CA Yunus to meet Japan PM on 30 May during 4-day state visit

Highlights:

• CA Yunus to meet Japan PM Shigeru Ishiba on 30 May
• CA will visit Japan from 28-31 May
• Bangladesh will seek $1 billion as soft loan during CA's visit
• Seven MoUs likely to be signed during the visit
• Rohingya situation, regional issues likely to be discussed

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to meet Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on 30 May during a 4-day state visit starting on 28 May.

During the visit, Bangladesh will seek $1 billion as soft loans in the form of budgetary support from Japan during the chief adviser's upcoming visit from 28-31 May, Acting Foreign Secretary Ruhul Alam Siddiqui Said today (26 May) at the Curtain Raiser event of the visit.

"Japan agreed to give loans, but the amount will be disclosed during the visit," he said during a briefing at the foreign ministry.

During the visit, seven MoUs will be signed including energy cooperation, human resource development and manpower export and special economic zones.

In February this year, Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Ikuina Akiko invited Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to visit Japan for the Nikkei 30th Future of Asia event to be held on May 29-30 in Tokyo.

The visit would also be considered as bilateral as the chief adviser will have a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Before the bilateral talks, Tokyo will roll out a red-carpet to welcome the chief adviser amid guard of honour.

"The main focus of this visit is budgetary support," Siddique said while responding to a question, adding that all 'strategic bilateral' issues will be discussed.

The chief adviser will attend the Nikkei 30th Future of Asia event and he will deliver a keynote speech in a plenary session.

Director General (East Asia & Pacific wing) Mohammed Nore-Alam and Director General (Public Diplomacy wing) Shah Asif Rahman also spoke at the briefing.

CA Yunus is also a recipient of the Nikkei Asia Prize in 2004.

Under the new plan for Free and Open Indo Pacific and Big-B initiatives, Japan wants to see the sustainable development of the region.

Japan said it would strengthen its engagement with Bangladesh under the Bay of Bengal Initiative (Big-B), as the country aims to support high-quality infrastructure development projects and encourage Japanese manufacturing and production companies to expand their industrial value chains to Bangladesh.

Political, economic and sectoral cooperation issues along with trade and investment, people-to-people connectivity and cultural exchanges, Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (Rohingyas), security cooperation, and regional and global issues are likely to be discussed during the visit, a diplomatic source said.

The two countries will further strengthen the bilateral relationship in a wide range of areas, including security, economy, economic cooperation, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges, under the 'Japan-Bangladesh Strategic Partnership'.