[1] Message from Ambassador Horiguchi
"Tourism Promotion in Bangladesh"

Soon after my arrival here last year, I found that Bangladesh should put in more resources into tourism. Thus, I made a speech including the following points at the meeting of the Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) on July 27, 2003.

First, after my arrival here, I met many foreigners living in this country who said that they found the actual situation here to be much better than what they had expected beforehand. Bridging this gap and improving the negative image are extremely important, not only because they would contribute to building the Bangladesh people's rightful self-respect, but also because they would help the foreigners to develop balanced and objective views about this country, facilitating possible direct investment for economic development in various
sectors.

Second, to improve this image, I believe that tourism could play a vital role. Tourists who visit this country and witness its many positive aspects will relate those to their friends and relatives after returning to their respective countries.

Third, tourism is a main source of foreign exchange earning and creating a very large number of jobs. It could be a powerful engine for national economic growth. No country, including Bangladesh, can afford to neglect such important industry as tourism.

Fourth, apart from its economic role, tourism could play an equally important role in the promotion of cultural sector. When we see the success of tourism industry and cultural exposure of India and Thailand, we can notice that these countries have very successfully exported their own ethnic cultural image. Efforts to consolidate the
Bangladeshi ethnic consciousness based on such elements such as its poetry, music, songs and dance choreography are very important to the image-building of a nation.

Fifth, the National Museum needs to be more attractive. While there were a lot of interesting exhibits there, I noted that there was also substantial room for its improvement such as light and display.

Sixth, the country needs to promote cultural activities, provide adequate security for the tourists here, ensure better maintenance of the tourist places, improve infrastructure, beautify Dhaka, and drastically improve traffic discipline of pedestrians, rickshaws and other vehicles.

Seventh, my suggestion on how it could be done was that, first of all, the Government of Bangladesh could announce that the year, say, 2005, should be the first Bangladesh tourism year. It could then launch a nationwide campaign to mobilize all the ministries and people to implement the above projects in the respective fields, like initiating drives to improve security, beautifying Dhaka, improving traffic situations, etc. by the end of 2004. In the process of carrying out this campaign, we can expect to strengthen the national identity by mobilizing the entire nation towards a single goal. It is also expected this attainment would contribute to building national pride of the Bangladeshi people.

Against my above speech, the local media made wide coverage on the issues. After that, I saw not a few articles on newspapers that stressed the importance of tourism, but the response of the government was not enough. I am going to continue to appeal to the government and the private sector to address this issue with all earnestness.

With the SAARC Summit due next month, the improvement of security and the beautification of Dhaka are progressing rapidly. I believe that, if the recognition of the importance of the tourism promotion by the government gets higher, greater development in other areas would be forthcoming.

(Ambassador's past messages are posted on the following website.)
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/eBulletin/index.html

[2] Upcoming Events on Japan-Bangladesh Relations

* Ambassador's Visit to Mymensingh (Dec. 22, Dhaka)

Ambassador Horiguchi will attend the NRIDP (Northern Rural Infrastructure Development Project) Completion Ceremony at the NRIDP Project site in Mymensingh on December 22, 2004.

Ambassador will visit newly-constructed Dhobaura-Guatala-Tarakanda Road and bridges financed by Japan's assistance.

* Newspaper Supplement on Japan (Dec. 23, Dhaka)

To celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, many newspapers will issue the supplement on Japan on December 23. Please check them out.

[3] Recent Events on Japan-Bangladesh Relations

* Japan's Grant Aid for Vaccines (Dec. 18, Dhaka)

On December 18, Bangladesh received a commitment of 239 million Yen (approximately Taka 13 crore 38 lac / US$ 2.3 million) from the Government of Japan for procuring measles and tetanus toxoid (TT)
vaccines that will be used during the upcoming measles and maternal-neonatal tetanus campaigns in 2005.

Ambassador Horiguchi and Mr. Morten Giersing, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh, signed and exchanged notes to this effect at a ceremony held at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel. Chief Guest Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf
Hossain, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, senior officials from the ministry, the Embassy of Japan, and UNICEF attended the ceremony.

Ambassador made the following speech at the ceremony.
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/embassy/speeches/52sp_unicef181204.html


* JUAAB Annual Dinner and Cultural Program (Dec. 17, Dhaka)

Japanese Universities Alumni Association in Bangladesh (JUAAB) organized the Annual Dinner and Cultural Program of JUAAB on December 17 at Hotel Purbani International, Dhaka. At the General Meeting before the dinner, new Executive Committee members were elected.

Ambassador Horiguchi made the following speech as the Chief Guest.
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/embassy/speeches/52sp_juaab_agm171204.html


* JICA Alumni Association Seminar (Dec. 17, Dhaka)

JICA Alumuni Association, Bangladesh organized a seminar for commemorating the 30th anniversary of JICA on 'Role of JICA in the Socio-Economic Development of Bangladesh' at LGED Auditorium on December 17.

Ambassador's speech will be posted on the following website.
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/embassy/speeches/sphmhoriguchi.html

* Safeguarding Campaign for Paharpur-Bagerhat (Dec. 15, Dhaka)

Department of Archaeology, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and UNESCO, Dhaka jointly organized a closing ceremony of the Safeguarding Campaign for Paharpur-Bagerhat World Heritage Sites Project (1987 to 2002) on December 15 at Lalbag Fort.

Ambassador Horiguchi attended the ceremony as Guest of Honour.
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/embassy/speeches/51sp_paharpur151204.html


* Experience Sharing Workshop on IDEAL Project (Dec. 15, Dhaka)

The Experience Sharing Workshop on IDEAL (Intensive District Approach to Education for All) project for primary education was held on December 15 at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.

At the program, the experiences of IDEAL activities were shared through exhibitions of different training materials, communication activities, and other products developed and implemented during the
life of the project.

Ambassador Horiguchi made a speech as a Special Guest. The speech will be posted on the following website.
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/embassy/speeches/sphmhoriguchi.html


* Roundtables on Private Sector Development (Dec. 14-15, Dhaka)

The donors--DFID, IFC, World Bank, FIAS, BEI, and the Government of Japan--of Regulatory and Investment Systems improvement for Enterprise growth (RISE) and Private Sector Development Project (PSDP) organized
the two-day roundtable meetings on "An Enabling Environment and Free Zones for Investment Promotion and Export Competitiveness in Bangladesh" on December 14 and 15 at BRAC Center in Dhaka.

Ambassador Horiguchi made the following speech at the opening session.
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/50sp_roundtable141204.htm

* UK-Japan Joint Visit (Dec. 12-13, Dhaka)

Mr. Suma Chakrabarti, Permanent Secretary of UK Department for International Development (DFID), and Mr. Kazuo Kodama, Deputy Director-General, Economic Cooperation Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made a joint visit to Bangladesh on December 12-13.

They discussed with the government, private sector, and civil society the key challenge posed by governance and other issues.

The Joint Statement is posted on the following website.
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/news/pr/49press_j_uk131204.html
The Press Release before the visit is also on the website.
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/news/pr/48press_uk_jp031204.html

* Mr. Sakurai Visited Bangladesh (Dec. 6-8, Dhaka)

Two members of the House of Councilors, Mr. Shin Sakurai, President of the Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentarians League, and Mr. Kazuyasu Shiina, Deputy Secretary-General of the League, visited Bangladesh from December 6 to 8.

They held talks with the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Parliament, the Foreign Minister, the Chief Whip, etc.

Mr. Sakurai has been visiting Bangladesh once every year in recent years.

* Handing over Japan's Food Aid through WFP (Dec. 6, Dhaka)

Ambassador Horiguchi handed over 5,665 MT of Bulk wheat worth $1.6 million to the Food and Disaster Management Minister H.E. Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf.

The donated wheat will be distributed among the poor people through World Food Programme (WFP)-supported Vulnerable Group Development activity across the country including the flood and the 'Monga'
affected areas.

The Secretary, Food and Disaster Management Mr. Sidduqur Rahman Chowdhury and WFP Representative Mr. Douglas Casson Coutts were also present on the occasion.

Another consignment of 13,000 MT of rice worth US $ 5 million will be arriving later as assistance to the flood victims.

For more information, please visit the following website.
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/news/pr/pdf/Japan_WFP061204.pdf

[5] JBCCI Member Report

"Problems & Possible Solutions of Bangladesh-Japan Trade Growth" Mr. Animesh Kundu, Director, OTOBI Ltd.

Bangladesh's trade with Japan has been very unidirectional for the last few years. For example, while we have imported $427.38 million, we have exported only $112.35 million in the year 2002 to Japan.
Moreover, the products we export to Japan are not high value-added products. Thus, the per capita real income growth that we expect from higher value added exports is yet to come. In order to counter our trade imbalance & enrich Bangladesh's export basket, we must find new and more goods to export to Japan.

Here few things should be noticed. Industries, which have a relatively higher labor to capital ratio, should be taken into consideration that Japanese market demands high quality products. Even the smallest and
simplest of products requires the best possible finishing. Therefore, machining skills need to be developed rather than to encourage just hand made products.

Although Bangladesh is traditionally seen as a country with abundant and cheap labor supply, too much dependence on unskilled labor may prove a fallible strategy in the long run. Because in the long run, developing skills in specific industrial sectors will help us grow core competency; otherwise, countries which have cheap labor like us or even cheaper labor will replace us in the international market.

A typical Japanese buyer does not approve or cancels vendor easily. Therefore, to develop long term relationship with Japanese buyers, our government must focus their effort in order to facilitate the birth and nourishment of specific export focused industries. Since Bangladesh is still behind countries like China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, or Mexico in terms of technological development, we will not be able to compete with them in high technology products just based on cheap labor. Before we develop high technology industries, we must
develop a pool of good engineers and technicians.

In order to sustain low technology industries and to promote development of high tech industries, ancillary industries need to be developed which requires government help. For example, technology industries requires CNC machine for which we need trained technician to run and to maintain the machines. Thus, we need training institutes with good trainers who can develop such technician.

We also need good management, engineer and manufacturing consultancy firms which can train our manager such Japanese principles like Gemba Kaizen (continuous improvement), JIT (Just in Time) inventory, Why-Why
analysis, etc. so that we can incorporate such world class manufacturing practices into our industries. I believe, light engineering industries like bicycle, toys, furniture, small tools, horticulture (vegetable, agro processing, cut flowers), etc. could be identified as probable sectors.

Another problem Bangladesh faces regarding export of these products when it competes with China, Vietnam, etc. is its weak infrastructure. Due to obsolete equipment, skilled manpower shortage and inefficiency, usage of our seaports becomes too costly which in turn makes our products uncompetitive. Freight from Bangladesh is also very high because of inefficiency and because relative distance to Japan compared with China or Vietnam. For example, garments export from China takes only 10-15 days from order to warehouse in Japan but from
Bangladesh it takes a staggering 120 days.

Both in developing management and technical skills and improving infrastructure, Japanese government can help through their influence on Bangladesh government and through ODA (Official Development Assistance). Agencies like AOTS, JBIC, JETRO, JBCCI can play a significant role in this regard. Our industries and infrastructure must be actively "managed" by our government like the Japanese bureaucracy did during Japan's post war developmental period. Our bureaucratic machinery must actively propel our export industries into
new horizon. Without governmental push and help, we may not be able to breakthrough the feared export slump in the post MFA regime from 2005 onwards.

These are of course problems regarding market accessibility of Japan when it comes to Bangladeshi business community. Getting Japanese business visa in a big hurdle that lots of business people have to face in Bangladesh. Besides this, language is another barrier that Bangladeshis have to face as most Japanese do not speak or read English. Awareness of various trade fairs of Bangladesh hosted both in Japan and in Bangladesh is also very low among Japanese business community. Proper media coverage of these fairs must be ensured in
order to create awareness among the Japanese business people.

(Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JBCCI) Website)
http://www.jetro.go.jp/bangladesh/eng/jbcci/index.html

[6] Institution and Capacity Building for Development in Bangladesh (Mr. Quamrul Islam Siddique, Former Executive Director, Dhaka Transport Coordination Board)

[This is a summary of presentation at FASID Internatioal Symposium "Prospects and Issues Facing Japanese ODA" on November 5, 2004 in Tokyo.]

Japan is a major development partner for Bangladesh, being the second largest donor next to the World Bank. Japan is a country that made a remarkable change from an aid recipient to an aid provider. Its ODA design was based on its own experience of hardship and efficiency and its strategy now supports self-reliance and sustainability of recipients.

Japan's ODA emphasizes efficiency, transparency, public participations, ownership, peace and security. Japan's ODA has also been responsive to the changing development needs. Over a period of just above thirty years from 1971, Japan has provided US$6.5 billion to Bangladesh, with a grant to loan ratio of 1.65:1. Assistance has
been strategically aimed at sustainable development and poverty reduction, with a focus on institution building, capacity development, knowledge transfer, mutual learning and long-term benefits.

Bangladesh has one of the highest population density in the world; three times that of Japan, but a per capita GDP of US$450, which is 90 times less than Japan. There is a growth rate of 4.8% on average, but a rate of 7 to 8% is required in order to attain the MDGs. Investment accounts for 23.2% of GDP. Bangladesh is increasingly integrating with the global economy and trade accounts for 31% of GDP, with aid share to GDP declining. Infrastructure facilities have been substantially improved, thanks to Japan, the ADB and World Bank.Bangladesh has attained self-sufficiency in food production and the economy has been significantly liberalized. The official government policy is "Growth-oriented poverty reduction."

In Bangladesh, policy reforms have been key towards growth, stability, and poverty reduction. Agricultural policy reform has been instrumental in achieving self-sufficiency in food production, through the introduction of new technology, deregulation, crop diversification and non-farm activities. Industrial policy has also been reformed,
including denationalization, divestiture, privatization and financial restructuring. Trade policy has been structured to remove all anti-export biases and to liberalize trade. Infrastructure policy has aimed at creating rural growth centers, the improvement and expansion of an extensive road network and the improvement of rural electricity
supply. Reforms have also been instituted in financial, macroeconomic, human development, education, health and population, and social safety-net policies.

Such policy shifts have required decentralization of policy making and enhancements in professionalism. A monitoring system has also been established and a structure for informal decision-making has also been set up. Leadership, teamwork and a sense of mission have also been crucial. At the macro-level, conducive factors have been effective in the sphere of state mechanisms and institutions, rule of law, regulatory framework, provisioning of basic social services and committed visionary leadership.

Areas where Japanese ODA could contribute more are measures to promote growth, given that a level of 7 to 8% growth is required in order to attain the MDGs and PRSP goals. In addition, further infrastructure
development needs exist, and there are scopes for further private investment. It will be important to consolidate past gains in human development and to address cases of poor governance due to weak institutional capacity.

From the Bangladesh side, the government is called upon to provide a homegrown policy and strategy with vision to ensure growth with equity. Strong political commitment is also required that encourages people's participation and ownership. There is a need to implement leadership with the three Cs--concern, commitment and competence.

Japanese ODA could facilitate the process of sustainable development. It could also invest in homegrown priority sectors to ensure ownership. Further cooperation needs to be made in the field in institution building, capacity development, know-how and mutual learning. The ODA philosophy of Japan needs to continue to be pursued
with transparency, efficiency and people's participation.

(Full summary of the symposium)
http://www.fasid.or.jp/kaisai/summary_eng.pdf

(Mr. Siddique's paper and presentation materials)
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/jp/bdmodel/doc/041105%20siddique%20fasid.doc
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/jp/bdmodel/pdf/041105shiddiquefasid%20ppt.pdf

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Embassy of Japan
Plot No. 5 & 7, Dutabash Road,
Baridhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh
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