Bangladesh will raise ‘travel advisory’ issue with Japan when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will meet her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on May 29.
Hasina is flying to Tokyo on May 28 to attend the 25th international conference on The Future of Asia organised by Nikkei to be held on May 30 and 31.
After the Holey Artisan attack in 2016 where seven Japanese were killed, Japan issued travel advisory and it is still valid even though security situation has improved a lot, said a government official.
“At that time many other Western countries issued travel alert or advisory and they removed it, but Japan is still maintaining a status quo,” he said.
The official said, Japan did not issue any travel alert for New Zealand after the Christchurch terror attack but they still have problem with Bangladesh.
“We will raise the issue at the official talks and request them to withdraw the advisory as it is safe for foreigners to travel to Bangladesh,” he added.
Connectivity
Under the Big-B plan, Japan is constructing port, power plant and other infrastructure at Matarbari and Dhaka will discuss with Tokyo to make it an industrial hub in the region.
Another official said, “Tokyo is investing a lot in the area and we want to develop it as an industrial zone with all connectivity facility.”
The government has offered an exclusive economic zone for Japanese investors and it can also be located near Matarbari, he said.
ODA package
Both the countries are negotiating to conclude 40th ODA loan package amounting to $2.2 billion and it is expected that it will be finalized during the visit of the prime minister.
Another official said, “The amount will be used to build Matarbari port and power plant and partial construction of Rapid mass Transport project.”
If everything goes right, the deal will be signed after the bilateral talks between the two prime minister, he said.