September 09, 2023, Dhaka
FBCCI called for Japan's continued cooperation in the development of Bangladesh's infrastructure and logistics and in meeting the challenges of post-LDC transition. FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam made this call in a courtesy meeting with Japanese Ambassador Yama Kiminori at the FBCCI office on Saturday morning.

FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam said that Japan is one of the most reliable partners for the development of Bangladesh. Over the past 50 years, the relationship between Japan and Bangladesh has been steadily strengthening. Japan's contribution to various large-scale projects and infrastructure development in Bangladesh including Metrorail, third terminal of the airport, Meghna Bridge, Matarbari deep sea port is undeniable.

The FBCCI president sought the country's cooperation in facilitating visa acquisition and acquiring technical skills to facilitate higher education for Bangladeshi students in Japan. He urged the development organizations including JICA, JETRO to come forward to provide necessary training to acquire technical skills and provide logistics. Mahbubul Alam said that FBCCI will have full cooperation in these cases.
For cooperation and partnership in Japan's development activities for a long time

Japanese Ambassador Yama Kiminori expressed gratitude to Bangladesh. He said, “We want to increase Japanese investment in Bangladesh. Besides, we have a plan to ensure the best use of the Special Economic Zones of Bangladesh." The ambassador called for FBCCI's advice saying that there are more opportunities to discuss the joint projects of the two countries.

Regarding the export of manpower to Japan, Ambassador Yama Kiminori said, "We are trying to improve the relationship and communication between the two countries commercially. However, there are several barriers. The Japanese government follows international standards especially in terms of importing manpower. In addition, language skills also play a big role in terms of employment there." The ambassador assured that Bangladeshis will work jointly with Bangladesh to expand employment opportunities in Japan and travel to Japan.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Ambassador to Dhaka Nguyen Man Kung paid a courtesy call on FBCCI President in the afternoon. Meanwhile, FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam urged Vietnamese industrial entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh's promising Khatsum.

Highlighting the trade of the two countries, Mahbubul Alam said that the size of the trade between Bangladesh and Vietnam in the fiscal year 2021-2022 was slightly more than 1100 million US dollars. Of which 1010 million dollars of products of Bangladesh have been exported to Vietnam. In view of this, the export amount of Bangladesh is only 92.77 million dollars. That is, the trade deficit between Bangladesh and Vietnam is huge.

The FBCCI president said that Bangladesh has a long-standing friendly relationship with Vietnam. However, trade deficits are unusual. We want more investment from Vietnam to reduce this huge trade deficit. He also urged Vietnam to import more products from Bangladesh.

In the courtesy meeting, it was said that Vietnam has trade potential in several sectors including agricultural products and food processing, electrical machinery and components, marine resources, ICT and telecommunications, light engineering, tourism, leather, jute and textiles in Bangladesh.

Nguyen Man Kung, Ambassador of Vietnam appointed in Dhaka said that Bangladesh is one of the most promising countries for Vietnamese investors. There is a huge youth population here. Moreover, there is a similarity between the economic dynamics of the two countries. I am optimistic, Vietnam-Bangladesh trade relations will be stronger in the near future.

He said that the delegation from Vietnam National Assembly will visit Bangladesh on 21st of this month. Nguyen Man Kung is optimistic that the trade between the two countries will reach a new level through this visit.

FBCCI Vice President Khairul Huda Chapal, Mohammad Anwar Sadat Sarkar, Rashedul Hossain Chowdhury Roni, Md Munir Hossain and directors were present in the courtesy call.