh Mujib did one misdeed is that he turned the official language to Bengali in Bangladesh.

Some say this was RAW saazish to turn back the clock 50 years in Bangladesh.

Azadi le kar Bharti ka ghulam ban gaya.

Even preschoolers speak Hindi now in Bangladesh.

BTW I love Taj Hashmi - for the same reasons the Modi boot-lickers in Bangladesh hate him.

Too many Modi-shills in Bangladesh.

 

[Old School]

You speak the God's honest truth brother.

Sheikh Mujib did one misdeed is that he turned the official language to Bengali in Bangladesh.

Some say this was RAW saazish to turn back the clock 50 years in Bangladesh.

Azadi le kar Bharti ka ghulam ban gaya.

Even preschoolers speak Hindi now in Bangladesh.

BTW I love Taj Hashmi - for the same reasons the Modi boot-lickers in Bangladesh hate him.

Too many Modi-shills in Bangladesh.

HuMu Ershad removed English from higher studies; since then, Bengali people are proud of not knowing Enhlish. That guy never took part in any war while collecting his salaries in the Pak Army. It was a big surprise how he managed to get permanent status in the Amry because he was originally recruited on temporary basis and he never went to the military academy. The pro-Soviet-Indian leftists were behind this plot to remove English.

 

[Bilal9]

HuMu Ershad removed English from higher studies; since then, Bengali people are proud of not knowing Enhlish. That guy never took part in any war while collecting his salaries in the Pak Army. It was a big surprise how he managed to get permanent status in the Amry because he was originally recruited on temporary basis and he never went to the military academy. The pro-Soviet-Indian leftists were behind this plot to remove English.

Correct on all counts. Ershad was a rank womanizer as well. His deal was expensive whiskies and designer garb. Older retired senior army guys still talk about his $8,000 bespoke suits from high street tailors in London back in the day, which would cost three times as much now.

All show and no go.

 

[Old School]

Correct on all counts. Ershad was a rank womanizer as well. His deal was expensive whiskies and designer garb. Older retired senior army guys still talk about his $8,000 bespoke suits from high street tailors in London back in the day, which would cost three times as much now.

All show and no go.

That is bad propaganda. My uncle worked with him in Pak army in the 1960s and met him in London in the 80s. Uncle told me that despite having money Ershad's taste was always so poor he used shop from Marks and Spencer which is a poor people's place in UK.

 

[Bilal9]

That is bad propaganda. My uncle worked with him in Pak army in the 1960s and met him in London in the 80s. Uncle told me that despite having money Ershad's taste was always so poor he used shop from Marks and Spencer which is a poor people's place in UK.

I have been fed some stories then. Right you are.

 

[Saif]

ICC Bangladesh urges ASEAN to reduce trade gap

The International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh leaders, in a meeting on Thursday, urged ambassadors of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to reduce trade gap...

www.newagebd.net

ICC Bangladesh urges ASEAN to reduce trade gap​

Staff Correspondent | Published: 22:37, Mar 07,2024

The International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh holds a meeting with ambassadors of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the ICC headquarters in the capital on Thursday. — Press release photo.

The International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh leaders, in a meeting on Thursday, urged ambassadors of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to reduce trade gap between Bangladesh and ASEAN countries.

During the meeting, at ICC Bangladesh headquarter in Dhaka, president of the organisation Mahbubur Rahman said that there was a huge market for Bangladesh in ASEAN nations, according to a press release on the day.


In 2020, Bangladesh imports goods worth nearly $7.0 billion from 10 ASEAN countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Bangladesh’s exports to the ASEAN countries are still very paltry, less than $1.0 billion annum.

The ambassadors were urged to use their good offices for increasing imports from Bangladesh to reduce the trade gap.

Haji Haris Bin Othman, high commissioner of Brunei Darussalam to Bangladesh, pointed out that the agro-based products and meat were potential products for export to Brunei.

Haznah Binte Md Hashim, high commissioner of Malaysia to Bangladesh, said that Malaysia had huge investment in Bangladesh and they were looking forward to increasing investment there.

She pointed out that the tax regime in Bangladesh impeded investment from Malaysia.

ICCB vice president Naser Ezaz Bijoy said that Bangladesh could be an important development partner and acted as the bridge between South and ASEAN nations because of its location.

He hoped that the ambassadors would promote connectivity and encourage visits by business delegations from ASEAN and vice versa for promotion trade and investment in Bangladesh.

The meeting was also attended by Leo Tito L Ausan Jr, ambassador of the Philippines to Bangladesh, Md Fazlul Hoque, ICC Bangladesh executive board member, Panom Thongprayoon, minister counsellor, Royal Thai Embassy, ICC Bangladesh secretary general Ataur Rahman, ICC Bangladesh general manager Ajay Bihari Saha and deputy general manager Syeda Shahnewaz Lotika.​