Chief Representative's Speech

Ms. Fatima Yasmin, Honorable Secretary, Economic Relations Division
His Excellency, Mr. Naoki Ito, Honorable Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Assalam alaikum, Namaskar, Good Morning

It is my great honor to be here today to sign, on behalf of the JICA, the Loan Agreements of the 41st ODA Loan Package for 7 projects, covering crucial sectors, namely transportation, urban development and food security. The total amount is 338,247 million Japanese Yen, equivalent to approx. Bangladesh Taka 26,850 Crore. This is the largest loan package ever in the history of Japan's ODA to Bangladesh.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Since the establishment of bilateral relations between Japan and Bangladesh in February 1972, the two countries have been genuinely caring and strengthening the bond all the way. In the last 48 years, we have extended 2.4 trillion Japanese Yen of ODA Loans in almost all sectors.

In 2014, Honorable Prime Ministers of Japan and Bangladesh acknowledged the new development landscape when they committed to further strengthening bilateral cooperation through the "Japan-Bangladesh Comprehensive Partnership". This partnership has drastically augmented JICA's cooperation to Bangladesh; in the last fiscal year, the volume of our loan commitment as well as disbursement to this country became the second largest in the world. The Honorable Prime Ministers also announced the initiative of "Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt" or BIG-B in short. The Projects included in this 41st ODA Loan package, such as Jamuna Railway Bridge, Airport Terminal 3, Chattogram- Cox's Bazar Highway Improvement Project, MRT Line 5 and MRT Line 6, exactly form the core of BIG-B.

Here, I would like to briefly touch upon each of the 7 projects:

Jamuna Railway Bridge Construction Project (II) constructs 4.8km dedicated railway bridge over the River Jamuna in parallel to the existing Bangabandhu Bridge. Despite Covid 19 pandemic, Bangladesh Railway signed two civil works contracts with internationally reputed Japanese firms in this April.

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Expansion Project (II) constructs the new Terminal 3 for international passengers, cargo terminals and other infrastructure facilities. The construction works started from April 6 this year.

Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (IV), popularly known as MRT Line 6 Project, will reduce traffic congestion and mitigate air pollution in Dhaka city by constructing country's first ever mass rapid transit system. The project has shown a significant progress and around 9 km-long viaduct, out of the 20 km, is now visible.

Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (Line 5 Northern Route) (I) will establish east-west mass transportation network of Dhaka city between Savar and Baridhara. The engineering service contract for the Project was just signed on June10th, 2020. MRT Line 6 and Line 5 are a part of the Fast-Track Projects of Government of Bangladesh.

Chattogram - Cox's Bazar Highway Improvement Project (E/S) will focus on road improvement of bottleneck sections at five congested town areas on National Highway No. 1 connecting between Dhaka- Chattogram and Cox's Bazar. This is a part of the BIG-B initiative and will secure proper transportation route with Matarbari deep sea port. This first loan will cover engineering services for the project.

Food Value Chain Improvement Project will provide concessional financing through Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Limited (BIFFL) and technical assistance for agribusinesses and food processing industries, and to enhance their access to the credit and their capacity for business development, food processing, and food safety.

Urban Development and City Governance Project will improve urban infrastructure and strengthen city governance related to infrastructure development in Narayanganj, Cumilla, Gazipur city corporations and Cox's Bazar municipality .

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The global pandemic of Covid-19 endangers people's health and seriously constrains people's life and activities. At this opportunity, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to the government officials, contractors, engineers and workers who are working hard, amid this outbreak, to concretize seven projects we signed today. Even in the quarter from this April to June, JICA disbursed 55 billion Japanese yen, equivalent to approximately 4360 Crore Bangladesh Taka, for on-going projects. On August 5th, JICA also signed another agreement for the first budget support loan to Bangladesh, to assist the Government`s comprehensive responses to COVID-19 Crisis. Its loan amount of 35 billion Japanese yen will be also fully disbursed within this August. These efforts demonstrate that we all are fighting together - to deliver outcome of those assistances to the people as early as possible, despite the unprecedented difficulties.

I believe these projects and programs, including the seven projects we signed this morning, will be implemented properly and smoothly by the Government to benefit people in Bangladesh at the earliest time and to help the society regain and uplift its vibrancy.

Shobaike Onek Donnobad. Thank you very much.