Japanese investors will be able to set up ready-made garments (RMG) units in the country’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ) dedicated for Japan, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said on Wednesday.”Japanese investment in the country is higher as a single country. We hope it will increase further in the near future,” he told reporters, following a meeting with Japanese ambassador in Dhaka Masato Watanabe at his Secretariat office.Commerce secretary Shubhashish Bose and senior officials of the ministry were present at meeting.Replying to a question, the minister said the government has decided to dedicate a SEZ for Japanese investors where they would be able to set up RMG factories. Presently, around 350 Japanese companies, including RMG and backward linkage factories, are operating in the EPZs.Besides, in a bilateral meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries, Japan has promised to invest around US$ 6 billion in Bangladesh, the minister mentioned.”We are working on establishing a SEZ in Bangladesh for the Japanese investors. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is working closely with Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA). It will be established soon,” Mr Watanabe said.He expressed the hope that the bilateral relations between the two countries would be flourished further in future.”Consumers rights department is now active across the country to ensure the consumers’ rights. We expect that the prices of essential items will not go up before or during the upcoming holy Eid-ul-Azha,” he added.
