Bangladesh hopes for greater regional cooperation in advancing AI into medical care: health minister

Bangladesh and China share great potential in healthcare cooperation, particularly in vaccine and lifesaving drug production, AI-powered medical services and regional medical hub development, according to a Bangladeshi minister who is currently attending a health forum in south China's island province of Hainan.

Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain, Bangladesh's Health and Family Welfare Minister, was among more than 300 participants from over 30 countries and regions present at the Global Health Forum 2026 Haikou Conference hosted by the Boao Forum for Asia.

Held under the theme of "Health for All: Innovation Shapes the Future," the three-day event wraps up in Hainan's Haikou City on Thursday after putting global health governance and international cooperation sharply in focus.

In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the sidelines of the event, Sakhawat Hossain said that China has providing valuable support in helping Bangladesh conquer diseases, adding that his country is interested in working jointly with China in more healthcare areas.

"We have a very long-standing relationship with China. In our medical sectors, the Chinese government is coming ahead to help us in the communicable and noncommunicable diseases. Also it has been proposed, and it is under process to establish another medical industry in a bigger size in the northern part of our country. Apart from that, we had a discussion the day before yesterday morning, and there we have exchanged our views regarding the establishment of some other industries for producing vaccines and other lifesaving drugs," said the minister.

As the global healthcare supply chain and industry undergo a profound period of restructuring, Sakhawat Hossain shared his views on how developing countries can gain a stronger voice and play a more active role in responding to this transformation.

"We don't want to be only the consumer of the goods, we want to evolve some systems, evolve some production processes, so that, with the low cost, we can produce, or we can share in the international market, in the regional market, [to provide] access. The regional members should also come ahead to make a medical hub for all the members of the region. [This will allow them] to know about the process of the manufacturing system, to reduce the cost of the manufacturing system, to reallocate the medicine as per the requirement of the people of the regional members. These are the important things which should be considered high [priority] by all the members of our shared region," said Sakhawat Hossain.

The emergence of artificial intelligence technology was one of the key focuses during the conference, as it continues to rapidly reshape the healthcare sector.

Sakhawat Hossain expressed his openness to the use of new technology in order to improve diagnostic accuracy, expand access to specialized care and reduce out-of-pocket medical costs.

"We have started thinking [about the] implementation of AI in our medical centers, just what you have done with digital transformation. It will lower down the out-pocket cost also for the medicines. We want to start robotic surgery, robotic examination of the screening of the diseases. Since we have just started, there are scopes for development in this system. And for that thing, we want help and medical assistance from the countries who have advanced in this robotic system and AI systems, because it's an requirement in need of this era now to implement it in all sectors," he said.

Bangladesh hopes for greater regional cooperation in advancing AI into medical care: health minister

Asian security has emerged as a key focus at the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, with attendees from various countries and regions stressing dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation as the foundation for sustainable regional stability.

The forum, a key platform for international security and defense dialogue, was held in the Chinese capital from Tuesday to Thursday, under the theme of "Build Consensus on Stability, Advance Security Governance Together."

In recent years, security dynamics in Asia have drawn growing attention. A major consensus at the forum is the need to extend mutual political trust into multi-layered dialogue mechanisms to shape the region's long-term trajectory.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama underscored that Asia's development has been achieved through cooperation rather than confrontation.

"Asia has achieved its development through cooperation rather than confrontation. To maintain peace and stability in Asia, we need to continue multilateral, multi-layered dialogue, including not only dialogue among governments but also military crisis management mechanisms and people-to-people exchange. I believe that dialogue rather than confrontation, and cooperation rather than division, is the path Asia should follow," he said at the forum.

Addressing the diverse security concerns of Asian countries, experts highlighted the importance of enhancing mutual understanding and identifying shared interests to achieve common security.

Shaftdean Lufty, senior director of Comprehensive Security at the Malaysian Institute of Defense and Security, stressed the value of open and personal communication.

"It's like having some sort of personal touch. I would bring this analogy of having a good friend that you can have good communication to interact and in order to get the better understanding among each other," said Lufty.

Duong Quy Nam, director of Vietnam's Institute for Defense International Relations, emphasized that true security cannot come at others' expense.

"We believe that the security of one country should not build upon the insecurity of another. Sustainable security must be built through dialogue, thus respect for each other's legitimate interests and international law," said Nam.

Beijing Xiangshan Forum underscores dialogue, cooperation for Asian security