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Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi today (July 23) said that Japan wants to make investment in the mega projects of Bangladesh.
He also said that Japan has expressed its keen interest in staying besides Bangladesh through enhancing trade and investment to materialize the dream of building a developed, prosperous and 'Smart Bangladesh' by 2041.
The Commerce Minister said this while briefing reporters after holding a meeting with Yasutoshi Nishimura, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister of Japan, at a city hotel.
Mentioning that Japan had long been a development partner of Bangladesh, Tipu said that Japan has already made investments in mega projects in Bangladesh and would continue to do so in the future also.
During the meeting, they also stressed exploring potential sectors of investment through increasing communication between the businesses of the two countries.
The Commerce Minister informed that work on signing an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the two countries is going on to take the Japan-Bangladesh trade relations to a new height.
He said the first round of negotiations had already been held in Japan while the 2nd round would be held in Dhaka on July 25-26. "Both countries have agreed to sign this agreement very soon," he added.
Tipu said through signing of the EPA, it would be possible to resolve the barriers and problems of investments by Japanese firms while the business environment would be improved further, resulting in increased industrial production as well as the attraction of investment.
He said that they also discussed the continuation of duty-free and quota-free access to Bangladeshi products in the market in Japan beyond the LDC graduation in 2026.
The Commerce Minister said they discussed how to work together on various fronts over the next 50 years alongside boosting bilateral trade and commerce.
Answering a question, Tipu said that the prices of those essential commodities witness an uptrend and downtrend in the local market which is very much related to the international market price. "This has impacted the price of edible oil, but the government has already reduced its price twice,"
Replying to another question, he said that the government always takes action against unholy businesses while the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) has been continuing its drives across the country to monitor the market. Besides, the government has also enacted necessary laws to bring to book the hoarders of the consumers and essential items, he added.
Commerce Ministry senior secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh and other high officials were present.
Earlier, the Commerce Minister spoke as the special guest at the inaugural summit on "Bangladesh-Japan Economic Relations for The Next 50 Years: For the Industry Upgradation of Bangladesh" held at a Dhaka city hotel.