Utilizing Matarbari could position Bangladesh as a regional hub connecting northeast India and other countries in this region.
In this context, Bangladesh would not just be a transit point, but it would surely be the driving force and main engine of regional development, said Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori on Wednesday.
The envoy was speaking at a seminar on “Toward Improving Regional Connectivity and Realising the Establishment of Industrial Value Chains in the Bay of Bengal Region, Including Bangladesh and Northeast India” at the Japan Embassy in Dhaka.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, who was also present as the chief guest, said Japan has been a reliable friend to Bangladesh for many years.
“Bangladesh elevated its relationship with Japan to the status of a 'Strategic Partnership’ during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Tokyo in April,” he said.
“This elevation demonstrates the ever-increasing significance of the Japan-Bangladesh relationship and marks a turning point of our bilateral engagements to further enhance our bilateral ties with Japan for the next 50 years,” he added.
The Matarbari deep seaport is going to be a “game changer” for catapulting Bangladesh into a major logistics and maritime hub for the eastern South Asia sub-region, according to a report presented at the seminar.
Several recent developments in India-Japan-Bangladesh relations have underscored the increasing convergence of interests between the three Asian economies.
Presently, Japan-India relations are at an all-time high, and the bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and India is also considered to be in its best phase.
Japan has been an active development partner of Bangladesh and India, and engaged to bring greater integration of the Bay of Bengal region through connectivity projects.
India and Japan have already implemented the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
India and Bangladesh have been negotiating CEPA, while Bangladesh and Japan are exploring a CEPA.
“Viewing Bangladesh and the other areas to the South as a single economic zone, we will promote the Bay of Bengal-northeast India industrial value chain concept in cooperation with India and Bangladesh to foster the growth of the entire region,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during his recent visit to New Delhi.
In his speech, the Japanese ambassador said that the dynamism created by the confluence of the Indian and the Pacific Ocean is an engine of the economic growth of the entire world.
The centre of gravity of the global economy is shifting towards the Himalayas, he said.
With this background, Prime Minister Kishida announced the "New Plan for FOIP" during his visit to India this spring, he said, referring to Japan’s policy on “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.
FOIP aims to ensure a rule-based international order and to bring stability and prosperity to every country as well as to secure peace and prosperity in the region.
After PM Kishida’s new vision on FOIP, the government of Bangladesh also announced the “Indo-Pacific Outlook” in April, which shows the principled position of the country on “a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and secure Indo-Pacific based on international law and shared prosperity for all”.
“There are a number of ideas which could advance the FOIP. Among them, the concept of ‘Development of an Industrial Value Chain connecting the Bay of Bengal and North Eastern Region of India’ will improve the connectivity of the entire Bay of Bengal region,” the ambassador said.
“It creates synergies by effectively linking cooperation under the ‘Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Zone (BIG-B)’ initiative and the development of northeastern India,” he said.
However, the impact of the Big-B initiative should not and cannot be limited to the prosperity of one country, he said.
In addition, the development of northeast India can be considered as a big market with tens of millions of people for Bangladesh’s business and industry, he added.
“In sum, the initiative by our Prime Minister Kishida on ‘Industrial Value Chain connecting the Bay of Bengal and North Eastern Region of India’ has a great potential to bring a win-win prosperous connection between the two countries and beyond,” he said.
“We, the government of Japan, together with the governments of both India and Bangladesh, will proceed with this initiative and continue to seek innovative ideas and inputs from Indian and Bangladeshi business sectors and academia,” he said.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, suggested creating a “multi-stakeholder platform” which would promote ideas and follow up on the issues.
He said the Matarbari deep seaport is “important for the trilateral geo-strategic consideration and development for increasing investment opportunities, strengthening regional trade relations, generating employment, and promoting infrastructural development.”
Matarbari has three elements – a deep seaport, a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant and transport links such as a 26-kilometre railway track to link the Matarbari with the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar rail line, and 27-kilometre road from Cox’s Bazar’s Chakaria to Matarbari.