Bangladesh’s Roads and Highways Department has signed an MoU with a Chinese firm for constructing the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which is still nothing more than a concept.
The RHD and Chinese Communications Construction Company (CCCC) signed the memorandum of understanding last year on a Tk100-stamp.
A senior official of Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said it is highly unusual for a government to enter a contract with a foreign company for constructing something, which is still to be finalised.
The MoU states: “In view of the urgent requirement for the construction of the BCIM Economic Corridor against Chinese government funding [on G to G basis], this MoU is executed between RHD and CCCC.”
Both parties agreed that the CCCC might send teams to the RHD to inspect the project area of the corridor in Bangladesh portion and conduct feasibility and commercial viability studies for an assessment of funding, the MoU reads.
The memorandum stipulates that the RHD will cooperate with the CCCC representatives in all possible ways.
However, the senior official said the corridor is yet to take a formal shape. A joint study group had its second meeting in Cox’s Bazar in December last year; the third meeting in India is scheduled for the second half of this year.
“After the third meeting, the group will submit final report to respective governments for final approvals,” he said.
He said the MoU was signed on a Tk100-stamp as if somebody was buying properties. “Any agreement or memorandum, where the government is a party, is signed on white paper.”
Another senior government official said such initiatives may make the members suspicious. “When you have both China and India in one regional body, everybody must be very careful about their initiatives.”
Economy is the “push factor” while security is the “pull factor” for India in joining the BCIM EC. The general perception is that India is skeptical about any Chinese initiative and New Delhi might end up not joining the group, the official feared.
Contacted, Bipul Chandra Saha, additional chief engineer of RHD who signed the MoU, said: “So far, there has been no development in implementing the MoU.
“It is a non-binding agreement and if the Chinese company can gather fund, the MoU will be executed,” he said.
The BCIM initiative is the result of track II diplomacy and it got a boost when China and India in 2013 agreed to discuss the issue formally.
The first meeting of Joint Study Group was held in Kunming and the second in Cox’s Bazar.
In the second meeting, the Chinese delegation comprised 39 members, compared to only a 17-strong team from the host country, eight from India and five from Myanmar.
