DHAKA, 05 November 2022, (TON): Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited is going to set a record by sending 4,941 workers to South Korea by this year through the Employment Permit System.

Due to the Covid pandemic, the South Korean government suspended admitting foreign EPS workers from March 2020 to November 2021. 

After the pandemic cooled both in South Korea and Bangladesh, the South Korean government resumed receiving workers from December 2021.

It requires strict quarantine measures before the workers’ departure from Bangladesh and after arrival in Korea.

KABUL, 05 November 2022, (TON): Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the deputy for political affairs for the PM, said “Kabul seeks to establish positive relations with Islamic nations and the international community through Doha's mediation in order to increase humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.”

The Arg said “the Qatari ambassador to Afghanistan and the PM's deputy talked about strengthening their economic and business relations.”

The Arg tweeted “along with strengthening its commercial and economic relations with Qatar, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan also wants to increase positive ties in a number of other areas. In order to increase humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, we seek to establish positive relationships with Islamic nations and the international community through Qatar's mediation.”

The ambassador of Qatar to Afghanistan pledged to continue helping Afghans, especially women and orphans.

Bangladesh: Prime minister to inaugurate 100 bridges

DHAKA, 05 November 2022, (TON): The prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday is scheduled to officially inaugurate 100 bridges constructed by the Roads and Highways Department across the country to improve road communications and eco-tourism.

The department officials said “once the bridges would be inaugurated, the marginal people living in remote areas would be benefited by selling agricultural products directly to the consumers due to the easier transport facility.”

The total length of the bridges is 5,494.13 metres or 5.494 kilometres which cost the government Tk 879.6 crore.

DHAKA, 05 November 2022, (TON): The ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bangladesh Anne van Leeuwen said "Press freedom is shrinking in Bangladesh and freedom of speech, rule of law, and democratic practice are crucial for a country.”

He said “freedom of speech and press freedom are violated by the very people who are supposed to protect the rights of the people.”

He said “journalists were working under a constant threat everywhere.”

The Dutch envoy added “freedom of speech is a constitutional right of the citizens which should be protected to ensure rule of law.”

Among others, World Press Photo jury member Abir Abdullah, World Press Photo Foundation executive director Joumana El Zein Khoury and Drik managing director Shahidul Alam spoke at the event.

By R Hassan, TON Bangladesh

Now-a-days, Bangladesh is going through a critical economic period owing to issues like high inflation and reducing forex reserves weakening macro-economic constancy.  In July 2022, the Bangladesh government approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan confronting the country’s economic challenges. An IMF team is presently in Bangladesh to deliberate the particulars of the loan and make for the agreement. Bangladesh has asked for a USD 4.5 billion loan, which will be delivered from IMF’s Enhanced Credit Facility (ECF), Enhanced Funding Facility (EFF) program, and the New Initiatives, Resilience and Sustainability Fund (RST).

The context under which Bangladesh is looking for the loan is not unusual. Bangladesh's present economic situation is one in which countries frequently look to the IMF for the balance of payment funding. Bangladesh's trade shortfall is high as import payment is much upper than export income; in FY2021-22, the harmful trade balance reached over (-) USD 33 billion.

Bangladesh's current account deficit is also high since payment flow is negative in the current fiscal year; it amounted to USD 18.7 billion in FY22. This has led to decreasing foreign exchange assets and devaluation of the Bangladeshi taka. Bangladesh forex reserves have come down to USD 35.8 billion from USD 41.8 billion in FY22. As per the IMF assessment, the real reserves are USD 27.4 billion merely sufficient for about three months’ import expenditures.

Bangladesh is passing through a difficult time due to high inflation, food, and fuel crises, and depleting forex reserves have weakened the economic steadiness that Bangladesh has been enjoying for a long time. International economic tremors produced by the pandemic as well as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war have affected all economies around the globe, irrespective of their development status. However, the scale of the impact depends on the intrinsic strength of each economy. That strength is achieved through suitable policies and the application of those policies with robust governance.

Unluckily, over the years, Bangladesh has failed to fortify its institutions that are accountable for delivering good economic results. Bangladesh's financial sector is loaded with a large amount of non-performing loans (NPLs) as loan defaulters are given leeway through various flexible measures. In June 2022, the sum of defaulted loans stood at Tk 1.25 lakh crore or about nine percent of the total loans spent.

According to the Bangladesh Bank, wastage and misuse of capital in schemes abound due to a lack of decent governance. Domestic resource mobilization efforts are inflexibly slow, and the tax-GDP ratio is only 7.6 percent at present. Added to these glitches are the uncontrolled price hike of all merchandise, making people’s lives depressed. Since IMF loans usually come with conditionalities. Though Bangladesh has taken loans from the IMF in the past, many still feel that such loans are not necessarily worthy for the country.

While restricted loans are disliked by countries, a significant motive for conditions is that the loan provider wants to make sure the money is used in such a way that the economic situations become improves, and the country is capable to reimburse the loans. Since the IMF’s fund is the contribution of its member countries, in other words, their taxpayers’ money it is similarly accountable for the correct use of the fund paid.

Considering Bangladesh’s request for a loan of USD 4.5 billion, IMF has asked the government to take some actions. These actions include improved governance of the financial sector, decrease of NPLs, transformation of revenue management, growth of tax net and increase of tax-GDP ratio, implementation of VAT law, a decrease of irrational support and fuel subsidies, bringing down the interest rate on savings certificates to a sensible level, and removal of interest rate restraints.

The obtainability and nature of the conditionalities depend on some features, how the government negotiates with the IMF, and whether the government is able to repay the loan along with its interest. Unluckily, there has always been a reluctance for undertaking reforms and refining the governance and competence of public organizations in Bangladesh.

As discussed with the IMF, Bangladesh should present its own strategy in the areas where its people’s interests are. The other issue is subsidies for the agriculture sector, which is related to food security. If the government can upsurge its fiscal space, it can provide support to farmers. Neither IMF loans nor the associated conditionalities are novel to Bangladesh. However, this is the largest loan that Bangladesh is looking to take from the IMF. The size of Bangladesh's economy has grown as its needs. The nature of the crisis is also diverse this time. Therefore, sensible use of the loan will be obligatory to bring the economy back on track. A transparent and accountable system will be significant to the successful result of IMF funding.

By S. Sultan

Bay of Bengal, situated in between south and southeast Asia, which is surrounded by the vital sea routes by connecting the Indian Ocean to the Straits of Malacca. The Bay of Bengal has become increasingly important to India’s geopolitical calculus. New Delhi’s interests in the Bay of Bengal can be broadly viewed in two ways. The first, India sees the bay as a sea-bridge to the east, through which New Delhi can unlock greater political, economic, and strategic cooperation between itself, its neighborhood, and the Asia-Pacific. Second, against the backdrop of increasing Chinese footprint in the Bay of Bengal, it is in India’s interest to uphold a stable, rules-based maritime order in the region to secure the flow of goods along vital sea routes and the freedom of navigation for the Indian Navy. Given New Delhi’s interests in the region, it is time that India reprioritizes the Bay of Bengal as the centerpiece for its relations in South Asia and a springboard to venture further east.

The Bay of Bengal, by virtue of its geography, has the potential to bolster ties between India, the South Asian neighborhood, and the Asia-Pacific. This fact has not gone unnoticed in India and further polished by the Indian prime minister. In June 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) a natural platform to fulfill Indian key foreign policy priorities of neighborhood “First and Act East.” Indeed, a renewed focus on the Bay of Bengal through BIMSTEC—a multilateral organization consisting of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand has the potential to bolster both India’s Neighborhood First Policy, which gives importance to its immediate neighbors, and its Act East Policy, which aims to strengthen New Delhi’s engagement with its extended neighborhood to its east. As an organization exclusively structured around the bay, BIMSTEC could be India’s vehicle for greater economic cooperation in the region by linking Bhutan and Nepal to the Indian Ocean, integrating India’s Northeast with Southeast Asia, and deepening India’s economic ties with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Yet, even after twenty years of its existence, it remains an underperforming organization and the Bay of Bengal persists as one of the world’s least economically integrated regions.

India kept on focusing the strategic interests in Bay of Bengal. In this regard, New Delhi’s renewed effort to build a stronger BIMSTEC will be an important step in institutionalizing a regional architecture for the Bay of Bengal. However, India’s commitment for a stronger BIMSTEC must be matched by the political will to provide leadership to the organization. India at the same time is good to take stand on whether it wants to engage with China in the region by pursuing the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor. Moreover, India is expert in putting new initiatives on the table, like Project Mausam, to link the states around the Bay of Bengal. Collectively India has sharp eyes on Bay of Bengal in order to save its own national interests by engaging other regional actors to behave as hegemony in the region of south Asia.

Moreover, In the Indian Ocean Region, the Bay of Bengal is re-emerging economically and strategically. The region has become a theater of strategic power play due to its strategic relevance, the presence of critical SLOCs, and the strong economic prospects of several adjoining states. India seeks to become region’s largest naval power, and it strives to maintain a rule-based maritime order.

In recent times, the centre of gravity attraction for global trade and economic activities has shifted to the Indo-Pacific with the Bay of Bengal economies in focus. Subsequently, there is heightened competition between global powers that have stakes in the region. The importance of connectivity has therefore come to the forefront, covering domains like digitization with interoperable regimes comprising data protection and cyber security, along with cross-border infrastructures that need attention. Nearly 1.4 billion people live along its coastlines. With 25 percent of global population inhabiting countries surrounding the Bay, the extensive resources of the region have been a major source of livelihood for these people. In the post-pandemic world, investment in these resources can very well aid economic recovery processes enabling a blue benefits-driven growth for countries in the region and promote their long-term socio-economic development.

However, imminent stressors associated with climate change and anthropogenic disruptions are posing a threat to the coastal and marine ecosystems of the region affecting livelihood security of its people. Increasingly confronted with climate change-induced risks, there is an urgent need for the Bay of Bengal Blue Economies to transition towards Sustainable Ocean Economy that envisage environmental sustainability and conservation of sensitive ecologies as a linchpin for promotion of oceans-based enterprises for societal benefits.

As an inter-regional arena, the Bay of Bengal reflects security concerns prevailing in the wider Indo-Pacific such as apprehensions over freedom of navigation, terrorism, illegal activities, and environmental challenges. These threats have transnational impacts as almost eighty percent of the semi-enclosed Bay is a contiguous belt of Exclusive Economic Zones, while twenty percent qualify as the high seas. Effective security control thus requires collaboration amongst the littoral countries as well as extra-regional stakeholders in threat mapping, assessment, inter-country dialogues and security arrangements such as joint patrols.

Coastal and marine ecosystems in the Bay of Bengal region have emerged as a critical space today. Additionally, the Bay of Bengal economies should be able to sustain short run emergencies and supply chain disruptions without falling apart; and at the same time, countries should also strive toward diminishing their external dependency and increase the efficacy of the domestic production and consumption processes. As a fundamental pillar of any security framework is attaining knowledge or awareness about threats in the concerned domain, collaboration in developing Maritime Domain Awareness or MDA is a cardinal requirement in the Bay. However, the nuance of implementing MDA needs to be analyzed if robust systems of intelligence gathering are to be built and functional networks for information exchange are to be designed, to secure the Bay’s future. Moreover, the close collaboration of regional actor is required to face any calamity in future without falling apart and the threats which are going to be posed by extra regional actors.

AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah on Thursday called for intensified efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis in Syria.

The Jordan News Agency reported “receiving Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Amman, Jordan’s ruler highlighted the importance of stabilising Syria, especially southern areas of the country.”

During their meeting he also noted the need to safeguard Syria’s unity and territorial integrity, while guaranteeing the safe and voluntary return of refugees.

The meeting covered the challenges facing Jordan due to the Syrian crisis, including organized drug-smuggling attempts.

PARIS, 04 November 2022, (TON): Climate change impacts battering vulnerable countries threaten to outstrip efforts to adapt to global warming, the UN warned, with a significant amount of international funding help recycled from other purposes.

Many emerging economies, which are least to blame for the fossil-fuel gases that stoke global warming, are among the most exposed to climate impacts, such as worsening drought, floods and cyclones. Funding to help them adapt to accelerating impacts and curb emissions is one of the thorniest issues at UN climate negotiations, which begin their latest round in Egypt.

Wealthy nations have failed to provide a pledged $100 billion a year to developing nations, reaching just $83 billion in 2020. Only a part of that $29 billion was for adaptation.

LONDON, 04 November 2022, (TON): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Iraq’s prime minister on the formation of a government during a phone call.

Blinken told Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani that the US is eager to work with the government that was formed on Oct. 27 to improve respect for human rights, increase economic opportunities, advance Iraq’s energy independence, and address the climate crisis.

The secretary of state reaffirmed US commitment to supporting Iraq in the enduring defeat of Daesh and welcomed the prime minister’s call for reforms and pledge to fight endemic corruption.

WASHINGTON, 04 November 2022, (TON): Officials at the US Embassy in Moscow visited jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday, just weeks after a Russian court rejected her appeal of her nine-year sentence for drug possession.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet “the American representatives saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her present circumstances.”

Price said “the Biden administration is continuing to press for the immediate release of Griner and Paul Whelan, who was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison in Russia on espionage-related charges that he and his family say are bogus, and “fair treatment for every detained American.”