PM assures investors of full security

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday reassured Japanese investors that the door of Bangladesh is open for them as she said some recent incidents would not frustrate the investment climate.

Addressing a breakfast meeting with Japanese business leaders in Tokyo, the premier also urged them to invest in various sectors by taking advantages of huge youthful workforce and emerging opportunities in Bangladesh.

"Let me again assure you: my door is open for you .... I want our Japanese friends to take advantage of our youthful workforce and emerging opportunities in Bangladesh," she said.

In this connection, Hasina informed the leaders that she has instructed the authorities concerned to ensure the highest possible security for the Japanese individuals and installations operating in Bangladesh.

"You surely are pondering about safety and security of investors and foreign nationals because of some incidents in Bangladesh in recent times ... I would assure you that my government has a zero tolerance towards any form of terrorism or extremism," she said.

The PM also highlighted the scopes for effective collaboration between Bangladesh and Japan in various sectors.

"The readymade garment and agricultural sectors as well as developing industries, infrastructure and collaboration in energy, water resources and waste management are major explorable areas," she said.

As the Japanese society moves into a "robotic evolution", she said, Bangladesh economy will have much to collaborate in areas like “imaginative software”, “shared/cloud-based processing” and, evolving generic computing architecture.

"Our pharmaceutical and shipbuilding sectors are new frontiers that may interest you . . . our 'Blue Economy' offers a large menu of opportunities."

Referring to her conversation with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Japanese Revitalisation Strategy and the Partnership for Quality Infrastructure, Hasina said Bangladesh's young population, their skills and innovation, country's strategic location, development ambition and industrialisation plans can complement Japan's revitalisation plan.

Pointing out that Bangladesh is basically opening up new production possibility frontiers, the PM said her government has planned to establish 100 Special Economic Zones and several IT Parks. "The work on 33 of those is already in progress," she said.

In four years' time, she said, the government expects to have additional 10 million of Bangladesh population in industrial manufacturing.

On this front, she added, Japan remains one of Bangladesh's most tested friends and the people of Bangladesh hold Japanese investors in high esteem for work ethic.