Bangladesh: Japan to give $1.06 bn support, recruit 100,000 workers in 5 years
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Trying to undercut China’s influence in Bangladesh, Japan has said it would give USD 1.063 billion budgetary support to Dhaka, and also recruit 100,000 Bangladeshi workers over the next five years, the media reported on Friday.
The aid package includes USD 418 million as a development policy loan to Bangladesh to help with economic reforms and climate resilience, the government said in a statement.
Muhammed Yunus, Chief Adviser to the Interim Government in Bangladesh, met with Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in this regard in Tokyo on Friday.
Accordingly, Japan will provide USD 1.063 billion in support to Bangladesh for budget assistance, railway upgrades and education, Dhaka said.
Another USD 641 million will be used to upgrade a railway line while Japan will also provide USD 4.2 million in grants for scholarships for Bangladeshi students.
Besides, Japan plans to recruit at least 100,000 workers from Bangladesh over the next five years to address its growing labour shortage, officials and business leaders announced during a seminar in Tokyo on Thursday.
Two memoranda of understanding were signed at the event. One was between Bangladesh’s Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) and Kaicom Dream Street (KDS), a Japan-Bangladesh joint venture.
The second was signed between BMET and Japan’s National Business Support Combined Cooperatives (NBCC) – a business federation comprising over 65 companies, and the Japan-Bangla Bridge Recruiting Agency (JBBRA).
Mitsuru Matsushita, representative director of the Supervising Organisation at the Shizuoka Workplace Environment Improvement Cooperative, said interest in Bangladeshi workers is growing among Japanese companies.
NBCC Chairman Mikio Kesagayama recalled Yunus’s visit to Japan 14 years ago, when he spoke about empowering women through microcredit.
“In the coming five years, we are prepared to welcome more than 100,000 Bangladeshi workers,” he said.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan Daud Ali, in his welcome remarks, said Japan could face a labour shortage of 11 million by 2040.
“Bangladesh could take this opportunity to send more skilled workers,” he added.
