Japan hopes for fair elections in Bangladesh

Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki said Japan hopes for better elections in Bangladesh than the previous national polls.

“My hope and expectation is that the government takes some measures in light of holding better elections -- free and fair elections -- compared to the one before,” he said in response to a journalist’s question at an event hosted by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh at the National Press Club on Tuesday.

The ambassador said reportedly there were some "unfortunate cases" regarding how elections were conducted last time in 2018.

“So, I have been telling some government officials that Japan hopes for a better, free and fair election. I am going to continue to raise this point," he said.

"You will be surprised to hear that even the Japanese Embassy issued a statement with some concern immediately after the last general election, in December 2018. The main focus was the violence which occurred surrounding the election situation.”

Ito Naoki singled out the enactment of the election commission law as a ‘positive move’ in Bangladesh for the first time in 50 years.

“The election is scheduled for the end of the next year. So, we have another 18 months. I have noticed some positive moves by the government of Bangladesh, including the enactment of a new law for the election commission,” he said.

The ambassador said it is important how the media can play a role to portray people’s voices leading up to the elections so that “every single vote counts”.

He also said that 68% of Japanese companies are showing interest in investing in Bangladesh as they see better prospects for Bangladesh’s economy and better prospects for their business.

“Bangladesh is one of the possible and probable destinations. Why is Bangladesh so attractive to Japanese companies? One factor is, of course, its growth potential. Bangladesh is going to be the fastest growing economy in Asia this decade. And its geographical location is so strategic. Its infrastructure is going to develop fast,” he said, adding that the Padma bridge will boost interest among the investors.

“Japan and Bangladesh are celebrating 50 years of their diplomatic relations. Now Bangladesh is showing economic stability and signs of further strong economic growth. If you talk about the per capita income of this country, it currently stands at $2,800. And so soon, it will reach $3,000.”

“If you look at your export figure from July to May, a 15% increase has been reported. I'm hoping that this fiscal year, Japan is going to once again be the largest export destination from Bangladesh in Asia.”

“The special economic zone, Araihazar, is going to be completed by the end of the year. This is the first special economic zone being developed by Japan. It is not the Japanese economic zone. It’s Bangladesh’s special economic zone.”

He also said that Japan is thinking of exporting defence equipment as Japan has relaxed regulations on exporting defence-related equipment.

“Beyond this 50 years of celebration, what I can say is that Japan will continue to stand by Bangladesh and will cooperate on its development journey for the further sustainable growth of this country,” the ambassador further said.

“My hope is that direct flights between Dhaka and Narita [a city on the eastern outskirts of Tokyo] will soon resume. Due to the pandemic, their preparation has been postponed. I hope these direct flights will restart this year. It will take six hours, which is closer than most of the capitals in Asia and it will develop another sense of closeness.”