Chief Adviser Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus will leave Dhaka early Wednesday on a four-day official visit to Japan to attend the 30th Nikkei Forum and hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
He will hold a bilateral meeting with Japanese PM Ishiba in Tokyo on May 30.
"The two countries will sign seven memoranda of understanding including energy, development and capacity building of special economic zone and the development of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority,"
Acting Foreign Secretary Md Ruhul Alam Siddique told media on Monday while describing the Chief Adviser's upcoming visit to Japan from May 28-31.
"The main focus of this visit is budgetary support," he said adding that "Bangladesh has sought $1 billion from Japan as budgetary support in the form of a soft loan, and the announcement will be made formally after the bilateral talks, followed by the signing of an exchange of notes," he added.
Before the bilateral talks, Tokyo will roll out a red carpet to welcome the chief adviser with a guard of honour, he said.
Earlier, Japan has said that it will strengthen its engagement with Bangladesh under the Bay of Bengal Initiative (Big-B), as the country aims to support high-quality infrastructure development projects and encourage Japanese manufacturing and production companies to expand their industrial value chains to Bangladesh.
During the three-day tour, Yunus will attend the 30th Nikkei Forum in Tokyo. He is listed as one of the speakers in the two-day event, he said.
On the sidelines, he is likely to hold a number of meetings including Ji Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the acting secretary said.
The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Japan stands at $4 billion, with negotiations ongoing for an Economic Partnership Agreement to be signed by the end of this year.
More than 350 Japanese companies are currently operating in Bangladesh, and more are willing to invest here, he said.
Since Bangladesh's independence, Japan has provided a total of $24.72 billion -- almost evenly split between grants and loans.
Currently, Japan is funding more than 70 projects, including major ones like the third terminal of the Dhaka airport, Matarbari deep sea port and metro rail.
"Japan is very positive about providing overseas development assistance to Bangladesh. We are expecting more support in the days to come," Nazrul Islam, secretary (East) of the foreign affairs ministry, who led the Bangladesh side, said.
It is also likely to extend market access to Bangladeshi fruits and vegetables.
"We would seek strong Japanese support for resolving the Rohingya crisis," he said.
In February this year, Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Ikuina Akiko invited Yunus to visit Japan for the Nikkei 30th Future of Asia event, to be held on Thursday-Friday in Tokyo.
Yunus is also a recipient of the Nikkei Asia Prize in 2004.
