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Forging trade, investment ties with Japan | EDITORIAL | Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh

10/14/2014

VOL 21 NO 325 REGD NO DA 1589 | Dhaka, Tuesday, October 14 2014

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EDITORIAL
Posted : 14 Oct, 2014 00:00:00

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Forging trade, investment ties with Japan


Abul Mansur Md. Faizullah
Visits of the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and Japan to each other's country have enkindled hopes of furthering strong economic ties betw een
Dhaka and Tokyo. Though political diplomacy occupies the centre-stage, economic diplomacy alw ays remains on top. Japan is a very important
country for Bangladesh. Tokyo's policies have demonstrated its friendly overtures tow ards Bangladesh both in political and economic relations.
Japanese investment w as thought to be on top but evidence show s its involvement is placed 9th/10th among other countries w hich have invested
in Bangladesh. Japan has been generous w ith ODA (official development assistance) but its investment in Bangladesh is just the reverse. Every
year some of the prospective Japanese investors travel to Bangladesh to explore opportunities but very few take positive decision. Myanmar in our
backyard has tied up w ell w ith Japan in the recent days to attract investment.
Too cautious mindset of Japanese people sometimes hinders them to invest in a country full of uncertainties. Bangladesh is yet to be explored
sufficiently by the Japanese entrepreneurs. So they feel hesitant to add Bangladesh to the list of their investment destination. Creation of a new
EPZ (Export processing zone) for the Japanese investors w ould definitely entice many of them to come to Bangladesh. A new industrial enclave w ith
facilities along w ith least or no interventions w ould definitely trigger interest among Japanese investors.
The 2009 report of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) covering over 40 cities in Asia designated Bangladesh as the cheapest place for
investment. The Bangladesh Embassy in Japan may facilitate building relations betw een Japanese entrepreneurs and their Bangladesh
counterparts. Frequent visits to different plants/industries in different cities of Japan, meeting chamber leaders, etc. w ould surely offer positive
result for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has been doing w ell in the trading sector. But the tw o-w ay trade, amounting about US$ 2.0 billion, favours Japan. Bangladesh's
exports too have picked up significantly, amounting to around $ 850 million in 2013-'14 fiscal. But the recently disclosed figure of the Export
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Forging trade, investment ties with Japan | EDITORIAL | Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh

10/14/2014

Promotion Bureau (EPB) said that export earnings from Japan have fallen a little behind the target.
Bangladesh's exports to Japan count over 80 different products but export of readymade garment, leather and footw ear items constitutes the lion's
share of the increased earnings from Japanese market. Japanese consumers prefer brand items and European items thus come on top alw ays.
Colours and fashion designs also change very rapidly. This compels traders to make tiny orders to the exporters. Habits of w earing clothes and
outfits change w ith the change of their four seasons. Bangladesh's garments are familiar to Japanese traders but the Bangladeshi traders stagger
to unfold their potentiality due to some reasons. Maximum lead/shipping time, refusal of our exporters in accepting tiny orders, absence of optimum
know ledge on Japanese market and their demand, confirmation on each and every product's precision, timely delivery, compliance issues, language
barriers, along w ith other factors hinder Bangladesh from fetching maximum result. Bangladesh seldom participates in trade fairs in Japan though
such fairs take place throughout the year. Moreover, discontinuity of participation in the same fairs in the consecutive years saps the possibility of
getting orders from buyer groups w ho inspected the products in the previous year.
Bangladesh enjoys generalised system of preferences (GSP) in Japan. So products can enter the country w ithout paying any duty but faces
serious problem due to Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs). Certification of products is very important; the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (
BSTI) or other certifying agencies are not fully equipped and do not have international accreditation for certifying every product.
Japanese ODA may be sought for equipping our industries w ith latest machinery and standardising certifying agencies to overcome barriers under
NTBs. Thorough examinations are needed for the entry of new products. Products have also to match w ith the Japan Agricultural Standard (JAS)
and the Japan Industrial Standard (JIS) for agricultural or industrial items. Japan has been w orking w ith a new drive of China plus One Policy to
reduce overdependence on China w here Bangladesh could come as a new country as a supply source of exportables.

The w riter is the Additional Secretary, the Economic Relations Division and former Commercial Counsellor, Japan. mansurfm@yahoo.com

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Forging trade, investment ties with Japan | EDITORIAL | Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh

10/14/2014

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