<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki on Monday said his country wants to elevate the bilateral ties with Bangladesh to a "strategic" level adding more elements like defence and security areas to the growing relations.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"We have comprehensive partnership. We intend to elevate it. Hopefully we can agree to call our partnership a strategic partnership," he said referring to likely discussion on the issue during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to Japan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ambassador Naoki expressed his country’s interest to export defence related equipment to Bangladesh which will further be discussed between the two sides.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sharing Japan's vision for Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP), the envoy said this is something very comprehensive but not against any country or contain any country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said Japan considers Bangladesh as a partner of FOIP. "We will continue to promote our practical cooperation."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ambassador Naoki said infrastructure development, connectivity, maritime security and capacity building of security forces are part of the practical cooperation that they promote.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Regarding investment, the envoy said there are challenges but hopefully there will be improvements in terms of investment environment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Ambassador was speaking at an event titled “Meet the Ambassador” held in a Dhaka hotel.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) hosted it in collaboration with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Bangladesh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zillur Rahman, Executive Director of the Centre for Governance Studies moderated the programme.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bangladesh will seek Japan’s “stronger engagement” in its development efforts through “investment and financing” in major projects during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s forthcoming visit to Japan slated for November 29-December 1, 2022 at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told UNB that Japan is a "good investor" for Bangladesh, and they are implementing major projects.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The basic idea is Japan is capable of financing and they always finance without any tough conditions. They have technology, too,” Momen said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In May, 2014, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a summit meeting with Sheikh Hasina in Tokyo and they jointly launched the “Bangladesh-Japan Comprehensive Partnership.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In September same year, Abe held a summit meeting with Hasina in Dhaka.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Japan recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign nation on February 10, 1972, and the year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Japan. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>