Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah paid a state go to to Bangladesh on October 15-17 on the invitation of Bangladesh’s President M. Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Notably, it was the sultan’s first official go to to Dhaka because the institution of diplomatic relations on Could 5, 1984. The aim of the historic go to was to strengthen political and financial cooperation between the 2 international locations.
Brunei Darussalam is a small however strategically positioned and oil wealthy Southeast Asian nation. Brunei proclaimed its independence on January 1, 1984. Bangladesh opened a resident diplomatic mission in Brunei in 1985, and Brunei reciprocated by launching its diplomatic mission in Dhaka. Ostensibly, bilateral relations between the 2 international locations are embedded within the shared imaginative and prescient to advertise peace, safety, stability, and socioeconomic improvement. Moreover non secular bonds between the 2 majority Muslim international locations, and their commonalities in custom and tradition, each additionally work carefully in numerous worldwide fora such because the United Nations, Group of Islamic Convention, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Non-aligned Motion.
With a complete inhabitants of round 447,000 in October 2022, Brunei – one of the current nations to realize independence from the British Empire – has witnessed extraordinary financial improvement through the years. Pushed by rising exports of oil and pure fuel, it has emerged as a high-income nation whereas additionally categorized as a part of the growing world, a uncommon feat. Oil and fuel have remained the central pillars of its economic system ever because the assets had been found in 1929. In keeping with Buying and selling Economics’ world macro fashions, Brunei’s GDP is projected to hit $16 billion by the tip of 2022.
Alternatively, with an estimated inhabitants of over 168 million in October 2022, Bangladesh’s GDP is projected to high $460 billion this yr. Bangladesh has loved an unbelievable success story of financial transformation, refuting Henry Kissinger’s notorious label of Bangladesh as an “worldwide basket case.” The nation appears to be like to turn out to be an upper-middle revenue nation by 2031 because it continues to make vital progress in decreasing poverty, boosted by sustained financial progress and social progress.
Now each Brunei and Bangladesh want to additional their financial successes by a more in-depth partnership.
Mentioning the host nation’s investment-friendly atmosphere, in his assembly with Sultan Bolkiah, Bangladesh’s President Hamid referred to as upon the enterprise group of Brunei to put money into Bangladesh.
On the political entrance, Hamid expressed his expectation of full cooperation from Brunei to assist Bangladesh attain the standing of a Sectoral Dialogue Associate of ASEAN. Hamid additionally sought Brunei’s help for the secure return of greater than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims sheltered in Bangladesh to their ancestral motherland within the Rakhine state of Myanmar. Many of the Rohingya refugees escaped state-sponsored violence and persecution in August 2017; Bangladesh has been pushing the worldwide group to assist guarantee their secure return for over 5 years now.
Within the sultan’s assembly with Bangladesh’s prime minster, Bolkiah and Hasina oversaw the signing of 4 necessary paperwork: an air providers settlement; a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the employment and recruitment of Bangladeshi staff; an MoU on cooperation within the provide of liquefied pure fuel (LNG) and different petroleum merchandise; and a MoU on the popularity of transport certificates.
The MoUs search to advance cooperation in a number of precedence areas from the bilateral relationship. The MoU on power presents a chance to discover mechanisms for long-term collaboration on the provision of LNG and different petroleum merchandise to fulfill Bangladesh’s rising demand for power. Notably, Brunei owns one of many largest LNG manufacturing facility on the earth.
The MoU on employment represents the truth that Brunei is a well-liked vacation spot for Bangladeshi migrant staff. At the moment, about 20,000 staff from Bangladesh are in Brunei. In keeping with the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Coaching (BMET), on common, about 5,000 staff from Bangladesh had been employed yearly in Brunei earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, solely 950 Bangladeshi staff got jobs in Brunei between January 2020 and August 2022.
Whereas the sultan’s go to to Bangladesh is historic, it also needs to been seen because the continuation of present efforts to advance relations. Hasina formally visited Brunei from April 21-23, 2019, when six MoUs had been signed to strengthen cooperation within the fields of agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and provide of a lot wanted liquefied pure fuel (LNG).
The primary Overseas Workplace Consultations (FOC) between the 2 international locations came about in Dhaka in September 2018 and the second spherical was held in Brunei in August this yr. These are necessary engagements between the 2 international locations to totally optimize the untapped potential of their relationship.
At current, Brunei-Bangladesh bilateral commerce is insignificant each by way of quantity and worth. In keeping with the United Nations COMTRADE, Bangladesh exported items value simply $2.86 million to Brunei in 2020. Alternatively, Brunei’s exports to Bangladesh totaled an estimated $30 million, with petroleum fuel alone accounting for $29.9 million of that. Because of this, Brunei’s commerce surplus with Bangladesh is substantial.
Nevertheless, there’s scope for additional growth of commerce with potential Bangladeshi exports similar to ready-made clothes, prescription drugs, leather-based merchandise and processed meals merchandise (fruit juice, spices). Bangladesh has the capability to fulfill all of Brunei’s garment necessities, because it ranks second on the earth after China in phrases ready-made clothes exports, using round 4.4 million folks.
A shared imaginative and prescient to advertise peace and financial prosperity are necessary options of Bangladesh-Brunei relations. Mutual cooperation has been rising over the previous a long time, however it’s evolving sluggishly in arenas similar to commerce, funding, power, and agriculture. The go to of Sultan Bolkiah and signing of an settlement and three MoUs will help constructing a resilient relationship and are seemingly to offer additional impetus for the longer term improvement of an efficient strategic partnership. That mentioned, Bangladesh must vigorously pursue financial diplomacy and powerful engagement with Brunei to advertise its nationwide pursuits.