Urging the Japanese investors to explore diverse investment opportunities in Bangladesh, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki on Thursday said that the country's landscape will be transformed in a few years with the support of his government.
The envoy made the comment while addressing a virtual dialogue titled "Drive Japanese Investments in Bangladesh," which was jointly organized by the Prime Minister’s Office, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica.)
Over 200 Japanese private sector participants joined the webinar, which aimed to attract Japanese investments.
“The landscape in Bangladesh will be transformed in a few years with support from the Japanese government," Naoki told Japanese investors.
He also urged Japanese companies to explore diverse opportunities in Bangladesh and reiterated Japan’s commitment towards Bangladesh’s development in key sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and human resource development.
“The Japanese government has a menu of cooperation. We will leverage that as much as possible," the ambassador remarked.
He mentioned Japan’s cooperation in the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B initiative), the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project and the expansion of Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
“The Moheshkhali-Matarbari Integrated Infrastructure Development Initiative (MIDI), an energy hub, will be a game changer for Bangladesh,” he observed.
Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman urged Japanese businesses to take advantage of Bangladesh’s high corporate profitability, business-friendly policies, massive domestic market and strategic access to key markets across the world.
“Bangladesh currently has over 300 Japanese companies. In the 2019 survey, 70.3% Japanese companies are willing to expand in Bangladesh, which remains the highest proportion in Asia and Oceania,” said Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Md Sirazul Islam.
“BIDA’s One Stop Service already provides 18 e-payment enabled services of three agencies. We will also provide 34 more services of 15 government agencies within this year. Under the PMO’s guidance, we are preparing an attractive package for investors,” he added.
“Our Economic Zones give you the infrastructural support you need, both on-site and off-site, at very competitive land prices compared to our neighboring countries,” said Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) Executive Chairman Paban Chowdhury.
Japan’s 1000-acre exclusive economic zone is being developed in Araihazar upazila of Narayanganj, which is Bangladesh’s first ever economic zone under the government to government (G2G) initiative.
The total value of expected investment in just three of the economic zones amounts to nearly $17 billion.
Of these, $8 billion will come from foreign investment in manufacturing,” he said quoting UNCTAD.
