BRUSSELS, 22 June 2022, (TON): Ministers and diplomats said “Ukraine is set to become an official candidate for European Union membership on Thursday in a symbolic but morale-boosting decision following Russia’s invasion.”

Three diplomats told media “EU leaders in Brussels are expected to sign off on last week’s recommendation by the European Commission, the EU executive. After several days of internal EU discussions no opposition among the 27 member states has surfaced.”

Luxembourg’s foreign affairs minister Jean Asselborn told reporters “we are working toward the point where we tell (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that Ukraine belongs to Europe, that we will also defend the values that Ukraine defends.”

Moldova is also almost certain to be given candidate status, the diplomats said “although Georgia must fulfil conditions, namely that it overcome political deadlock in the country.”

RIYADH, 22 June 2022, (TON): Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Jordan on the second leg of a regional tour.

Prince Mohammed was greeted on arrival in Amman by King Abdullah II and his Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah.

Al-Ekhbariya reported “the Kingdom’s crown prince and King Abdullah II later held a session of bilateral talks at Al-Husseiniya Palace.”

The king later presented Prince Mohammed with the Order of Al-Hussein bin Ali.

Earlier, the crown prince left Egypt after meeting with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

El-Sisi and the crown prince discussed ways to enhance Saudi-Egyptian relations in various fields, as well as regional and international political issues of common interest.

DHAKA, 22 June 2022, (TON): France and Germany expressed deep concern about the cancellation of the registration of the human rights organization Odhikar.

The envoys of the two European countries said “we are concerned by the situation of the NGO Odhikar, which was temporarily denied the renewal of its registration.”

They reiterated their attachment to freedom of  opinion and expression and to the promotion and protection of all human rights throughout the world.

The two countries salute the important work of this NGO to which the Franco-German Human Rights Prize was awarded in December 2017 by the French and German ministers of foreign affairs.

DHAKA, 22 June 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said “the government took immediate measures to cope with the flood situation.”

She said “this while Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley called on her at her Sangsad Bhaban office.”

According to a press release “she explained the current flood situation in the North-Eastern part of Bangladesh, where she paid a short visit by helicopter yesterday and held a discussion meeting with the volunteers, party activists, and government agencies who are actively working to rescue the affected people.”

The EU ambassador expressed his satisfaction over Bangladesh's preparedness and resilience to combat this kind of seasonal natural disaster caused mainly by the monsoon rain.

NEW DELHI, 22 June 2022, (TON): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a virtual summit of the five-nation grouping BRICS this week.

The Ministry of External Affairs said “Prime Minister Modi will attend the annual summit on June 23 and 24 following an invitation by the Chinese President. China is hosting the summit in its capacity as the chair of the grouping for the current year.”

The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) brings together five of the largest developing countries, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are also set to attend the summit.

By Farzana Tamannur (TON Bangladesh)

The cold war between the world’s two biggest economic power houses – the USA and China– is open knowledge. As part of the cold war, the economic fight between the rivals has become a common scenario—the US president, when coming to power, sets targets to subdue China in any matters. In contrast, the Chinese President gradually makes his maneuvers to win the game. Eventually, the results of aggressive attitudes shown to each other bring nothing but harm to brand image. The US and China, recognized as the world’s first as well as second-largest economies, are being observed to form distinct economic blocs.

The objectives of launching economic blocs are several. The United States of America eventually gave attention to the Asia-Pacific area by forming Quad also recognized as ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD)’. The Quad associates are USA, India, Australia, and Japan. The purpose of the Quad is to work for an open, prosperous, free, and inclusive Asia-Pacific region. Eventually, the Quad members target to downgrade China’s local influence. 

It is significant to note that IPEF is not a kind of free trade or special trade area. Instead, IPEF’s objective is to impose tariffs on member states however trading among them. IPEF comes as a deterrent to the people who are involved with money laundering. It is an admirable stage in that way. On the contrary, the China-led Regional Complete Economic Partnership (RCEP) was formed as the world’s biggest free trade area deal. Business communities from big to small scale living in RCEP member states benefit from free trade regions like RCEP.

Instead, the countries belonging to IPEF account for about 40 percent of the worldwide GDP. In terms of GDP share in the worldwide context, IPEF is ahead of RCEP, which was launched former. Beyond improving doing business, the IPEF member states are expected to experience a strong economy.

Bangladesh, the world’s 36th largest economy, is going onward steadily economically. With about 6.6 per cent average GDP development over the last 13 years, Bangladesh’s economy has been moving at a fast clip. Unluckily, a South Asian nation, Bangladesh is not a member of RCEP. While Vietnam, recognized as a competitor of Bangladesh, is now enjoying trade facilities as an RCEP member state. As a fast-growing economy similar Vietnam, Bangladesh had better join RCEP. Bangladesh has the prospective to gain enormously from the RCEP bloc if it can join the forum. As per a CNBC report, China will earn around $100 billion, Japan $46 billion, South Korea $23 billion, as well as the ASEAN bloc $19 billion from this bloc.

It is a piece of good news that US president Joe Biden looks onward to expecting Bangladesh as an IPEF member. In view of White House green signal, Bangladesh’s foreign minister is in uncertainty concerning joining IPEF. Dhaka remains hesitant on this issue owing to IPEF being a US-led economic bloc.

If China’s economic impact to the country is recalled, it is natural for Bangladesh to be uncertain about joining the US-led IPEF. Presently, China is the leading trading partner of Bangladesh. For the last one decade, China has made noteworthy contribution to the economy concerning investment. A daily reported that in FY2019, China was Bangladesh’s biggest source of FDI. In 2021, the Chinese net FDI in Bangladesh was documented at $ 558 billion. Besides, China gave duty-free amenities to Bangladesh on 8,256 products. China’s support in terms of providing zero-tariff treatment in Chinese marketplaces was a blessing for Bangladesh. Sadly, Bangladesh is still yet to reap advantage from Chinese markets over duty-free facilities for 8,256 products.

Dhaka and Washington came onward to develop business relations through signing the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (CFA). CFA was signed founded on three crucial features-labor condition, compliance, plus Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues. Since it failed to show proper compliance, Bangladesh might not get the preferred economic advantages from CFA. There has been no noticeable development concerning the TICFA issue–nothing but dialogs between the two nations. But, US investment in Bangladesh is praise worthy.

Bangladesh has gained the entitlement to become a developing country. Now the challenge is to form a fair economy. Many specialists trust that if Bangladesh might join APEF, the country would experience a fair economy. Be that as it might, Bangladesh now needs a huge volume of FDI in achieving economic objectives set by the government. With a view to establishing a strong economic foundations, Bangladesh now needs FDI which must be close to 3 to 4 percent of GDP. Bangladesh better join economic blocs for bring FDI in a larger way. Unfortunately, due to the economic Cold War between China and the US for a protracted period, Bangladesh is in a dilemma regarding joining the economic blocs- RCEP and IPEF.

WASHINGTON, 21 June 2022, (TON): In the face of rising prices for petrol or gas – which currently average $4.98 a gallon in the United States, according to the American Automobile Association, US President Joe Biden has said that he may issue a federal holiday on the gasoline tax.

A temporary suspension or reduction of that tax, which Biden said “he was considering on Monday, could save US drivers about 18.4 cents a gallon.”

Biden told reporters after taking a walk along the beach “yes, I’m considering it.”

Petrol prices have jumped up since Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, and critics have said that oil companies are keeping prices high to boost skyrocketing profits.

President Biden has made that argument himself, and has said “members of his team will meet with the leaders of several oil companies to discuss rising prices this week.”

Biden said “I want an explanation for why they aren’t refining more oil.”

RIYADH, 21 June 2022, (TON): State news agency said “Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman headed to Egypt, starting his first tour outside the Gulf region in over three years. He will also visit Jordan and Turkey.”

The prince's trip comes ahead of next month's visit to the region by US President Joe Biden, who is expected to meet Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia after a visit to Israel, with the Ukraine conflict and regional security on the agenda.

Prince Mohammed, known as MbS, will hold talks with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Turkey on strengthening bilateral cooperation and matters of joint interest.

Sources have said MbS and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi would discuss issues including the impact of the Ukraine war and preparations for Biden's trip to the region in mid-July.

JERUSALEM, 21 June 2022, (TON): An official said “Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid have agreed to dissolve parliament, triggering a new election, and Lapid will in the meantime take over as prime minister.”

The official said “a vote will be held in parliament next week, after which Lapid will take over the premiership.”

Lapid and Bennett were expected to issue statements at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT).

Lapid and Bennett in June 2021 had formed an unlikely coalition after two years of political stalemate, ending the record reign of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The government of right-wing, liberal and Muslim Arab parties was fragile from the start.

SINGAPORE, 21 June 2022, (TON): China's crude oil imports from Russia soared 55% from a year earlier to a record level in May, displacing Saudi Arabia as the top supplier, as refiners cashed in on discounted supplies amid sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

According to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs “imports of Russian oil, including supplies pumped via the East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline and seaborne shipments from Russia's European and Far Eastern ports, totalled nearly 8.42 million tonnes.”

That's equivalent to roughly 1.98 million barrels per day (bpd) and up a quarter from 1.59 million bpd in April.

The data, which shows that Russia took back the top ranking of suppliers to the world's biggest crude oil importer after a gap of 19 months, indicates that Moscow is able to find buyers for its oil despite western sanctions, though it has had to slash prices.