Bangladesh Foreign Economic

Goals
Mohammad Atique Rahman
Assistant Professor
Dept. of International Relations

The Context:
Foreign Reserves now 23 Billion USD
Over Seven million Bangladeshi Migrants

working in various countries.

Till 2008 Bangladesh received 48 Billion
USD nearly 1.5 billion a year.
In 2014 remittance inflow was 1182 million
USD.
Bangladesh has been seen as major area of
investments in business, service sectors
and consumer goods related industries.

The Road Map:

What is foreign policy?
What are the key areas of Bangladesh

Foreign Policy?
Economic Diplomacy?
What are the objectives of F.E policy
Impacts of F.E Policy
The Way Forward

What is foreign policy?

It is an extension of domestic policy.

The foreign policy of a state can be defined as courses of

actions that a
state usually undertakes in its efforts to carry out national
objectives beyond the limits of its own jurisdiction.
It is also regarded as foreign relations policy which consists of
self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its
national interests and to achieve goals within itsinternational
relationsmilieu/environment.
The strategy is to interact with other countries.
Major Objectives:
Promoting national interest: security, political and economic
Protecting sovereignty
Gaining positions at world stage
Promoting national ideas and standards

Key areas of Bangladesh Foreign Policy

Friendship to all Malice to none.
Selfpreservation, maintenance of territorial

integrity,
Economic advancement and augmentation of
national power.
Promoting multilateralism, regional
cooperation and security, combating terrorism,
increasing remittances, mobilizing
international support for debt reduction,
market expansion, and promotion of trade.

Economic Diplomacy
The British economist and diplomat, Nicholas Bayne, one

of the leading writers on the subject, defines economic

diplomacy as the method by which states conduct their
external economic relations. It embraces how they make
decisions
domestically,
how
they
negotiate
internationally and how the two processes interact.

Objective of Bangladesh Economic Foreign Policy

Finding new labor markets: M.E., USA, EU and

South East Asia

Finding new markets for RMG and other
products
Secure FDI and ODA (AID)
Investments on Infrastructure and Energy
Sector
Regional Economic Connectivity
Promotion of Free-trade
Securing trade interests globally

Supporting International Economic Diplomacy

Formation of SAARC and SAFTA
As a founder member of D8 and BIMSTEC,

Bangladesh played important roles in the

formation of these two regional rganizations.
Bangladesh has also strengthened ties with its
East Asian neighbors. Bangladesh is a member
of Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), and the
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) and
the Commonwealth
WTO LDC Ranks

Impacts of F.E Policy

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a potent weapon of

developing the Bangladesh economy and can play an

important role in achieving the countrys socio-economic
objectives including poverty reduction goals.
In a capital-poor country like Bangladesh, FDI can
emerge as a significant vehicle to build up physical
capital, create employment opportunities, develop
productive capacity, enhance skills of local labor through
transfer of technology and managerial know-how, and
help integrate the domestic economy with the global
economy.

Major FDI Investments

The way forward

More FDI in future in grants rather than

loans
Secure trade concessions/gaining new
concessions i.e. GSP, TRIPS flexibilities
Governance and law and order situations
Standardization and constructions of roads,
highways, ports and EPZ.
Skilled manpower
Privatizations and Economic Reforms