The governments of Bangladesh and Japan signed three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) today to enhance bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.

Bangladesh Special Economic Zone Ltd (BSEZ Ltd) signed the first MoU with Bangladesh IRIS Co Ltd—a Bangladesh-Japan joint venture company promoting education for children—to purchase land and get the right to use the land inside BSEZ of phase 2.

A separate economic zone for Japanese entrepreneurs was inaugurated at Araihazar in Narayanganj in December last year.

The BSEZ Ltd signed the second MoU with Brac Kumon Ltd to provide the schoolgoing children near the BSEZ areas with the education opportunity.

The commerce ministry signed the third MoU with Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) to cooperate with each other in promotion and exchange of trade information and enhance of capacity of the officials.

The MoUs were signed at a daylong summit on "Bangladesh-Japan economic relations for the next 50 years: for the industry upgradation of Bangladesh" in Dhaka.

The Jetro, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida), and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry jointly organised the summit, which began at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka this afternoon.

Tipu Munshi, commerce minister; Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, industries minister; Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT; Yasutoshi Nishimura, economy, trade and industry minister of Japan, and and Kazushige Nobutani, president of Jetro, attended the event.