‘Chinese loan won’t be debt trap for BD’

Five loan deals, three MoUs to be signed during PM’s visit to China, Foreign Minister A Momen tells media

Chinese loan will not be a debt trap for Bangladesh as the country examines the feasibility of the loan project cautiously, foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said on Friday.

The minister made the remark when his attention was drawn to criticism that loans taken under the Chinese Belt and Road projects flung many South Asian countries into the debt trap.

He was briefing reporters about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to China at the foreign ministry.

He said due to this caution many loan agreements were dropped as those were not found feasible for Bangladesh, he added.

Hasina will start for the Chinese city of Dalian on July 1, by a special flight of Bangladesh Biman and will return home on July 5.

The foreign minister said that five loan agreements and three MoUs will be signed during the PM’s Beijing trip. These are: Framework agreement of “Expansion and Strengthening of Power System Network under DPDC Area, government concessional loan agreement on “Expansion and Strengthening of Power System Network under DPDC Area Project”, preferential buyer’s credit loan agreement of “Expansion and Strengthening of Power System Network under DPDC Area Project,” framework agreement on “Power Grid Network Strengthening Project under PGCB” project, and agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between the two governments.

The MoUs include the establishment of Investment Cooperation Working Group and its implementation plan on hydrological information sharing of Yalu Zhangbo /Brahmaputra River; and cultural exchange and tourism programme.

Responding to a question, the minister said the amount of the loans for which agreements will be signed during the visit is yet to be finalised.

Responding to another question, the minister said China maintains identical relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar and the perception that the Asian giant is biased toward Myanmar is not true. About the Chinese veto in the UN Security Council’s resolution against Myanmar, he said that there might be other reasons behind that.

The minister pointed out that China was eager to resolve the Rohingya crisis from the beginning and it wanted to settle the problem through bilateral discussions between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The prime minister will attend the summer conference of the World Economic Forum, which will be held from July 1 to July 3 in Dalian city of China.

She will speak at the World Economic Forum on July 2 with the focus on ‘Future of Asia’ and Bangladesh’s socio-economic development.

From Dalian, she will go to Beijing on July 3 and on the same day she will attend a meeting organised by expatriate Bangladeshis in China, the FM said.

During the meeting, she will meet the Chinese President Xi Jinping on July 5.

The Prime Minister will meet the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang twice-the first on July 4 and then on July 5, the minister mentioned.

The foreign minister said Rohingya issue will be key focus of the PM’s meeting with top Chinese officials.

mirmostafiz@yahoo.com