Daisuki Arai, President of JBCCI, Imrul Anwar Liton and Shariful Alam, Vice Presidents, Tareq Rafi Bhuiyan, Secretary General, Akhtaruzzaman, Adviser, Dr. AKM Moazzem Hussain, Honorary Executive Director and other directors of the chamber pose for photo session along with Advocate Md. Jahangir Alam, Mayor of Gazipur City Corporation, at the 9th Networking Gathering Programme of JBCCI held on Saturday. Speakers at a programme on Saturday stressed the need for enhancing interaction with Japanese investors to attract more investments in Bangladesh for its economic development.
Apart from government-level communication, they also said, local businessmen should meet Japanese business community to draw joint-venture investments here.
The observations came at the 9th networking meeting of Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JBCCI) hosted by Kojima Lyric Garments Ltd in the city's Uttara Club.
Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) mayor Md Jahangir Alam attended the programme as the special guest.
JBCCI president Daisuke Arai, its vice-president Imrul Anwar Liton, secretary general Tareq Rafi Bhuiyan, adviser Akhtaruzzaman and Kojima Lyric Garments Ltd chairman Takanori Kojima also spoke at the programme.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Liton, also managing director of Kojima Lyric Garments Ltd, said many underdeveloped countries have been making economic progress with technological and financial support from Japan.
Referring to a long-standing friendship between Japan and Bangladesh, he said Bangladesh can also advance further with more Japanese investments in big infrastructure projects.
He also emphasised the importance of increased communication with the Japanese government and investors to draw more foreign investments in Bangladesh.
GCC mayor Mr Jahangir said Japan has been supporting Bangladesh in many mega development projects including metro rail.
Stating that there are around 7,000 factories and industrial units in Gazipur, he said Japan can increase its technological assistance for these industries.
He also said his administration (GCC) is able to work with the government to ensure safe workplace and free movement of Japanese nationals in Gazipur.
Mentioning increased Japanese investments in the country, Mr Akhtaruzzaman said many of the Japanese companies have come to Bangladesh with big investments in recent times.
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal signed an agreement to establish a steel factory in Mirsarai Economic Zone, Honda is set to sell motorbikes manufactured in its Bangladesh facility, and Japan Tobacco inked a deal with Akij Group to invest over a billion dollar in coming days, he noted.
Japan Tobacco Inc., one of the five largest tobacco companies in the world, on August 6, 2018 acquired Akij Group's tobacco business for $1.47 billion (about Tk 12,430 crore), in what would be the biggest ever single foreign direct investment in Bangladesh. Japan Tobacco would buy shares of Dhaka Tobacco at $1.09 billion and pay $386 million for trademarks and design rights.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
