PM Tarique Rahman in Tokyo: Japan moves to secure 1 trillion yen in investment for Bangladesh over five years

Japan is set to take a coordinated initiative to secure a flow of private investment in Bangladesh worth 1 trillion Japanese yen, or about 6.35 billion US dollars, over the next five years. The information was published in a report by Nikkei Asia, a leading Japanese news outlet.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman arrived in Tokyo on Monday morning on a four-day official visit at the formal invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. In the visit, from October 26 to 29, consolidating the strategic partnership between the two countries and increasing foreign direct investment have been taken as the main agenda.

On the second day of the visit, on Tuesday, Tarique Rahman will sit in a formal summit meeting with Sanae Takaichi at the Japanese Prime Minister's office. After the meeting, a joint statement of the two countries will be published, and he will join a special lunch hosted by the Japanese prime minister.

The Nikkei Asia report said the proposed investment could mainly be used in motor vehicle manufacturing, setting up heavy manufacturing factories, and building large energy infrastructure. In particular, expanding the activities of Sumitomo Corporation and other partners in the special economic zone built in Bangladesh with Japan's direct cooperation could find a place in this outline.

According to the report, this is expected to increase the production capacity of domestic industry, transfer technology, and create large employment opportunities.

To turn this investment potential into reality, the Bangladesh prime minister has a schedule of several high-level meetings in Tokyo. He will meet representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the trade organisation JETRO.

He is also scheduled to hold direct discussions with executives of leading multinational corporate organisations such as Mitsui & Co, Sumitomo Corporation, and JERA.

According to the visit schedule, the prime minister will present the keynote paper at the Bangladesh-Japan Economic Forum in Tokyo, where top industrial entrepreneurs from both countries will take part. He will then visit the head office of the global clothing brand Uniqlo on Wednesday, and on Thursday, the final day of the visit, he will inspect in person the Motomachi industrial plant of Toyota Motor Corporation in the city of Nagoya.

The visit is being seen as a very important milestone for the effective implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed between Dhaka and Tokyo in February this year. The report said that if the proposed investment plan succeeds, alongside transformation in Bangladesh's energy and industrial sectors, the path for Bangladeshi products to enter the Japanese market will become smoother.