The visiting Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, on Saturday called for further improvement of investment environment in Bangladesh to attract more Japanese investors as they were eager to invest in the country’s important power, energy, infrastructure and others key sectors. ‘I would like to ask Bangladesh government to further improve investment environment reflecting the voices of Japanese companies in order to promote investment from Japan,’ he said while addressing the closing ceremony of Bangladesh-Japan Business Forum in Dhaka in the afternoon.
Bangladesh Board of Investment, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Japan External Trade Organisation jointly organised the function at Sonargaon Hotel to promote trade between Bangladesh and Japan and attract Japanese investment to Bangladesh.
Speaking at the function, the Japanese premier, who arrived in Dhaka at noon on a two-day official visit, touched on various aspects of bilateral relations, trade and business cooperation, export and import between the two countries and Japanese investment in Bangladesh.
He appreciated the Bangladesh government proposal for constructing special economic zone for Japanese investors and said that this initiative would help boost Japanese private sector investment in the country.
Abe said Bangladesh was noted immediately as an important country to expand Japanese trade and investment and that was why he had chosen Bangladesh as a destination of his visit. ‘I am accompanying a number of industry leaders from different segments and they all have great hope in doing business in Bangladesh’.
Among those, he said, some are aspiring to improve the living standard of Bangladeshi people.
‘As a prime minister of Japan, I would like to see the heightened level of activities by business people of the two countries and I am confident that such actions will lead to further development of the two countries,’ Abe said.
Referring to Japan’s committed $6-billion loan for Bangladesh during prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Japan in May this year, Abe said this commitment had been made to promote infrastructure, industry and better environment for investment.
He said that Japanese technology is fully converged in Bangladesh, especially in four areas like improved transportation and infrastructures, stable supply of power and energy, urban development including the special economic zone, private sector development such as improved access to financial markets.
‘I am convinced that these will bring mutual benefit and prosperity to the two countries,’ Abe added.
He said Japan had already provided 400 million yen of ODA loan for the construction of Matabari coal-fired power plant and this was one of the flagship cooperation of the two countries.
Referring to prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Japan visit, Abe said that 2014 was considered as a special year for the relationship between the two countries as the both premiers had visited both the countries this year.
‘Our minister of foreign affairs visited Bangladesh in March, prime minister Sheikh Hasina as an official guest in Japan, and now I am in Dhaka today. Such frequent visits show that our relationship has now moved to a new phase of cooperative relationship,’ he said.
Abe said during Hasina’s visit to Japan he had announced ‘comprehensive partnership’ as represented by the national flags of the two nations. ‘We should help each other as brother and sister, so that we can grow and develop mutually,’ he added.
In this connection, Abe asked the business people to extend their support and cooperation as they are the important players of this partnership.
Earlier, industries minister Amir Hossain Amu, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed, BoI executive chairman SA Samad, state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman, JETRO chairman and chief executive officer Hiroyuki Ishige and leading business leaders, both from Bangladesh and Japan, also addressed business and opening sessions of the forum.
-With New Age input
