Japanese ambassador in Dhaka Shiro Sadoshima has expressed his “extreme shock” over the recent political violence that took the lives of innocent civilians and caused injuries and damages to property such as trains and vehicle. He believes that it is important to embrace the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest but no political ends should justify one’s action to spoil the lives and live hoods of innocent civilians.
“Please seat and talk,” he urged political parties while addressing diplomatic correspondents in Dhaka on Saturday. “ Your street violence is scaring off Japanese companies.”
The Japanese ambassador who represents Bangladeshi No 1 bilateral donor reiterated, “divergences of opinions should be bridged peacefully through dialogues among all the parties and groups concerned.”
The ambassador said he is finding less and less Japanese companies willing to invest here. “When I came here a year and a half ago, my mission was to expand trade and businesses. But in the last six months it had plateaued. ”
He said last month he missed a business delegation comprising Japanese giants Sony Toyota and Cannon “They just flew off after staying in hotels in Dhaka and Chittagong,” he said, “They were scared of strikes.”
He, however, said he had no plan to talk directly to the political leaders in Bangladesh, as it’s not ‘our style.’ “We don’t discuss internal politics. But this time we raised those issues as a good friend of the country,” he said.
Sadoshima said he was worried that Bangladesh’s development may suffer as ‘the opportunity costs would be more now than before’ due to the unrest.
Sadoshima said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) scrapped its committed US$400 million loan for the Bangladesh’s multi-billion-dollar Padma Bridge project as World Bank decided to withdraw financing for the Padma Bridge and the Manila-based lender ADB also cancelled its committed $615 million credits.
Please remember that a very good friend of Bangladesh is seriously worried over the current situation of the country, where violence is not only undermining but also eating up the developmental achievements the country has earned so far through strenuous efforts by the generations of Bangladeshi people, to which the people and the government of Japan have rendered a considerable amount of help over the years, ambassador Shiro Sadoshima added.
(by Staff Writer)
