Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Dhaka Country Representative Yuji Ando said Japanese firms have started to show interest to invest in Bangladesh as political situation is gradually improving here.

"In the current month (November), around eight new Japanese companies from various sectors, including infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics and food, came to us for discussion on investment. The number was almost zero in August and September. In October, it was a few," he said while talking to BSS.

Besides this, he said, many Japanese companies running business in Bangladesh came to JETRO for discussions on expansion or their problems.

Ando, however, said business sentiment for Japanese companies in Bangladesh is rather high in Asia and Oceania region. Especially, domestic market size and growth potential is high, he added.

For competitive labor cost, he said, Bangladesh has the second highest ratio of export volume in the total sales in the region.

Local procurement is the key factor for reducing the production cost and expanding the export and domestic business, he added.

From the comparative perspective (especially with ASEAN countries), Ando said, it would be necessary for business environment in Bangladesh to be improved by addressing the issues for Japanese companies in Bangladesh, especially in custom clearance procedures and transparency.

By realizing the competitive investment climate, he said, Bangladesh would be the next investment destination for Japanese companies.

Trade agreement like Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) would bring more business-friendly environment in Bangladesh, he opined.

Ando mentioned that Bangladesh Special Economic Zone (BSEZ) and Matarbari deep seaport would become the game changers for Bangladesh's logistics and manufacturing industry respectively by developing world class infrastructure.

Ando, also Secretary General of the Japanese Commerce and Industry Association in Dhaka (JCIAD, SHOO-KOO-KAI in Japanese), said that JCIAD already submitted a set of proposals for reforms before Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) to ensure business-friendly environment in the country.

Regarding the proposals, he said, JCIAD called for the simplification of administrative procedures such as reducing paperwork and reviewing submitted information and then speeding up and making them more transparent.

JCIAD requested that policy consistency be ensured, such as maintaining incentives for Economic Zones (EZs) to attract investment and continuing Official Development Assistant (ODA) projects, he added.