ZIA’S MISSION TO JAPAN HAILED AS A SUCCESS

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has arrived back in Dhaka and at least some sections of the local press are hailing her Japan visit as a considerable success.

The New Nation carried an account of Zia’s visit with the Emperor and other matters: “Emperor Akihito of Japan recalled his visit to Dhaka as young crown prince in the 1960s when Prime Minister Begum Zia called on him at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. He also recalled Begum Zia’s earlier visits—in 1979 with her late husband President Ziaur Rahman and in 1994 as first elected Bangladesh Prime Minister. Begum Zia unveiled a plaque of a Shaheed Minar to be constructed at Tokyo’s Ikebukuro Park as a prototype of Dhaka’s central Shaheed Minar in memory of the historic language movement martyrs.”

The same article also added that the Japanese government has agreed to assist another major project in Dhaka: “The Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) has assured Bangladesh of considering its proposal for introducing metro-rail or underground train system in the Dhaka city. The assurance came when Begum Zia requested the JBIC Governor, Mr. Kyosuke Shinozawa during his call at the Tokyo hotel suite as such underground transportation system is a pressing need for the city. The JBIC Governor assured that they would conduct a feasibility study and measures would be taken regarding the subway system in Dhaka as this is for the first time they received such a proposal. The Prime Minister sought the bank’s support to introduce subway rail system underlying the need as the capital city with it’s over one crore population was facing the pressing problem of vexing traffic jams having an adverse effect or impact on the national economy as a whole. Though it’s a dream now to think of having subway in Dhaka, but it would come into reality in near future when the process has started today. It may be mentioned here that JBIC has been providing assistance in various development projects in the telecommunications, power, water and sewerage sectors in Bangladesh and the Japanese government expressed satisfaction over the progress being made.”

It was also noted that JETRO has declared Bangladesh to be one of the top 15 countries in the world as an attractive location for overseas investment.

In this connection, a team of Japanese investors affiliated with the Japan-Bangladesh Group visited the Dhaka Export Processing Zone and the Adamjee Jute Mills area on July 21st. They have expressed their intention of building a modern Composite Textile Mill and two power plants. Additionally, the chairman of the Japan-Bangladesh Group, M. Salim Prodhan, expressed his hope that about fifty medium-level Japanese investors would soon come forward and make investments in Bangladesh. In this way, he speculated that perhaps as many as one million unemployed Bangladeshis might be able to find employment.