Zakir Hossain / Dhaka
Bangladesh is intensifying efforts to become a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN, with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus stressing the country’s economic and strategic advantages.
Yunus told Malaysia’s Bernama news agency that Bangladesh’s 170 million-plus population offers ASEAN “a substantial market and an available workforce,” while its untapped potential presents new opportunities. “There are many unexplored areas of investment… We don’t do deep sea fishing, for example. We have a big ocean right outside, but we never exploit that. So with Myanmar joining in, it becomes another opportunity to work together in deep sea fishing,” he said.
On his Aug 11–13 visit to Malaysia, Yunus discussed the bid with PM Anwar Ibrahim, the current ASEAN Chair. “One of the things we have been discussing since his visit on October 4 last year was joining ASEAN. So we took this chance to talk and revive this whole issue. He (Anwar) was very supportive,” Yunus said. Acknowledging possible resistance, he added: “It will take time. We will not give up. We have very good reasons… we are neighbours. Once we see that there are some supporters within ASEAN, it makes it easier for us.”
Bangladesh has been party to ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation since 2007, joined the ASEAN Regional Forum, accredited its first envoy to ASEAN in 2013, and hosts an ASEAN Committee in Dhaka since 2014.
ASEAN, founded in 1967, has 10 members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Two-way trade with Bangladesh reached USD 6.16 billion in 2023-24.