Disappointingly, out of the 26 deals that were signed between China and Bangladesh during President Xi Jinping's visit, three-fourths of the deals have shown no signs of progress even after a whole year has passed. The soft loan that China has committed is yet to be released mainly because of bureaucratic tangles and so, most projects are yet to even get off the ground.

Among the agreements was the Karnaphuli Tunnel Loan Agreement which the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and President of China had even inaugurated the construction work of, through a video conference. But project work could not start as the Chinese Exim Bank did not release the necessary funds; the reason being that a manual on how the tunnel would be used was sent to the bank from Dhaka without the signatures of the appropriate authorities. This is indicative of a shocking level of unprofessionalism on the part of government officials. 

Beside the bureaucratic problems in Bangladesh, many of the major delays are being caused by bureaucratic issues in China. However, what is troubling is not which side the problem is on, but rather that there seems to be no clear-cut method to overcome them quickly. There needs to be some modality of work or a written mechanism to make the process easier. 

We are a nation already cash-starved and in desperate need to move forward with the development projects agreed on with China. The administration, thus, should shake off its current nonchalant attitude and take the necessary steps to implement the projects on an urgent basis.