Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will hold bilateral talks in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday and discuss strategic bilateral issues to strengthen relations on all fronts.
Before the bilateral talks, Tokyo will roll out a red carpet to welcome the chief adviser with a guard of honour.
Acting Foreign Secretary Md Ruhul Alam Siddique briefed reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday afternoon, noting that the chief adviser will pay the official visit from Wednesday to Saturday.
“The main focus of this visit is budgetary support,” Siddique said in response to a question, adding that all strategic bilateral issues will be discussed.
He said a total of seven MoUs are likely to be signed during the official visit of the chief adviser.
Bangladesh has sought $1 billion from Japan as budgetary support in the form of a soft loan, and the announcement will be made formally after the bilateral talks, followed by the signing of an exchange of notes.
The acting foreign secretary said Yunus will leave Dhaka for Japan on Tuesday night.
The chief adviser will attend the Nikkei 30th Future of Asia event and deliver a keynote speech at a plenary session.
Director General (East Asia and Pacific Wing) Mohammed Nore-Alam and Director General (Public Diplomacy Wing) Shah Asif Rahman also spoke at the briefing.
In February this year, Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Ikuina Akiko invited Yunus to visit Japan for the Nikkei 30th Future of Asia event, to be held on Thursday-Friday in Tokyo.
Yunus is also a recipient of the Nikkei Asia Prize in 2004.
Under the new plan for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific and the Big-B initiatives, Japan aims to promote the sustainable development of the region.
Japan has said that it will strengthen its engagement with Bangladesh under the Bay of Bengal Initiative (Big-B), as the country aims to support high-quality infrastructure development projects and encourage Japanese manufacturing and production companies to expand their industrial value chains to Bangladesh.
According to the Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo, under the new plan for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific and the Big-B initiatives, Japan is committed to ensuring the sustainable development of the region.
Political, economic, and sectoral cooperation issues—along with trade and investment, people-to-people connectivity and cultural exchanges, the situation of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (Rohingyas), security cooperation, and regional and global matters—are likely to be discussed during the visit, a diplomatic source told UNB.
The two countries are expected to further strengthen their bilateral relationship in a wide range of areas, including security, economy, economic cooperation, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges, under the Japan-Bangladesh Strategic Partnership.
