Greeting from the Ambassador

    First of all, I would like to express my sincere sympathy and condolences for the people affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, as well as my heartfelt gratitude to the government and the people of Bangladesh for their tremendous support, both psychological and material, and for their strong solidarity.

    Soon after the independence of Bangladesh, Japan recognized the new country in February 1972, before many other countries including the United States and China did. Japan has since been maintaining and developing close relations in a wide range of areas from economic cooperation to foster Bangladesh’s economic and social development, trade and investment, to cultural and people-to-people exchanges. As the manifestation of our longstanding friendship, we, Japan and Bangladesh, will celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations in February 2012. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s third official visit to Japan in November 2010 was also a great success, which reaffirmed the strong and abiding bilateral ties between our two nations.

    Today, Bangladesh has become the focus of attention among Japanese business leaders as one of potential production bases other than China and Vietnam. The number of Japanese companies that had made their business into Bangladesh has increased to 107 as of April 2011 (JETRO statistics). Export from Bangladesh to Japan in fiscal year 2010 expanded by 60% compared to the previous fiscal year. In particular, export of garments (fabric and knit products) was more than doubled during the same year.

    On the other hand, problems of insufficient power, energy, transportation and logistic infrastructures still remain. I look for further efforts by the Government of Bangladesh to improve its domestic investment climate so that the economic relations between Japan and Bangladesh will be strengthened even more. Working closely with JETRO and the Japanese Commerce & Industry Association in Dhaka and through close dialogues with the Bangladeshi government, we are committed to do our part as much as possible in promoting an investment-friendly environment in Bangladesh. In response to requests from Bangladesh, Japan relaxed rules of origin of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in April 2011. As a result, an increase in export from Bangladesh to Japan is expected.

    Talented people and capable workforce are invaluable assets to Bangladesh just as they are to Japan. An effective development of human resources is extremely important. JICA has been implementing projects to improve the quality of education in Bangladesh while the Government of Japan has been encouraging Japanese universities to accept students from Bangladesh, with a view that those students would acquire state-of-the-art science technology in Japan and contribute to the economic and social development of their own country in the future.

    I would like to conclude by stating that we will continue to make an all-out effort to further develop the existing cooperation between Japan and Bangladesh. I sincerely thank you for your continued support and understanding towards our activities.

Tamotsu Shinotsuka

Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh

May 2011

Biography of Ambassador Tamotsu Shinotsuka 

    Prior to his appointment as Ambassador, Mr. Shinotsuka was the Consul-General in Detroit, the United States in 2006-2009. Following acquisition of B.A. in Law at Keio University in 1973, Ambassador Shinotsuka joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 1975. At the Ministry, he spearheaded nuclear issues as Director of Arms Control and Disarmament Division in 1996-1998. In 1993-1996, he served as Chamberlain at Imperial Household Agency. He was also the Director at the International Cooperation Department of the National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) in 2003-2006, where he published a number of academic articles on East Asia.

     Ambassador Shinotsuka’s diplomatic career also includes postings at the Japanese Embassies in Austria, Germany and Pakistan. He was born in Ibaraki Prefecture and is married with two sons.

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