Matarbari port will help Bangladesh be linked to the global value chain, says Japanese ambassador in Dhaka Ito Naoki.
"As a potential hub of the regional economy, Matabari port would connect South Asia and Southeast Asia," he said in an interview with the FE.
"In other words, it could re-shape Bangladesh as a trading nation deeply incorporated into the inter-regional and global value chains," he added.
Mr Naoki noted besides Dhaka metrorail, bridges and other mega development projects such as power plant and port development under the Moheshkhali-Matarbari initiative is part of Japan's support for the BIG-B initiative.
The Japanese ambassador said the projects in Matarbari will play a key role in both initiatives.
The development of Matarbari will allow Bangladesh to surmount two big weaker links: logistics and power, he said.
"The container volume of Matarbari port will eventually be 490 million TEUs (20-feet equivalent) in future. But the current capacity of Chattogram is 175 million TEUs. Once those bottlenecks are removed, the growth rate of Bangladesh economy will make a leap." he added.
According to the envoy, all these mega-projects will serve for Bangladesh to reach the next stage of national development.
Japan is the biggest bilateral donor for Bangladesh. The total amount of the 40th loan package in 2019 crossed 275 billion Japanese Yen (approximately US$ 2.5 billion), which is the highest in the history.
Referring to other Japanese-funded projects, he cited examples of the construction of Kanchpur, Meghna and Gumti second bridges and the rehabilitation of existing bridges.
Japanese companies shared the know-how and skills with the Bangladeshi workers so that Bangladesh can maintain the infrastructures by itself in future.
For Japan, the ambassador said, extending assistance to Bangladesh has important meaning in view of the bilateral relationship that dates back to 1973.
Through introducing quality infrastructure, Japan is also committed to contributing to the regional connectivity in the context of free and open Indo-Pacific and under the initiative of Big-B (Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt) as well as to the growth of Bangladesh towards Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.
On the prospect of bilateral trade between Japan and Bangladesh, the ambassador said in 2019, the number of Japanese companies investing in Bangladesh increased by 25 and it has recently reached 310.
In fiscal year 18-19, direct investment from Japan to Bangladesh reached $72.91 million, he said.
Mr Naoki stressed the need for offering cash incentives to the Japanese garment investors to boost Japanese investments in Bangladesh.
"Among those Japanese investors, a good number of companies are operating in the existing EPZs. This itself is a good thing but at the same time, I have to say some of them are facing issues that the government could take its leadership for the betterment."
Turning to the Rohingya issue, the senior diplomat said he said, "I would like to commend the government of Bangladesh for its immense contribution in this issue. Bangladesh embraces more than one million people who fled from the neighbouring Myanmar."
"Bangladesh, together with Japan and international communities, has been working hard to provide humanitarian support for them. Also, I believe it is all the more important now to tackle this unprecedented conundrum together as international community so that the situation will not affect the security of the area," said the ambassador.
He said that it is essential for Myanmar to create an environment conducive to an early repatriation of refugees as Prime Minister Abe told State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi during the meeting last October.
Since the massive influx of displaced persons into Bangladesh in August2017, the government of Japan had offered approximately $112 million to international organizations and NGOs supporting the camps in Cox's Bazar for the refugees and the host communities by providing food, shelter, medical services and human-resource trainings, he added.
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