The visit is a follow up to an agreement signed between Bangladesh and Japan during Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's recent visit to Japan.

According to the agreement, Japan will take Bangladeshi workers on a payment basis for around 60 types of technical jobs in private and public sector enterprises and provide training for enhancing their expertise.

The other members of the delegation are Masaki Tachikawa and Yako Akahane, manager and assistant manager of Jitco.

The delegation will hold talks with the officials of the ministries of expatriates' welfare and overseas employment and the foreign affairs during the visit for preparing the modus operandi of the recruitment process.

Bangladesh Manpower Export and Training (BMET) and the apex chamber body Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) will jointly select the intending workers on a preliminary basis.

The Japanese authority will finally approve the list.

According to the conditions for the recruitment, the workers must work in the designated company and join the organisation that he worked for in Bangladesh after returning from Japan.

Japan will hire a few hundred people from Bangladesh as a test case in the first phase, A K M Shamsuddin, secretary in-charge of the expatriates' ministry, told The Daily Star last night.

Sources, however, have hinted that if the Bangladeshi workers perform well and do not violate the conditions, hiring large number of workers from here is likely.

The intending workers, who must be employees of any public sector or private sector enterprise in Bangladesh, will get one year's training and be allowed to work in a Japanese company for two years as an intern for a handsome salary.

Japan has signed such an agreement with 14 underdeveloped and developing countries, including China, from where over 2,000 workers have already been hired under the programme, sources said.

Entering the vast Japanese market, which is currently facing an acute worker crisis, is looked upon as a great opportunity for Bangladesh.