Chinese Defense Minister likely to visit Dhaka on May 28

[BDforever]

Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan is likely to be here on a three-day visit from May 28 which is expected to strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries. Though there is no official announcement about the visit, a diplomatic source said Wanquan, also state councilor and member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Communist Party of China (CPC), will be here along with a high-level 15-member delegation. This will be a first visit of any Chinese Defense Minister in Bangladesh in the last eight years. He is likely to hold meetings with chiefs of three forces to discuss future defense cooperation apart from meeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said the source. Earlier on May 12, 2014, Bangladesh and China signed four agreements on military cooperation, aimed at improving professionalism and other capacities of Bangladesh armed forces.

source: http://www.daily-sun.com/home/printnews/137462

 

[damiendehorn]

Welcome to Bangladesh......

 

[UKBengali]

Wonder if any major arms deals will be discussed.

 

[BDforever]

@SHK Aren't you happy Modi is so generous?

Wonder if any major arms deals will be discussed.

there is a chance of another 1billion USD loan for armed forces

 

[damiendehorn]

Wonder if any major arms deals will be discussed.

I doubt he's coming to Dhaka for just a cup of tea. Were not too happy about the performance of the MBT2000 and I know the army has eyed the VT4. BN still yet to chose a frigate, and type 056 build in Bangladesh is still to be confirmed.....BAF is looking for a long term fighter, which most likely end up with either Mig or Su.

 

[syed1]

Welcome to DHAKA.

 

[UKBengali]

I doubt he's coming to Dhaka for just a cup of tea. Were not too happy about the performance of the MBT2000 and I know the army has eyed the VT4. BN still yet to chose a frigate, and type 056 build in Bangladesh is still to be confirmed.....BAF is looking for a long term fighter, which most likely end up with either Mig or Su.

I think BD will go with China for tank and frigate and with Russia for fighter.

For fighter purchase, Mig-35 would make the most sense as BD already operates the Mig-35.

By 2020 BD military should be well equipped with decent
numbers of modern weapons.

 

[damiendehorn]

I think BD will go with China for tank and frigate and with Russia for fighter.

For fighter purchase, Mig-35 would make the most sense as BD already operates the Mig-35.

By 2020 BD military should be well equipped with decent
numbers of modern weapons.

We operate Mig 29. And yes most likely it will be the Russian for the BAF as the YAK 130 is the first stage, to develop a core of fighter pilots and support staff before introduction of the fighters. The VT4 is under consideration for the MBT follow on order, as the BA is not too happy with the MBT2000, and there aren't that many alternatives out there.

BN is in the process of upgrading Khulna and Chittagong yards for ship building, with KSY being the yard to build both the Durjoy LPCs and latter Type 056s.

by 2020 our GDP should hit $300bn+ so our defence budget would be around $4bn if we keep spending the minimum of roughly 1.25% (lowest in SA). If we decide to increase to about 2% (average around the world) then we should be able to buy a lot of equipment.

Remember right now we spend a little over $2.3bn on defence and the bulk of that goes to pay for salaries and maintenance, which leaves very little for capital build. So if the defence budget goes from 1.25% to 2%, then in the next 4 years we will have a budget over $6bn! Enough to buy quite a bit of new equipment.

VT4 or similar, IFV, 155mm ART, ATM etc for the BA. LPCs, Corvettes, Frigates etc for the BN and couple of sq of fighters for the BAF.

 

[UKBengali]

We operate Mig 29. And yes most likely it will be the Russian for the BAF as the YAK 130 is the first stage, to develop a core of fighter pilots and support staff before introduction of the fighters. The VT4 is under consideration for the MBT follow on order, as the BA is not too happy with the MBT2000, and there aren't that many alternatives out there.

BN is in the process of upgrading Khulna and Chittagong yards for ship building, with KSY being the yard to build both the Durjoy LPCs and latter Type 056s.

by 2020 our GDP should hit $300bn+ so our defence budget would be around $4bn if we keep spending the minimum of roughly 1.25% (lowest in SA). If we decide to increase to about 2% (average around the world) then we should be able to buy a lot of equipment.

Remember right now we spend a little over $2.3bn on defence and the bulk of that goes to pay for salaries and maintenance, which leaves very little for capital build. So if the defence budget goes from 1.25% to 2%, then in the next 4 years we will have a budget over $6bn! Enough to buy quite a bit of new equipment.

VT4 or similar, IFV, 155mm ART, ATM etc for the BA. LPCs, Corvettes, Frigates etc for the BN and couple of sq of fighters for the BAF.

You forget the roughly half a billion dollars a year on arms imports that BD is now spending in addition to defence budget

 

[BDforever]

You forget the roughly half a billion dollars a year on arms imports that BD is now spending in addition to defence budget

again, wrong. all included in defence budget. you talked about extra $54million spending last year, right ?
well that is from $1billion loan from Russia

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan is likely to be here on a three-day visit from May 28 which is expected to strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries. Though there is no official announcement about the visit, a diplomatic source said Wanquan, also state councilor and member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Communist Party of China (CPC), will be here along with a high-level 15-member delegation. This will be a first visit of any Chinese Defense Minister in Bangladesh in the last eight years. He is likely to hold meetings with chiefs of three forces to discuss future defense cooperation apart from meeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said the source. Earlier on May 12, 2014, Bangladesh and China signed four agreements on military cooperation, aimed at improving professionalism and other capacities of Bangladesh armed forces.

source: http://www.daily-sun.com/home/printnews/137462

Bharat will not be happy with this visit.

 

[tsinga]

We operate Mig 29. And yes most likely it will be the Russian for the BAF as the YAK 130 is the first stage, to develop a core of fighter pilots and support staff before introduction of the fighters. The VT4 is under consideration for the MBT follow on order, as the BA is not too happy with the MBT2000, and there aren't that many alternatives out there.

BN is in the process of upgrading Khulna and Chittagong yards for ship building, with KSY being the yard to build both the Durjoy LPCs and latter Type 056s.

by 2020 our GDP should hit $300bn+ so our defence budget would be around $4bn if we keep spending the minimum of roughly 1.25% (lowest in SA). If we decide to increase to about 2% (average around the world) then we should be able to buy a lot of equipment.

Remember right now we spend a little over $2.3bn on defence and the bulk of that goes to pay for salaries and maintenance, which leaves very little for capital build. So if the defence budget goes from 1.25% to 2%, then in the next 4 years we will have a budget over $6bn! Enough to buy quite a bit of new equipment.

VT4 or similar, IFV, 155mm ART, ATM etc for the BA. LPCs, Corvettes, Frigates etc for the BN and couple of sq of fighters for the BAF.

Reasonable estimation.
Though I doubt that your Government will increase spending in percentage terms, they seem to be laser focused on your economic development.

 

[BDforever]

Reasonable estimation.
Though I doubt that your Government will increase spending in percentage terms, they seem to be laser focused on your economic development.

true, according my assumption the spending percentage will increase from 2019-2020 season, that time almost 75% infrastructural works will be done. my prediction is 1.7%

 

[damiendehorn]

Reasonable estimation.
Though I doubt that your Government will increase spending in percentage terms, they seem to be laser focused on your economic development.

Actually it's a conservative estimation, always better to under-estimate then to over-estimate. Like you said our governments have focused on the economy first and foremost. This meant consistent growth for the last decade and more averaging over 6%. And this with the worst infrastructure in SA, roads,rail, ports, power etc plus on top o fthat having to deal with natural and man made disasters. Now though, things are changing and changing fast, we are investing heavy in building our infra, investing in education, investing in export industry etc.

Our targets are to achieve 8%-9% GDP growth and maintain that for the next decade at least. To do this we looked at various models (South korea mainly) and this is why your seeing our emphasis in driving exports. while other nations including indias exports have fluctuated or declined recently, our exports have continued to grow year on year. We are opening EPZs throughout the country to increase FDI etc....all in the aim to expand our exports from $35bn to $100bn in the next 6-7 years.

The armed services had agreed to maintain a low profile and not make demands, while the government worked on the economy. They accepted the 1.25%, in order to give the government breathing room, but as the economy grows and we are able to afford it they will have to get back to 2%. Which will still be amongst the lowest in the region, Myanmar has a economy 1/3 our's yet their defence budget is more then double ours (they spend 5%+ of their GDP or 4 times we do).

So you see the government will increase the proportion alloted to defence eventually. At the minimum they will have to spend 2% of GDP on defence by 2020.

 

[tsinga]

Actually it's a conservative estimation, always better to under-estimate then to over-estimate. Like you said our governments have focused on the economy first and foremost. This meant consistent growth for the last decade and more averaging over 6%. And this with the worst infrastructure in SA, roads,rail, ports, power etc plus on top o fthat having to deal with natural and man made disasters. Now though, things are changing and changing fast, we are investing heavy in building our infra, investing in education, investing in export industry etc.

Our targets are to achieve 8%-9% GDP growth and maintain that for the next decade at least. To do this we looked at various models (South korea mainly) and this is why your seeing our emphasis in driving exports. while other nations including indias exports have fluctuated or declined recently, our exports have continued to grow year on year. We are opening EPZs throughout the country to increase FDI etc....all in the aim to expand our exports from $35bn to $100bn in the next 6-7 years.

The armed services had agreed to maintain a low profile and not make demands, while the government worked on the economy. They accepted the 1.25%, in order to give the government breathing room, but as the economy grows and we are able to afford it they will have to get back to 2%. Which will still be amongst the lowest in the region, Myanmar has a economy 1/3 our's yet their defence budget is more then double ours (they spend 5%+ of their GDP or 4 times we do).

So you see the government will increase the proportion alloted to defence eventually. At the minimum they will have to spend 2% of GDP on defence by 2020.

I can empathize with your statements because of similar conditions in my country.
Our target is to remain over 8% for atleast a decade and we are at 7.5% now. Though we are in the midst of a transformational structural change being done by the present Government. We should be done in about 2-3 years with the structural change. And that would take us closer to 9% growth rates for a long period.

In any case, our defense spending has come down to about 1.8-1.9% of GDP because of the needs of the economy. However I don't see that increasing to over 2% in the next 4-5 years...unlike Pakistan or Myanmar. Better to grow the size of the pie rather than increase the size of the slice.

So in that sense, I agree with your Government's chosen path.