Distinguished participants,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is indeed an immense pleasure and privilege for me to address at the launching ceremony of the 3rd China-South Asia Cooperation Forum, under the aegis of the 6th China-South Asia Expo. I would like to convey our sincere appreciation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the People’s Government of the Yunnan Province for hosting the Forum, and my sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and the People’s Government of Yunnan Province for nominating Bangladesh as the theme country of the 6th China-South Asia Expo. 

Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the 2nd edition of the China-South Asia Expo in 2014 and Hon’ble Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury attended the 3rd edition of this Expo in 2015, which reflects Bangladesh’s strong association with this august platform.

The people of the land of present Bangladesh had a millennia-old trading relations and people-to-people contacts with China, particularly with the Yunnan province. This historical bond has been revived by the pragmatic initiatives of our leaderships. The Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been associated with China in his political life and travelled to China twice, in 1952 and 1957. During the visit to China in 1952, Bangabandhu had the privilege to meet with great leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. He was highly impressed by the New China and stated it in his own book “The New China as I Saw”.

The bilateral relationship between our two countries has progressed steadily since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1975. Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited China thrice: in 2010, 2014 and 2019. During the first visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister, our both sides established “Closer Comprehensive Partnership of Cooperation” from the strategic perspective to initiate new phase in Bangladesh-China relations. During the landmark visit of Hon’ble President of the People’s Republic of China H.E. Mr. Xi Jinping to Bangladesh in 2016, our two countries have elevated bilateral relations as “Strategic Partnership of Cooperation”. The recent visit of State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China H.E. Mr. Wang Yi to Bangladesh in August this year has generated scope to further deepen the strategic partnership of cooperation between our two friendly nations.

Distinguished participants,

China is our important development partner. With China’s assistance, we are implementing several mega projects in Bangladesh mainly in rail, under-river road tunnel, expressway, and power sectors. These infrastructure projects will certainly boost connectivity to promote trade and commerce in the region. China is one of our largest global trading partners. Our merchandise imports from mainland China stands at around US$ 13 billion while our exports to mainland China stands at around US$ 680 million. Mainland China is also our fourth largest FDI source country with around US$ 1.5 billion investment stock. Our two countries have undertaken a joint feasibility study for an FTA to add further boost to our bilateral trade and investment relations.

Bangladesh aspires to be a knowledge-based developed country by 2041 to realize “Sonar Bangla” or Golden Bengal - the dream of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is heartening that the China-South Asia Expo and the China-South Asia Cooperation Forum have been playing significant roles in promoting innovation, trade and people-to-people exchanges in the region. I believe this year’s Expo and Forum will inspire China and South Asian countries to forge deeper partnership for common prosperity.

I wish the 6th China-South Asia Expo and the 3rd China-South Asia Cooperation Forum a grand success.

Thank you.

Long live Bangladesh-China friendship!