The first Bangladesh-Japan economic dialogue will be held today with an aim to promote trade and investment between the two countries.
“A Japanese delegation will arrive today led by a vice-minister and we will have meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office tomorrow (today) where private sector representatives will be also present,” said a foreign ministry official yesterday.
PMO Secretary Abul Kalam Azad will lead the Bangladesh side while H Ishiguro, vice minister of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, will lead the Japanese side.
The two sides will discuss promotion of investment, wider economic cooperation, human resources development, capacity building, and trade and investment.
“In the meeting, Bangladesh will critically focus on attracting foreign direct investment and protecting domestic industry,” he said.
Bangladesh needs FDI but at the same time the government will also do whatever it can to protect the interest of the domestic entrepreneurs, he added.
Japan shows interest in investing in ready-made garment and textile sector where local manufacturers invested billions of dollars and the meeting will also deal with the issue.
It is the only forum between the two countries where representatives from public and private sectors will take part and make their case.
The meeting is considered as very important as it will provide inputs for the upcoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Bangladesh on September 6 and 7.
During the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Japan, Bangladesh agreed to improve investment climate in the country and provided facilities for Japanese investors, the official said.
“Bangladesh also agreed to set up an exclusive economic zone for Japanese investors in Chittagong with an area of 500 acres and both the sides will discuss to formulate a comprehensive plan for developing the zone,” he said.
The BEPZA also reserved 40 plots and two factory buildings in five export processing zones for Japanese investors for one year and they showed interest about the plots, he added.
Investments in key sectors like ready-made garments and textiles, jute, leather, pharmaceuticals, tourism, health, education and information will also be discussed in the meeting.
Japan wants to invest in Bangladesh and underscored the urgency of an improvement of investment potentials in Bangladesh, the official said.
Bangladesh needs to address infrastructure deficiency and stable energy supply in order to further facilitate and promote Japanese investment in Bangladesh, he added.
Energy, road and connectivity, and transfer of technology will be three major areas where both the sides will have substantive negotiation, he said.
The Japanese side also wants an effective one-stop-service to get all the facilities in the shortest possible time, the official said.
On Monday, Bangladesh and Japan also had another meeting Tokyo had proposed to develop a platform to oversee different projects under the $6bn credit committed by it during the visit of Hasina in May.