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Joy of July 36

The 36th of July has created a window of opportunity for Pakistan and Bangladesh to enhance trade, economy, sports activities, and cultural exchange.

By Arif Khan | January 2025


5th August 2024 is popularly known in Bangladesh as 36 July, a symbolic date when Bangladesh turned a page in its history, and a youth-led public movement overthrew an authoritarian regime. This was not only a turning point for people in Bangladesh to free themselves from the shackles of an oppressive regime, but it also created an opportunity for the country to look for new economic partners.

While living in Bangladesh for the past two decades, I have witnessed the ups and downs of trade and commerce activities between South Asian neighbours, primarily driven by political interests and based on age-old feuds between the neighbours next door.

In the last 15 years, Bangladesh has drifted towards Indian and non-Asian business conglomerates, and its trading volume with Pakistan has been increasingly stifled due to political reasons. While there were many feasible trade and commerce opportunities between Pakistan and Bangladesh, where both countries could gain from mutual trading, these opportunities were denied due to untold reasons and political leanings.
This complete cut-off – of all sorts – between the two nations was painful, to say the least. Later, it went on so brutally that it not only severed trade and social ties between the two countries but also revived the pre-1971 sentiments in people connected with business and many other assignments. In this situation, Bangladesh turned towards non-Asian countries to import many food and industrial items at higher prices, contributing to the loss of precious foreign exchange and increased inflation.

After the symbolic 36 July, Bangladesh adopted an open and balanced policy and trade relations with all its neighbours, opening up a great avenue for trade and commerce opportunities between Pakistan and Bangladesh, which can reap many dividends from this situation.

It is encouraging to see the two countries reaffirm their commitment to deepen bilateral and multilateral collaboration in trade, commerce, sports, culture, technology, and tourism. Equally important is not to let any internal development within the nations damage this revival of relations between the two countries.

It is heartening to see the revival of a direct sea-route connection between the two nations through cargo ships. So far, two major shiploads of various products, including sugar, textiles, industrial raw materials, and vegetables, have been received from Karachi Port to Chittagong Port.

Bangladesh is heavily dependent on its garment and knitwear-related exports to earn foreign exchange as well as create jobs for citizens. Pakistan can be a very supportive and reliable source of raw materials such as cotton, textiles, and accessories and a skilled workforce to help this industry progress further. In addition, Pakistan can help provide several food-related items, including sugar, salt, rice, wheat, dates, fruits, vegetables, and livestock, which Bangladesh can import at a much lower price than other non-Asian countries, which can help stabilize inflation of food prices in Bangladesh.

Apart from direct trade, the two countries can also use this opportunity to enhance cooperation in disease control and other social service improvements. Bangladesh is facing a dire situation of a dengue outbreak, while Pakistan has successfully eliminated this disease in the past. Both countries can share experiences and technical resources to eradicate this problem in Bangladesh.

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