A Japanese delegation will visit Dhaka to discuss the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) initiative with Bangladesh.
The meeting is part of a series of meetings that Bangladesh and Japan are having prior to the expected visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on September 6 and 7.
“We asked the Japanese side to provide information about the BIG-B and they would discuss it in the meeting,” said an official of the Foreign Ministry.
The delegation will have the meeting on development issue with ERD Secretary Mohammad Mesbahuddin on August 18,
In the meeting, it is expected that there would be discussion about projects including Ganges Barrage, multi-modal tunnel under river Jamuna, dedicated railway bridge over river Jamuna, multi-modal Dhaka Eastern Bypass and ecological restoration of four rivers around Dhaka.
The official said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit to Japan in May sought help from Tokyo to finance the projects.
There will be another meeting on August 21 when a Japanese vice-minister will meet Prime Minister’s Office Secretary Abul Kalam Azad to discuss trade and investment issues, said another officer of Foreign Ministry.
“We had a huge commitment from the Japanese side during the visit of the prime minister and we should capitalise on it,” he said.
The Japanese prime minister in May announced his commitment to provide up to 600 billion Yen of additional assistance including the 35th yen loan package totaling 120 billion Yen to Bangladesh in about four to five years from 2014.
Visit of Japan PM
The visit of Shinzo Abe is politically very significant as he would be the first head of government from any developed country to visit Dhaka after January 5 election which was widely criticised by the Western countries.
It will be Abe’s two-nation trip as he would fly to Sri Lanka from here, said the official.
Former Japanese prime minister Yoshirō Mori visited Bangladesh in August 2000.
BIG-B initiatives
The proposed BIG-B initiative is a strategic concept of Japan’s cooperation with other countries. The BIG-B has three pillars – trade and industry, energy and transportation.
Bangladesh and Jica jointly identified Matabari, located 60km south of Chittagong, as the tipping point for carrying out the BIG-B initiative. ECNEC has recently approved the Matarbari project.
Jica will provide $406 million to build the 1,200mw Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power project with the country’s first deep sea port for coal imports.
During Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Tokyo in May, the Japanese government pressed for a mention of the initiative in the joint statement which was issued, but Dhaka refused.