TOKYO — Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held a bilateral summit in Tokyo on Tuesday, on the second day of Rahman's official visit to Japan from 26 to 29 October, and issued a joint statement projecting Japanese private investment of up to 1 trillion yen in Bangladesh over the next five years, with the potential to create 200,000 jobs, The Business Standard reported. One trillion yen is about $6.34 billion — yaani roughly 634 crore US dollars, or 1 lakh crore yen in South Asian counting. Takaichi welcomed the projection and praised the Rahman administration's efforts to promote foreign direct investment, the statement said.
Source: The Business Standard, Dhaka, Oct 27, 2026 — Dhaka, Tokyo deepen partnership
The two leaders upgraded their flagship initiative, the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B), into 'BIG-B for Shared Prosperity', widening its focus to infrastructure, energy security, investment and resilient supply chains amid global uncertainty and geopolitical risks, The Business Standard reported. Under the framework, the two countries will develop the Matarbari-Maheshkhali area into a major logistics, energy and industrial hub centred on the Matarbari Deep-Sea Port, and will explore cooperation on the port's operation and management. The joint statement, as reported by ANI, said the two sides concurred on developing the area as a hub for logistics, energy and industry and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening regional connectivity.
Source: ANI, Oct 27, 2026, via DevDiscourse — Bangladesh-Japan Matarbari connectivity
Five cooperation documents were signed, covering economic relations and the business environment, agriculture, fisheries and livestock, and environmental protection, The Business Standard reported. They include a memorandum between Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Bangladesh's Economic Relations Division, separate memoranda between Japan's agriculture ministry and Bangladesh's agriculture and fisheries ministries, an environment memorandum, and a letter of intent on climate cooperation. The leaders also welcomed the signing of the Japan-Bangladesh Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and committed to bringing it into force early, to support Bangladesh's smooth graduation from Least Developed Country status, and agreed on preparatory work for the early opening of the third terminal at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and early construction of Dhaka's MRT lines.
Source: The Business Standard, Oct 27, 2026 — Dhaka, Tokyo to upgrade BIG-B
On energy and security, Rahman thanked Japan for a 50 billion yen emergency support loan for economic resilience and stable energy supply — the first yen loan under Japan's POWERR Asia initiative — and Takaichi expressed continued support for energy infrastructure to help bridge Bangladesh's supply-demand gap, The Business Standard reported. The leaders also welcomed the entry into force of their defence equipment and technology transfer agreement; Japan will provide a patrol vessel through its development assistance and five patrol boats through its Official Security Assistance programme, with cooperation on maritime awareness, coastal patrol and port security. In the same joint statement, the two prime ministers called for early de-escalation in the Middle East and the urgent, full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and agreed that displaced Rohingyas must be able to return voluntarily, safely and with dignity to Myanmar.
Source: The Business Standard, Dhaka, Oct 27, 2026 — Dhaka, Tokyo deepen partnership
Bangladesh is South Asia's second-largest economy and Japan is its biggest development partner. A trillion-yen investment pipeline anchored on a Bay of Bengal deep-sea port is not just a bilateral deal — Matarbari sits on the sea lanes linking South and Southeast Asia, which is why the summit paired the money with port, energy and maritime-security cooperation under Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision.