http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.info/search_index.php?page=detail_news&news_id=46006
Dhaka-Beijing relation reaches a new height: Iftekhar
FE Report
Foreign adviser Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said Friday the recent visit of chief adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed to China has boosted bilateral ties between the two friendly countries and taken the same to a new height.
The foreign adviser, who accompanied the chief adviser to China made the remarks on return home.
Dr. Chowdhury said that chief adviser held official talks with the leaders of China including President Hu Jintao, Vice President Xi Jinping, and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
The discussions underscored the fact that Bangladesh-China relations were “time-tested” and “all-weather”, and that they symbolised a “comprehensive partnership for cooperation”, he added.
The foreign adviser stated that some new potential areas for cooperation and possible Chinese support also came up for discussion during the meetings.
These included the construction of the seventh and the eighth Friendship bridges planned on the Meghna and the Meghna-Gumti rivers, collaboration on nuclear power technology with a view to implementing the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and on the production of hybrid seeds for expanding agricultural production. The Chinese side displayed keen interest on all the projects.
Another important subject discussed between the two sides was a road to be built linking Bangladesh and China through Myanmar, the Foreign Adviser further stated adding, “It was agreed that both sides will take up the matter with Myanmar”, he added.
As for cooperation on education, the Chinese side, in response to a request from the Chief Adviser, doubled the number scholarships offered to Bangladeshi students from fifty to one hundred.
They assured that facilities could be made available to other students as well, Dr. Iftekhar Chowdhury informed the media.
Dr. Chowdhury further informed that separate agreements had been signed during the visit on ‘Economic and Technical Cooperation’, ‘Exchange of Hydrological information on Brahmaputra’ and ‘Scientific Cooperation in the field of agriculture’, the Foreign Adviser said.
He added: “All of these would contribute to deepening of our bilateral partnership.”
He mentioned that defence and security issues, and ways and means of expanding cooperation in those areas, also featured during discussions. The Chief Adviser attended the concluding session of the Paralympics, which, like the Olympics, was a very successful event.
The Foreign Adviser further stated that the Chief Adviser addressed a well-attended gathering of the representatives of Chinese business houses and investors where he explained the mutual advantages of broadening commerce and investments between the two countries.
The Chinese investors were told that a Special Economic Zone would be established for them so that Chinese technology and Bangladeshi trained manpower could collaborate to manufacture products for third markets, Dr. Chowdhury said.
He concluded saying that the visit most certainly strengthened the ties that bind ‘our’ two Asian and developing countries.
“China is important for us, as Bangladesh is for China. I have every confidence that all governments to follow will bear this in mind, and that close ties with China will be an eternal pillar of Bangladesh’s foreign policy. I know the Chinese side also shares the same sentiments.”
