DHAKA, 17 March 2022, (TON): Bangladesh and Japan would explore scopes for signing a free trade agreement for boosting bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation.

Planning minister MA Mannan told “a dialogue on Wednesday that Japan would be a strong contender for signing a free trade agreement with Bangladesh and the bilateral trade relations would be smoother if the agreement is signed.”

He said at the dialogue on Bangladesh-Japan partnership organized by Centre for Policy Dialogue organised the event “based on the experiences of the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Japan over the past 50 years, we’re looking forward to the next 50 years which is going to be much better, stronger and warm.”

Japanese ambassador to Dhaka ITO Naoki said that Tokyo was considering a joint study on framing the FTA with Bangladesh.

He added “if we can start the process and frame it, this will help boost our economic partnership but this has to be reciprocal.”

Naoki noted that there was a need to focus to train the Bangladeshi workforce for catering the needs of Japanese market.