Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, Chief Adviser of the Bangladesh caretaker government, said on Thursday that China is a very important development partner of Bangladesh as bilateral cooperation has been expanded in many fields.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua ahead of his visit to China, the head of the government said he expected his visit would further strengthen the already very strong and cordial friendship between the two countries and two peoples.

"China has been assisting us in economic growth," said the chief adviser, who is going to attend the closing ceremony of Beijing Paralympic and to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

China's contribution to the infrastructure sector is evident, said the chief adviser, noting the six friendship bridges and the Bangladesh-China friendship conference center which is a landmark building in capital Dhaka.

The bilateral relations between Bangladesh and China is based on the strong bond of friendship and common understanding on regional and international issues, he said. It can go further through mutual exchange of visit and exchange of people of various levels, he added.

The chief adviser also expected closer economic cooperation with China and more Chinese investment.

"I hope my visit will strengthen economic cooperation in different fields and trade between the two countries, and improve and increase Chinese foreign investment in Bangladesh," he said.

Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said Bangladesh is providing very attractive financial incentives for foreign investment in addition to other advantages like competitive cheap, young and trainable labor force.

He welcomed China's investment especially in manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

Chinese contractors will be most welcomed to be a competitive tender to construct the proposed Padma multipurpose bridge, which will be the largest bridge in the country at a cost of about 1.45 billion US dollars, he said.

"We have been good friends and we will continue to remain good friends in the future and let the bonds of the friendship flourish in the future," the chief adviser said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2008)