CA Yunus seeks Japanese investment to boost Bangladesh’s recovery drive

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Friday called upon Japanese companies to invest in Bangladesh and support the country's economic recovery and rebuilding efforts.

"Today, we are in a situation when we need your support most. We have come a long way. The rest of the journey should be about doing things together with fun and enjoyment," he said while addressing a roundtable discussion in Tokyo.

Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) arranged the programme at its office in Tokyo, where some top executives of Japanese companies with significant business interests in Bangladesh were present.

During the past 16 years, Prof Yunus said everything Bangladesh had was demolished in many ways. "Our financial situation brought [the country] to a negative situation... The bank system collapsed… our foreign exchange reserve went down, administrative and police systems collapsed. That's our starting point," he said.

CA Yunus said the past 10 months of his interim government's journey have been about building things piece by piece.

"That's why the support of the government of Japan and the businesspeople of Japan will be extremely helpful," he said.

The Chief Adviser also said his government's commitment is to create a new Bangladesh because there were so many bad things in the old Bangladesh.

"We want to keep a distance from old Bangladesh. So that's our journey – to create a new Bangladesh. In that journey you would be our friends and partners and you will be inspiring us. Wonderful to see you all. It is something that reassures us," he told the Japanese entrepreneurs.

Prof Yunus said it is an opportunity to build the nation, leaving behind all the terrible things that happened in the past. "We hope that will be a matter of the past... We have all had the terrible experience, and we want to keep it a thing of the past. We want to lay a foundation of a new future."

The Chief Adviser said Bangladesh got a "sign of life" with the departure of the autocratic regime and sought a "breathing space" to fix the mess.

The Chief Adviser said the shortcomings that Bangladesh has now would soon be over.

Norihiko Ishiguro, JETRO Chairman & CEO, in his opening remarks at the event, said Bangladesh has seen remarkable growth and investment opportunities in recent years.

Fumiya Kokubu, Chairman of the Japan Bangladesh Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation (JBCCEC) and Director, Member of the Board, and Executive Corporate Advisor, Marubeni Corporation, said 85 per cent of Japanese companies having business in Bangladesh hope the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) will be signed this year.

He called upon the Chief Adviser to reform tax regulations in order to remove barriers for investors in Bangladesh.

Shinichi Saida, Ambassador of Japan in Bangladesh, said the most significant item that the Interim Government protected was the economy; no project was halted, and no businesses were suspended.

Shingo Ueno, CEO of Sumitomo Corporation; Mitsuru Izumo, CEO of Euglena Co, Ltd; Steven Winn, Chief Global Strategist of JERA; Kazunori Ogawa, Senior Managing Director of JBIC; Shigeyoshi Onoda, President of ONODA Inc; Kazuya Nakajo, Executive Vice President of JETRO; and Mayumi Murayama, Executive Vice President of IDE-JETRO, spoke, among others, in the roundtable discussion.

Lutfey Siddiqi, Special Envoy of the Chief Adviser, delivered the concluding statement.