Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Monday said that the government is interested to work more with Japan on more mega projects since they extend credit on soft terms, reports BSS.
“Currently we’ve many ongoing projects with Japan as these are investment projects and benefits are surely expected from these projects. We’re interested to work with Japan on more mega projects as they give us credit on soft terms,” he said. The Finance Minister said this to reporters after Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito met him at his ERD office this afternoon, said a Ministry press release. He informed that a Japanese delegation would arrive in the capital on November 16 and hold meeting on the bilateral aspects and mutual cooperation.
Mentioning that Japan is a trusted and time-tested friend of Bangladesh, Kamal said the relationship between Bangladesh and Japan deepened through the hands of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Referring to his meeting earlier in the day with a delegation of Peoples’ Leasing and Financial Services (PLFS), he told a questionnaire that they demanded of the government to stop the process for closing down the company as well as to return the deposits of the small and individual investors.
In this regard, Kamal said he had assured the delegation of considering their demands. When his attention was drawn to the CPD’s recent independent review on the current fiscal year, the Finance Minister said, “Our position is not the same as theirs. Our position is for the country’s people and their welfare. I’ll praise the country’s people as you better know whether there is growth, development and employment generation in the country or not,” The Finance Minister said since there was stable macroeconomic situation and continued growth in the country, the poverty rate came down at around 20 percent which was 56.7 percent in 2001. “Except this, we don’t have any other magic in our hands,” He said had the CPD reviewed the performance of Bangladesh on global perspective, then it would have been better for the country.
Kamal said a trade war is now going on across the world while some sort of unrest is going on in Europe centering on Brexit. “Under the circumstances, our export trade may face some risk and pressure. But despite intense global recession, the progress of Bangladesh would not be stopped. We’ll surely be able to tackle the situation under the leadership of our Prime Minister, “he summed up.
