Bangladesh, Japan sign six MoUs

Japan and Bangladesh on Friday signed six Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on economic, investment and other cooperation, reports BSS.

The instruments were signed on the third day of ongoing visit of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus to Japan.

Prof Yunus witnessed the signing of the MoUs on the sidelines of a seminar titled “Bangladesh Business Seminar” in Tokyo.

The first MoU signed between Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry of Bangladesh to strengthen cooperation between JBIC and Bangladesh to realise projects in the energy sector.

The second MoU was signed between ONODA Inc and Bangladesh SEZ Ltd for a land lease contract of BSEZ.

ONODA has implemented a gas meter installation project initiated by JICA and is planning to do new assembly manufacturing, inspection and maintenance of gas meters at the factory in BSEZ.

The third MoU was inked between Bangladesh Naxis Co. Ltd and Bangladesh SEZ Ltd for a land lease contract of BSEZ.

Bangladesh SEZ Ltd. (BSEZ) and Bangladesh Naxis Co. Ltd (Naxis) will sign a land sublease agreement. Naxis plans to manufacture apparel accessories at the factory in BSEZ.

The fourth MoU involved Glagit and Musashi Seimitsu Industry Glafit and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) on support for setting up a factory for battery-run cycles and an electric motorcycle manufacturing plant.

The fifth MoU involves Cipher Core Co. Ltd, which is investing $20 million in its Bangladesh venture to launch a national pilot project for information security based on Complete Cipher Technology by award-winning inventor Takatoshi Nakamura.

The project aims to make Bangladesh a quantum-resilient digital economy, with exclusive rights granted to the local entity for technology deployment and global expansion.

The sixth MoU signed between the Japan International Cooperation Agency and BIDA under which JICA will provide technical and in-kind support for the early-stage development of the Integrated Single Window Platform (ISWP).

This platform is a BIDA-led effort to consolidate the individual one-stop services currently operated by various investment promotion agencies across Bangladesh.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus congratulated all parties involved.

“Now it is our task to implement,” he said.

Mentioning the situation Bangladesh faced in the past 16 years, the Chief Adviser said during this period nothing was left in shape.

“In this situation a good friend came up… and that friend is Japan. I came here to thank you and design the next step,” he said.

Calling the challenge historical, the Chief Adviser said, “We want to show the history that it was done, done in a perfect way.”

“Let’s put our hands together and execute it… it’s not about making money. It’s about changing people’s lives,” he said.

Shinji Takeuchi, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan noted at the event that the number of Japanese companies operating in Bangladesh exceeds now 300, three to fourth time higher than 10 years ago.

Norihiko Ishiguro, Chairman and CEO of Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) delivered the welcome speech where Fumiya Kokubu, Chairman of Japan Bangladesh Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation (JBCCEC) and Director, Member of the Board, Executive Corporate Advisor, Marubeni Corporation, also spoke on the occasion.