Infrastructure will no longer be bottlenecks for Japanese investors: Japanese ambassador

Within five years, Bangladesh will show rapid infrastructure developments and infrastructure will no longer be bottlenecks for Japanese investors, said Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki.

"The investment climate and availability of human resources has expanded greatly, and the country's strategic geographical location is great…The previous difficulties of doing business in Bangladesh have reduced," Ito said at a virtual event titled "Showcase Bangladesh 2021: Bangladesh-Japan Investment Summit".

Addressing the event jointly organised by Standard Chartered and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida), Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said, "Our goal is to create a knowledge-based economy. One of the main avenues we want to improve is the ICT sector of our country. It is proliferating every sphere of commerce and society, and is a key component for further progress.

"Japan has always been our trustworthy developmental partner. They have endorsed nearly 16 billion funds for several infrastructural development projects. We greatly appreciate their support, and we are expecting a new wave of forthcoming ventures soon."

At the event, public and private sector leaders of Bangladesh and Japan discussed the long-standing relationship between the two nations, and the shared opportunities that exist.

The virtual forum showcased the partnership potential between Bangladesh and Japan. It highlighted the strategic opportunities for Japanese investments, high-potential investment sectors in Bangladesh, and Bangladesh's initiatives to foster foreign investments. Delegates representing public and private sectors, policymakers, investors, bankers and the diplomatic communities of both nations were in attendance.

Salman F Rahman, private sector industry and investment adviser to the prime minister, attended the virtual summit as the guest of honour while Md Sirazul Islam, executive chairman of Bida, delivered the keynote speech.

Bangladeshi Ambassador to Japan Shahabuddin Ahmed, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) Chief Representative Yuho Hayakawa, Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Country representative Yuji Ando, JBCCI Vice Chair Shariful Alam, and Mitsubishi Corporation Dhaka Office General Manager Myung-Ho Lee also attended the event.

Salman F Rahman said, "In the post-pandemic age, the supply chain reliability and sustainability has become important and we have to take advantage of the supply chain network diversification. To make this change easier we need to make taka convertible, otherwise we will continue to have issues with foreign exchange. Standard Chartered can play a role in matchmaking between Japanese investors and Bangladeshi companies. We shouldn't be complacent but continue to aim higher for a closer relationship."

Bida Executive Chairman Sirazul Islam said, "Bangladesh has sustained 7% growth in the last decade, and we are confident enough to chase higher GDP growth targets. There are over 300 Japanese companies in our country, and more are willing to expand."

"Currently, Japan and Bangladesh are on very good terms. Japan contributes to 2% of the FDI stock, but we want this to be much higher. Bida is ready to provide full support to Japanese companies to accelerate the innovation and expertise that is required to create our own success story of development," he added.

Bangladeshi Ambassador to Japan Shahabuddin Ahmed said, "Despite the restrictions caused by Covid-19, we have noticed increasing interest by Japanese businesses in FDI. Consistent economic growth, a strategic geographical location, increasing interregional and global remittance, a young and skilled workforce, competitive labour costs, infrastructures, policy supports such as fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to investors are just some of the few factors that attract Japanese investors to Bangladesh."

Speaking about sustainability and climate change in the Bangladeshi industry, Jica Chief Representative Yuho Hayakawa, said, "In terms of energy, a stable supply of power must be ensured while fully taking into account the attendant environmental concerns. Before integrating new technology, economic and financial feasibility must be considered carefully as well.

"At present, Jica is partnering with Bangladesh Bank to provide financial support in energy efficiency so we can mobilise greater levels of private sector finance. Continuous framework and dialogue development between the private sector and the government can also be a great catalyst. Providing efficient, transparent and investor-friendly conditions is important. The Bangladeshi government is very visionary, seeing climate change not only as a threat but an opportunity and tries to respond to climate change from a long-term view – the climate prosperity plan is an important example of this."

Standard Chartered and Bida formed a partnership in January 2021 to jointly promote Bangladesh as a preferred investment destination and work together to bring in targeted global investments to the country.