[Dhaka, 18 September 2025]: Today Civil society leaders, community representatives, and energy experts from Bangladesh, Japan, Phillipines, United Kingdom, Australia and South Asian Countries joined together in an online seminar titled “MIDI Master Plan: Bluffing about Benefits!” to challenge the Moheshkhali-Matarbari Integrated Infrastructure Development (MIDI) Master Plan, organized by Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN). The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-backed plan aims to transform 20,400 acres (over 5,000 hectares) into a strategic economic corridor with ports, LNG terminals, industrial zones, and energy hubs.

Keynote presenter Mr. Hasan Mehedi, Member Secretary of BWGED cautioned that the Moheshkhali-Matarbari Integrated Infrastructure Development (MIDI) Master Plan prioritizes a “Singapore-style dream” over the realities faced by local communities. Highlighting delays in the project’s review for over nine months, Mehedi raised concerns about the over-projection of job creation and potential political influence from Japanese energy investment. He warned that more than 100,000 people are at risk of displacement and criticized the lack of meaningful consultation with civil society and energy experts.

Yuki Tanabe, Program Director, JACSES Japan, also warned that the MIDI Master Plan would displace at least 100,000–116,000 people, destroy coastal ecosystems, and trap Bangladesh in decades of fossil fuel dependency. He criticized JICA for expanding LNG power plants in clear violation of the G7 commitment to end fossil fuel finance, noting that the plan mirrors flaws in Bangladesh’s IEPMP by overestimating demand, locking in massive gas dependence, and driving high greenhouse gas emissions. Mr. Tanabe further highlighted Bangladesh’s vulnerability due to the absence of long-term gas contracts, unlike Japan, leaving it exposed to global price shocks. He added that JICA’s push for hydrogen and ammonia is equally unrealistic, costly, environmentally risky, and a direct threat to mangroves and communities alike.

Bareesh Hasan Chowdhury, Campaign and Policy Coordinator, BELA highlighted, Faulty demand forecasts, inflated economic returns, and the revival of shelved coal projects prove this plan is fundamentally flawed. Without new Environmental Impact Assessments and genuine consultation, the MIDI project will trap Bangladesh in a dangerous fossil cycle instead of leading to a sustainable energy future.

Makiko Arima, Senior Finance Campaigner, Oil Change International emphasized, Japan’s gas demand is shrinking at home, yet it is pushing LNG and ammonia power plants abroad through JICA and JBIC. The MIDI Master Plan is not about development, it is about exporting Japan’s surplus gas contracts onto vulnerable economies like Bangladesh.

Abul Kalam Azad, Manager of the Just Energy Transition, ActionAid urged, We are already suffering from land grabs and ecosystem destruction. The MIDI master plan isn’t development, it's destruction.

Hussain Jarwar, Chief Executive Officer, Indus Consortium, Pakistan, Japanese fossil fuel finance is destabilizing South Asia. The MIDI Master Plan risks repeating Pakistan’s debt, pollution, and energy insecurity in Bangladesh.

Additionally, several participants shared their opinions and raised questions. The webinar concluded with a powerful call for immediate action and regional solidarity. Participants urged JICA and JBIC to halt all fossil fuel projects under the MIDI plan, demanded the Bangladesh government suspend land acquisitions and meaningfully engage affected communities, and called on policymakers to prioritize financing for renewables, just transition pathways, and climate resilience over fossil fuel dependency. Sustainable development must protect people, ecosystems, and the climate, not sacrifice them for short-term profits.

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