Japan offers $400 mn loan to Bangladesh

Dhaka, Jan 16 (Xinhua) Japan has offered a $400-million loan to Bangladesh, officials said here Friday.

According to a government statement, Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso Friday telephoned his Bangladeshi counterpart to inform about the offer.

Bangladesh's new Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who took office Jan 6, accepted the offer and sought more Japanese cooperation in the country's power, agriculture and communications sectors, the statement said.

Hasina said the country's tourism sector would be further developed. She also requested her counterpart to encourage Japanese tourists to travel to Bangladesh.

Taro Aso described the election victory of the Awami League (AL) party under Hasina's leadership as a significant event. Earlier, Japan had sent observers to Bangladesh to cover the elections.

Sheikh Hasina's AL party had won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections held Dec 29 last year, bagging 230 seats in the 300-member parliament.