Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Friday sought the support of Japanese companies to build the New Bangladesh that he aimed for and urged them to invest more in the country.
He made the call during a roundtable discussion in Tokyo on the third day of his ongoing visit to Japan, where some top executives of Japanese companies with significant business interests in Bangladesh. “Wonderful to see you all; it is something that reassures us,” said the Chief Adviser.
“In the last 10 months we were building things piece by piece; that’s where Japan’s support was extremely helpful,” he said.
The Chief Adviser said that Bangladesh got a “sign of life” with the departure of the autocratic regime and sought a “ breathing space” to fix the mess.
“Today we are in a situation when we need your support most. Our commitment is to create a new Bangladesh. We want to keep a distance from old Bangladesh,” he said.
Yunus said that the shortcomings that Bangladesh had now would soon be over. “We hope that will be a matter of the past. This is the greatest opportunity the nation has. We have all had the terrible experience, and we want to keep it a thing of the past,” he said.
Norihiko Ishiguro, JETRO Chairman & CEO, in his opening remarks at the event, said Bangladesh has seen remarkable growth and investment opportunities in recent years.
Fumiya Kokubu, Chairman of the Japan Bangladesh Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation (JBCCEC) and Director, Member of the Board, and Executive Corporate Advisor, Marubeni Corporation, said 85 per cent of Japanese companies having business in Bangladesh hope the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) would be signed this year. He also expected a reform in tax regulations.
Shinichi Saida, Ambassador of Japan in Bangladesh, said the most significant item that the Interim Government protected was the economy; no project was halted, and no businesses were suspended.
Shingo Ueno, CEO of Sumitomo Corporation; Mitsuru Izumo, CEO of Euglena Co., Ltd; Steven Winn, Chief Global Strategist of JERA; Kazunori Ogawa, Senior Managing Director of JBIC; Shigeyoshi Onoda, President of ONODA Inc.; Kazuya Nakajo, Executive Vice President of JETRO; and Mayumi Murayama, Executive Vice President of IDE-JETRO, spoke, among others, in the roundtable discussion.
Lutfey Siddiqi, chief adviser’s envoy for International affairs, delivered the concluding statement.