DT e-Paper, Saturday, October 15, 2016

4
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2016
DT
A new beginning
Xi met with Bangladesh Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office,
launching new vistas of cooperation
that were hailed as a
turning point in Bangladesh-China
relationship.
During the meeting, the heads
of the two governments signed 26
agreements and Memoranda of
Understanding (MoUs) on different
projects, including boosting cooperation
in counter-terrorism and
infrastructure development and
energy cooperation.
Starting at 3:15pm yesterday, the
meeting ended around 4:15pm.
President Xi held a press briefing
after meeting.
He said China was ready to work
with Bangladesh and extend more
cooperation in big projects here.
Afterward, Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina also took the podium
and briefed journalists. She hoped
that with cooperation from China,
Bangladesh would be able to reach
its goal to become a middle-income
country by 2021. She expressed the
hope that the friendship between
the two countries would grow
stronger in the coming days.
Chinese President Xi Jinping in
his briefing said Bangladesh-China
relations were now at a new historical
turning point and heading
towards a promising future.
“China-Bangladesh cooperation
will deliver more fruits for the people
of the two countries, and will
contribute to peace and stability and
development in the region,” he said.
Xi said they had agreed to elevate
China-Bangladesh relationship
from a ‘Closer Comprehensive Partnership
of Cooperation’ to a ‘Strategic
Partnership of Cooperation.’
Both sides also agreed to increase
high-level exchanges and
strategic communication so that
bilateral relations move ahead at
even a higher level, he said.
Terming his meeting with Prime
Minister Hasina ‘warm and productive,’
the Chinese president
said they reached agreements on a
number of important issues.
“We have agreed to jointly advance
the road and belt initiative,”
Xi said, adding that they had also
agreed to launch a joint feasibility
study on China-Bangladesh Free
Trade Agreement to strengthen
trade and investment cooperation.
The Chinese president laid emphasis
on enhancing practical cooperation
in key areas such as infrastructure,
production capacity,
energy and power, transportation,
ICT and agriculture.
He said China would continue
to do its best in providing capital,
technical and human resources
to carry out close cooperation on
projects to support economic and
social development of Bangladesh.
The two countries also agreed to
designate the year 2017 as the year
of ‘exchange and friendship’ between
Bangladesh and China during
which colorful events will be held to
carry forward the friendship.
They also laid emphasis on institutionalising
cooperation on maritime
affairs, counter-terrorism, advance
the BCIM Economic Corridor
and increase communication and
coordination on international and
regional issues.
“China is ready to work with
Bangladesh as friends and partners
with trust and support to each other,”
said the Chinese president.
Prime Minister Hasina said: “Today,
we have elevated our ‘Closer
Comprehensive Partnership of Cooperation’
to a ‘Strategic Partnership
for Cooperation’ and under
this strategic partnership, we have
agreed to work towards socio-economic
advancement of the peoples
of our two countries.”
She said they reached a consensus
on cooperation in key areas
such as trade and investment,
infrastructure, industry,
power, and energy, information
and communication
technology and
agriculture.
They witnessed the
signing of 27 agreements
and MoUs of cooperation
that cover, among others,
trade, investment,
blue economy, BCIM-EC,
roads, and bridges, railways,
power, maritime,
ICT, Industrial production,
capacity building
and skill development.
News
Both leaders also unveiled the
plaques of six projects adding that
the signing of these instruments
and the unveiling of these plaques
created a platform for the two countries
to cooperate at a higher plane.
The prime minister said her government’s
efforts today were aimed
at attaining the goals of becoming a
knowledge-based middle-income
country by 2021 and eventually a
developed country by 2041.
She also said that they had very
fruitful discussions on bilateral, regional
and international issues of
common interest.
“We have reiterated our commitment
to support the ‘One China
Policy.’ We have agreed to work
closely and support each other on
regional and international issues of
mutual interest.”
Elaborating on the enhanced
security cooperation agreed by the
two leaders, Foreign Secretary Md
Shahidul Haque said the two countries
would now work together to
fight terrorism and militancy, particularly
by capacity building and
exchange of information and good
practices.
“A MoU on the issue has been
signed after the talks,” he said.mDuring
the talks, Shahidul said, the Chinese
side hinted at making special
investment in RMG and jute sectors.
As part of a consensus on enhanced
economic cooperation, the
two countries inked a framework
agreement on production capacity
building after the talks, the foreign
secretary said, adding that under
the deal, the Chinese government
would assist Bangladesh in technology
transfer, capacity building,
training and establishment of new
entities.
He said China would make an investment
involving a huge amount
in the ICT sector in Bangladesh to
help materialise its vision of building
Digital Bangladesh.
Haque said during the talks the
Chinese president highly appreciated
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s
leadership and Bangladesh’s
stunning achievement in different
sectors under her able stewardship.
The foreign secretary said the
two leaders pledged to work together
to implement the sustainable
development goals.
Maritime was a new area where
the two countries agreed for collaboration
and the two countries
signed a MoU for cooperation on
blue economy.
Shahidul said the foreign ministers
of the two countries signed another
MoU to support the ‘One Belt
One Road’, a connectivity initiative
of the Chinese president.
The foreign secretary said several
other MoUs were signed in the
private sector and that these would
strengthen ties between the two nation’s
private sectors particularly in
the areas of trade and investment.
Asked about the estimated financial
value of the agreements
and MoUs, he said: “You will have
to wait a few days to know about
the total financial involvement of
the projects.”
But he said the two leaders
agreed that the development of the
people of the two countries was
most crucial for bilateral ties.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Without any elaboration, the
foreign secretary said an agreement
was signed on economic and technical
cooperation and a framework
agreement on road and tunnel.
President Xi led a 13-member
high powered Chinese delegation
at the talks.
They included two senior members
of Politburo of the Central
Committee of Communist Party of
China Wang Huning and Li Zhanshu,
State Councilor Yang Jiechi,
Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Minister
of National Development and
Reform Commission Xu Shaoshi,
Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, Commerce
Minister Gao Hucheng and
Governor of the People’s Bank of
China Zhou Xiaochuan.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
led the Bangladesh side that comprised
of Finance Minister AMA
Muhith, Industries Minister Amir
Hossain Amu, Commerce Minister
Tofail Ahmed, Public Administration
Minister Syed Ashraful Islam,
Minister for Road Transport and
Bridges Obaidul Quader, Foreign
Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Planning
Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
Upon his arrival at the Prime
Minister’s Office around 3pm,
Sheikh Hasina received Xi at the
Tiger Gate of the PMO and then the
two leaders held a tête-à-tête for
about ten minutes.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
arrived in Dhaka this morning on a
historic state visit amid high hopes
in Bangladesh that it will be the beginning
of a historic new journey
towards opening up a new horizon
in bilateral relations. •
Students, teachers, artists and cultural activists gather in a rally
near National Museum in Shahbagh, Dhaka yesterday to demand
arrest and punishment of the individuals who sent two death threats
to environmental activist Prof Anu Muhammad, who is running a
campaign against Rampal coal-fired power plant
RAJIB DHAR