Towards BIMSTEC-Japan Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Bangladesh Perspective

This book explores how Bangladesh can leverage a triangular cooperation track linking BIMSTEC economies with Japan’s experience, capital and standards to accelerate trade, logistics and industrial upgrading. It begins by situating BIMSTEC in the evolving Indo-Pacific economic geography—rising Bay of Bengal shipping, power trade prospects, and India–ASEAN supply-chain interfaces—and explains why Japan’s “quality infrastructure” emphasis and production networks align with Bangladesh’s export diversification goals. Chapters map tariff and non-tariff barriers, rules of origin and standards issues across priority sectors: apparel backward linkages, pharmaceuticals, agro-processing, leather goods, light engineering and ICT-enabled services. Connectivity analysis examines ports, special economic zones and economic corridors, outlining bottlenecks in customs, trucking, cold chains and standards certification. Finance chapters detail blended structures—public funds, ODA, guarantees and private capital—for projects that meet environmental and social safeguards. Case studies highlight how Japanese firms assess policy predictability, dispute resolution and aftercare, and how Bangladesh can de-risk entry through one-stop services and stable incentives. The text proposes a stepwise pathway from business facilitation and regulatory coherence to a deeper economic partnership, arguing that Bangladesh should pursue strategic autonomy while locking in high-quality investment and technology transfer.