We agree wholeheartedly with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam when he exclaimed the importance of cooperation with the United Kingdom for Bangladesh in shaping the future of our country and ensuring that we reach our goals -- in the short, medium, and long term.
Bangladesh's economic ambitions over the next two decades is well documented at this point -- from graduating to a middle income economy by 2026, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and finally, beating the middle income trap in the 2030s to emerge as a prosperous, “smart” Bangladesh by 2041.
However, in order for Bangladesh to achieve all of these milestones, it is imperative that it continues to strengthen its relationships with nations across the world -- and the UK ranks very high on the list of nations that could aid Bangladesh in reaching its goals.
To that end, the Bangladesh-UK aviation partnership is a step in the right direction and helps our aviation, but the hope is that we continue to explore such potential partnerships moving forward with other nations of the world.
Predominantly, the UK could become one of the primary investor countries into Bangladesh, an area that we continue to severely lack in. If Bangladesh is indeed serious about making a mark as an economy, then attracting foreign direct investment, from economies such as the UK, should be prioritized with immediate effect.
The next two decades are some of the most important in our country's history. We hope that the authorities concerned remain pro-active in their approach to building relationships and ensuring that we are indeed successful in becoming Smart Bangladesh.