Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said that Bangladesh would not fall into any debt-trap due to mega projects as predicted by some ‘skeptics and fear-mongers’.
“Their fear is not fact-based. Our debt from China is around 6 and half that of India is 1.3 % of GDP. So, their fear has no ground and is not based on fact,” he said while speaking at the inauguration of ‘Bangabandhu Lecture’ series organized by the ministry of foreign affairs.
The foreign minister said “as Bangladesh is progressing well, there are some skeptics and fear-mongers. They argue that since Bangladesh has undertaken a large number of Mega projects, it may fall into debt trap. They further argue that soon it could be under the Chinese or Indian debt trap.
“Our debt ratio is around 14 to 15%, much below the threshold of debt trap of 40% of the IMF,” he told the skeptics.
“They further argue that although at this time, Bangladesh's economy is thriving but the cost of borrowing will shoot up soon which will drag it into chaos. This fear is also not fact-based. Our cost of borrowing is still hovering around 1.3 % only. There is no shooting up yet,” he said.
The Bangabandhu Lecture was delivered by former finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith.
The foreign minister said a food deficit country Bangladesh, is now self-sufficient in food production.
Even before the UN could come up with the Law of the Sea in 1982, Bangabandhu could come up with it as early as 1974.
“No wonder, we need to do research on his life, his legacy and his way of thinking. Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently established the "Bangabandhu Center for Diplomatic Strategy and Research" at the Shugonda, the 1st office of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the head of the government of independent and sovereign Bangladesh,” he said.
“Bangladesh which was known as the "bottomless basket" is now a vibrant economy, a land of opportunity. Even in post-Covid economy, its GDP growth rate is 5.4 % which is the highest in Asia.
“By next February 2021, we hope that Bangladesh will be out of LDC. It would be an achievement but we cannot be complacent. We have to engage ourselves to achieve our targets to reach the Roadmap 2021, 2030 and 2041. By 2041 we would like to achieve ‘‘Sonar Bangla’’, a prosperous and stable country, the dream of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation.”
The foreign ministry established 68 "Bangabandhu Corners" out of its 78 missions abroad.
Dr Momen requested those missions to arrange seminars, workshops, display of films and videos in their own domain in collaboration with local gentry, intellectuals, teachers, diaspora and the like especially in this Mujib Borsho and the following year, the year of our 50th anniversary so that this type of fears could be eliminated.
“At the same time we would like to tell our stories to the Global leadership. Please coordinate your programs with our newly created Public Diplomacy wing,” he said.
“We have decided to honor and recognize two outstanding diplomats each year; one a Bangladeshi diplomat, and another foreign diplomat serving in Bangladesh. We hope to declare the names of the Gold Medal Awardees on the 16th December, on our Victory Day.”
Highlighting the foreign policy of Bangabandhu, the foreign minister said: “We believe violence, war and terror across nations is largely due to the mindset of intolerance and disrespect towards others. Rohingyas are uprooted from their ancestral homes because of hatred and intolerance. This must stop. We must inculcate a mind set of tolerance, a mindset of respect towards others irrespective of religion, ethnicity, color and background to achieve a world sustainable peace and stability.”
