Renewed boost to BCIM

The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) regional grouping has agreed to start joint research to settle on ways to establish their dream “economic corridor”.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a news briefing at Beijing on Saturday that the decision had been taken in the first joint working group meeting at Kunming on Dec 19.

The joint working group meeting was held two months after the first official level meeting in 14 years of BCIM’s preparatory exercises in October in Dhaka.

The spokesperson said the economic corridor would officially set up the mechanism to promote cooperation among the regional grouping.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang proposed building the economic corridor during his visit to India last May to boost regional stability and furthering economic partnerships.

The corridor is being seen as an easing process of flowing goods between the world’s two largest economies, India and China, and proving greater economic resources to the burgeoning markets of Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson said India, Bangladesh and Myanmar warmly received the initiative.

She said senior government officials of BCIM countries and representatives of relevant international organisations attended the meeting for what she said “in-depth discussions” on the prospects of the economic corridor, priority areas of cooperation and institutional building.

She said they also reached consensus on cooperation “in transportation infrastructure, investment, commerce and trade, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and other specific areas”.

“It is of great significance to the in-depth growth of friendly and cooperative relations among the four countries and the connectivity between East Asia and South Asia,” she said.

China has been pressing ahead with the BCIM concept, as it plans to open up to Southeast and South Asia using Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province, as a hub.

To retrace the historic Southern Silk Road route, a car rally took place this February from Kolkata to Kunming via Dhaka and Mandalay.

The four-member countries with their total GDP of $9,300 billion, have every potential to become a strong block in global politics.

“We stand ready to maintain close communication with relevant countries and departments,” the Chinese spokesperson said.