Japan’s US$6 billion port plan aims to revive Bangladesh’s bruised economy

Japan’s push to expand industrial and port cooperation with Bangladesh could transform the South Asian country into a regional trade gateway, analysts say, connecting markets in Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific while diversifying Dhaka’s economic ties.

The plan was announced during Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s official visit to Japan this week. Rahman welcomed Tokyo’s pledge of US$6 billion in investment over the next five years, which could help revive an economy hit by energy shortages and reduce its heavy reliance on garment exports.

“Our ambition is clear: to turn this friendship between our two nations into a powerful engine of economic growth, opportunity and shared prosperity,” Rahman said on Tuesday at a joint press conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.