Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will visit Japan from October 26 to 29 for talks expected to focus on trade, investment and security, with a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi scheduled at the Japanese premier’s office on October 27.
A lunch will be held in Tarique Rahman’s honour after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam told a press conference in Dhaka. The two governments formally announced the visit on Tuesday.
Siam said the two leaders would discuss expanding economic partnership, trade and investment, infrastructure development and security cooperation, and that the visit offered a timely opportunity to deepen the countries’ strategic partnership.
Bangladesh and Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement in February. The visit will focus on its effective implementation, expanding access for Bangladeshi goods to the Japanese market and boosting Japanese investment, the foreign secretary said.
Japan is one of Bangladesh’s key development partners and has supported the construction and management of major infrastructure and transport projects including the Dhaka metro rail, the third terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and the Matarbari project. The two sides will look at accelerating work on ongoing projects and creating new investment opportunities.
Tarique Rahman is scheduled to meet representatives of the Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship League, the chairman of the Japan-Bangladesh Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation (JBCCEC), the president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the president of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
Rahman will also meet the chairman of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and deliver a keynote address at the Japan-Bangladesh Economic Forum.
The prime minister’s itinerary includes visits to an LNG terminal and power plant in Kimitsu City in the Chiba region, the headquarters of clothing and retail company Uniqlo and a Toyota factory in Nagoya.
The foreign secretary said MoUs on agriculture, fisheries, human resource development, civil aviation, trade, environmental protection and modernisation of local government were being discussed, with several expected to be signed during the visit.
The two leaders will also discuss regional and global issues including regional peace and stability, a sustainable and peaceful solution to the problem of Rohingya people sheltering in Bangladesh, cooperation on the global energy crisis and a joint role in ending international conflicts, the secretary said.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will be accompanied by his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman; the finance minister; the adviser to the Ministry of Finance and Planning; the state minister for foreign affairs; the state minister for power, energy and mineral resources; the advisers to the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology; the chairman of the Investment Bangladesh Authority; the prime minister’s relevant special assistant; government officials; journalists and other representatives. The delegation is scheduled to travel to Tokyo on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight.
AloJapan.com