Bangladesh and Japan have held a bilateral meeting to strengthen cooperation in agriculture, at which Bangladesh called for Japanese investment in processing mango, jackfruit and other dried foods.

The meeting was held on 29 April at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council at Khamarbari in the capital.

Japan stressed stronger inter-ministerial coordination and greater private-sector participation, and called for progress on implementing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Possible cooperation on exports of Japanese wagyu beef and in the halal food sector was also discussed.

Japan emphasised joint initiatives for sustainable agricultural development and mentioned stronger cooperation under frameworks such as the Joint Crediting Mechanism.

Bangladesh stressed greater cooperation in advanced agricultural research, with emphasis on speed-breeding technology based on genomics and phenomics, and on vegetable seed production. It also raised increasing imports of agricultural products from Bangladesh, including mango and frozen food.

Bangladesh sought Japan's help with farm mechanisation and Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as drones, big data and artificial intelligence, and called for Japanese investment in jackfruit and mango processing (dried food).

The talks identified deep-sea fishing and ensuring food safety standards as promising areas of cooperation.

Mohammad Aminur Rashid, minister for agriculture, fisheries and livestock, said at the meeting: "Agriculture is the backbone of Bangladesh's economy. We attach great importance to Japan's cooperation in advancing the modernisation and mechanisation of agriculture, value-chain development and climate-resilient practices."

The minister said Japan's expertise, innovation and investment had played an important role in raising the productivity of Bangladesh's agriculture and speeding up agro-based industrialisation.

The Bangladesh delegation was led by Mohammad Aminur Rashid, minister of the agriculture and the fisheries and livestock ministries. He was accompanied by Agriculture Secretary Dr Rafiqul E. Mohamed, Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Md Delowar Hossain and other senior officials.

The Japanese delegation was led by Suzuki Norikazu, Japan's minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. It included secretaries Tanaka Tatsuaki and Nisaka Makoto, and Saida Shinichi, Japan's ambassador to Bangladesh.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.