Japan Wants to Review Road Projects under Its Funding

Japan has expressed its interest in conducting a coordination meeting to evaluate initiatives under its sponsorship in the road sector that have been seriously impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki suggested a meeting during a courtesy call to the Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, Mr Obaidul Quader, at his secretariat office on Wednesday.

The new head of the Japan International Cooperation Agency ( JICA) Hayakawa Yuhoand the second secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka Takashi Shirai were also present.

In approving the request, the Minister said that Japan was a well-established friend of Bangladesh and one of the leading development partners.

He said that he will guide the authorities concerned to hold a coordination meeting as soon as a good number of projects are currently underway in the region.

Japan 's expenditure in the country's numerous ventures, especially in the road transport market, has increased following visits by the prime ministers of the two countries.

With the financial and technical support of JICA, the government is implementing three metro rail projects named as mass rapid transit line in the city. Besides, some road development projects are also in the pipelines.

However, majority of the JICA funded projects have been slowed down due to leaving the countryof consultants and contractors amid the pandemic.

Although the country has almost eased the lockout scenario, these ventures have been delayed as consultants and contractors are still in the phase of entering the ventures. The Japanese government's ban on travel to Bangladesh has triggered delays in the execution of the project.