PM Tarique Rahman to Japanese investors: turn a long friendship into a stronger partnership

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman told new investors from Japanese businesses that Japan stood beside Bangladesh when the country was building the foundations of its development. He invited Japanese investors to build Bangladesh's industrial sector, create new jobs and opportunities, and move forward together.

He said the goal was clear: to turn a long friendship into a stronger partnership, create mutual opportunities for the people and businesses of both countries, and ensure the prosperity of both nations.

The forum was held on Wednesday at 5:30pm local time, jointly organised by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the Japan-Bangladesh Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation (JBCCEC). The prime minister gave a written address at the forum.

In his written address, he said Japan holds a special place in the hearts of the people of Bangladesh. Peace-loving Japan was among the first countries to recognise Bangladesh after its independence in 1971. Since then, Japan has remained one of Bangladesh's most important bilateral development partners. He expressed sincere gratitude for Japan's long friendship and cooperation.

The prime minister said he wanted to talk about partnership and cooperation for the next 30 to 50 years. The country has a huge market of more than 180 million people. The population's median age is only 27, and there is a young and trainable workforce.

He said about 40,000 to 50,000 students graduate in engineering in Bangladesh every year. By 2030, Bangladesh is expected to become the world's ninth-largest consumer economy. With the growing affluent middle class, annual GDP is expected to exceed 1 trillion US dollars by 2034.

The prime minister said Bangladesh and Japan signed an economic partnership agreement this year to strengthen trade and investment relations. It is the first agreement of its kind that Bangladesh has concluded with any country.

He said the Bangladesh-Japan partnership began through development cooperation. Now, he said, the time has come to take the relationship to a higher level through economic cooperation, trade and investment. Under the recently signed economic cooperation framework agreement, 7,379 Bangladeshi products will be able to enter the Japanese market duty-free. Similarly, Japanese products including steel, motor vehicle parts and electronic components will enjoy preferential market access in Bangladesh.

He also said investors in both countries would benefit from recently introduced simpler and more progressive rules on investment, services and customs processes. He noted that Bangladesh sincerely welcomes new investment from Japanese businesses.

On education, the prime minister said an initiative to teach Japanese to Bangladeshi students is beginning and is one of the main priorities. He spoke of a future in which hundreds of thousands of young Bangladeshis learn Japanese, speak the language and help deepen Bangladesh-Japan relations.

On energy, he said reliable and affordable energy is essential for any country's economic growth. Ensuring energy security for Bangladesh's future is not optional, it is an essential need. Japanese companies were welcomed to explore possibilities to meet Bangladesh's future energy demand and to take part in energy infrastructure, efficient power generation and renewable energy projects.

On technology and space cooperation, Tarique Rahman said Bangladesh plans to establish a Bangladesh-Japan technology park. Its aim will be to build an innovation-driven IT park centred on artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, robotics and electronics manufacturing. Japanese companies, universities and investors will be involved in the initiative. He said there is also great potential for space technology cooperation; Bangladesh is keen to strengthen its space-related capability and, recognising Japan's advanced capability and extensive experience in space science, technology and satellite engineering, is interested in exploring mutually beneficial cooperation with Japanese institutions in this field.

On elevated roads and a high-speed rail network, the prime minister said good connectivity between the country's cities and villages, factories and seaports is essential for a productive economy. The goal is a transport system that connects people to new opportunities and makes goods transport faster and more efficient across the country. With that aim, Bangladesh plans to build a nationwide elevated road network and a high-speed rail system connecting the six main divisional cities.

He said Japan is well known worldwide for infrastructure development projects. Bangladesh therefore expects Japan's cooperation in preparing a master plan for the nationwide elevated highway and rail network. Japan's cooperation in investment and financing for realistic and effective projects afterwards would also be welcomed.