Prime Minister Tarique Rahman leaves for Japan tonight on a four-day visit, hopes for new momentum in investment and trade
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is travelling to Japan on a four-day official visit at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. He is scheduled to leave Dhaka for Tokyo at 12:10am on Sunday night on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight. This is his first visit to Japan as prime minister.
On 20 October, the two governments formally announced the visit. According to the announcement, the visit will run from 26 to 29 October. The prime minister will be accompanied by his wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman.
The main aims highlighted for the visit are attracting new Japanese investment, expanding bilateral trade and speeding up progress on ongoing development projects. Tokyo hopes the visit will bring new momentum to economic cooperation between the two countries, increase investment and strengthen business confidence further.
On the second day of the visit, 27 October, Tarique Rahman will hold a high-level bilateral meeting with Sanae Takaichi at the Japanese prime minister's office in Tokyo. After the meeting, the Japanese prime minister will host a lunch in honour of the Bangladesh prime minister, Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam said at a news briefing.
The Japanese embassy in Dhaka said it hopes the visit will further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. Regional peace, security and shared prosperity, as well as stronger cooperation to achieve Bangladesh's development goals, will also be discussed. According to the Japanese government, the visit will also create an opportunity to reaffirm shared priorities.
On economic cooperation, the economic section of the Japanese embassy said investor confidence in Bangladesh is growing because of the new government's business-friendly policies. Japan is giving special importance to improving the investment environment, expanding cooperation in infrastructure, and building human resources and institutional capacity.
During the visit, the prime minister will deliver the keynote speech at the Japan-Bangladesh Economic Forum. He will also discuss investment opportunities, trade expansion and industrial cooperation in a meeting with Japan's top business leaders.
The possible programme includes meetings with representatives of the Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship League and the Japan-Bangladesh Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation. Meetings are also planned with the president of JICA, the president of JETRO, the governor of JBIC and the chairman of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
Visits and inspections are also a significant part of the programme. They include a liquefied natural gas terminal and power plant in Futtsu city in Chiba prefecture, the headquarters of Uniqlo, and a Toyota factory in Nagoya city.
The foreign secretary said memorandums of understanding may be signed or new cooperation announced during the visit in fields including agriculture, fisheries, human resource development, skills development, civil aviation, trade, environmental conservation and modernisation of the local government system. In line with the prime minister's priorities, detailed talks are also expected on Japanese cooperation in setting up factories in Bangladesh, creating jobs and developing human resources.
Also on the discussion list are effective implementation of the Bangladesh-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, or EPA, signed in February 2026, and ways to increase access for Bangladeshi products to the Japanese market. Alongside bilateral economic issues, a sustainable and peaceful solution to the Rohingya crisis and stronger cooperation to tackle the energy crisis may also be discussed.
Japan has been one of Bangladesh's main development partners since independence. Japan has made important contributions to several major infrastructure projects, including Dhaka's metro rail, the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and the Matarbari development project. The two countries hope this visit will take forward the Bangladesh-Japan strategic partnership established in 2023 and add new momentum to investment, trade, infrastructure, technology transfer and human resource development.
