Japan looking toward more investments in Bangladesh

[Aepsilons]

Hasina met a four-member delegation attending the Joint Bangladesh-Japan Public-Private Economic Dialogue.

They paid a courtesy call on her at her office on Thursday, her Press Secretary AKM Shamim Chowdhury said.

She discussed ways to increase trade and investment and other bilateral issues with the delegation.

Japanese Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Norihiko Ishiguro led the team.

"The prime minister said Bangladesh has a congenial investment-friendly environment which the Japanese entrepreneurs can take advantage of," Shamim Chowdhury said.

She said her government had allocated land for the Japanese investors in export-processing zones.

"The Japanese vice minister told the prime minister that Japanese investment in Bangladesh has increased 15 times in three years from 2009 to 2011.

“Japanese entrepreneurs are interested in investing in sectors affected by climate change and power and fuel sectors.”


Ishiguro said a high-level Japanese delegation comprising investors and businessmen would accompany the Japanese Prime Minister Shinjo Abe during his scheduled visit to Bangladesh on Sept 6 and 7.

"Ishiguro hoped that their entrepreneurs will be interested in large-scale investments in Bangladesh, as our country is situated at a strategic location between South and Southeast Asia," the press secretary said.

The delegation had discussed the planned ultra supercritical coal-fired power plant at Matarbarhi in Cox's Bazar, he said.

Japan had proposed to finance a large portion of the Tk 360 billion plant, he added.

Among others, the prime minister's International Affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi was present at the meeting.


PM for more Japanese investment in Bangladesh -
bdnews24.com

 

[kalu_miah]

Hasina met a four-member delegation attending the Joint Bangladesh-Japan Public-Private Economic Dialogue.
They paid a courtesy call on her at her office on Thursday, her Press Secretary AKM Shamim Chowdhury said.
She discussed ways to increase trade and investment and other bilateral issues with the delegation.
Japanese Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Norihiko Ishiguro led the team.
"The prime minister said Bangladesh has a congenial investment-friendly environment which the Japanese entrepreneurs can take advantage of," Shamim Chowdhury said.
She said her government had allocated land for the Japanese investors in export-processing zones.
"The Japanese vice minister told the prime minister that Japanese investment in Bangladesh has increased 15 times in three years from 2009 to 2011.
“Japanese entrepreneurs are interested in investing in sectors affected by climate change and power and fuel sectors.”
Ishiguro said a high-level Japanese delegation comprising investors and businessmen would accompany the Japanese Prime Minister Shinjo Abe during his scheduled visit to Bangladesh on Sept 6 and 7.
"Ishiguro hoped that their entrepreneurs will be interested in large-scale investments in Bangladesh, as our country is situated at a strategic location between South and Southeast Asia," the press secretary said.
The delegation had discussed the planned ultra supercritical coal-fired power plant at Matarbarhi in Cox's Bazar, he said.
Japan had proposed to finance a large portion of the Tk 360 billion plant, he added.
Among others, the prime minister's International Affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi was present at the meeting.

PM for more Japanese investment in Bangladesh -
bdnews24.com

Japan's investment in Bangladesh is greatly appreciated, specially in manufacturing sector. Bangladesh provides a low cost and increasingly educated labor force concentrated in a small area, with close proximity to sea ports.

As for the ultra supercritical coal power plant in Cox's Bazar, personally I do not support fossil fuel burning for creating electricity, but adopting the most efficient technology among coal plants would be an acceptable step, considering lack of other source of energy in Bangladesh. Here is more info on this project:
IGCC, supercritical - World Coal Association
MATARBARI 1200MW POWER PROJECT: $4.3b loan deal in March likely | Progress Bangladesh
Matarbari power plant gets Ecnec approval
Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project | Our Work | JICA

part 1 talks about the efficiency of the coal plant (45%, which is very high due to the latest most efficient technology, please see above article)

part 2 talks about the importance of the required deep sea port that will be built nearby (this is not too far from earlier planned Sonadia deep sea port)

part 3 describes total plan of expansion from current 1200 mega watt to 10,000 mega watt using imported coal through this deep sea port and also about usage of deep sea port for container shipping

This is a huge news for Bangladesh and of great strategic and economic significance, as power is a basic need to expand economic and industrial growth and expansion.

A big thank you to people of Japan from people of Bangladesh.
非常にどうもありがとうございました
Hijō ni dōmo arigatōgozaimashita

Here is some maps showing actual location of this planned coal power plant and sea port:

Several comments. Bangladeshi's of all walks of life have been vehemently against the coal plant under Indian sponsor ship that was to be built only 14 km away from, which is right at the edge of, environmentally sensitive biodiversity preservation related world heritage site Sundar Bans (worlds largest mangrove forest):
Controversy over Rampal power plant site
Sundarbans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have expressed my deep reservation about coal power plants in that thread. I think we should accept this new plan because:
1. It is far away from population center or our and world's precious asset, Sundar Bans (habitat for Royal Bengal Tigers, spotted deers and many other species), so whatever pollution is there, it will be pretty much blown away to Bay of Bengal, hopefully, we need to study wind patterns
2. the technology from Japan's Hitachi will be best in the world, as shown in above video's
3. we are using imported coal, so strip mining coal in our small land will not cause environmental problems or reduce usable land for agriculture or displace any population
4. the newly built deep sea port there will be usable for container shipping and this in itself will be a huge boost to Bangladesh economy by cutting down shipping time due to usage of feeder vessels to and from Singapore
5. last but not least, the power needed for transforming Bangladesh into a manufacturing hub like a 50 times bigger version of Singapore will be finally available

Keeping the above in mind, we should note that coal plants should be kept to that southern part of the country using imported coal, because of reasons already mentioned above.

Finally, we should keep an eye on new technology to convert the released CO2 into fuel, using solar or wind power in this area:
Using CO2 to Make Fuel: A Long Shot for Green Energy by David Biello: Yale Environment 360

 

[Mattrixx]

Japan's investment in Bangladesh is greatly appreciated, specially in manufacturing sector. Bangladesh provides a low cost and increasingly educated labor force concentrated in a small area, with close proximity to sea ports.

As for the ultra supercritical coal power plant in Cox's Bazar, personally I do not support fossil fuel burning for creating electricity, but adopting the most efficient technology among coal plants would be an acceptable step, considering lack of other source of energy in Bangladesh. Here is more info on this project:
IGCC, supercritical - World Coal Association
MATARBARI 1200MW POWER PROJECT: $4.3b loan deal in March likely | Progress Bangladesh
Matarbari power plant gets Ecnec approval
Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project | Our Work | JICA

part 1 talks about the efficiency of the coal plant (45%, which is very high due to the latest most efficient technology, please see above article)

part 2 talks about the importance of the required deep sea port that will be built nearby (this is not too far from earlier planned Sonadia deep sea port)

part 3 describes total plan of expansion from current 1200 mega watt to 10,000 mega watt using imported coal through this deep sea port and also about usage of deep sea port for container shipping

This is a huge news for Bangladesh and of great strategic and economic significance, as power is a basic need to expand economic and industrial growth and expansion.

A big thank you to people of Japan from people of Bangladesh.
非常にどうもありがとうございました
Hijō ni dōmo arigatōgozaimashita

Here is some maps showing actual location of this planned coal power plant and sea port:

Several comments. Bangladeshi's of all walks of life have been vehemently against the coal plant under Indian sponsor ship that was to be built only 14 km away from, which is right at the edge of, environmentally sensitive biodiversity preservation related world heritage site Sundar Bans (worlds largest mangrove forest):
Controversy over Rampal power plant site
Sundarbans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have expressed my deep reservation about coal power plants in that thread. I think we should accept this new plan because:
1. It is far away from population center or our and world's precious asset, Sundar Bans (habitat for Royal Bengal Tigers, spotted deers and many other species), so whatever pollution is there, it will be pretty much blown away to Bay of Bengal, hopefully, we need to study wind patterns
2. the technology from Japan's Hitachi will be best in the world, as shown in above video's
3. we are using imported coal, so strip mining coal in our small land will not cause environmental problems or reduce usable land for agriculture or displace any population
4. the newly built deep sea port there will be usable for container shipping and this in itself will be a huge boost to Bangladesh economy by cutting down shipping time due to usage of feeder vessels to and from Singapore
5. last but not least, the power needed for transforming Bangladesh into a manufacturing hub like a 50 times bigger version of Singapore will be finally available

Keeping the above in mind, we should note that coal plants should be kept to that southern part of the country using imported coal, because of reasons already mentioned above.

Finally, we should keep an eye on new technology to convert the released CO2 into fuel, using solar or wind power in this area:
Using CO2 to Make Fuel: A Long Shot for Green Energy by David Biello: Yale Environment 360

Simply you cant build all the power plants in a certain place away from population because you need to preserve world heritage or environment.
You have to make power plants very near from your demand area. Like cox's Bazar power plant can provide power to only Chittagong area not in Rajshahi or Khulna. If you need power in Khulna then the power plant should be built in Khulna.
The more the distance the more the loss.

 

[Aepsilons]

OT: @Matrixx , who is that in your avatar? The regalia worn looks like that of Mughal Emperors.

 

[Mattrixx]

OT: @Matrixx , who is that in your avatar? The regalia worn looks like that of Mughal Emperors.

We believe that he is the last independent Nawab ( Similar to King ) of united Bangla. Descendant of Mughal empire in some extant.
Siraj ud-Daulah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[kalu_miah]

Simply you cant build all the power plants in a certain place away from population because you need to preserve world heritage or environment.
You have to make power plants very near from your demand area. Like cox's Bazar power plant can provide power to only Chittagong area not in Rajshahi or Khulna. If you need power in Khulna then the power plant should be built in Khulna.
The more the distance the more the loss.

Bangladesh is not big and the transmission loss is not that much for few hundred miles.

Japan came up with a good plan that seems environmentally relatively sound and acceptable. We will see what new proposals there are from other sources of financing and then give our opinion based on individual proposals' merits and demerits, but in general I will always be opposed to mining coal causing population displacement and loss of arable land:
Bangladesh: Ban Coal Mine, Save Forests and Farms | Cultural Survival

If we are going to generate power with imported coal, then it only makes sense that the plants are concentrated only near the deep sea port used for unloading this imported coal.

 

[Aepsilons]

We believe that he is the last independent Nawab ( Similar to King ) of united Bangla. Descendant of Mughal empire in some extant.
Siraj ud-Daulah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank you for that information, the moment I saw your avatar, I noticed the regalia of the Nawab bears resemblance to that of the Moghul Emperor Akbar-E-Azam:

I have expressed my deep reservation about coal power plants in that thread. I think we should accept this new plan because:
1. It is far away from population center or our and world's precious asset, Sundar Bans (habitat for Royal Bengal Tigers, spotted deers and many other species), so whatever pollution is there, it will be pretty much blown away to Bay of Bengal, hopefully, we need to study wind patterns
2. the technology from Japan's Hitachi will be best in the world, as shown in above video's
3. we are using imported coal, so strip mining coal in our small land will not cause environmental problems or reduce usable land for agriculture or displace any population
4. the newly built deep sea port there will be usable for container shipping and this in itself will be a huge boost to Bangladesh economy by cutting down shipping time due to usage of feeder vessels to and from Singapore
5. last but not least, the power needed for transforming Bangladesh into a manufacturing hub like a 50 times bigger version of Singapore will be finally available
Keeping the above in mind, we should note that coal plants should be kept to that southern part of the country using imported coal, because of reasons already mentioned above.

Hi my brother, I would like to say that Bangladesh can benefit from the same kind of advanced plant that Japan had built in Vietnam, it is also coal fueled. In regards to Bangladesh, these plants will be beneficial as it can enhance the power grid of the nation. This will increase Bangladesh' industrial capability , and most importantly, improve the lives of its citizens. If Vietnam can capitalize on this, Bangladesh can , hands down.

 

[kalu_miah]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/opinion/bangladeshs-coal-delusion.html?_r=0

The Opinion Pages | OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Bangladesh's Coal Delusion
By JOSEPH ALLCHINMARCH 4, 2014

CreditA.M. Ahad/Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Like most poor countries,Bangladesh needs a lot of energy to develop its economy, the cheaper the better. About 80 percent of its electricity now comes from natural gas. But with gas resources waning and an entrenched, inefficient subsidy system, the government has decided to promote coal instead. This shift comes with great risks: Coal power pollutes, and Bangladesh is at once the most densely populated country on earth and one of the most exposed to the effects of climate change.

Under its 2010 master plan for developing the energy sector, the government hopes that by 2030, 50 percent of Bangladesh’s power will be generated by coal, up from about 2 percent now. (Bangladesh currently has one small plant, which runs on local coal.) It expects to accomplish this by building a dozen new coal-run electricity-generating plants, including a controversial one at Rampal, in the southwest of the country. That facility alone is expected to have a capacity of 1,320 megawatts, or about one-fifth of the country’s total current production of electricity.

• But the Rampal plant, which is scheduled to be completed by 2016, will be located less than 10 miles north of the Unesco-listed Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and the home to the largest population of Bengal tigers and to the endangered Irrawaddy River dolphin. The forest also acts as a buffer against the deadly cyclones that periodically funnel up the Bay of Bengal. With every storm, estimates Anu Mohammad, an economist at Jahangirnagar University, the mangroves save hundreds of thousands of lives.
  
  Despite the Sudarbans’ designation as a World Heritage Site in 1997, waterways will be dredged through the forest to allow convoys of coal-bearing ships to reach the Rampal station. Half a million tons of toxic sludge will be emitted by the plant annually, according to a report by the nearby Khulna University, and it will flow downstream into the forest’s network of rivulets. Another problem, according to Mr. Anu, is that the Rampal project opens the way for opportunistic land grabs and the development of other polluting industrial activities in the area, including so-called ship breaking, the tearing apart of unwanted ships.
  
  Electricity production has doubled over the past five years, but Bangladesh is struggling to keep up. Domestic production of natural gas falls about 200 billion cubic feet, or about 20 percent, short of demand for electricity-generation every year: After decades of selling the commodity to consumers and the industrial sector at exceptionally cheap subsidized rates, the country is running out of gas, and state-owned energy companies are operating at a loss.
  
  In a merry-go-round of fiscal irresponsibility, state-owned banks hand out bad loans to insolvent companies, which only keeps the gas flowing cheaply and wastefully. All in all, the subsidies system cost the state approximately $3.4 billion in 2012, or nearly one-quarter of the budget, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
  
  Bangladesh has gas reserves in the Bay of Bengal, but exploration has been slow. The state-owned exploration company doesn’t have the capacity or know-how to exploit those resources. And foreign multinationals don’t have the economic incentive: They wouldn’t recoup enough of their investment selling on the massively subsidized local market. At recent auctions, no companies bid on deep-sea blocks, and only two companies bid for the shallow-water blocks.
  
  One result is that in recent years the country has had to import liquid fuels to power stopgap plants. This has increased the impoverished nation’s annual imports bill by around $2 billion, out of around $30 billion, according to Mohammad Tamim, a professor of engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
  
  This is untenable in the long term, yet there are few alternatives. Nuclear power is touted, but for a country with little of the required infrastructure, that option seems fanciful. Although Bangladesh has great potential for renewables, policymakers haven’t put in the necessary investment or planning to developing them. This is partly because of cronyism and corruption, and vested interests that are eager to maintain fossil-fuel monopolies. It is also because of basic economics: The power generated by the renewables project on Sandwip Island, for example, is still so expensive that the plant runs at only 50 percent of its capacity because locals can’t afford to buy the electricity, even when it is discounted.
  
  And so coal it is for now, despite the risks. Coal is plentiful worldwide, and its price is relatively stable. But since exploiting Bangladesh’s own reserves, for example in the north, would displace many people, the government has favored projects like Rampal: The area isn’t very densely populated, and the plant will run on coal imported from Australia or Indonesia.
  
  Bangladesh seems to be caught in a bind. With demand for electricity growing by 10 percent a year, it will need to more than triple production, to over 30,000 megawatts by 2030. But that quantity isn’t so large; the United States produces more than five times as much from renewable sources alone. And there are better ways for Bangladesh to relieve the pressure than turning to coal.
  
  Eventually the subsidy system should be entirely reformed. Not only is it inefficient; it doesn’t help the poorest: Only 50 percent of Bangladeshis are on the grid. But reforms will raise gas prices, and in order to avoid related shocks to the economy and possible social unrest, they will have to be undertaken slowly.
  
  In the meantime, the gas grid itself should be made more efficient. Waste is rampant, and illegal connections to gas pipes are said to cost the government at least $30,000 a day. Revamping plants and cracking down on theft would reduce total gas bills, as well as the attached subsidy bills, even if the subsidy system remains in place.
  
  Foreign governments pump almost $3 billion in development assistance into Bangladesh annually. Instead of financing coal plants (as Japan plans to do in Matarbari), or ineffectual projects to improve governance, donors should channel aid toward developing renewable energy. The World Bank and other foreign donors have funded projects for the sale and distribution of solar-power home systems, helping 320,000 rural households generate small quantities of electricity. But large-scale projects feeding into a national grid are needed; they would allow economies of scale. These projects could be developed with support from China, which is promoting renewables at home, perhaps in exchange for the access it covets to a deep-water port in the Bay of Bengal.
  
  The government’s environmental-impact assessment for the Rampal coal plant assures that “the long-term concentration” of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide will not be significant because the pollutants “may periodically” be dispersed by the cyclones that hit the area. Indeed. But those emissions will only feed more winds that later disperse them, again and again — until much of the delta’s silty land is dispersed, too, by the angry rising tides of climate change.
  
  Joseph Allchin is a journalist based in Dhaka.
  
  A version of this op-ed appears in print on March 5, 2014, in The International New York Times.

 

[Mattrixx]

Bangladesh is not big and the transmission loss is not that much for few hundred miles.

Japan came up with a good plan that seems environmentally relatively sound and acceptable. We will see what new proposals there are from other sources of financing and then give our opinion based on individual proposals' merits and demerits, but in general I will always be opposed to mining coal causing population displacement and loss of arable land:
Bangladesh: Ban Coal Mine, Save Forests and Farms | Cultural Survival

If we are going to generate power with imported coal, then it only makes sense that the plants are concentrated only near the deep sea port used for unloading this imported coal.

Whats the use of coal reserve if cant be used perfectly. Surface mining should be introduced with proper compensation to the affected people. Later should used for industrial or residential zone. In underground process coals are wasted. To meet the demand in North part sea base import doesnt work. In that case have to import from India. To reduce dependency soon these North reserves should be used.

 

[kalu_miah]

Thank you for that information, the moment I saw your avatar, I noticed the regalia of the Nawab bears resemblance to that of the Moghul Emperor Akbar-E-Azam:

Hi my brother, I would like to say that Bangladesh can benefit from the same kind of advanced plant that Japan had built in Vietnam, it is also coal fueled. In regards to Bangladesh, these plants will be beneficial as it can enhance the power grid of the nation. This will increase Bangladesh' industrial capability , and most importantly, improve the lives of its citizens. If Vietnam can capitalize on this, Bangladesh can , hands down.

Yes brother, this plant is acceptable as it is far away from population centers or ecologically sensitive forests, will be using imported coal and the technology is the best available. I am all for it. Also, we will get a newly built deep sea port with this, so that is another great positive development for Bangladesh.

 

[Aepsilons]

Yes brother, this plant is acceptable as it is far away from population centers or ecologically sensitive forests, will be using imported coal and the technology is the best available. I am all for it. Also, we will get a newly built deep sea port with this, so that is another great positive development for Bangladesh.

The Sonidia Deep Sea Port Project needs to be realized, bro. God Willing, when Bangladesh has this developed, this will pave the way to increased links to the international market.

I also would like to say that the Bangladeshi Ministry of Education once mentioned to the Japanese counterpart about possibility of BPO (Business Processing Outsourcing) centers being developed in Bangladesh. This should be realized , and Bangladesh needs the power grid to be able to support more advanced industrial projects. Looks like, to me, Bangladesh is headed in the right path.

Keep it up, guys.

 

[kalu_miah]

Whats the use of coal reserve if cant be used perfectly. Surface mining should be introduced with proper compensation to the affected people. Later should used for industrial or residential zone. In underground process coals are wasted. To meet the demand in North part sea base import doesnt work. In that case have to import from India. To reduce dependency soon these North reserves should be used.

If you want to discuss coal mining in Bangladesh and other coal based power projects, please open new threads for them. Here the topic is "Japan looking towards more investment in Bangladesh".

Is Japan making investment in any of the projects you are talking about? I didn't think so. So please do not "pollute" this thread with any more off topic posts (pun intended). Thank you.

 

[Aepsilons]

A big thank you to people of Japan from people of Bangladesh.
非常にどうもありがとうございました
Hijō ni dōmo arigatōgozaimashita

Doutashimashite, my brother

Japan really and truly values the "Time Tested" strategic friendship we have with Bangladesh.

May this always be so, and may this century see the rise of greater Japan-Bangladesh partnership(s).

 

[Mattrixx]

If you want to discuss coal mining in Bangladesh and other coal based power projects, please open new threads for them. Here the topic is "Japan looking towards more investment in Bangladesh".

Is Japan making investment in any of the projects you are talking about? I didn't think so. So please do not "pollute" this thread with any more off topic posts (pun intended). Thank you.

You brought this separate issue of coal mining so I expressed my opinion.
And understand this that you have no knowledge of energy sector that all the power plants should be built near sea area.
As they cant meet the demand of North.
There is no doubt Japan's proposals of coal plant is a good one.

 

[kalu_miah]

The Sonidia Deep Sea Port Project needs to be realized, bro. God Willing, when Bangladesh has this developed, this will pave the way to increased links to the international market.

I also would like to say that the Bangladeshi Ministry of Education once mentioned to the Japanese counterpart about possibility of BPO (Business Processing Outsourcing) centers being developed in Bangladesh. This should be realized , and Bangladesh needs the power grid to be able to support more advanced industrial projects. Looks like, to me, Bangladesh is headed in the right path.

Keep it up, guys.

Matarbari deep sea port near the coal power plant will be in addition to the Sonadia deep sea port, so hopefully we will get both.

China was trying to get Sonadia port construction contract, but it was delayed due to geopolitical concerns:
Bangladesh Delays Sonadia Deep Sea Port Deal with China - Bangladesh - Security Trends South Asia - Security-Risks.com Caring for your Safety, Life & Security
Bangladesh’s Sonadia Port Dilemma: Is the US Navy the Answer? - Geopolitical Analysis & Forecasting

Lets see how this turns out. My personal opinion, regardless of who finances and builds Sonadia deep sea port, we should not give basing rights to any country yet, till it becomes clear which side India is on and which side we end up in. Out of the 3 major geopolitical entities or future blocs, China, India and ASEAN+2 (Japan+Korea), we would be better off staying closer and more aligned with ASEAN+2, for security and future economic integration. Then our preference would be economic relations with China and India would be the last on the list, who we will seek to normalize our relation with solving myriad problems and hope to have just essential commercial and trade relations.

Both Japan and South Korea has a tremendous opportunity to develop and integrate the economy of ASEAN+2 region and make it into a super power of sorts, bringing balance to the volatile security situation in Asia. Since we have land border with this entity via Myanmar, it is the best option for Bangladesh in the long term to look forward to integrate with this ASEAN+2 as a special partner, just like Turkey is a special partner of EU.

BPO:
Business process outsourcing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I think there is great potential for BPO in Bangladesh, as we have a size able number of technical educated labor force, but to cater to Japanese market, we may need more Japanese language courses in Universities.

In addition to power-grid, we need some key infrastructure investments, such as a 4 lane highway between Dhaka and Chittagong and perhaps up to Cox's Bazar and also connecting the major urban centers. Since Bangladesh is not big, the cost will not be very high for this. And we badly need a metro light rail in Dhaka to reduce congestion, which is draining total Bangladesh economy by probably 1%.

With the right steps Bangladesh could become like a 30 times bigger version of Singapore.