Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday that Japanese entrepreneurs were eager to invest in transport, infrastructure, power and energy and garment sectors mainly to boost the bilateral trade and investment with Bangladesh. “Bangladesh is an emerging economy. So, our government plans to promote our country’s investment in Bangladesh which is also an important partner of Japan in South,” said Abe while addressing a forum of Japanese and Bangladeshi businessmen in a city hotel on Saturday afternoon. Bangladesh Board of Investment (BoI), Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) jointly arranged the event participated by a large number of business leaders from both the countries.Abe, who is accompanied by 50 corporate executives, however, stressed the need for further improvement in Bangladesh’s investment climate to get more Japanese investment. “For more investment from Japan, I would like to ask further improvement of investment environment reflecting the voices of Japanese cooperation,” Abe said.Earlier, in the morning, the Japanese Premier arrived in Dhaka on a brief visit to Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina greeted him at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.Abe termed 2014 a “memorable and special’ year in the two countries relations mentioning that in March this year Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Fumio Kishida visited Dhaka while the Bangladesh Prime Minister visited Tokyo in May. “Now I’m in Dhaka for talks with top Bangladeshi leaders for promoting bilateral ties and we hope this will help further strengthening diplomatic and economic cooperation between the two countries,” Abe said while delivering his speech in Japanese language.Later, a Japanese official interpreted his speech in English for the reporters.The Japanese Prime Minister said both the countries announced ‘comprehensive partnership’ in May this year. “We’re going to help each other like two brothers. We’re aiming to grow and develop together ensuring mutual benefits.”Recalling the role of businessmen in development process, Abe said, “Those who are in the business circle of the two countries may be very important players in achieving this partnership for mutual development.”He expressed his happiness to see the participation of large number of businessmen from the two countries and said that Bangladesh’s export to Japan has massively increased in the past years. Bangladesh’s garments export to Japan is on the rise for relaxation of the Rules of Origin (RoO) by the Japanese government under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) of Japan, Abe pointed out.In 2011-12 fiscal year, Bangladesh’s garments export to Japan increased by 38.8 per cent from the previous year for having the trade benefit, he said.The Japanese Prime Minister also mentioned about $6 billion economic cooperation to Bangladesh over the next four to five years, including $1.2 billion that has been provided (committed) in May this year.Abe also talked about the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) initiative proposed in the May summit meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.He said, Japan wants to cooperate under the initiative for the economic development of Bangladesh and infrastructure improvement to promote industry and achieve a better investment environment. The Japanese Prime Minister laid emphasis on infrastructure development, stable supply of power and energy and development of an economic zone to attract large investment from Japan.
