Chief Representative's Speech

His Excellency Mr. Naoki Ito, Honorable Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh
Mr. M.A.N. Siddique, Managing Director, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited
Representatives of Road Transport and Highways Division
Respected Project Directors
Distinguished Guests, ladies and gentlemen

Good morning, Assalamu-Alaikum, Namaskar
It is my great honor to be here today to sign, on behalf of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA, the Record of Discussion for the Project on Technical Assistance for Mass Rapid Transit Safety Management System of Line 6.

The objective of this Technical Cooperation project is to assist DMTCL for 30 months to establish "Safety Management" system through establishing "Safety First" culture.

Distinguished guests
JICA is currently funding construction of MRT Line 6, MRT Line 1 and MRT Line 5 (Northern Section) with Japan's ODA loans. The construction of MRT Line 6 will be completed in 2022. Upon the completion of the construction, DMTCL will become the first MRT operating and maintenance body in Bangladesh.

Managing the entire urban railway network is not an easy task. A small mistake may result in the serious delay or accidents. Therefore, assisting for safer and reliable operation is JICA's utmost priority in this sector. Not only strengthening of hard infrastructure but also staff capacity building and related institutional development are essential for those purposes. I would like to praise the leadership of DMTCL and Road Transport and Highways Division for creating and developing the brand-new organization - DMTCL.

Distinguished Guests,
Japanese railway system is widely known by its time accuracy and safety of operations. Actually, those strengths were not achieved in a day. They have been established based on the continuous efforts of railway staff. Rules, manuals and corporate governance have been repeatedly reviewed and improved in response to serious accidents. These efforts have built up the safety first culture among all staff - from the top management to the workers in the field. And now, the number of railway accidents in Japan is very few in comparison with other developed countries.* Based on these backgrounds, Japan has assisted development of urban railway system in many cities such as Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok, Delhi, Istanbul, Jakarta, Cairo, Hanoi, Manila and so on. This technical cooperation project, which we signed today, will share the Japanese knowledge and experiences with Bangladeshi counterparts. It will assist DMTCL in fostering "Safety First" philosophy and establishing its proper governance structure for safety management.

Distinguished Guests,
Continuing spread of novel corona virus has adversely affected the progress of MRT Line 6 project, but the pace of the construction works are gradually resuming. I highly appreciate the leadership of DMTCL which already demonstrated excellent practices on health management of workers amid this pandemic. They include setting up of two field hospitals, oxygen facilities, testing facilities, quarantine centers, and so forth. I once again would like to request DMTCL to continue these endeavors.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
JICA already extended another Technical Cooperation to DMTCL for its preparation of Metro Rail Technical Standard, Metro Rail Act and Rules. Some of you have already seen "Rapid Pass", which has been introduced by JICA's technical cooperation. Combination of infrastructure investment and technical cooperation projects will ensure that this mega dream projects bring the international-level services to the people of Dhaka. They will realize "moving people, saving time and environment" - with safety.

JICA will continue its support to our colleagues of Bangladesh, to see our dream comes true together, in very near future. Thank you very much.