Relationship between Bangladesh and Japan

Bangladesh and Japan both have centuries old ties with each other from the sixth century for Buddhism. Now a day, Japan has been a close partner to Bangladesh in its journey towards progress and prosperity.

One of the first countries to recognize Bangladesh, Japan has since then become Bangladesh's largest bilateral development partner. Japan-Bangladesh friendship is very important for both Japan & Bangladesh but as a developing country especially for Bangladesh.

In 1972 Japan recognized Bangladesh & historical visit of Bangabandhu Sheik Mujibur Rahman in Japan in February, 1973 established the strong friendly ties with Japan. Since then Japan has been one of the important trading and investment partners of Bangladesh.

It has provided a wide range of assistance to the priority sectors of Bangladesh in various forms, such as loans, grants, technical assistance, development studies and dispatching volunteer experts. It has helped Bangladesh tackle challenges in vital sectors such as rural development, power, energy, transport, agriculture, education, health, water, sanitation and among many others.

Bangladesh now is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Standard Chartered's research shows that by 2030, Bangladesh could become the 23rd largest economy (measured by market exchange rates) in the world. The nation has achieved on an average seven percent economic growth over the last decade; recorded 8.13 percent growth achieved in 2018-19, and is aiming for double-digit growth soon.

The growth comes on the back of solid fundamentals, riding on productivity gains from stable government, infrastructure investment, improved energy supply and demographic dividend. The middle-income group, already over 30-million strong, is expanding at speed, creating market opportunities in orders of magnitude greater than in the past.

The Standard Chartered Trade Performance Index" predicts that Japanese exports to Bangladesh has the potential to grow by 31 percent just to achieve its par value, even before considering Bangladesh's high growth curve. In the reverse, the import of Japan is worth about USD 700 billion, of which Bangladesh covers only 0.2 percent.

There is a wide range of products that Bangladesh can export to Japan, including, but by no means limited to, smart phones, integrated circuits, plastics, light engineering, cables, leather goods, Jute products and more. Japan imports more than USD 100 billion of these products. Even if Bangladesh could go from 0.2 percent to 1 percent, that would mean an additional USD 6 billion in export earnings, which is a huge opportunity.

The number of Japanese companies in Bangladesh has increased over the past few years and the number of Japanese companies currently operating in Bangladesh reached 305.

More than 5,000 companies in Japan are looking for alternative investment opportunities.  A year ago, a Japanese firm completed an acquisition that represents the single largest foreign private investment into Bangladesh and the single largest consumer sector acquisition in Bangladesh till date.

On a governmental level, the development of a special economic zone at Araihazar, Narayanganj, for Japanese investors, a JICA-funded project, is currently under progress, as are efforts to simplify the regulatory and administrative frameworks that facilitate foreign investments.

These are encouraging signals, pointing to the fact that both the private and public sectors are awake to our shared possibilities.There are more than 10,000 Bangladesh nationals living in Japan and are engaged in various activities including business, employment, research and academic related pursuits.

There are also good number of Japanese people living in Bangladesh who, too, are involved in various activities such as business, employment and voluntary services. These expatriate nationals are providing valuable contribution to the strengthening of people to people contact and are building a strong bridge of friendship between Bangladesh and Japan.

In order to harness the potentials and strength of Bangladesh businessmen living in Japan, this Mission helped launch a Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan in 2007. The chamber has already started playing an important role towards increased bilateral trade and investment, between the two countries.

A relation of Japan with Bangladesh in the next five years "extremely important" as it is helping Bangladesh reach the next level of development with the completion of a number of mega projects such Matarbari port, Matarbari coal-fired power project and including the much-hyped metro rail service which all are establishing with the assistance by Japan.

Bangladesh and Japan have shared views on many key international issues and closely worked for promoting global peace and stability. Both our countries have important contributions in the UN peace keeping operations.

Bangladesh supports Japan's permanent membership in UN Security Council and appreciates its role as an observer of SAARC that anchors it to the region as a bona fide partner. The relations with Japan are of priority for us and both countries are already engaged to exploit the high potentials for further deepening and widening cooperation.

The coming years will be very important for the two countries. The year 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary 'golden jubilee' of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Japan. In celebration of this anniversary, the two countries are expecting more interaction, including cultural and people-to-people exchanges in the years to come.

At this important time, newly appointed Japanese Ambassador H.E. Mr. Ito Naoki has joined in Bangladesh. He presented his letter of Credence to the Honorable President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Md. Abdul Hamid at a special ceremony organized at Bangabhaban.

Upon his assumption of the Ambassadorship to Bangladesh, Mr. Ito issues the following message as follows which is very much encouraging for Bangladeshi people:"As the newly appointed Ambassador, I feel honored and humbled to take the task of representing Japan in the People's Republic of Bangladesh.

On behalf of the Government of Japan, I am dedicated to serving as a bridge between Japan and Bangladesh for further enhancing our bilateral relations toward the 100thbirth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 2020 along with the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's Independence in 2021 and the 50th anniversary of Japan-Bangladesh diplomatic relations in 2022.

The writer is an executive committee

member of Japanese University Alumni Association of Bangladesh (JUAAB).