Q: Congratulations on Bangladesh becoming a full member of CICA. In what way will it make a difference in Bangladesh’s interaction with the rest of Asia, and with the world at large?

A: We became an observer state of CICA in 2010. Since then we have been following the activities of CICA. And we have been trying to understand how it works. So this time we applied for full membership.

I said at the CICA summit meeting in the afternoon, after lunch sessions today, that I praise the Chinese government, the president of China, Xi Jinping, and also the Turkish government because they are the previous chairman. China took over the chairmanship today. So I praise both of them and especially China for processing our application very quickly. We are very happy.

Q: What’s your view of the role of CICA in making Asia a harmonious place for different cultures? How will Bangladesh contribute its own wisdom to CICA?

A: We feel that it (CICA) is working well, pursuing its objectives quite well. Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided to join this particular forum for peace development and security for the members of CICA in the Asian region.

We feel that it also has impact beyond Asia, and since China is now chairman of the summit this will help make the CICA process even more effective because China is a very important country. Now it is the second-largest economy and apart from the economic field, it is very important in all of the fields like defense, infrastructure, education, almost everything.

We feel that the time has come through the CICA process for countries of Asia to come together in peaceful cooperation for development, for progress and for settling disputes peacefully through dialogue. This is something that everybody wants. We don’t want any conflict. Animosity will destroy work done by the people. Every country is now working very hard for the economic well-being of its people. People work, and they should get the fruits of their labor and they should be able to enjoy the fruits of development.

We have said that peace and development is the fundamental pillar of Bangladesh’s foreign policy. Bangladesh has been playing a very important role in international peace-keeping and peace-building efforts with a deep commitment to the provisions of the UN Charter and other international agreements.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presented the implementation of a people-centered development model at the United Nations General Assembly in 2011, and this proposal was adopted by the UN General Assembly unanimously as a resolution in 2012.

Now this also shows that Bangladesh is really committed to promoting international peace and development.

The model presented by Sheikh Hasina is that all people, no matter their nationality or country, should be treated equally. They have equal rights. And she said that the human capabilities of every person in the world can only be realized if there is peace and cooperation. So therefore Bangladesh totally subscribes to the objectives of the CICA process.

Q: Many conflicts on the Asian continent are stirred by forces outside Asia. How can Asian nations and people unite to fend off instigation and provocation by those powers that do not want to see a unified and stronger Asia?

A: We feel that we should all be united. We should cooperate peacefully for development and economic progress for which China has shown the way by pursuing its development goals.

Anyway, China doesn’t disturb anybody and is going up and up, and now today it is on the threshold of becoming the No. 1 economy. So that is something that we’d like to support.

Q: Bangladesh has the world’s highest density of population. What does that mean for the future of Bangladesh’s economy? How will Bangladesh translate that into an advantage for its economy?

A: It’s true. Bangladesh has the highest density, apart from the small city-states like Singapore. Right now, Bangladesh has an advantage with its population dynamics.

The advantage is that our dependent (retired) population is much less, compared with China or the US or Japan or Western Europe. We have more people between the ages of 15 and 64, who are working age with capability.

We have that advantage and that’s why we are sending our people abroad. We have by unofficial estimates about 10 million people working abroad and we’d like to send more. We are giving them training in many fields like carpentry, bricklaying and plumbing.

In China the wages are going up all the time, and so far you have been the No. 1 exporter of garments. We are closely following you.

We are No.2 now but as your wages are going up already I was told by your ambassador to Bangladesh that many industries in China, like the garment industry, would like to relocate to Bangladesh. Therefore, we have advantages there also.

Q: In 1999, Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar agreed to build an economic corridor that would involve more than 2 billion people, possibly the largest of its kind in the world. Any progress has been achieved in this project? What are the major obstacles?

A: Bangladesh has been trying to build up cooperation in South Asia, and then we turned our eyes to ASEAN.

ASEAN starts from Myanmar, next door to Bangladesh. We have good relations with other countries in South Asia.

There is a provision for sub-regional cooperation — South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation. So we found that excellent cooperation could be held among Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan. We are pursuing that.

And as we started to cooperate with ASEAN, we found we could act as a bridge between South Asia and ASEAN.

Then on the other hand, is the idea about the BCIM economic corridor, which has been called the southern Silk Road. So Bangladesh cooperates with China, India and Myanmar.

This would benefit these countries, as well as the rest of Asia and the world.

This is a huge attempt to involve more than 2 billion people. I don’t think there is any obstacle. But we have to push forward. Promotion of the BCIM Regional Forum is seen as a mechanism for engagement between these countries.

One result was the successful BCIM Car Rally of February 2013 between Kolkata and Kunming.

A Joint Study Group on strengthening connectivity in the BCIM region for closer economic, trade, and people-to-people linkages is going forward.

Q: Is there any further bilateral cooperation in terms of investment and trade between Bangladesh and China?

A: A Chinese company, China Major Bridge Engineering Co Ltd, has been selected to construct the core structure of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge, one of Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure projects.

I was present at the signing ceremony for a 1,320-megawatt power plant in Bangladesh. The MOU was signed only a few days ago.

So a lot of things are going on.

Trade volume is in favor of China because our economy is depending on many kinds of industry products that  only China can handle and supply. But your garment factories are relocating to Bangladesh. Then we’ll be exporting garments to China. Give us only a few years, and we will do it.

Q: Do you have any plan to set up a consulate-general in Shanghai? Bangladesh opened a consulate-general in Kunming on May 21, 2013.

A: Now that as a foreign minister I’m in favor of the idea and I will push for it. We’ll have two more consulate-generals in the future. One will be in Shanghai and the other one in Guangzhou.

Q: Do you think there is an “Asian spirit” that can unite Asian countries?

A: There is.

Peoples and countries of Asia are on track. And we only have to get together, to cooperate, like we are doing in BCIM.

We have another organization, the D-8 — Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Some are also CICA members.

What we do in D-8, we also have an impact on CICA, and what we do in BCIM also impacts CICA.

Therefore, the peoples and the countries of Asia are on track, strategically going up, up and up, along with China.