by Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh has praised China's role in the country's overall development achieved so far.

Praises have poured in from the Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi while speaking at an an event titled Bangladesh-China Business Connections here on Tuesday.

HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world, organized the event, bringing together Bangladeshi and Chinese businesses and institutions along with economic, government, industry and financial services experts to share insights to help businesses advance their China-Bangladesh commercial strategy.

"China has been a trusted partner of Bangladesh for a long time now under the leadership of the prime minister. Bangladesh has on board of the highway of development and China has been a key partner on this journey," the minister was quoted as saying in a statement of HSBC received here Wednesday night.

According to the statement, keynote speeches explored the opportunity to invest in Bangladesh, as well as market reforms in China and the Belt and Road Initiative, which are accelerating business, trade and investment activity between the two countries.

Senior Secretary of Bangladesh's Power Division, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ahmad Kaikaus said, "Bangladesh is going to be a Bright Delta for the global economy. Indeed, HSBC economists predict that by 2030, Bangladesh will be the 26th largest economy globally."

To achieve the targeted 82GW of power generation by 2041, he said Bangladesh needs more than 180 billion U.S. dollars of investment.

Kaikus expressed gratitude to China for its investment in Bangladesh.

Chinese Economic and Commercial Counsellor in Bangladesh Li Guangjun expressed his confidence that the bilateral economic cooperation between Bangladesh and China will be explored in a more extensive way in the future.

He lauded HSBC for curating a platform and content that supports closer connectivity between companies in China and Bangladesh.

Tim Evans, HSBC regional head of Commercial Banking for International Countries in Asia-Pacific, said HSBC's extensive global network offers unparalleled access to high-growth markets like Bangladesh.

Francois de Maricourt, chief executive officer for HSBC Bangladesh, said Bangladesh and China are rapidly growing economies with growing two-way trade ties.