Improve existing investment climate to attract more Japanese investment in Bangladesh: Japanese envoy

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki said that to attract Japanese companies to invest more in Bangladesh it is important to address the bottlenecks that the companies are facing while doing business here in the country.

The Japanese envoy made the statement while speaking at a round table meeting on 'Japan-Bangladesh trade and business growth and the role of private sector banks' held at Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) head office premises in Dhaka on Thursday, said a press release issued by EBL on Saturday.

The Japanese Envoy said "To attract Japanese companies to invest more in Bangladesh it is important to address the existing issues of the Japanese companies operating in Bangladesh. If that can be addressed there will be a greater flow of Japanese investment."

"Some bottlenecks have been removed over the last six months, but there are still issues need to be addressed on an urgent basis," he added.

The Japanese ambassador also said that Japanese companies are eager to invest in Bangladesh, but it is important to remove bottlenecks first to create favorable business climate for Japanese companies.

JICA Country Representative Yuho Hayakawa, JETRO Country Representative and President Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JBCCI) Yuji Ando, Managing Director and Chief Representative of MUFG Bank Hideaki Kojima, Secretary General of JBCCI Tareq Rafi Bhuiyan, ABB Chairman Ali Reza Iftekhar, Managing Director and CEO of EBL and other high ranked officials at EBL were also present during the round table.

Representatives from JICA, JETRO and JBCCI brought up the LC settlement issue during the meeting and said that improvement in LC settlement would greatly improve investment climate in Bangladesh.

Yuji Ando, Country Representative of JETRO, said that the terms and conditions of LC should be more simplified for business growth in Bangladesh.

Managing Director and Chief Representative of MUFG Bank Hideaki Kojima said, "Bangladesh has the most complicated LC opening conditions. There are terms and conditions, unique to Bangladesh."

"Simplification in LC opening conditions is crucial for business growth," he added.

He suggested that Bangladesh needs to introduce TT remittance settlement to join global or regional supply chain.

Chairman of ABB and Managing Director and CEO of EBL Ali Reza Iftekhar assured the other peers present during the meeting that he would to take up the issues with the concerned Bangladeshi authorities and try to resolve the issues.