Japan has
proposed developing an industrial hub in Bangladesh with supply chains to the
landlocked northeastern states of India, and to Nepal and Bhutan.
Tokyo is already constructing a deep water
port at Matarbai, about one hundred kilometers from the Bangladesh Tripura
border,
It can be a
win-win plan for India and Bangladesh,” Hiroshi Suzuki, Japan’s ambassador to
India, said on Tuesday, 11 April , citing the industrial hub proposal at a
meeting of Indian, Bangladeshi and Japanese officials in Agartala, the Tripura
state capital. The deep seaport was
likely to become operational by 2027 and would be a key to building an
industrial hub connecting the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka to landlocked areas of
North eastern India.
The proposal was mooted by Japanese Prime
Minister Fumio Kishida during his
official visit to Delhi last month, He proposed the idea of a new industrial
hub for Bay of Bengal and North East India that could bolster development in
the impoverished region of 300 million people. After Kishida’s visit, Japanese
government approved 1.27 billion US dollars 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. The envisaged Matarbari project would be Bangladesh’s first deep-sea
port capable of hosting large vessels.
Minister for North east G Kishan Reddy 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.
Tripura state is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the proposed seaport, and
could prove a gateway for regional exporters, 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. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
will visit Japan from April 25-28 at Kishida’s invitation, a government
statement said.