As the first memorandum of cooperation (MoC) expired on June 15 last, Bangladesh and Japan have renewed the agreement on working under the public private partnership (PPP) initiatives, creating a scope for more Japanese investment in Bangladesh in the coming years.
The Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) of Bangladesh and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan signed the deal in Japan on October 5 to facilitate investment under government-to-government (G2G) arrangements.
Official sources said the renewed MoC has given specific focus on four sectors - Civil Aviation, Road, Rail and Water - along with looking for new potential sectors due to some visible progress made under such an agreement during the last five years.
Besides, the MoC has allowed the working group of the two government agencies to take decisions on making forward the projects that have made progress without holding the joint platform meeting of the two countries.
The PPPA and MLIT have so far held four joint platform meetings until February 2021, creating a scope of investment worth US$ 7.0 billion.
According to the PPPA, the renewed MoC was signed at a ceremony at the Bangabandhu Auditorium of the Embassy of Bangladesh in Tokyo on October 5.
Japan's Vice Minister for MLIT Hayashi Toshiyuki and CEO of PPPA Muhammad Ibrahim signed it on behalf of their respective sides.
Japan's State Minister for MLIT Iishi Hiroo and Bangladesh Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus and Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan Shahabuddin Ahmed were present at the event.
Before the signing ceremony, a day-long discussion and evaluation session on the first MoC took place at the MLIT.
Dr Kaikaus led the Bangladesh delegation in the session while Mr Toshiyuki led the Japanese side.
Other members of the Bangladesh delegation were Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md Mokammel Hossain, Roads and Highways Division Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, Railways Secretary Md Humayun Kabir, Additional Secretary of ERD Shahriar Kader Siddiky and Chattogram WASA Managing Director AKM Fazlullah.
They were supported by the officials concerned of the respective directorates and authorities.
Since signing of the first MoC, the PPPA and MILT selected six projects during the joint platform meetings, but later dropped two for not getting reliable private partners from Japan.
At present, Bangladesh Railway is working with Kajima Corporation on setting up of a multimodal transportation hub at Kamalapur Station while Roads and Highways Department with Marubeni Corporation on the development of Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway widening project.
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