Staff Reporter :
The Japanese government is going to provide 6.0 billion yen to Bangladesh as financial assistance in the next four to five years to improve infrastructure and investment climate through promoting the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) initiative, said Yoshihiro Seki, Vice- Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry of Japan on Thursday.
The Japanese minister said this while addressing a meeting with Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman at BB headquarters in the city.
The Japanese minister also assured to extend their supports for improving human capital in Bangladesh through providing training and scholarships.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman has urged the Japanese businessmen to invest more in Bangladesh for making their investment secure and profitable with taking full advantage of all the existing and new facilities.
“Our policy stance on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows are among the most liberal in South Asia region,” said the governor while addressing a meeting with Japanese delegations, led by Yoshihiro Seki, Vice-Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry of Japan.
The central bank chief also assured the Japanese investors to provide all-out support to facilitate their business activities in Bangladesh.
The BB governor also said, the central bank is continuously engaging with local foreign investor communities in Bangladesh for facilitation of all kinds of business related external transactions.
Major recent new facilitations include enhancement of family remittance ceiling for expatriates to 75 per cent of salaries, and reparability of sale proceeds of foreign equity in unlisted companies at fair value based on assets, income and earnings trends instead of solely at net asset value, Dr Rahman added.
“Foreign owned businesses can now access local and external financing on the same basis as per locally owned businesses, and their interest free short term borrowings from their parent businesses at home require no prior approval,” the Governor explained.
He also said, the government has already promised a sizable new SEZ (Special Economic Zone) in Chittagong specifically for Japanese investors.
“Our government is further considering a generous set of incentives for investors in SEZs including time bound full and partial waivers on tax, VAT and stamp duty,” Dr. Rahman noted.
The BB governor also urged the Japanese and Bangladeshi business leaders to work together in taking full advantage of all the existing and new facilities and bring about a major new upturn in our bilateral trade and investment relationships.
“We look forward to Japan which is our time-tested friend, always remaining Bangladesh’s important partner in helping attain her development vision of higher middle income country status by 2030 and advanced economy status by another decade,” the BB governor observed.
In March 2014, Dr Rahman visited Japan and sought Japan’s support for Bangladesh to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The RCEP is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) scheme of the 10 ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nation) member states and its FTA partners include Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.
The objective of RCEP negotiations is to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high-quality and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement that will cover trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition, dispute settlement and other issues.
All deputy governors, advisors and senior officials of the BB also attended the meeting.
The Japanese government is going to provide 6.0 billion yen to Bangladesh as financial assistance in the next four to five years to improve infrastructure and investment climate through promoting the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) initiative, said Yoshihiro Seki, Vice- Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry of Japan on Thursday.
The Japanese minister said this while addressing a meeting with Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman at BB headquarters in the city.
The Japanese minister also assured to extend their supports for improving human capital in Bangladesh through providing training and scholarships.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman has urged the Japanese businessmen to invest more in Bangladesh for making their investment secure and profitable with taking full advantage of all the existing and new facilities.
“Our policy stance on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows are among the most liberal in South Asia region,” said the governor while addressing a meeting with Japanese delegations, led by Yoshihiro Seki, Vice-Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry of Japan.
The central bank chief also assured the Japanese investors to provide all-out support to facilitate their business activities in Bangladesh.
The BB governor also said, the central bank is continuously engaging with local foreign investor communities in Bangladesh for facilitation of all kinds of business related external transactions.
Major recent new facilitations include enhancement of family remittance ceiling for expatriates to 75 per cent of salaries, and reparability of sale proceeds of foreign equity in unlisted companies at fair value based on assets, income and earnings trends instead of solely at net asset value, Dr Rahman added.
“Foreign owned businesses can now access local and external financing on the same basis as per locally owned businesses, and their interest free short term borrowings from their parent businesses at home require no prior approval,” the Governor explained.
He also said, the government has already promised a sizable new SEZ (Special Economic Zone) in Chittagong specifically for Japanese investors.
“Our government is further considering a generous set of incentives for investors in SEZs including time bound full and partial waivers on tax, VAT and stamp duty,” Dr. Rahman noted.
The BB governor also urged the Japanese and Bangladeshi business leaders to work together in taking full advantage of all the existing and new facilities and bring about a major new upturn in our bilateral trade and investment relationships.
“We look forward to Japan which is our time-tested friend, always remaining Bangladesh’s important partner in helping attain her development vision of higher middle income country status by 2030 and advanced economy status by another decade,” the BB governor observed.
In March 2014, Dr Rahman visited Japan and sought Japan’s support for Bangladesh to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The RCEP is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) scheme of the 10 ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nation) member states and its FTA partners include Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.
The objective of RCEP negotiations is to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high-quality and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement that will cover trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition, dispute settlement and other issues.
All deputy governors, advisors and senior officials of the BB also attended the meeting.
