Japan proposes industrial hub in Bangladesh with supply chains to NE States of India

[Bilal9]

It comes after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to India last month in which he touted the idea of a new industrial hub​

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to the news media at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo, Japan, April 6, 2023. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS
Reuters
Published : 11 April 2023, 11:51 AM
Updated : 11 April 2023, 11:51 AM

Japan has proposed developing an industrial hub in Bangladesh with supply chains to the landlocked northeastern states of India, and to Nepal and Bhutan beyond by developing a port and transport in the region, officials said on Tuesday.

It comes after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to India last month in which he touted the idea of a new industrial hub for the Bay of Bengal and northeast India that could bolster development in the impoverished region of 300 million people.

After Kishida's visit, his government approved $1.27 billion in funding to Bangladesh for three infrastructure projects - including a new commercial port in the Matarbari area with links to adjacent landlocked Indian states, including Tripura, and wider international markets.

"It can be a win-win plan for India and Bangladesh," Hiroshi Suzuki, Japan's ambassador to India, said on Tuesday, citing the industrial hub proposal at a meeting of Indian, Bangladeshi and Japanese officials in Agartala, the Tripura state capital.

He said the deep seaport was likely to become operational by 2027 and would be a key to building an industrial hub connecting the Bangladeshui capital Dhaka to landlocked areas of India.

G Kishan Reddy, India's federal minister for its northeast region welcomed the Japanese initiative at the meeting. Bangladeshi minister of state for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam said it would boost Indian-Bangladeshi trade and help bring in Japanese and other foreign investment.

The envisaged Matarbari project would be Bangladesh's first deep-sea port capable of hosting large vessels.

Tripura state is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the proposed seaport, and could prove a gateway for regional exporters, said Sabyasachi Dutta, head of Asian Confluence, a think-tank which organised the two-day meeting.

India and Japan have jointly developed infrastructure projects across Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Africa as an alternative to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in order to counter spreading Chinese influence.

Suzuki said that more than 300 Japanese companies were already operating in Bangladesh. Both countries are expected to sign an economic partnership agreement soon that could further boost manufacturing and attract more foreign companies, he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will visit Japan from April 25-28 at Kishida's invitation, a government statement said.

 

[bluesky]

Japan understands there is no economic development without technological and industrial development.

It also understands that the Indian NE cannot be developed without industrial output pouring in from BD.

BD will need quite a number of raw material input from the NE. So, the Japanese proposal calls for mutual benefits of BD and Indian NE.

It will be a co-prosperity region excluding West Bengal.

 

[Bilal9]

Japan understands there is no economic development without technological and industrial development.

It also understands that the Indian NE cannot be developed without industrial output pouring in from BD.

BD will need quite a number of raw material input from the NE. So, the Japanese proposal calls for mutual benefits of BD and Indian NE.

It will be a co-prosperity region excluding West Bengal.

@bluesky bhai that is why I have been talking about this idea for quite a while now.

NE Indian states (rich in natural resources like clinker, timber, bamboo, agri-products) and Bangladesh (with relatively massive industrial processing and value-addition capability) both benefit.

It is a win-win scenario.

 

[Destranator]

I am all for it as long as Assamese monkeys are deprived.
Happy for us to work with Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and Sikkim.

 

[bluesky]

I am all for it as long as Assamese monkeys are deprived.
Happy for us to work with Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and Sikkim.

There are many Hindu families who migrated from BD to Indian NE. I am sure they will get the major opportunity to involve in Assamese economic activities.

The private businesses act on their own. No doubt our businesses will choose those Hindu Bengali whose forefathers left Bd and settled in Indian NE. We understand each other but there are miles of differences between Assamese and Bengali.