Japan has expressed the interest to hold a coordination meeting to review projects under its funding in the road sector, which were hit badly due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki proposed the meeting during his courtesy call on Road Transport and Bridges Minister ObaidulQuader at his secretariat office on Wednesday.
New chief of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Hayakawa Yuhoandsecond secretary of Japanese Embassy in Dhaka Takashi Shirai were also present.
Accepting the proposal, the Minister said Japan has been a proven friend of Bangladesh and one of the prime development partners.
He said that he will direct the authorities concerned to hold the coordination meeting soon as a good number of projects are now under implementation in the country.
Japan's investment in the country's different projects mainly in road transportation sector has been increasing 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.
Though the country has almost relaxed the lockdown situation, these projects have been hampered as the consultants and contractors are yet to join the projects. The Japanese government's restriction to travel Bangladesh also caused delays in the implementation of the project.
smunima@yahoo.com
