Iwama Kiminori, newly appointed Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh, paid a courtesy call on State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.
Welcoming the new Ambassador of Japan, State Minister said that Japan is Bangladesh's single largest bilateral development partner and an important country for trade and investment.
During the meeting, the State Minister thanked the Government of Japan for providing technical and financial support for the implementation of the Metrorail project, the foreign ministry said.
Highlighting Japan's cooperation in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh, the State Minister hoped that bilateral relations between the two countries would reach new heights during the tenure of the new Ambassador.
Ambassador Iwama sought the cooperation of the State Minister for Foreign Affairs in fulfilling his duties.
During the meeting, both sides cordially exchanged views on various issues of mutual interest, including Japanese development assistance, human resources development, Rohingya repatriation, cooperation in different multilateral fora etc.
The State Minister appreciated Japan’s continued support for repatriation of Rohigyas and expressed hope that Japan would continue to extend its support towards the early repatriation of the Rohingyas for the sake of peace and stability in the region.
State Minister Shahriar Alam wished Ambassador Iwama successful tenure in Bangladesh and assured him of full cooperation in discharging his duties.
After the meeting the Ambassador talked to media.
Asked whether they discussed the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said: “We have talked about the possibilities, but since this is the very first meeting we just had an exchange of views on that”.
The Prime minister’s visit to Japan, scheduled for November 29– December 1, has been postponed on a number of considerations, including their political situation and Covid-19 related restrictions there, foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, earlier, said.
