Press Releases

1. Mr. Shinsuke Sugiyama, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Mr. Md. Shahidul Haque, Foreign Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh held the first-ever Foreign Secretary level dialogue between Japan and Bangladesh on Thursday, 5 February 2015, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

2. At the Japan-Bangladesh Summit Meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held last September, both sides decided to hold this senior foreign affairs officials’ dialogue in the early next year and the dialogue was held today without a time-lag after the leader’s agreement. In a friendly atmosphere, Deputy Minister Sugiyama and Secretary Haque had constructive and in-depth dialogue. The meeting was kicked off with an exchange of heartfelt introductory remarks which reflected the very cordial bilateral relations between the two countries in the wake of last year’s mutual prime ministerial visits.

3. The discussions focused, inter alia, on various aspects of bilateral cooperation, regional cooperation as well as multilateral issues and cooperation. Both sides reiterated their commitment to promoting further close and cooperative relations between the two countries under the framework of “Comprehensive Partnership.” They underlined the importance of utilizing up to 600 billion yen of additional Japanese assistance which Prime Minister Abe had announced last May, and also of proper and smooth implementation of projects in this regard. They also reconfirmed to promote further economic cooperation to be pursued under the initiative of the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B)*.

4. Following the fruitful dialogue, Mr. Sugiyama paid courtesy calls on H.E. Sheik Hasina, H.E. Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Foreign Minister, and H.E. Dr. Gowher Rizvi, Prime Minister’s Advisor on International Affairs. In these meetings, Mr. Sugiyama discussed with these Bangladeshi dignitaries the ways to further strengthen the friendly relations between Japan and Bangladesh.