Common values and common interests: 50 years of Bangladesh-EU Partnership celebrated in dance

Bangladesh and the European Union completed 50 years of their diplomatic relations in 2023. As a mark of celebration, the Embassy of Bangladesh in Brussels showcased a vibrant display of Bangladeshi culture, colours, tradition and history through dance at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels.

It was a joyous occasion but also a significant one, with the European External Action Service confirming that it was ready to negotiate a new comprehensive partnership agreement with the country that has become the economic miracle of South Asia, writes Political Editor Nick Powell.

The dancing was spectacular indeed. Six dancers had travelled specially from Dhaka to mark 50 years of Bangladesh-EU relations with a moving and impressive interpretation of their country’s history, of the country’s partnership with the EU, followed by a celebration of the rich diversity of its folk traditions.

The occasion was also an opportunity to recognise the spectacular nature of Bangladesh’s transformation in those 50 years and to “reflect, think back and to appreciate and cherish the preciousness of our ties”, in the words of Gunnar Wiegand, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at the European External Action Service.

Mr Wiegand reflected that it was a partnership forged when both the EU and Bangladesh were young, a European Economic Community that had just nine members and a country that had only recently been born amid the devastation of war. Yet today they were both celebrating a partnership between the largest market in the world and a land “rightly known as the economic miracle of South Asia”.

“We have both embraced democracy and human rights to help build more prosperous societies”, he added. Mr. Wiegand stressed that Bangladesh’s duty-free and quota-free access to the European market had been mutually beneficial; development aid was now a small part of EU-Bangladesh cooperation, trade was booming and Bangladesh’s exports to Europe soared by more than 50% last year.

Mr Wiegand praised Bangladesh’s “incredible journey … from one of the poorest nations of Asia, to become a flourishing regional leader, an economic champion, soon to be a higher middle income country and above all a trusted and valued partner, not only for Europe but for many others”. He said it was time to bring a “new quality” to a relationship based on common values and common interests.

He confirmed that like Bangladesh, the European Union was preparing to launch very soon negotiations for a new generation Partnership and Cooperation  Agreement (PCA) between the EU and Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s Ambassador to the EU, Mahbub Hassan Saleh, said it was an exceptional honour and privilege for him to fly the flag of Bangladesh in Brussels at such a proud moment in its history when it was in the process of graduating from the category of least developed countries. He praised “the dynamic and visionary leadership” of the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina.

He recalled how the half-century-long Bangladesh-EU partnership had truly been a phenomenally transformational journey. What had begun with development cooperation in 1973 had transformed over the years into a robust trade partnership, with the European Union being the destination of half of all Bangladesh’s exports. 

The Ambassador thanked the EU for being a “very steady and generous supporter and a growing partner of Bangladesh”. Its nearly half a trillion dollar economy is now the 33rd largest in the world and on course to be the 24th largest by 2030. “The contribution of the European Union towards this impressive development of Bangladesh is enormous”, the Ambassador added.

“The mature Bangladesh-EU partnership is now expanding much beyond the areas of trade and development cooperation to climate change, security, blue economy, renewable energy, connectivity, migration, to name a few. Our shared values of democracy, secularism, justice, equality including gender equality, and human rights continue to reinforce our strong partnership and make it stronger all the time”.

Those shared values were fittingly celebrated through the medium of dance, marking a longstanding and trusted partnership that has gone from aid to trade to a wider strategic realm.

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