The New Nation

Tokyo-Dhaka cooperation

17 July 2005

It appears that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Japan visit has been a successful one from various perspectives. True, no major accords were signed between the two sides on the occasion but following the official visit by our Prime Minister, it can be expected that Japanese assistance will be stepped up in some vital sectors. The Prime Minister has requested her counterpart during their official meeting for Japanese financial and technical cooperation to build the long awaited Padma bridge. It is learnt that Japan's response to the proposal has been positive and reflection of it would be seen in the near future as the two sides engage in detailed discussion on the issue. Our Prime Minister also proposed in her meeting with the Governor of the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) that the bank can help in the construction of a subway system in Dhaka city and to this suggestion also, the response was favourable. Japan has written off $1.46 billion of debts that Bangladesh owed it, during the visit. Although Japan was committed to writing off such debt under different bilateral and multilateral framework, the formal declaration of it at the time of the visit of the Prime Minister was a significant gesture of friendship and goodwill towards Bangladesh.

What is more significant is that the Japanese Prime Minister and his delegation during talks with our Prime Minister and her delegation, gave assurance of stepped up Japanese aid to important sectors such as infrastructures development, education, health, agriculture and disaster management. Japan is at the head of the list of the countries that contribute to Bangladesh's developmental assistance. Both bilaterally and multilaterally, Japan is the biggest donor for Bangladesh and its pledge, given from the highest level for increasing aid comes as a very reassuring one. Indeed, this has been the most outstanding outcome of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia' s visit to Japan.

Other important issues were also discussed during the visit such as the one on the very big imbalance in trade between the two countries to the detriment of Bangladesh. Japanese businessmen were invited to a meeting with their Bangladeshi counterparts during the visit to establish direct contacts for the import of certain Bangladeshi products. It is not known what the response of the Japanese businesses has been to this meeting. The import of products depends essentially on the taste of Japanese consumers and the quality of the products. But it appears that on both counts, Bangladeshi exporters are in a position to find a berth in the Japanese market with products like fine rice, fishes, handloom goods, handicrafts, fruits and vegetables. They only require more promotional support and, the Japanese government through its different agencies can extend a helping hand to our exporters in this regard.

Japanese investors also showed interest in investing in different sectors in Bangladesh. They should be very welcome in the context of our policy of attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs) to create jobs and increase income. It was learnt that Japan is seeking to find places, other than China, to relocate its industries as costs have climbed in China. Bangladesh should be an ideal place for the Japanese investors as the costs of operations here should be substantially lower while very generous facilities are offered to foreign investors. The governments of the two countries can work together to get more of the Japanese investors to locate their operations in Bangladesh.