PM to leave for Japan tonight on four-day visit

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is set to leave for Japan on a four-day visit, hoping to attract investment, expand trade and strengthen development cooperation. It will be his first visit to the country, made at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. He has engagements in Tokyo and other cities from October 26 to 29.

He is scheduled to leave Dhaka at 12:10 am (late Sunday night) on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight. On the second day of the visit, Tuesday (October 27), he is due to hold a bilateral meeting with Takaichi in Tokyo. The meeting is expected to review progress on existing cooperation and discuss ways to broaden economic ties, according to sources.

The prime minister’s schedule extends well beyond the meeting. He will deliver the keynote address at the Japan-Bangladesh Economic Forum and exchange views with leading Japanese business figures. The itinerary also includes visits to an LNG terminal and power plant in Chiba, the headquarters of a nuclear-related organization, and a Toyota plant in Nagoya.

Memorandums of understanding (MoUs) are among the visit’s main highlights. Sources say that although preparations are under way to sign eight MoUs, at least four have been finalized. They are expected to cover cooperation in human resource development and skills training, agriculture, fisheries, civil aviation, trade, environmental conservation, and the modernization of local government.

Diplomatic sources say the main goals of the visit are to increase Japanese investment in Bangladesh, create new jobs and speed up work on ongoing development projects. Infrastructure projects such as the metro rail, as well as the procurement of defense equipment, may also come up. The Rohingya crisis, energy security and regional stability are also expected on the agenda.

Analysts say the visit could take the long-standing friendship between the two countries to a new level and open new avenues for trade, investment and development partnership.