45 years ago, on 11 February 1973, Vietnam and Bangladesh officially established diplomatic relations. Since then, the two sides have maintained a traditional friendship and fruitful cooperation.
Beautiful Bangladesh
Located in South Asia, Bangladesh is a country with a rich culture and a long history, with a civilization dating back to the 3rd century BC. Bangladesh is also renowned for its unique architecture steeped in religious character, together with beautiful natural landscapes.
Despite its relatively small area of nearly 144,000 km2, Bangladesh is rich in heritage, with historical and archaeological sites, natural forests and long beaches. Bangladesh has been blessed by nature with vast expanses of green from its extensive mountains and forests, with an extremely rich and diverse level of ecology.
In addition, citadels and religious structures such as the archaeological site of Mohasthangarh, the Buddhist monastery of Paharpur, and the Sat Gambud Mosque, together with the stunning Cox’s Bazar beach, also give this South Asian nation its special appeal.
Blessed by nature with many unique and beautiful landscapes, Bangladesh is becoming a destination for those who love unspoiled beauty and wish to explore and conquer new and exciting lands.
Since gaining independence in 1971, Bangladesh has developed rapidly. Bangladesh has achieved many social accomplishments, including the empowerment of women, reduced maternal and child mortality, and the attainment of many Millennium Development Goals. Many people have escaped poverty, and living standards have improved.
In recent years, under the leadership of the Awami League headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s economic situation has generally remained stable. GDP growth has been maintained at around 7%.
Although half of Bangladesh’s GDP comes from the services sector, about 50% of Bangladesh’s population currently depends on agriculture, whose main products are rice, jute, tea, sugar cane, potatoes, tobacco, cotton and oilseeds… Garments and textiles are the main export sector, accounting for 80% of total export output. The steady growth of garment exports and remittances from overseas workers reached about USD 15 billion, accounting for around 13% of total GDP.
Bangladesh is currently actively implementing its Vision 2021 strategy, aiming to move the country into the group of middle-income countries and become a digitized nation with advanced science and technology development.
In the coming period, Bangladesh will step up infrastructure development and encourage the rapid growth of key industries such as telecommunications, information technology and shipbuilding.
Promoting multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Bangladesh
Vietnam and Bangladesh officially established diplomatic relations on 11 February 1973. Since then, the two sides have maintained a traditional friendship and fruitful cooperation. Vietnam has always valued and wishes to further develop this traditional friendship and good cooperation with Bangladesh. The two countries have always stood side by side and supported one another in building and safeguarding independence and sovereignty, and in developing their respective economies.
The two countries regularly maintain close exchanges and cooperation at international forums, especially at the United Nations.
Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has grown rapidly. The Joint Trade Sub-Committee of the two countries held its first session in April 2015.
In recent years, economic relations between Vietnam and Bangladesh have seen many positive developments. Two-way trade turnover between the two countries has grown steadily year by year: from USD 14 million in 2002 to USD 388.1 million in 2012. In the 2010-2014 period alone, import-export turnover between the two countries increased more than 2.5 times, from USD 288 million to nearly USD 800 million. In 2015, bilateral trade reached about USD 620 million, and in 2016 it reached nearly USD 609 million. Of this, Vietnam ran a trade surplus. In the first 5 months of 2017, Vietnam’s export turnover to Bangladesh reached USD 330.86 million.
Vietnam’s main exports to Bangladesh are clinker and cement, steel billets, and mobile phones. Vietnam’s main imports from Bangladesh are garment materials and accessories, leather and footwear, pharmaceuticals, and sesame. The two countries signed an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding on rice trade through the end of 2022 (in May 2017). The two sides are striving to reach the target of USD 1 billion in bilateral trade turnover in the coming years.
Regarding investment, as of September 2017, Bangladesh had three investment projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of USD 580.1 thousand, ranking 96th out of 116 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Vietnam had 1 investment project in Bangladesh with total capital of USD 27.9 thousand, with Bangladesh ranking 68th out of 72 countries and territories in which Vietnam has invested.
Investment activity by Vietnamese enterprises in Bangladesh shows positive signs of growth. The two sides successfully co-organised a seminar to meet Bangladeshi enterprises and inaugurated the Bangladesh-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (March 2017). The Ministry of Industry and Trade led a delegation of nearly 20 Vietnamese enterprises to visit Bangladesh and attend an investment and trade promotion seminar in Dhaka (August 2017).
Regarding cooperation in agriculture, the two sides actively exchange delegations at various levels for visits, study, and the sharing of experience on economic development policy, resettlement and migration, and aquaculture. Bangladesh is exploring opportunities for cooperation in pearl oyster farming in both saltwater and freshwater.
In addition, cultural and education-training cooperation activities between the two countries are also being actively promoted. To date, Vietnam’s National Academy of Public Administration, in coordination with Bangladesh’s Ministry of Public Administration and the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre, has organised a total of 16 training courses on public administration for nearly 500 officials of various levels from Bangladesh, held in Vietnam.
With this solid foundation, Vietnam and Bangladesh have every basis to further promote bilateral relations and elevate this relationship to a new height.