‘Discussions on to provide budget support to BD’

Staff Reporter :
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki on Thursday said that discussions are going on regarding the possible budget support by Japan to Bangladesh.
“We are yet to take the final decision on providing budget support for Bangladesh. But discussion is underway and hope a good decision will be taken in this regard,” he said this while talking to journalists after paying a farewell call on Planning Minister MA Mannan at the latter’s office in the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
The Japanese envoy said they also discussed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to Japan.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to pay an official visit to Japan from November 29 to December 1 at the invitation of her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
Commenting on his stay in Bangladesh, Naoki said, “I had a wonderful time in Bangladesh for three years. I was touched with many mega projects. Among them, Metrorail Line-6 will be inaugurated in December. This is a milestone project. Besides, several other projects including Matarbari power project and airport expansion are being implemented,” said Ito Naoki.
He also said that Bangladesh is passing 50 years relations with Japan.
Bangladesh has made a lot of progress and Prime Minister’s visit to Japan will strengthen the relations between the two countries further, he observed.
“We keep working with the expectation that the Bangladesh-Japan relations will be strengthened through the upcoming prime ministers-level meeting. This visit will hopefully benefit the common people of the two countries,” he continued.
In response to a question, Naoki said, “I have not met the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam.”
In a Facebook post on Wednesday Shahriar Alam said that the foreign ministry summoned the Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka to convey the government’s message for his recent comment about ‘stuffing ballot boxes’ on the night before the last parliamentary polls.
BSS adds: Turning to the macroeconomic situation of Bangladesh, the Japanese Ambassador said that the macroeconomic management of Bangladesh is much better while the country has tackled successfully the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also noted that the Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar is being developed as an industrial corridor.
Replying to a question, Naoki said that the current economic challenges during this global situation are not only for Bangladesh, but also for the entire world.
“But, the capacity of Bangladesh in this regard is much higher and hopefully Bangladesh will be able to overcome this situation,” he added.
Planning Minister MA Mannan said that Japan is a trusted and friendly nation of Bangladesh and the country attaches higher importance to its relationship with Bangladesh.
He said that Japan is giving due importance to the upcoming tour of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Japan.
Regarding the budget support, Mannan said that they have already approached Japan over the budget support.
“They (Japan) are considering our demands and hopefully we’ll get the budget support,” he added.