Japan will provide some 600 billion yen (5.7 billion dollars) in official development assistance over the next four or five years to help build an industrial base in Bangladesh, a report said Tuesday, according to dpa. The project will focus on the region linking the capital Dhaka with Matarbari near the major port city of Chittagong. It will feature a series of infrastructure developments and a special economic zone for Japanese companies, the Nikkei business daily reported, without citing any sources. Tokyo will also offer loans for building railways and expressways between cities and it will assist in constructing urban infrastructure in Dhaka and Chittagong, Nikkei said. The number of Japanese companies in Bangladesh has doubled over the past five years to around 180, the report said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due to visit Bangladesh in early September and discuss the plans with his counterpart, Sheikhah Hasina.
