Shinjo Abe’s Visit To Bangladesh Was Successful: Spokesmen Of Japanese Government

"This visit was very successful, though short," the spokesman for the Japanese premier's office Kenko Sone said in an interaction with select journalists over the breakfast ahead of Abe's departure for Colombo.

He added that "based on this visit, we will build future of our comprehensive partnership".

Sone was supplemented by chief spokesperson of Japanese foreign office Kumi Sato, who said Japan wants to come to Bangladesh with greater engagement in economic sector as Abe brought with him 21 leading Japanese entrepreneurs to review their investment prospect here.

She said Bangladesh could now show the west that "one of the G-7 countries is coming with trust to Bangladesh in a bigger way" while Dhaka was desperately looking enhanced foreign investments.

"The visit is significant for Bangladesh's development," Sato said.

Both Sone and Sato, however, said Bangladesh withdrew its candidature for a non-permanent membership in UN Security Council in Japan's favour "not in exchange of anything" but it created a long term sustainable friendship between the two countries.

The Japanese foreign office spokeswoman said Tokyo considered Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina as a "very wise woman" in terms of her pragmatism in foreign relation strategies and dealings with foreign nations for the interest of her country.

"Bangladesh now has a very good leader, she knows how to develop bilateral ties and strike a balance in developing ties with foreign countries," she said in an apparent reference to China, a country which witnesses a little strained relation with Tokyo particularly over the South China Sea.

The Japanese premier office spokesman, however, said being a close and crucial neighbor of China, Bangladesh should explore its economic ties with Beijing.

"We (Japan) have some problems with China but we have also huge investment there," he said.

Turning to the issue of BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia's meeting with Abe, Sone said "it was a courtesy call on when they talked about bilateral relations, not much about (Bangladesh's) domestic politics".

But, he said, Begum Zia told the Japanese premier that the political instability and lack of rule of law largely hindered prospects of foreign investment in Bangladesh while Abe expected the political problems would be solved in a peaceful manner through dialogue.

"We (Japan), (however), have a very good relation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we are not going to go into the deep in your internal politics," Sone said referring to Japan's stance on ties with the incumbent government in Bangladesh.

But he added that "of course the foreign investors make cost benefit analysis for their investments and gauge the business environment of a country for taking a decision".

Asked if Tokyo knew beforehand the Bangladesh decision to withdraw candidacy in the UN Security Council, Sone said "the issue was sensitive and any changes (in the decision) could be made until the final decision is announced".

"UN Security Council issue is a big news for Japan," he said as Tokyo is mobilizing its efforts to become a permanent member of the UNSC through reforms in the UN charter.

During Sheikh Hasina's visit to Japan, Tokyo pledged to give some 600 billion yen ($5.71 billion) in official development assistance to Bangladesh over the next four to five years, starting in fiscal 2015 while the summit yesterday the two leaders agreed to promote Japan's "Big-B" or Bay of Bengal Growth Belt initiative.

-Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)