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Published : 26 Oct 2025, 09:31 PM
Japanese entrepreneur and politician Miki Watanabe has announced plans to establish a modern driving school, aiming to increase employment opportunities for Bangladeshis in the country.
The founder of Watami Group announced the plan during a meeting with Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna on Saturday, a statement from the Chief Advisor’s Office (CAO) said.
Watanabe said they are looking for 1.2 hectares of land to set up a driving school.
“There is a huge demand for trained drivers in Japan, and Bangladesh can be an important source of such skilled manpower,” he added.
The chief advisor immediately directed officials to identify suitable land on the outskirts of Dhaka for the proposed driving school.
The meeting took place in continuation of Yunus’s visit to Japan in May. During the visit, an agreement was signed with Japanese entrepreneurs to recruit 100,000 workers from Bangladesh over the next five years.
Watanabe, a long-time “follower” of Yunus, said he has already established a language training academy in Narsingdi’s Monohardi, aimed at training and employing at least 3,000 Bangladeshis.
He said, “Already, 52 workers have gone to Japan to work in the construction and agricultural sectors. Currently, 40 students are undergoing training in each batch at the academy.”
The academy’s activities and network will be gradually expanded nationwide to widen recruitment opportunities, he added.
He expressed his wish to set up another training centre in or around Dhaka to ease the visits made by Japanese company representatives.
The chief advisor instructed officials to promptly identify any unused IT park or building that could be converted into a Japanese language and technical training centre with minimal investment.
He also stressed the need to increase the number of Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) exams, highlighting that the current biannual schedule is insufficient to meet the growing demand.
During the meeting, Watanabe recalled founding the Watami School in Narayanganj over a decade ago, inspired by Yunus’s vision of a poverty-free world.
