Bangladeshi Ambassador to Japan Ashraf-ud-Doula leaves for home Sunday feeling satisfied with the commencement of "tangible and substantial" bilateral trade and investment relations.
"For many years, bilateral relations have been in good shape, politically and economically. I am more than content to see successive investments in Bangladesh by major Japanese corporations, which materialized during my days in office here," Doula said in his farewell visit to The Japan Times office in Tokyo on Thursday.
A career diplomat, Doula has come to the end of his four-year mission in Tokyo, during which he succeeded in prodding such blue-chip Japanese companies, including Ito-Yokado Co., Marubeni Corp., NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Uniqlo, to make big investments in Bangladesh.
Another sign that Japan and Bangladesh are entering a new phase of economic relations, according to Doula, is the formation of the Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, which the ambassador initiated.
"Today, the chamber comprises some 200 Bangladeshi business interests operating in Japan," he said.
Personally, Doula has built deep associations with Japan. In 2006, his son married a Japanese woman. "Now I have two grandchildren of Japanese extraction," he said.
Doula, 57, plans to retire from active service upon returning to his country after a 35-year diplomatic career, during which he also served as ambassador to Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Australia.
In anticipation of that day, Doula said he and his wife, Jasmine, have set up a nongovernmental organization dedicated to helping elderly people without living relatives in his impoverished native town north of Dhaka.
"In addition to the employment-generation efforts, our NGO also plans to launch a drive to provide scholarships for local girls from poor families so that they can receive high school education," he said.