Bangladesh may become a key regional and global player as well as develop cooperation with Israel as an outcome of the landmark Abraham Accords, according to a top Israeli national security expert.
Israel signed the US-brokered Abraham Accords with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco separately in August and September of 2020 to officially normalize relations with them.
However, Bangladesh never had diplomatic relations with Israel and still does not recognize it. Israel offered to recognize newly-founded Bangladesh in 1972 —a move Dhaka rejected right away.
In 2021, the country dropped the “except Israel” clause from its e-passport, which was welcomed by Israel. But Dhaka immediately clarified that “the ban on travel of Bangladeshi passport holders to Israel remains unchanged”.
Now almost two years after the move, the Israel expert in an opinion piece published in The Jerusalem Post highlighted how the Abraham Accords can help create scopes for cooperation between the countries.
“The global developments in recent years, mainly Covid-19, the superpower competition and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have affected the global south by disrupting global supply chains, leading to higher inflation and poverty. The Asean countries and the South Asian region were no exception,” said Joseph Rozen.
“Now that these regions have begun to emerge from the above-mentioned challenges, several South and Southeast Asian countries have the potential to play a bigger role regionally and globally. One of them is Bangladesh,” he added.
Joseph Rozen is the former director for Asia and Euro-Asia affairs in the Israeli National Security Council.
Citing that the economic potential in the two regions is immense, he mentioned how well Bangladesh performed both before and after the pandemic by successfully countering economic challenges when needed most.
“Bangladesh invested 4.3% of its GDP to fuel the economy, especially in the export-oriented industry and focused on four goals: increasing public expenditure, formulating a stimulus package, widening social safety net coverage and increasing monetary supply,” the article reads.
However, it termed the recovery measures short-lived as the Russian invasion jeopardized the global economy, forcing governments to rely on external aid and increase their spending.
The outlook, it said, for 2023 and beyond is positive for the South Asia region despite this setback in 2022.
“Bangladesh stands out, surpassing even developing countries in terms of growth and GDP per capita. Dealing with Covid-19, floods and other global events, Bangladesh was able to withstand the pressure on its economy, maintain growth and keep the public debt at a low rate despite increasing government spending,” the author said.
“Indeed, the key to regional recovery lies not only in the stronger economies regaining momentum but in emerging ones, such as Bangladesh, being able to rebuild their economies. Recently, the IMF approved another aid package to Bangladesh worth $4.7 billion in loans, while it is still hesitant to aid Bangladesh's neighbors, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, in spite of their economic crisis,” Joseph said.
The recovery of Bangladesh generates numerous opportunities, not only in the economic sphere but also in the strategic sphere, he mentioned.
“As the interest from the US and China in the region grow, including in Bangladesh, the latter has the potential of becoming an inter-regional economic and geostrategic player.
“Closer to home, the Abraham Accords have created new opportunities for future cooperation with Israel in sectors that are strategic for Bangladesh, such as agritech, food safety, climatech and cyber defense,” he concluded.
