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More Japanese investors
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A Japanese delegation is coming to Dhaka in this connection, the minister said.
Tipu Munshi, commerce minister of Bangladesh, said the EPA may be signed before 2026, the year when Bangladesh will become a developing nation graduating from the group of the least-developed countries.
Japan and India are two export destinations in Asia where Bangladesh’s export earnings reached $2 billion, he said.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun sought investment from Japanese entrepreneurs in the automobile industry as Bangladesh is trying to establish a globally standard automotive sector.
He also called for investments in the light-engineering sector.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, said internet has reached 13 crore people in Bangladesh while 100 per cent of the population has access to electricity.
The receipts from IT exports stand at more than $1.5 billion, he said.
At the JP-BD Summit in Tokyo in April, the economy, trade and industry ministry of Japan and the commerce ministry of Bangladesh launched a bilateral cooperation framework for the industry upgradation of Bangladesh to contribute to the post-LDC economy and the target of the Vision 2041.
The economy, trade and industry ministry has focused on six areas as the potential fields of public-private cooperation: garment, heavy industries, logistics, circular economy, clean energy and IT.
Jetro President Kazushige Nobutani and Japanese Ambassador in Bangladesh Kiminori Iwama also spoke at the summit.
“Bangladesh needs efficient energy for sustainable development where renewable energy can play an important role,” said FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin in another session.
“Japan can work in Bangladesh’s renewable energy sector as the East Asian country has experience in the area,” he said, adding that the business community from the two countries can collaborate in the area.
The government is providing Japanese businesses with all sorts of assistance so that they invest in Bangladesh, said Lokman Hossain Miah, executive chairman of the Bida.
“There are many potential sectors such as medicare, agriculture, fuel and energy where Japanese businesses can invest.”
He said the Bida has made most of its services available online.
“Within a few months, we are going to ensure that all services are provided from a single place.”
At the summit, the governments inked three MoUs to enhance two-way trade and investment.
Bangladesh Special Economic Zone Ltd (BSEZ) inked an MoU with Bangladesh IRIS Co Ltd, a Bangladesh-Japan joint venture promoting education for children, to purchase land and get the right to use the land at the second phase of the zone.
BSEZ signed the second MoU with Brac Kumon Ltd to provide education opportunities to school-going children near the zone.
The commerce ministry penned an MoU with the Jetro to cooperate with each other to exchange trade information and enhance the capacity of officials.

Bangladesh, Japan
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agreements with its major partners in order to retain duty-free export benefits after graduating from the group of the least-developed countries (LDCs) in 2026.
Munshi said they discussed the continuation of zero-duty entry of Bangladeshi products to Japan in the post-LDC era.
At the meeting, Japan also expressed interest to invest in mega projects of Bangladesh, said Munshi.
He said Japan is already investing in mega projects here and showed interest to invest more.
At the meeting, they also stressed the need for exploring potential areas of bilateral investment.