Bangladesh’s socio-economic development a miracle: Japanese vice-minister

A Japanese minister has said the socio-economic development of Bangladesh in the last decade has been a miracle but also raised a number of investment issues here.

Honda Taro, parliamentary vice-minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, said Bangladesh's rapid economic growth and the potential attractiveness of its market have spurred Japanese companies to enter and invest in Bangladesh.

The amount of investment from Japan has more than tripled in the past 10 years, he said during the opening session of International Investment Summit Bangladesh 2021 organised by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority today.

He said at the same time, as Japanese companies advance into Bangladesh, some investment issues have become apparent.

"These include delays in customs clearance, various taxations, restrictions on the telegraphic transfer of import payments, discrimination of export incentives between domestic and foreign companies, and needs to improve the environment in EPZs and SEZs," said Taro in a special message to the summit.

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh, Naoki Ito read it out. 

Honda Taro said he hopes that through the opportunity of this investment summit and the framework of the Public-Private Economic Dialogue, Japan and Bangladesh, in cooperation with the public and private sectors, will resolve these investment issues.

Japan is supporting some of the large-scale projects such as Dhaka Metro Rail, new Dhaka Airport Terminal, and Matabari Deep Sea Port.

Taro said Japan will continue to cooperate with Bangladesh as a partner in promoting a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific".

"The importance of our relationship is now growing not only bilaterally, but also in Asia and the Indo-Pacific region as a whole. Through opportunities like today's summit, we hope to further deepen the relationship between our two countries."

Japan will always stand by Bangladesh and continue cooperation for the further development of Bangladesh in future, Taro added.