Businesses seek Japan's support to enhance competitiveness

Business leaders and experts here on Saturday sought Japan's support to enhance Bangladesh's competitiveness in manufacturing and international trade to materialise the strategic relation between the two countries.
Hailing the long-term bilateral relations, they also stressed the need for a better understanding of the needs of the two countries and ensuring people-to-people contact.
They made the observations at a roundtable on 'Materialising Japan-Bangladesh Strategic Partnership: Diplomatic, Economic and People-to-People Relations' organised by the Pan-Asia Research Institute (PARI) at the Embassy of Japan in the city's Baridhara area.

The event was organised marking the launching of PARI, a Japan-based multi-modal Asia and Pacific-focused think tank, in Bangladesh.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam attended the programme as the chief guest, while Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka Iwama Kiminori was the special guest and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) president Mahbubul Alam was the guest of honour.
Managing Director of Apex Footwear Limited Syed Nasim Manzur, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Director (local investment promotion) Md Arifur Rahman, PARI President Yuji Ando, its Vice-President Tareq Rafi Bhuiyan Jun and Executive Director Dr Abdullah-Al-Mamun were present at the event among others.
Addressing the meeting, Mr. Shahriar Alam said Japan and Bangladesh have presently more than just a government-to-government or G2G partnership.
"It is growing every passing day, and today it includes C2C (country-to-country), P2P (people-to-people) and B2B (business-to-business) ties," he said, adding that 'most importantly, P2P partnership is playing a vital role'.
From here, the newly-launched think tank PARI can significantly contribute to the improvement of the Japan-Bangladesh relationship, he observed.
He further said that a country's economic health may be determined by its exports, agriculture, and labour force. "Our country being rich in all the three aspects is considered to be a vast market for Japan."
The state minister also sought Japan's cooperation to permanently solve the Rohingya crisis.
Ambassador Iwama Kiminori said that a common dedication to promoting peace and stability in the area and beyond characterises the relationship between Japan and Bangladesh.
To do this, both countries place an emphasis on cooperation, making diplomatic efforts and working together to address regional security concerns, he said.
Taking part at a session on bilateral economic relations, Syed Nasim Manzur said there is a need for exploring ways to transform Bangladesh's manufacturing from comprehensive to strategic for the sake of exports from Bangladesh as the bilateral relations are enhanced from comprehensive to strategic one.
"How can we do that? By Japanese cooperation and partnership in product development, branding and linkage," he said. "There is a huge need for Japanese collaboration, investment in efficient manufacturing."
Mr Manzur also said Bangladeshi firms should conduct more research on Japanese markets to understand the needs and opportunities there.
Regarding import in Bangladesh, he said the country should rationalise the import tax, and a customs mutual assistance agreement must be effective.
He also suggested Japanese companies work with the Bangladeshi agricultural companies to manufacture food items here and import them to the far eastern company to meet its demand.
A host of panellists, including noted experts on Japan, academics, bureaucrats, journalists, cultural activists and representatives of youth organisations, also joined the flagship event.
Yuji Ando highlighted the objectives of the organisation.
The PARI seeks to play a critical role in the making of a socially, economically and politically stronger Pan-Asia in tandem with its global peers, he said.
Bangladesh IKEBANA Association President Shahinoor Baby, Kokorozashi Japanese Language School Principal Okabayashi Kuniaki, Hiroki Watanabe of Ekmatra, Kazuko Bhuiyan Trust Manager Masudur Rahaman and The Financial Express Senior News Consultant M Aminul Islam were also present.
[email protected]