Bangladeshi businessmen will persuade Japanese entrepreneurs to invest in a big way when a group of investors accompanying prime minister Abe descends on the capital next month, a top business leader said.
"They (Japanese investors) are very positive about investing here. We will request them to utilise the incentives our government is ready to offer," President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed told the FE.
He said Japan has expressed its willingness to invest in different sectors so the government and the businessmen as a whole must grab that opportunity for increasing the country's economic growth.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Japan in May last to gear up bilateral trade, investment and cooperation between the two countries.
The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will arrive in the country on September 6 for a two-day official visit aiming to strengthen bilateral cooperation in different fields.
There will be a seminar on trade and investment during the Japanese Prime Minister visit. Businessmen of the two countries will attend the seminar.
The FBCCI chief said, "Our government is ready to offer Japanese entrepreneurs special economic zone, tax waiver and repatriation of investment".
Japan has allowed duty-free market access of readymade garments (RMG) from Bangladesh. Japan needs RMG items worth US $35 billion annually, and 50 per cent of the total demand is being fulfilled through import, mainly from China.
Bangladesh has the opportunity to grab a significant share of the market that could help the country to fetch $7-8 billion by increasing export of RMG to Japan. Bangladesh also exports leather goods to Japan.
Japan could invest in Bangladesh for the development of backward linkage industry for producing high-end readymade garment (RMG) items, said a top garment exporter.
He said that Bangladesh has to import 70 per cent of oven clothes for producing garment items for export.
"We welcome Japanese investment here for the development of backward linkage industry for RMG sector," Abdus Salam Murshedy, former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told the FE.
Following the interest of Japanese investment, the government is ready to provide lands for setting up special economic zone (SEZ) for Japanese investors.
"We will provide lands for setting up SEZ for Japanese investors that will help boost trade and investment between the two countries," Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said at meeting with Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan Norihiko Ishiguro in the city last week
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