Tokyo, Japan (BBN)-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to visit Bangladesh in August, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday.

Hasina, now on a four-day visit to Japan, expressed the hope during her interaction with Japanese media at the National Press Club of the country Wednesday morning.

The PM said that she has already invited Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe to visit Bangladesh and hoped that he would visit Dhaka at the end of August this year.

Earlier on Monday, Hasina has invited Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko for visiting Bangladesh to see for themselves the development achieved by the country since the Emperor’s last visit to the country in 1975.

Talking about bilateral trade and commerce Hasina said she requested the Japanese premier for further relaxation of the Rules of Origin for Bangladeshi knitwear, and for duty free market access to other products to remove the existing trade imbalance.

Hasina said Prime Minister Abe assured her that the issues would be considered sincerely.

BBN/SS/AS-28May14-9:40am (BST)