Japan’s Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki said that for more than a decade now, the consistent and reliable policy of the present Bangladesh government has played an important role in doubling Japanese investment and tripling trade in the country. Policy coordination and policy continuity have played a very important role and they will have an even more important role in the future.
The Ambassador was speaking at the DCAB Talk of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association Bangladesh (DCAB) at the National Press Club on Tuesday (7 June).
When asked whether Bangladesh’s political stability would help boost its recent economic growth, he said that in the five decades since independence, the Japan-Bangladesh bilateral economic partnership has witnessed the highest growth in the last decade and policy consistency has played an important role.
He also hoped that there would be a better economic partnership between Japan and Bangladesh in the next decade.
The Ambassador said that the number of Japanese companies in Bangladesh has tripled in the last 10 years and 68% of them are planning to expand their business here.
He said that Bangladesh’s rapid economic growth, geopolitical strategic location, mega infrastructure projects, the potential for diversified supply chains and the RMG export market, and strong remittances are the main reasons for encouraging more Japanese companies to do business in the country.
Ito Naoki said that Tokyo and Dhaka are looking forward to bilateral economic partnership agreements, such as the Free Trade Agreement, to further enrich trade relations between the two countries.
The Ambassador further said that Bangladesh needs more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to meet the challenge of moving from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group to the middle-income group by 2026.
The Japanese Ambassador said that Tokyo was interested in selling defence equipment to Bangladesh because Dhaka was currently considering diversifying its defence procurement sources.
Japan has also relaxed its rules on the sale of defence equipment. Tokyo is already exporting some defence equipment to Vietnam, the Philippines, and ASEAN countries.
Naoki added that Japanese companies are more interested in investing in Bangladesh than ever before because the current government has more consistent policies that attract foreign investment and its economy continues to grow.
The Ambassador welcomed Washington’s initiative in the context of the recently formed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) initiated by the United States in Tokyo and hoped that Bangladesh would ‘acquire some economic qualifications to join this framework’.
Rezaul Karim Lotus, President of DCAB, and AKM Moinuddin, General Secretary also spoke on the occasion.
