Japan to provide $6bn over next five years as part of the industrial growth initiative

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has praised Bangladesh for its spectacular success in economic and social sectors and lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s dynamic and visionary leadership
 
Japan is the single largest development partner of Bangladesh. The two countries are also engaged for the promotion of peace and prosperity through various bilateral and multilateral mechanisms. Financial and technical assistance from Japan has proved a force multiplier for Bangladesh in advancing its national development agenda. Now recent leaps forward in business relations have led to a rapid growth of trade
and investment.
Development partners
The maiden visit by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the President of an independent country in 1973 set the tone for an influx of official Japanese development assistance for the war-ravaged Bangladesh. This assistance has been focused on key areas including power, roads and bridges, telecommunications, agriculture, health, education, water supply and sanitation, rural development, environment, and human resource development. This flow of development assistance from Japan has never diminished since then. In total Japan has committed more than $12 billion in aid during the last four decades, in the form of grants, loans, and technical assistance.
The historic official visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Japan in May 2014 elevated the bilateral relationship to a level of ‘Comprehensive Partnership’. During the visit, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina noted her appreciation of Japan’s valuable contribution towards the socio-economic and infrastructural development of Bangladesh.
In turn, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe praised Bangladesh for its spectacular success in economic and social sectors and lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s dynamic and visionary leadership in guiding Bangladesh towards becoming a middle-income country by 2021. During the visit, Mr. Abe made an announcement to provide up to 600 billion Yen (approximately $6 billion) to Bangladesh during the next four to five years under the initiative of the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (Belt-B). Mr. Abe paid a return visit to Bangladesh on September 6-7, 2014, within five months of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit
to Japan.
Agents of peace and prosperity
Mr. Abe further reaffirmed that Japan would remain a trusted friend and partner of Bangladesh in promoting peace, stability, and progress at a regional and global level. Currently the two governments are working together to develop a specially designed training facility in Dhaka – the proposed Peace Building Centre. In line with existing initiatives, implemented through the framework of Japan-Bangladesh-UN tripartite training cooperation, these efforts in addition to the Peace Building Centre are focused on capacity building for personnel deployed on UN missions.

For the complete story, check the THE WORLDFOLIO newspaper.