Chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus is set to pay his first official visit to Japan in May 28-31, expecting a deal on around $1 billion in budget support for Bangladesh besides his other engagements in boosting bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
The chief adviser will attend the Nikkei Forum in Tokyo and hold bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba respectively on May 29 and May 30.
鈥楥hief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus is going to Japan on May 28 on a four-day official visit to join the 30th Nikkei Forum Future of Asia in Tokyo鈥uring his visit, we are expecting an agreement on budget support of around $1 billion,鈥� acting foreign secretary Md Ruhul Alam Siddique told a curtain-raiser press briefing at his Segun Bagicha office in Dhaka on Monday.
He said that seven memorandums of understanding were expected to be signed during the visit, covering energy cooperation, human resource development, manpower export and the establishment of special economic zones.
He said that the chief adviser鈥檚 visit to Japan was mainly focused on budget support for the country and more investments from Japan, being the oldest development partner of Bangladesh.
Asked about the possibility of the signing of any deal on the budget support during the visit of Professor Yunus as sought by Bangladesh, Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh Saida Shinichi said that they were eagerly working on it.
Talking to a group of journalists at his residence in Dhaka later on the day, the diplomat said that they could not disclose the amount of any such support before their cabinet takes any decisions.
He, however, said that the visit would reassure the strategic partnership between the two countries.
鈥楽ome MoUs would be signed during the visit,鈥� Saida said and added that the businesses in Japan were interested in investing here in any situation irrespective of political events.
He said that they were expecting new projects in railways and highways with support from Japan.
About Japan鈥檚 position on the Rohingya crisis, he said that Japan supported Bangladesh鈥檚 humanitarian efforts for the forcibly displaced people from Myanmar.
Bangladesh has sought $1 billion from Japan as budgetary support in the form of 鈥榮oft loan鈥�, according to officials.
Acting foreign secretary Ruhul Alam said that Japan was now interested in recruiting skilled manpower from Bangladesh in various categories and there was a demand for caregivers in particular. 聽聽
About the nature of budget support, the director general of the East Asia and Pacific Wing at the foreign ministry Mohammed Nore-Alam said that Japan had agreed to provide the budget support as a 鈥榮oft loan鈥� and an 鈥榚xchange note鈥� was expected to be signed during the chief adviser鈥檚 visit.
The amount of the budget support would be one billion dollar or nearly one billion dollar, he added.
鈥楾he formal announcement of the soft loan is expected after the bilateral talks in Tokyo,鈥� the acting foreign secretary said.
He said that Japan was now shifting grants to other formats in providing financial assistance.
Professor Yunus would deliver a keynote speech on 鈥楢sia鈥檚 Challenge in Turbulent World鈥� in a plenary session of the Nikkei Forum on May 29, the acting secretary said.
The chief adviser was invited to the forum by Japanese parliamentary vice-minister for foreign affairs Ikuina Akiko earlier this year.
Highlighting the significance of the visit, Ruhul Alam said that discussions would include a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues, including trade and investment, political and economic cooperation, security, regional and global developments and the Rohingya crisis as well.
