When a crisis erupts in these straits thousands of miles away, the shockwaves hit the factories in Gazipur and the corporate offices in Motijheel almost instantly. Bangladesh is an importing country, and lives through exports. The readymade garment (RMG) sector which is our economic lifeline is completely at the mercy of these chokepoints. Cotton and our factories’ yarn flow via the Malacca Strait. Our finished garments also go to Europe and America through the Suez or Panama Canals. On top of that the LNG and oil for the country to keep running also comes right on through the Strait of Hormuz.
The new Iran-Israel engagement in Hormuz is flying a pretty big red flag for us. With oil prices seeming to approach $200 a barrel, purchasing fuel on the spot market is not feasible. That directly interrupts our power generation, which in turn slows factory production. At the same time, with ships avoiding the Red Sea, it now requires 15 to 20 additional days for goods to reach Europe, and shipping costs have skyrocketed. Foreign buyers threaten to cancel orders; within the country, the cost of daily goods imported from abroad soars and crushes the commoner. Or, metaphorically speaking, when global chokepoints sneeze, an economy like Bangladesh gets pneumonia!
History teaches that who dominates at sea, owns the world. Ideally at its peak of globalisation, it taught us that we are still prisoners of geography and nature. If a stuck ship, one fired missile, or a dearth of rain can ice up international trade, that says something about how fragile our supply chains really are.
Countries also must wake up and prepare long-term alternatives. No longer can we depend on single routes. We must develop alternative shipping corridors, cross-border rail networks and robust emergency reserves. Global chokepoints are a reminder: the world is one thread, and that thread can fray at any moment.
* Md Shihab Uddin is an independent researcher and a student of Folklore and Social Development Studies at the University of Rajshahi. He may be contacted at [email protected]
