Dhaka [Bangladesh], March 29 : China Eastern Airlines has planned to operate flights from Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong to Kunming to help people from the country's east to take treatment in hospitals in the southern Chinese city, officials said on Saturday.
China has dedicated four Kunming hospitals for the treatment of patients from Bangladesh, but the high air ticket cost is seen as a major impediment to travel to the Chinese city.
Officials said the planned flights between Kunming and Chittagong will bring down travel costs and travel time, paving the way for more Bangladeshis to access healthcare facilities in China.
Nazmul Islam, Bangladesh's Ambassador to China, said the authorities in Kunming have dedicated hospital floors for people of Bangladesh.
"The treatment fees are modest. A patient from Bangladesh pays the same fees as paid by local Chinese people," Nazmul Islam said.
To expedite travel to Kunming, the civil aviation authorities in Dhaka have also moved to cut the air ticket cost for flights between Dhaka and Kunming.
Chinese authorities have said they would open up more healthcare facilities in the country for the people of Bangladesh. In April, Bangladesh would also send a big team of journalists to Kunming to see for themselves the treatment facilities there.
Earlier in February, dozens of Bangladeshis travelled to Kunming for the first time for treatment. They spoke highly of the standard of hospitals there. However, several have complained of travel costs.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has secured a commitment of USD 2.1 billion in Chinese investments, loans, and grants from the Chinese government and its companies during Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' visit to China.
Bangladeshi officials and the Chinese ambassador to Dhaka, Yao Wen, said nearly 30 Chinese companies have pledged to invest one billion dollars in the exclusive Chinese Industrial Economic Zone after the Chief Adviser urged private enterprises to invest in Bangladesh's manufacturing sector.
China has also planned to lend some USD 400 million in the Mongla port modernisation project, some USD 350 million in the development of the China Industrial Economic Zone and another USD 150 million as technical assistance. The rest of the amount would come as grants and other forms of lending.
"It is a milestone visit," Chinese envoy Yao Wen said, referring to the Chief Adviser's first four-day-long bilateral tour to China. Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus arrived in Hainan on Wednesday for a four-day visit to China.
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