Bangladesh- Japan Relations

Eyes, JAPAN Blog > Bangladesh- Japan Relations

Eyes, JAPAN

2023/5/26

Bangladesh- Japan Relations

Abu Saleh Musa Miah

Bangladesh-Japan Relations (日本とバングラデシュ) are Bangladesh-Japan bilateral diplomatic relations. Although Japan established diplomatic relations with independent Bangladesh on February 10, 1972[1], the relationship between Bengalis and Japanese is centuries old. Historically, Bengalis consider Japan as a friendly country. The similarity between the flags of Bangladesh and Japan gives a clear idea of the Bengali-Japanese relationship. During the Second World War, when Bengali nationalist Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose sought the help of the King of Japan to liberate Bengal from the British, the Imperial Japanese Army sent its infantry and air force towards Bengal. The flags of these two countries are a symbol of Bengali-Japanese friendship. At present, Japan-Bangladesh economic and commercial relations are very important.

Economic Relations

As of 2015, Japan is Bangladesh’s 7th largest export market. All imports from Bangladesh account for 0.17% of Japanese imports. Bangladesh’s common imports to Japan include leather products and shrimp. By 2004, Japan was the US. The United States became the fourth largest source of foreign direct investment after the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Japan is a significant source of development in Bangladesh. [5] Japan’s political goal is to have relations with Bangladesh. In 2001, there were about 95,00 Bangladeshis in Japan. Japan recognized the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on February 10 1972, soon after Bangladesh’s independence. Both parties celebrated thirty years of relationship in 2002. Militants in Dhaka killed seven Japanese citizens on July 1 2016. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, “I feel deeply angry because so many innocent people have lost their lives in a cruel and unexpected act of terrorism”. Japan invested hugely in money in Bangladesh in different sectors such as roads, construction, bridge, educational institution, manufacturing company etc. In recent years, a nearly $3.3 billion project with financial support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the metro rail project, which is bearing about 75% of the total cost in the form of a loan with a 0.01% interest rate [2]. Many Japanese companies, especially IT companies, are interested in investing in Bangladesh. Japan’s ambassador to Bangladesh, Naoki Ito, said that Bangladeshi government agencies should show a more cooperative attitude towards foreign investors.

Japanese Software Company In Bangladesh

In May 2023, the Bangladesh Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology signed the ICT Agreement with the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwama Kiminori, in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Kishida Fumio. Through this agreement, both countries will work together in the information and technology sector for socio-economic development. For this reason, both countries will jointly take various initiatives on preparations, efficiency development, practices and procedures for further development of cyber security at government, business and consumer levels [3]. In addition, Japan Bangladesh IT Association” was established on October 1 for the development of the IT industry in both countries. Launch of “Japan Valley”, a project to support business expansion into Bangladesh. There are many Japanese software companies in Bangladesh, like other sectors. These software companies are working to develop different kinds of official and unofficial automation systems. We included here some of them below:

BJIT Group: BJIT group was established in 2001 in Dhaka, and they have developed software for more than 100 makers, mainly for the listed companies. Now, the Bangladeshi BJIT office has more than 750 engineers. Their target is more than 50,000 engineering students who are graduated from Universities and from vocational colleges in Bangladesh. Similar like India, many graduates are working as engineers in Western and US countries, and it’s estimated that more than 200,000 Bangladesh engineers are working in IT enterprises in the US.

JBC-Corp: JBC is another Japanese software company in Bangladesh established by Mr Dipu and Mr. Talent, who are currently working together to recruit IT services. They decided to provide offshore development, on-demand dispatch, and recruiting services for non-Bangladesh companies facing IT issues and support Bangladeshi IT talents to find new opportunities to be active with their skills. They have been working to develop Android apps, Games, Webservice, Business Systems etc. In addition, there are other Japanese software companies that are newly opened there, including OSS Japan Bangladesh Ltd., Japan Bangla Coders Ltd, MDB Corporation Ltd etc.

Eyes Japan Co. Ltd can start a business in Bangladesh.

Eyes Japan Co. Ltd is a famous IT industry in Japan, and it can contribute to many sectors in Bangladesh, including nuclear power plant reaction measurement, IT, NFT and the medical sector. CO of this company has experience with the impact of nuclear reactions, and in Bangladesh, there are some growing nuclear power plants. Eyes Japan can work by collecting and analyzing radiation data from that nuclear power plant to increase public and government awareness. In recent years, Eyes Japan has developed AI medical and food plating projects. So, Eyes Japan Co. Ltd can start a business using this system in Bangladesh.