The government has formed an eight-member committee to place recommendations in implementing pledges Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had made during her visit to Japan in May, and initiate economic dialogues between the two countries.
The committee will create a joint forum comprising members from both public and private sectors of the two countries to hold dialogues on promoting investment and trade between Japan and Bangladesh.
Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Principal Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder is heading the committee, which also include seven other secretaries.
PMO last week issued a circular to form the committee to organise Bangladesh-Japan public-private economic dialogues.
An official said the first meeting of the newly formed committee will be held at the PMO on Thursday. So prime minister’s scheduled visit to commerce ministry on the day is likely to be shifted to August 28.
Meanwhile, the both countries will proceed to hold the first meeting of the forum on August 21 which will be the first follow-up to prime minister’s tour of Tokyo.
The Thursday’s meeting will discuss identifying priority development projects of Japan as a Japanese economic survey team is expected to visit Bangladesh soon.
Discussions will also include one-stage rules of origin from existing three-stage rules of origin for Bangladesh’s garment export items, acquiring of a 500-acre land for a Japanese investors export processing zone, Japan’s willingness to establish an industrial park and allocation of 40 plots and two industrial buildings for Japanese new investors to Bangladesh.
The committee will request foreign ministry to invite Japanese government to international conference on expert group meeting on blue economy in September.
Sources said as the visit uplifted the Japan-Bangladesh bilateral relationship onto a comprehensive partnership, the forum would play a positive role in taking forward the partnership through dialogues for the socioeconomic development of the two countries.
Officials hoped Dhaka’s demands like removing tariff barriers and quota-and-duty-free trade would get importance while scope of removing various investment barriers that Japan identified in Bangladesh are likely to be dealt with in this kind of forum meeting.
Earlier on various occasions, Japanese business community submitted to the Bangladeshi government a list of common areas where improvement is needed in business to ease doing business in Bangladesh. But, sources said, hardly any step was taken yet.
During Sheikh Hasina’s visit, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged an assistance of 600bn yen (equivalent to US$6bn) to Bangladesh over the next five years.
