DHAKA/COLOMBO, 9 April 2005 — Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao left Dhaka for Sri Lanka yesterday, ending a two-day official visit to Bangladesh aimed at boosting trade and economic cooperation, officials said.
The visit by the Chinese leader was marked by the signing of three bilateral agreements, four memoranda of understanding and two exchanges of letters focused on closer economic ties, a Bangladeshi government spokesman said.
The nine accords were initialed following overnight talks between the Chinese premier and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
The first two agreements sealed by the two countries are targeted on enhancing economic and technical cooperation, including provisions on concessionary lending by China to Bangladesh. The third agreement is the result of a new deal struck by the two countries on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The agreements were signed by Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xillai and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing accompanying Wen and Bangladeshi Cabinet ministers.
One of the MOUs signed is on cooperation on facing the threat of international terrorism. Three other MOUs deal with cooperation in the agriculture sector, the installation of Chinese digital telephone exchanges in Bangladesh and the production and management contract on a local coal mine.
The two exchange of letters signed are on setting up a direct air link between the two countries and on bilateral cooperation on management of water resources. Wen arrived in Dhaka from Pakistan on Thursday on the second leg of a four-nation South Asian tour which is taking him also to Sri Lanka and India.
Wen Jiabao arrived in Sri Lanka later yesterday on a two-day leg of a South Asian tour, where he will sign a clutch of bilateral agreements and visit a fishing harbor hammered by December’s tsunami.
Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry officials said Wen would meet President Chandrika Kumaratunga and approve agreements on trade relations, agriculture and debt relief.
He is then due today to inaugurate post-tsunami reconstruction in the fishing town of Panadura, 20 miles (35 km) south of Colombo, which the Chinese government is funding.
Sri Lankan Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama said on Thursday the nation could finally put a national reconstruction plan into action — three months after the tsunami — because donors have now firmly committed $1.5 billion in aid.
“Trade and economic relations are very much the focus of the visit,” said Anura Rajakaruna, head of the Foreign Ministry’s political desk for East Asia and Pacific.
“One agreement is on economic and trade relations, another is on technical and economic cooperation, but there is no power-related agreement,” Rajakaruna said.
Sri Lanka has relatively modest trade ties with China. In 2004, Sri Lanka imported 45.9 billion rupees ($460.6 million) worth of goods from China, dwarfing exports of 2.1 billion rupees.
By contrast, Sri Lanka, which runs a hefty trade deficit exacerbated by high international oil prices, imported 145.9 billion rupees worth of goods from India last year while exports to its major trade partner totaled 39.6 billion rupees. “Imports (from China) are increasing, but exports are increasing more slowly,” said Ajith Abeysinghe, head of the Central Bank’s trade division.
Wen, who will also be traveling to India, aims to make progress on resolving a longstanding border dispute with India as well as building closer trade ties when he visits New Delhi.
Relations between the world’s most populous countries are warmer than ever before, with both emerging as economic and diplomatic heavyweights on the world stage and discovering the language of cooperation rather than competition. Wen and his 150-member delegation will also discuss ways to expand trade between two of the world’s fastest growing economies.
