Between April and June last year alone, Bangladesh received more than $53 million in fresh Chinese investment, nearly $30 million of it flowing straight into textiles.

After rebounding strongly over two years, the non-leather footwear exports lost momentum in the last fiscal year, logging only 1.6 percent growth as manufacturers grappled with high borrowing costs, capacity constraints and lingering political uncertainty.

Kazushige Nobutani, president of the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), is scheduled to come to Bangladesh today along with Yasutoshi Nishimura, minister for economy, trade and industry of Japan. Their visit is aimed at discussing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) the two countries plan to ink in order to promote trade and investments. In an email interview with The Daily Star, Nobutani spoke about investment opportunities in Bangladesh for Japanese firms and challenges the face, among other issues.