Diplomatic Desk:
Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Suzuki Norikazu paid an official visit to Bangladesh from April 29 to 30. During this visit, he emphasized on further strengthening the existing strategic partnership between Bangladesh and Japan.
During his stay in Dhaka, he paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Tarique Rahman and handed over a personal letter from Prime Minister of Japan Sanae Takaichi. During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further advance the long-standing strategic partnership between the two countries in coordination with the new government.
In addition, in a meeting with Agriculture Minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid, they agreed to strengthen joint initiatives between the public and private sectors to expand trade and investment in the food sector. At the same time, discussions were also held on increasing Japanese food exports by utilizing the opportunities of the Japan-Bangladesh Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed in February this year.
During the visit, Minister Suzuki exchanged views with stakeholders from the retail and hotel sectors, where the potential for expanding the market for Japanese food products in Bangladesh was discussed.
He also visited a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar and toured a seafood processing plant run by a Japanese company.
The visit is being considered an important step in strengthening economic and agricultural cooperation between the two countries.
