Japanese envoy calls on foreign minister

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh IWAMA Kiminori paid his maiden call on Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud at the foreign ministry on Wednesday afternoon.

During the meeting, the envoy handed over the original Letter of Congratulation that the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Kamikawa Yoko had sent to her Bangladesh counterpart, according to a foreign ministry press release.

Yoko congratulated Hasan and reiterated Japan's commitment to continue the development activities in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's foreign minister acknowledged the invaluable contribution of Japan to Bangladesh's development.

He recalled the high impression of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Japan's development achievements and wanted to follow this process to bring about development in Bangladesh.

He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government would like to strengthen collaboration with Japan to achieve mutual benefits for our two nations.

The envoy referred to the already completed plant of the Matarbari Power Station and said the second plant will be completed this year. He also mentioned that the road project from Chattogram to Matarbari will be completed in due course.

Hasan expressed his satisfaction with gradually increasing Japanese investments in Bangladesh. He said there is huge scope to increase this investment in the exclusive economic zones including that of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Shilpa Nagar in Chattogram.

He referred to the prospective Economic Partnership Agreement and said Bangladesh would like to complete the process as early as possible.

The foreign minister acknowledged the state-of-the-art technology at the Terminal-3 of HSIA, Dhaka which is due to be operational this year.

He referred to the Japanese assistance in constructing Terminal-1 of the Shah Amanat International Airport, Chattogram in the 90s and proposed that Japan could go for constructing Terminal-2 in the airport.

Hasan stressed the need to have more regional connectivity to have mutual benefit and said Japan can play an important role in this regard.

The foreign minister thanked Japan for continuous assistance to the Rohingya refugees who came from Myanmar. He referred to the pressure to host about 1.2 million FDMN to Bangladesh for such a long time whereas the international assistance has significantly decreased over time.

He reiterated the need to repatriate them to their home in Myanmar as early as possible.

/KN/