Japan to provide 76,635m yen to Bangladesh, deals signed

Under the 44th Japanese ODA loan, Japan will
provide 76,635 million Japanese Yen (JPY) (approximately US$517.27 million)
to Bangladesh as the third tranche of the Hazrat Shahjalal International
Airport Expansion project.

The ‘Exchange of Notes’ and ‘Loan Agreement’ in this regard were signed today
between Bangladesh and Japan.

Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, secretary of Economic Relations Division,
Ministry of Finance, signed the ‘Exchange of Notes’ and the ‘Loan Agreement’
on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh.

IWAMA Kiminori, the ambassador of Japan in Bangladesh, signed the ‘Exchange
of Notes’ and HIROSHI Yoshida, senior representative of JICA, Bangladesh
Office, Dhaka signed the ‘Loan Agreement’ on behalf of Japan.

The signing ceremony was held at NEC-2 Conference Room of Economic Relations
Division at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka, said a press release.

The rate of interest of this loan will be 1.30 percent (pc) for construction,
0.20pc for consultancy services, Front End Fee (at a time) 0.2pc, and
repayment period will be 30 years which includes 10 years grace period.

The Project is being implemented to meet future demand of air transportation
and to ensure international standard of safety, security, and facilities by
expanding Airport Terminal facilities and developing related infrastructure
at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, thereby contributing to
further economic growth in Bangladesh.

The total cost of project is Taka 21,399.0633 Crore (GOB Taka 5,258.0388,
JICA Taka 16,141.0245). Project implementation period is July 2016 to June
2025. Up to November 2023, physical progress of the project is 90pc and
financial progress is 66pc.

JICA is providing assistance for this project in different phases. It has
already provided 156,825 million JPY in two tranches. Japan is the largest
bilateral development partner of Bangladesh.

Japan has been providing continuous support for the socio-economic
development of Bangladesh since our independence.

The ODA commitment has exceeded US$31.84 billion till now. Japanese loans and
grants have been utilized for implementation of different project in a wide
range of areas including power, roads, bridges, telecommunication,
agriculture, health, education, water supply and sanitation, rural
development, environment, human resource development etc.

The Japanese assistance contributed significantly in overall development of
the country. (BSS)