Jica is One of Bangladesh’s Most Trusted Development Partners: BFSA Chairman Md Safiqul Islam
Md Safiqul Islam, Chairman (Additional Secretary) of the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) stated, Jica is one of Bangladesh’s most trusted development partner. He made this remark on November 3, 2026, at the Final Result Sharing Workshop and Experience Sharing Event of the STIRC Project.
The project was implemented with technical assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to strengthen BFSA’s inspection, control, and coordination activities.
Speaking as the chief guest, he said, ”JICA is one of the most trusted development partners of Bangladesh. For a long time, Japan has been working as one of our most reliable friends. The STIRC project, implemented with JICA’s technical support, has played a vital role in enhancing the capacity, skill development, and awareness of the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority.”
In his speech at the BFSA training room, he added, ”The achievements of this project will serve as an important foundation for building a strong, science-based, and integrated food safety system in Bangladesh. At the same time, this initiative will contribute to ensuring safe food at all levels across the country through the collective participation of relevant government institutions, the food industry, and the public.”
Representing JICA, the speaker highlighted the significance of long-standing cooperation with BFSA in strengthening Bangladesh’s food safety framework. Ms. SHOJI Izumi, Senior Representative of JICA Bangladesh, stated, ”Ensuring food safety is not merely a technical matter; it is closely linked to public health protection, public trust, and the country’s economic development.” She also expressed gratitude to BFSA for making Japan a partner in its journey. It is worth noting that since 2019, as part of JICA’s technical assistance to BFSA, the STIRC project has worked to develop the institutional and technical capacity of the country’s food safety system. Key objectives of the project included improving administrative procedures related to food safety, strengthening food inspection and sample collection, enhancing laboratory operations, raising public awareness, and building the capacity of relevant officials.
Under this project, support was provided to establish mini-laboratories in 18 district food safety offices. Additionally, technical assistance was provided for operating laboratory activities across 64 district offices and 8 metropolitan offices. Consequently, opportunities were created to enhance field-level capacity for food testing, sample analysis, and identifying food safety risks.
Furthermore, various aspects of the regulatory system were reviewed to identify existing limitations in food safety laws, rules, standards, and implementation processes. Training programs were conducted for food safety officers on inspection procedures, sample collectors on sampling, and laboratory staff on testing skills.
The project implemented several innovative initiatives to raise public awareness. These included safe food and hygiene training for primary school students, training for university students and canteen staff, Training of Trainers for sweetmeat manufacturers, and training for personnel and management in hotels, restaurants, and bakeries.
In addition, training videos on GMP and Japanese 5S-Kaizen methods, training manuals for food business operators, inspection checklists and guidelines for food establishments, and social media awareness campaigns using digital marketing strategies were successfully executed.
The workshop was chaired by Srabasti Roy, Secretary of BFSA and Project Director (Joint Secretary) of the STIRC Project.
Representatives from the Ministry of Food, senior officials of BFSA, STIRC project officers, food business representatives, development partners, and non-governmental organization delegates attended the event.
