Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to arrive in Bangladesh on September 6 on a two-day visit to Bangladesh with plans for strengthening the bilateral cooperation on top of his agenda focused on a recent joint declaration.
Official sources, confirming the schedule of the Japanese prime minister Monday, said the trip is likely to focus the progress on the joint statement signed by the prime ministers of Bangladesh and Japan last May.
This will be a second visit at Prime Minister's level from Japan to Bangladesh after 2000, a foreign ministry official said, attaching high importance to the tour as the government geared up the groundwork.
The Japanese Prime Minister will be accompanied by his wife, Akie Abe. They will leave for Sri Lanka on conclusion of Dhaka mission.
Official sources said the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considered significant in the 40-year-old diplomatic relationship of the two countries as it is going to take place within three months of the Bangladesh Prime Minister's visit to Japan.
There is a possibility of signing some agreements on visa waiver and technology transfer during the short visit, they added.
During the visit to Japan on May 25-28, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina extended her invitation to her Japanese counterpart to visit Bangladesh at a time of his convenience.
However, the coming visit of the Japanese Prime Minister also has link with the country's effort to mobilise support to Japan's candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC) for 2016-2017.
Kyodo News agency of Japan earlier reported that Abe is expected to discuss Japan's candidacy on the UNSC with the leaders of the two South Asian countries - Bangladesh and Sri Lanka--as only one member-state from the Asia-Pacific region can win a seat.
As Bangladesh has expressed interest in contesting a seat, the agency reported that Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured of announcing the withdrawal of her country's candidacy in UNSC for the 2016-2017 tenure during her press conference in Japan if the Japanese Prime Minister visited Bangladesh.
Foreign Ministry and Economic Relations Division, however, are readying themselves to show progress on the commitment made in the joint statement during the last three months.
"There is significant progress on the joint statement, but the Japanese Prime Minister's visit is to reaffirm the commitment," said one official, preferring not to be named.
He said centering the visit different agencies have been working to formulate, monitor and implement the projects to be funded by Japan as committed by Prime Minister Abe in the statement.
In the joint statement, the Japanese Prime Minister announced providing $6.0 smooth implementation of projects.
Official sources said to work out plan for getting the Japanese yen loan under the official development assistance (ODA), a Japanese mission comprising different government agencies is also likely to visit Bangladesh in the third week of August.
The first meeting of joint Bangladesh-Japan Public-Private Economic Dialogue is also to be held before Abe's visit, aimed at strengthening economic relationship for facilitating Japanese investment.
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