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Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka Ito Naoki said Tokyo will continue to support Bangladesh’s development as it directly leads to the overall stability of the Bay of Bengal and Indo-Pacific region.
“Ongoing deep-sea port construction in Matarbari, are essential for the development of Bangladeshi industries and will symbolise the future of Bangladesh once they are completed,” he said in a statement marking his one-year stay in Dhaka as the Japanese envoy.
He also expressed his keenness to work further on improving the business environment here to make the trade and investment between Japan and Bangladesh more robust.
“I would like to continue to devote myself to further deepen mutual understanding and exchanges of people between Japan and Bangladesh,” Ito said.
In the statement the envoy also mentioned various developments in the bilateral relations of the two countries in one year that included high-level exchanges and dialogues in a wide range of areas.
He recalled the President Abdul Hamid’s visit to Japan for attending the enthronement ceremony of Japanese new Emperor Naruhito and teleconference between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with her the then Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in last one year.
Mentioning that COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting economic activities and cultural exchanges between the two countries, he said, “Even during this challenging time, Japan has been supporting Bangladesh in its fight against the pandemic”.
The ambassador said Japanese government signed to provide Bangladesh government with the COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Budget Support Loan for JPY 35 billion (Approximately USD 330 million) in August.
In addition, Japan provided medical equipment for healthcare sectors as well as emergency support through international organisations, he added.
Besides, he said, the year 2020 was remarkable in terms of Official Development Assistance (ODA) from Japan to Bangladesh, as the largest ever annual ODA loan package of JPY 338 billion (approximately USD 3.2 billion) was signed in August.