"We welcome and send big cheers to this movement as we sincerely wish Bangladesh to continue its economic and social growth," he said while making his annual policy speech at the National Press Club yesterday.

"I would emphasise that the next election has to be held with participation of all political parties for the sake of development and institutionalisation of democracy in Bangladesh," Horiguchi added.

The outgoing Japanese ambassador said it is desirable that both the ruling and the opposition parties make concessions for the greater interest of the progress of democracy.

Turning to the citizens' movement, he said a key to success is national commitment and it all depends on increasing the number of intellectuals at the core of this movement, who are committed to its purpose and take real actions to realise them.

Next, he said the committed intellectuals must formulate mid and long-term plans and persevere to encourage other citizens, many of whom are not literate, to understand and appreciate the significance of the movement and participate in it.

Horiguchi, who will leave Bangladesh on Monday on completion of his three years diplomatic assignment, said it will require a considerable amount of time to prepare the strategy to achieve the goals, mobilise partners, get recognised, assign a person in charge of each upazila and union in order to promote this movement nationally.

Terming the citizens' movement 'a first step', the Japanese ambassador said mid and long-term plans are also required to solve the confrontational political structure in this country.

According to him, the first thing desired is that the major political parties must discuss mid and long-term political reform plans before each election and pledge to carry those out after the election regardless of the party in power.

He said the civic group proposed by Dr Yunus may watch whether parties are living up to their promises or not. If these are systemised, he said Bangladesh's democracy should make remarkable progress through several elections.

Horiguchi said the international community, which wants Bangladesh to develop further, may promote this kind of mid and long-term political reforms, not confined only to encouraging free and fair elections.

Through the process Bangladesh will obtain greater influence in international affairs and bring favourable results from its negotiations with foreign countries with stronger bargaining power, he said.

Furthermore, Bangladesh will be requested to play a significant role in settling political disputes, including nuclear weapons control, and in promoting social and economic development in South Asia, he added.

"I believe that Bangladesh has the potential to do so and that it should make the first step towards that end."

The outgoing Japanese ambassador said the biggest challenge of development in Bangladesh is to improve its governance, including elimination of corruption, strengthening of implementation abilities and improving local government systems.

The governance issue was taken up as one of the core issues by Japan's Country Assistance Programme and the Joint Strategy Note for Development by the four donors, he said.

Horiguchi said Japan will support the improvement of local government system by promoting decentralisation and empowerment of the community people.

Turning to law and order, he said the situation has improved remarkably after it had once deteriorated to a critical point. Lauding the arrest of top JMB leaders, he requested the government to bring all the JMB suspects to trial under due process of law and to expedite the process.

The ambassador highly praised the progress in economic sector, especially in export, investment areas, and expansion of infrastructure. However, he said there are many mid and long-term challenges ahead including basic infrastructure such as electricity and water supply and streamlining of regulations and procedures.

On Japan-Bangladesh relations, he said Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in last July affirmed consolidation of economic relations between the two countries.