The government should work actively to help establish the Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor, which could deepen trade ties and improve the livelihood of millions of people in the region, analysts said yesterday.

“Bangladesh should play an active role to establish the BCIM economic corridor, which holds unlimited potential,” said Sadiq Ahmed, vice-chairman of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh.

He was backed by Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), and Mahbubur Rahman, a leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

They spoke at a discussion on 'Bangladesh-China relations: achievements and expectations', organised by the Economic Reporters' Forum at the Cirdap auditorium in Dhaka. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed also spoke at the event.

Moazzem said the corridor offers many economic opportunities to Bangladesh. Signing of the agreement could facilitate trade and investment, increase people-to-people contact and reduce poverty through better cross-border connectivity, he added.

The economist said there is an opportunity to boost economic and investment cooperation between Bangladesh and China.

“But the export potential remains largely untapped.”

Rahman said the economic corridor is planned in light of the southern silk route from ancient times. “Economic potential of the BCIM should be exploited through its quick establishment.”

The trade potential of the corridor stands at $132 billion, according to a study by Research and Information System for Developing Countries in India. The corridor covers 1.65 million square kilometres and touches the lives of 44 crore people. 

The discussion came days ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Dhaka.

With a GDP of $10.9 trillion, China is the second largest economy in the world. The country exported $2.14 trillion and imported $1.58 trillion in goods and products in 2015.

The country shipped goods worth more than $13 billion to Bangladesh in 2015, while Bangladesh exported goods of $805 million to China in the same year.

Bangladesh gets duty-free entry for 5,700 products to the huge Chinese market.

“With current exports, we do not really exist in the Chinese market,” said Ahmed of PRI.

The former World Bank economist said if Bangladesh can attract at least 1 percent of China's foreign direct investment, the amount would be huge for the country. 

“But we have to increase domestic capacity, develop infrastructure and improve efficiency to get Chinese investment.”

Moazzem said both the countries should consider signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

"This includes trade in goods and services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, dispute settlement and other issues," he said.

He said exports are concentrated on products such as garments and jute fibres, which have high value addition.

Moazzem said the government should negotiate with China for flexible local value addition criteria. Efforts should also be there to attract Chinese investment, particularly in machinery, light engineering and intermediate goods.

He also suggested the government ensure that Chinese loans come with flexible terms.

Dilip Barua, former industries minister, said Bangladesh would require Chinese cooperation in exploring potential in the blue economy.

Munshi Faiz Ahmad, a former ambassador to China, suggested exploring manpower export opportunities to China.

Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, president of a faction of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, raised questions on whether Bangladesh would be able to cater to the 1 percent demand of the Chinese domestic market.