PM’s Japan visit to include talks on metro rail cost cuts

Reducing the cost of Dhaka’s MRT Line-1 project, which has more than doubled, will be among the issues discussed during Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s upcoming visit to Japan.

Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam said the government would raise the possibility of reducing interest costs during the visit, although the outcome would depend on the discussions.

Tarique will visit Japan from October 25 to 28 at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. It will be his fourth overseas visit since taking office in February.

At a press briefing on Monday, Siam outlined the visit’s agenda and the delegation accompanying the prime minister.

The delegation will include Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Finance and Planning Adviser Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, State Minister for Foreign Affairs-1 Humayun Kabir, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Anindya Islam Amit, Adviser for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Rehan Asif Asad, Invest Bangladesh Chairman Ashik Chowdhury and Special Assistant for Overseas Employment in the Asia-Pacific region Mohammad Shakirul Islam Khan (Shakil).

At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on September 16, the cost of the country’s first underground metro rail project, MRT Line-1, connecting the airport with Kamalapur, was increased by 117.64% in its first revision. Japan is financing the project.

Asked whether Tarique would seek to reduce the project’s cost, Siam said infrastructure cooperation and financing would feature in the bilateral talks.

“Like other countries, we want to secure loans at lower interest rates. However, global conditions and each country’s domestic circumstances are important. These issues will be discussed, and the outcome will be clear after the talks,” he said.

Japan aims to develop an industrial value chain around Bangladesh’s Japanese-funded Matarbari deep-sea port, with the broader goal of connecting India’s seven northeastern states to the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia.

Asked about Bangladesh’s position on the regional initiative, Siam said the country’s port capacity needed to match its future economic growth and projected export and import volumes.

He said energy security would also be discussed during the visit. Tarique is scheduled to visit an LNG terminal in Chiba, as well as a power plant, Unilever’s headquarters and a Toyota factory in Nagano.

Siam said Bangladesh and Japan were seeking to deepen their strategic partnership, which covers infrastructure, technology, human resource development and security cooperation.

He said the Economic Partnership Agreement signed between the two countries in February had opened new opportunities to expand trade and investment.

Japan has supported major infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, including the metro rail, the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and the Matarbari deep-sea port.

The visit is expected to promote greater access for Bangladeshi products to the Japanese market, attract Japanese investment and expand cooperation in renewable energy, environmental protection, science, technology, digital innovation, research and skills development.

On October 26, the second day of the visit, Tarique will hold bilateral talks with the Japanese prime minister at his office and attend a dinner hosted in his honour.

He is also scheduled to meet representatives of the Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship League, the Japan-Bangladesh Committee for Commercial and Economic Cooperation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the Japan External Trade Organization and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

The prime minister will deliver the keynote address at the Japan-Bangladesh Economic Forum.

Siam said the visit was expected to strengthen bilateral relations, encourage new private investment, accelerate ongoing projects and expand economic and development assistance while maintaining security cooperation.

The foreign secretary added that the two countries were discussing around eight memorandums of understanding covering agriculture, fisheries, human resource development, civil aviation, marine environmental protection and local government modernisation. Three or four of them are expected to be signed during the visit.