H.E. Mr. IWAMA Kiminori, Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh and Ms. Sharifa Khan, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance signed the Exchange of Notes of the 43rd Official Development Assistance (ODA) Yen Loan of Japan to Bangladesh on 29 March 2023 at Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, Agarga, Dhaka.
The second installment of the 43rd Japanese Yen Loan Package is 165.319 billion yen. Since the first round was 165.861 billion yen, the total amount of the 43rd round of yen loans is 331.180 billion yen (approximately USD 2.48 billion).
Based on this agreement between the two counties, Mr. ICHIGUCHI Tomohide, Chief Representative of JICA Bangladesh Office and Ms. Sharifa Khan signed a relevant Loan Agreements.
“I’m pleased to be able to sign the Exchange of Notes with regard to 43rd Japanese Yen Loan Package today. The loan package includes the “Chattogram – Cox’s Bazar Highway Improvement Project (I)”, the “Construction of Dual Gauge Double Line Between Joydebpur-Ishurdi Section Project (Engineering Service)” and the “Matarbari Port Development Project (II)”. We believe that these projects will further improve the quality of life of the people of Bangladesh and stimulate economic activities.”, said Ambassador IWAMA at the signing ceremony. Ambassador IWAMA also mentioned Prime Minister Fumio KISHIDA’s policy speech in India. The new ideas on the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)” vision, Prime Minister emphasized the importance of “connectivity” as the core element to FOIP cooperation. Further more, the Bay of Bengal, was highlighted in the speech as one of the key regions.
Japan has been the single largest bilateral donor for Bangladesh since 2012, assisting variety of mega-infrastructure projects.
The 43rd Exchange of Notes covers the following projects:
(1) Chattogram – Cox’s Bazar Highway Improvement Project (I) (loan amount: 55.729 billion yen)
Interest Rate: 1.20 % per annum (The part concerning payments to consultants: 0.01% per annum)
Repayment period: Twenty years after the grace period of ten years
(2) Construction of Dual Gauge Double Line Between Joydebpur-Ishurdi Section Project (Engineering Service)(loan amount: 4.228 billion yen)
The part concerning payments to consultants: 0.01% per annum
Repayment period: Twenty years after the grace period of ten years
(3) Matarbari Port Development Project (II)(loan amount: 105.362 billion yen)
Interest Rate: 1.20 % per annum (The part concerning payments to consultants: 0.01% per annum)
Repayment period: Twenty years after the grace period of ten years
