Speakers said on Wednesday that  developing convenient digital infrastructure is very vital to attract more remittance through legal channels for sustainable foreign exchange reserves. They made the statement in a discussion on ‘Remittance through the legal channel: Prospects of digital platforms’ organised by the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) at its auditorium in the capital on Wednesday. Planning Minister MA Mannan was the chief guest on the occasion. Economists, bankers and experts made various recommendations for a better strategy to attract more remittance  amid concern over dwindling stock of foreign currency.  Read more: Banks to stop charging any fees for handling remittances Mannan said that the people in the country do not show much interest to go to banks for transactions when they receive remittance from their family members working abroad because of social and psychological  factors.  Rather, they choose illegal channels to receive remittance as a quick and comfortable remedy.  He said that the government has taken initiatives for developing digital infrastructure to bridge the gap between the earners and the receivers,  but it often gets protracted to reform the sector.  He also said that transactions with foreign countries are closed three days a week on the banking channels. Because of this, many people are choosing hundi as a convenient alternative, he said.  Read more: Falling exports-remittances: Double blow to Bangladesh economy “The government wants to break these traditions and start a trend. The Ministry of Finance and the Bangladesh Bank are working on this,” he said. Policy Research Institute (PRI) Executive Director Ahsan H. Mansur said the exchange rate of the dollar needs to be stable and balanced  to increase remittances through legal channels. “Migrant workers are more inclined to send remittances through hundi when the difference of dollar exchange rate higher in illegal channels than the legitimate way,” he said. Managing Director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited Mohammed Monirul Moula said if the problem in sending money to the relatives of expatriates in the country is removed, it will be easier to deal with the existing foreign exchange and reserves crisis. “If remittances can be sent through digital mode, it will be possible to meet the foreign exchange deficit in the next two to three months,” he said. Read more: Remittances fall again in Oct, this time to 8-month low Professor of the economics department of Dhaka University and chairman of SANEM Dr. Bazlul H Khandkar presented a keynote paper on the topic. Chairman Policy Exchange of Bangladesh Masrur Riaz, Sharmin Nilormi, professor of economics, Jahangirnagar University, former executive director of Bangladesh Bank and former deputy head of BFIU Iskandar Mia, BKash Chief External and Corporate Affairs Officer Major General (retd) Sheikh Md. Monirul Islam, and economist Khondker Shakhawat Ali, among others, spoke at the function.

Bangladesh and China should soon sign a comprehensive bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to boost especially Dhaka’s exports to hugely potential Chinese market, speakers at a discussion said on Wednesday. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi who attended the virtual discussion as the chief guest said though there has been some progress towards signing an FTA with China, more efforts are needed to conclude the negotiation and materialize the the FTA. "I believe this will help Bangladesh to face the LDC graduation challenges," he said. Speaking as special guest Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming said it is high time to really consider an FTA combined with an Investment deal between Bangladesh and China.   Read:Bangladesh, Oman keen to expand economic partnership He pointed out that there is a huge potential for Bangladesh to boost its exports to China. The discussion titled “Bangladesh-China Economic and Trade Relations in the aftermath of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic” was organized jointly by Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) and Bangladesh China Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCCI). Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Md. Sirazul Islam and Bangladesh Ambassador to China, Mahbub Uz Zaman also joined it as the special guests. Eminent Trade Economist Dr. Mohammad Abdur Razzaque presented the keynote paper. The bilateral trade between the two countries heavily favours China. Out of around $12.09 billion bilateral trade in FY20, Bangladesh's export to China only accounted for $0.60 billion while imports from China totalled a mammoth $11.49 billion. Minister Tipu said as part of its unilateral market access schemes for LDCs, China has allowed duty-free access to Bangladesh for 97 per cent of its tariff lines which became effective from July 1, 2020.  Read:Pragmatic talks underway over vaccine procurement, coproduction: Ambassador Li Under this initiative, 8,256 Bangladeshi products enjoy zero tariff facility for exports in this market. "I strongly believe that by fully utilizing this DFQF facility, the trade imbalance can be reduced in a greater extent." The commerce minister said Bangladesh gives utmost priority to its relations with neighbouring and regional friendly countries like China while the relationship between the two countries has developed robust based on mutual trust and interests. Ambassador Li said both the entrepreneurs and businesses of China and Bangladesh suffered from the pandemic as the bilateral trade witnessed a fall of 13.6 per cent in 2020 from the last year. He, however, termed attainment of Bangladesh's 6.1 per cent GDP growth in the outgoing fiscal year as "very encouraging". The Chinese Ambassador said although there is a huge trade imbalance, but there would be more exports from Bangladesh to China in the coming days. Li said he was fully confident that under the Chinese Belt and Road initiative, there would be more areas of cooperation in different fields like in 5G communication, high-speed railway as well as the G to G and PPP initiatives would get momentum in the post pandemic era. BIDA Executive Chairman Md Sirazul Islam said that the Authority would facilitate and expedite investment from Chinese investors. "We want to see more FDI from China. BIDA is always ready to support Investment promotion and in policy advocacy," Read:Big-B Initiative to bring more investment to Bangladesh: Shahriar He sad it would be a real game changer if Bangladesh could tap the potential Chinese market. "If we can explore even 1% potential of Chinese market, then the exports of Bangladesh to China will total $25 billion." Ambassador Mahbub Uz Zaman said there is an excellent platform for cooperation between the two countries for further consolidating the bilateral relations.  "Chinese investments to Bangladesh have been playing an important role and have also been contributing towards employment generation" Mahbub said adding that the Chinese investors are looking forward to invest in the special economic zones in Bangladesh. Dr. Razzaque suggested that Bangladesh increases its RMG exports to China. It can expand cooperation with China in artificial intelligence, robotics, and can set up technological hub with China. He said that establishing a full-fledged FTA is an option to retain the available market access in China, but it comes with reciprocity. He said there are estimates to suggest that a comprehensive bilateral FTA would have an overall positive impact on Bangladesh’s exports by 22 per cent of current exports to China.  On the other hand, Chinese exports to Bangladesh could increase by about 16 per cent.  Read:Korea supports strengthening digital investigation capability of Bangladesh Police Any FTA deal with China should be backed by an investment agreement from which Bangladesh should be able to expand its exports and can keep bilateral trade deficits within reasonable, said Dr Razzaque. ERF President Sharmeen Rinvy and Joint Secretary General BCCCI, Al Mamun Mridha delivered welcome remarks. BCCCI President Gazi Golam Murtoza chaired the event while ERF General Secretary, S M Rashidul Islam moderated the function. Senior Vice President, BCCCI Brig. Gen. Shah Md. Sultan Uddin Iqbal offered the vote of thanks.