DHAKA: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived at Dhaka on Saturday noon on a two-day official visit. Issues of investment and infrastructure development will be on focus during the visit.
Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina received her Japanese counterpart at Shahjalal International Airport. Abe was given a guard of honor and greeted with flowers.
A special fight, carrying Abe along with his 150 entourage members, landed at 12: 50pm.
From airport, he will go to the national martyrs’ memorial at Savar, from where he will come to the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi.
Then, Abe will deliver a lecture at a Japan-Bangladesh Economic Forum programme at Pan Pacific Sonargoan Hotel.
He will then go to the prime minister’s office for the summit meeting, to be held between two premiers at 4:00pm and then both leaders will sign a joint statement.
Singapore-based Channel NewsAsia reports, speaking to reporters before leaving Tokyo, Abe noted he was the first Japanese premier to visit Bangladesh in 14 years and Sri Lanka in 24 years. He called Bangladesh and Sri Lanka "countries with a growing influence in economic and political domains".
"I hope to introduce the dynamism of both countries to Japan's economy by strengthening relations with them and engaging in top-level sales activities," said Abe, who is accompanied by 50 top Japanese corporate executives.
Foreign ministry sources said Japan could make commitments of around $6 billion for the next five years. The money would cover development plan for southern Chittagong and Cox's Bazar and the expansion of Matarbari deep sea port.
This visit is taking place within three months of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Japan in May this year. But, it is first visit to Bangladesh by a Japanese PM in 14 years since the then Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori visited Bangladesh in 2000.
During the tour, the two countries will discuss several bilateral and regional issues as well as to give support for Japan's candidacy for a 2016-2017 non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council (UNSC), to be held at the 70th session of UN General Council on October 2015.
Besides, the Japanese Prime Minister will address the Bangladesh-Japan Economic Forum jointly organized by Bangladesh Board of Investment (BoI), Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
During the visit, Japanese Prime Minister will meet President M Abdul Hamid and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Raushon Ershad. However, there is no schedule for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
BDST: 1312 HRS, SEP 06, 2014
