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More Japanese investors to flock to Bangladesh
Says Yasutoshi Nishimura, economy, trade and industry minister of Japan
STAR BUSINESS REPORT
Bangladesh has the potential to attract Japanese companies shifting operations to various parts of Asia, said Yasutoshi Nishimura, economy, trade and industry minister of Japan, yesterday.
He said factory relocation has already started.
Japanese company Honda has opened its factory in Bangladesh and BJIT, an information technology firm, has started production in the country.
“I do expect that more companies will come to Bangladesh,” Nishimura said while speaking at a daylong summit styled “Bangladesh-Japan Economic Relations for the Next 50 Years: for the industry upgradation of Bangladesh” at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
Japan’s relationship with Bangladesh has reached a strategic relationship from the previous comprehensive relationship during a summit in Tokyo in April, the minister said, suggesting improving the business environment for more trade and investment.
The Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), in collaboration with the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida), the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), the Japan Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Japanese Commerce & Industry Association in Dhaka, organised the summit.
Nishimura said the economic relationship between Bangladesh and Japan for the next 50 years will be based on three pillars: Bangladesh’s industrial upgradation, the shift by Japanese companies, and the realistic energy transition.
He praised Bangladesh’s economic growth, which has maintained between 5 per cent and 8 per cent GDP expansion annually over the last many years, saying the country has developed more than they had imagined.
Regarding Bangladesh’s industrial upgradation, the minister said Japan has already started supporting the construction of various infrastructures through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
The projects include the Matarbari power plants and the deep seaport.
In April, the Jica also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the capacity-building of the industry promoting agency in Bangladesh.
“Jica is also supporting Bangladesh in the IT sector development,” he said.
The Bangladesh Special Economic Zone, also known as the Japan economic zone, is being developed at Araihazar in Narayanganj while the Metro rail in Dhaka has already been partially opened to the public.
Currently, nearly 350 Japanese companies are operating in Bangladesh, with more than $380 million in combined investment.
Of them, 85 per cent want Bangladesh and Japan to sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) to accelerate trade and investment between the two countries.
In 2022, Bangladesh received more than $100 million in investment from Japan, a record, as the number of Japanese companies quadrupled in the country over the last one decade, Nishimura said.
In order to strengthen the bilateral relations, both countries are now working to sign the EPA and it is expected that a joint study for the deal will be completed by this week.