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A friendship renewed

10 February 2010, 18:00 PM
EDITORIAL
Harun ur Rashid
FEBRUARY 10, 2010, was the 38th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Japan. Japan recognised Bangladesh on February 10, 1972, and was one of the first major powers to do so. The Japanese Embassy was opened in March 1972. Japan is a significant development partner to Bangladesh and it is appropriate to describe Bangladesh-Japan relations, which have grown from strength to strength over the 38 years. The relationship goes back before the birth of Bangladesh. The Consular Mission of Japan in Dhaka in mid-50s was engaged in furthering trade and people-to-people contact between the two nations. Soon after the opening of the Embassy in 1972, the Japanese government sent Takashi Hayakawa to Bangladesh to assess the needs of the new nation, followed by a team of Japanese experts. Japan came forward with aid, trade and investment in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujbur Rahman who visited Japan in October 1973, had laid the solid foundation of bilateral relations. In 1975, their Imperial Highnesses, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Japan, visited Bangladesh. Bangladesh's relations with Japan took a favourable turn in unusual circumstances. A hijacked Japanese airliner landed in Dhaka in October 1977, creating a crisis in Japan. The Japanese hostages were released through the skilful handling of Bangladeshi officials and the government of Japan was impressed with Bangladesh. All heads of government of Bangladesh visited Japan to strengthen bilateral relations. President Zia visited Japan in April 1978, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid an official visit to Japan in 1997, and so did the former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, in 2005. The amount of two-way trade varies between $500-700 million per year and the balance is heavily inclined towards Japan. Bangladesh imports from Japan are mostly raw materials for industrial use, equipment under development projects and manufactured items. Major exports from Bangladesh include tea, shrimps, leather, jute products, footwear, and ready-made garments. Japanese investment in Bangladesh ranks fourth among other foreign investors. So far, about 146 projects with 100 percent investment or joint ventures between Bangladeshi and Japanese companies have been registered with the BOI, with a figure amounting $1,193,769 million. In 2009, Japanese telecom giant, KDDI, has forayed into Bangladesh market acquiring 50 per cent stakes of BracNet, a leading local ISP-internet service provider. The Bay of Bengal, a strategic location for Bangladesh, as a bridge between South and Southeast Asia, can be considered to bring in more Japanese investors. The democratic government in Bangladesh in 2009 has hopefully set the stage to bring Japanese FDI. Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), a conglomerate of Japan's Export-Import Bank and Japan's Official Aid Agency, is a key player in channelling development assistance to Bangladesh. Japan's official development assistance has three components -- grant aid, technical co-operation and loans. Japan's contribution to humanitarian programs after each natural disaster in Bangladesh, has always been substantial, and Japan is often the largest donor. Japan's International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has proposed to provide Tk.490 crore as budgetary support for the next three years, to cope with environment related disasters, and will cancel a debt of Tk.700 crore from its Debt Cancellation Fund. The Meghna Bridge was built at the cost of $7.9 billion with the Japanese assistance. This appears to be the single largest project undertaken with Japanese assistance anywhere in the world. In 2009, Japan provided $800,000 for technical assistance with regard to the construction of the 5.5 kilometre long Padma Bridge in the country and the Japan Bank of International Cooperation has committed to provide funds of about $ 300 million for the Padma Bridge. In 2009, State Foreign Secretary of Japan Ms. Seiko Hashimoto, visited Bangladesh and disclosed that Bangladesh was already included as a part of the Japanse prime minister's flagship project, "Cool Earth Partnership," at a time when global climate change has already had adverse effects on Bangladesh. Japanese Ambassador Tamotsu Shinotsuka on December 17, reportedly spoke of his government's commitment to provide technical and financial assistance to combat the adverse effects of global climate change. Restoration of damaged embankments, dredging of rivers, construction of monorail network in Dhaka and development of renewable resources are some of the areas in which Japan can provide assistance to Bangladesh. Japan is keen to support the power sector in Bangladesh, after completion of formulating the ongoing comprehensive power development masterplan for attaing stable power supply up until year 2030. JICA is reportedly conducting the formulation of the master plan on the basis of diversification of fuel resources to be completed by the end of this year. It is reported that necessary technology transfer from Japan would be carried out in the masterplan. There are more than 10,000 Bangladeshi nationals living in Japan and are engaged in various activities including business, employment, research and academic related pursuits. Japan, on the other hand, has managed to penetrate the day-to-day life of Bangladeshis through the presence of Japanese manufactured cars and other Japanese products. Japan and Bangladesh have cultural exchanges and Bangladesh folk music accompanied with flute and string instruments are very popular in Japan. Japanese folk music, Min'yo, performed end of last year, enthralled the Dhaka audience. An important characteristic of Bangladesh's relationship with Japan is the way in which the diversification of bilateral economic relationship has grown. However, the full potentials of their relationship have not blossomed. Against this background, one needs to identify the challenges confronting Japan and Bangladesh in their bilateral relationship during economic globalisation and address them with imagination and innovation.
Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.

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