Japan-Bangladesh Relations: Celebrating the Fifty Years of their Ode to Joy
Lopamudra Ghosh
Undergraduate student (Fifth Semester) BA History Honours; Founder and President of the World Forum for Welfare Geopolitics (WFWG); Distinguished Indian Delegate representing India in the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW); HundrED Youth Ambassador representing India at HundrED, Helsinki, Finland; TIP Peace Ambassador of the Year 2021; TIP Human Rights Ambassador of the Year 2021; and Sponsorship Coordinator of Step.
E-mail:lopamudraghosh42@gmail.com
Abstract
Remarkably, Japan and Bangladesh have always maintained excellent and productive relations during the past three decades despite changes in the regime in both countries. It reflects the two countries’ shared goals in the political, strategic and economic sectors. The birth of Bangladesh, and the subsequent strategic considerations, thus gave impetus to relations between Japan and Bangladesh. This context highlights the Official Development Assistance (ODA) that has strengthened Bangladesh’s economy by enhancing trade and investment. This research illustrates the bilateral, economic, cultural, political, and international relations of Japan and Bangladesh that have become coherently evident in almost every aspect of Bangladesh’s society. This research implements secondary data analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of Japanese aid and assistance in Bangladesh over the years. A large grant of about US$ 200 million per annum has been used to develop critical sectors of the economy. Finally, the research has also discovered the significant barriers to the effective use of resources. It further proceeds to explain how such barriers have affected people’s attitudes about Japan’s prospects for aid and how economic, political, bilateral and other relations will be in the years to come.
Keywords Bangladesh-Japan Bilateral Relations . Economic Relations . Political Relations . International Relations . Investment . Japan . Official Development Assistance (ODA) . Trade .
https://doi.org/10.55156/jjsem.dec2105