Bangladesh to seek $1.0b in budget support

Bangladesh will seek one-billion-dollar budget support from Japan during the Chief Adviser's upcoming visit, which will also yield some bilateral cooperation accords, officials said.

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to visit Tokyo on May 28-31, with these matters high on agenda, the foreign adviser told The Financial Express Sunday.

Officials of the ministry have said both the countries have agreed to sign 7 MoUs during the visit of the head of interim government.

"One will be signed on energy cooperation, two of them will be signed with BIDA, two with the Special Economic Zones Authority, and two will be business-to-business MoU," said a high official of the ministry.

"We will also seek one billion US dollars from the Japan government," he said, adding that Japan was yet to disclose their position in this regard.

"We are expecting a substantial amount," he said about the latest in a hunt for foreign funds to bankroll national budget and development recipe it carries. Bangladesh will seek enhanced Japanese support through increased Official Development Assistance (ODA), concessional loans, extended loan-repayment periods, and budgetary support to bolster its development initiatives, officials said.

The government will also seek cooperation from Japan in different sectors like infrastructure, shipbuilding, blue economy, trade and investment, and energy during the bilateral meeting scheduled for May 30.

The two Asian nations had previously agreed to ink a deal on defence-equipment technology and training, but on Sunday, Japan requested dropping the deal, saying that they cannot sign it without vetting by parliament.

There will be a proposal for increasing the number of Japanese scholarships for Bangladeshi students.

According to officials, as Japan expressed its intent to step up engagement with Bangladesh under the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (Big-B) initiative, this issue will be focused during the visit.

Japan intends to promote high-quality infrastructure projects and to encourage Japanese manufacturing and production companies to expand their value chains into Bangladesh under this initiative, said officials of the foreign ministry in Dhaka.

These efforts are aligned with Japan's broader vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific and its commitment to sustainable development of the region, they added.

Bangladesh will also request Japan to extend Duty-Free, Quota-Free (DFQF) market access for Bangladeshi products during the post-LDC graduation period and is expecting a positive result.

Outlining key areas of cooperation, officials said human-resource development, energy transition through a joint crediting mechanism, climate- change adaptation, earthquake management, and collaboration on Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP), Treatment Storage and Disposal Facilities (TSDF), solar-power projects, and modernisation of shipyards.

The repatriation of Rohingyas and humanitarian support for them in Cox's Bazar will also be on the table.

mirmostafiz@yahoo.com