Japan-Bangladesh E-Bulletin (24th issue / May 2, 2005)
- Making a Bridge between Japan and Bangladesh - ====================================================================================================

[Table of Contents]

[1] Message from Ambassador Horiguchi "Entrance Ceremony at Japanese School in Dhaka"

[2] Ambassador's Visit to Chittagong Hill Tracts
* FAO Food Security Project in Bandarban and Alikadam
* UNDP Multi-purpose Community Centres in Chittagong Hill Tracts
* The Christian Hospital Cahndraghona

[3] Recent Event on Japan-Bangladesh Relations
* Japan-Bangladesh Foreign Ministers' Meeting (April 21, Jakarta )

[4] Upcoming Events on Japan-Bangladesh Relations
* Ambassador Horiguchi's Annual Policy Speech (May 4, Dhaka )
* Opening Ceremony of Dhaka Shishu Hospital (May 8, Dhaka )

[5]Information
* Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project

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[1] Message from Ambassador Horiguchi"Entrance Ceremony at Japanese School in Dhaka
"On April 14, which is also the New Year's Day of the Bengalicalendar, Japanese School in Dhaka held an entrance ceremony for eightkindergartners and one 1st grade student. The school was establishedin 1975 and commemorates the 30th anniversary this year with 25students including 12 kindergartners. Its Principal Ito and threeteachers out of five were also beginning their first semester inDhaka. So the ceremony was replete with more fresh and lively air thanusual.

As one of the guests, I made the following speech:
First, I asked children to keep two things in their minds. One is tothank their parents for providing them with an opportunity to attendJapanese School in a foreign country as such a chance is limited.Then, I asked them to pay close attention to things in Bangladesh sothat they will be able to share their experiences with friends inJapan once they go back there and build a bridge between Japan andBangladesh.

Next, I asked parents to take the two things into consideration. Oneis that it is very important for parents to maintain a positivementality since children are under strong influences of their parents.In addition, I asked them to have their children learn English as muchas possible in Bangladesh.

As I wrote in this e-bulletin before, I was amazed at the excellentEnglish language abilities of middle and high school students atScholastica when I saw their play, "Alice's Adventures inWonderland," last year (I was again impressed with their wonderfulperformance of the play in Bengali written by Tagore this year).

The English proficiency of Bangladeshi people is a good example forthe Japanese to follow. Fortunately, it is not as expensive to learnEnglish here as in Japan. I hope Japanese parents have their childrenacquire the ability to speak English while they are here. It is not anexaggeration to say that English is a "passport" for a person to be linked with the international arena.

With good commands in English gained in childhood, it will becomeeasier for the Japanese to assume a bigger role in the internationalcommunity and Japan's presence will dramatically expand in future.This applies to any career that children may choose in future. Forthis reason, I believe that it is immensely beneficial to increaseEnglish classes at Japanese School so that children can beincreasingly acquainted with English while they are in Bangladesh.

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

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[2] Ambassador's Visit to Chittagong Hill Tracts

Ambassador Horiguchi visited Bandarban, Chittagong and Rangamati fromMay 19 through 22. We would like to take this opportunity to send youupdated information about various projects in the areas.

* FAO Food Security Project in Bandarban and Alikadam

The Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) was implemented toassist Bangladesh to improve national, household and intra-householdfood security on an economically and environmentally sustainable basis by rapidly increasing food production output. The project has become operational in July 2002 with funding from the Government of Japan Trust Fund of 3.3 million US dollars. The Department of Agricultural Extension and FAO jointly organize the project.

The project has been conducting various activities in 22 villages.Although the project has not been finalized yet, quite a few positiveresults have come out from it as far as improvement of agriculturaland economic status of the villages concerned.

* UNDP Multi-purpose Community Centres in Chittagong Hill Tracts

UNDP is implementing various initiatives in Chittagong Hill Tracts(CHT) in order to strengthen CGT institutions, support communitydevelopment, support region-wide initiatives in critical spheres andhelp confidence building for peace.

For assisting these initiatives, the Government of Japan committed a Grant Contract of approximately 89 thousand US dollars. UNDP willreceive this grant to construct 10 multi-purpose community centres for capacity building of the traditional and elected leaders at different location in CHT.

Japan hopes that the centres make a significant impact on the efficiency of the traditional leaders and also on the lives of thegrassroots communities in CHT.

For more information about Japan's assistance for this project,please visit our website at:
http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/assistance/pdf/undp310305.pdf

* The Christian Hospital Cahndraghona (CHC)

The CHC was established in 1907 by Baptist Missionary Society, UK.This is the only private health providing center with excellence inChittagong Hill Tracts. Main beneficiaries are the poor tribal people,settlers and migrants.

The Government of Japan provided the CHC with a Grant Aid forGrass-roots Groups of approximately 35 thousand US dollars for theprocurement of Generator, incubator, pulse oxymeter, blood chemistryanalyzer. We hope that the hospital greatly improve its ability toheal the people in Cahndraghona.

During his trip, Ambassador Horiguchi had opportunities to meet thefollowing officials and enjoyed exchanging views with them on variousissues; Mrs. Mama Ching, Chairman, Bandarban Hill District Council;Mr. Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, Hon. Chairman, CHT Regional Council;Mr. Gazi Mohammad Julhash, Deputy Commissioner, Rangamati; and Mr.Manik Lala Dewan, Chairman, Rangamati Hill District Council.

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[3] Recent Event on Japan-Bangladesh Relations

* Japan-Bangladesh Foreign Ministers' Meeting (April 21, Jakarta )
H.E.Mr. Nobutaka Machimura, Foreign Minister of Japan, and H.E.Mr. M.Morshed Khan, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, held a meeting on April 21 in Jakarta on the occasion of the Asia-Africa Ministerial Meeting.The two Ministers discussed bilateral relations and global issues.

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[4] Upcoming Events on Japan-Bangladesh Relations

* Ambassador Horiguchi's Annual Policy Speech (May 4, Dhaka )
Ambassador Horiguchi will make an annual policy speech at the National Press Club on May 4. He will discuss next steps that Japan andBangladesh can take together in order to enhance bilateralrelationship.

* Opening Ceremony of Dhaka Shishu Hospital (May 8, Dhaka )
Dhaka Shishu Hospital Thalassemia center will hold an inaugurationceremony on May 8th, a day which is observed as "InternationalThalassemia Day" all over the world. The Government of Japan provideda Grant Aid for Grass-roots Groups to construct the center and hopesthat the center makes a significant contribution to treatment ofthalassemic patients in Bangladesh.

[5] Information

* Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project
The Global Development Network (GDN) is now accepting application to the Award for Most Innovative Development Project 2005. The award of50,000 US dollars will be given to the institution whose projectembodies a fresh approach to an important development need and holdsthe greatest promise for benefiting the poor in developing andtransition countries.

The Award is fully funded by the Government of Japan.For more information, please visit the GDN's website at:
http://www.gdnet.org/activities/gdn_competitions/global_development_awards/most_innovative_project/

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