Pakistan and Japan enjoy traditionally friendly ties characterised by mutual trust, cooperation, people to people contacts and cultural and civilizational linkages. Since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations on 28 April 1952 Japan has been a premier development cooperation partner. This heritage of cooperation even dates back to 1925 when the predecessor of Bank of Japan-Mitsubishi opened its branch in Karachi and at the 1951 San Francisco Peace Conference Pakistan as the only South Asian country advocated Japan's right to be treated with respect and dignity.
Recently the bilateral relationship has witnessed an upsurge/ impetus with summit meeting between Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and meeting between the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Mr Sartaj Aziz and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on the margin of United Nations General Assembly in September 2016. There has also been regular Ministerial, Parliamentary and Business delegations' exchanges. Last year particularly witnessed important developments such as the Joint Government Business Dialogue was held in Islamabad after a nine year hiatus; Yamaha opened its new motorcycle factory in April; Japan's presence at the EXPO-15 in Karachi was robust; Japan organised the 8th and last Japan-SAARC Energy Symposium in Islamabad jointly inaugurated by former Parliamentary Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and our Minister for Water and Power and 9th Round of Bilateral Political Consultations was convened by the Foreign Secretary in Tokyo.
It is important for the new generations in both countries to understand each other. Since inception of bilateral ties there had been no MoU between the training and research Institutes. However, the Embassy successfully negotiated and finalised MoUs between Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) as well as Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) and National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in December 2013 and January 2014 respectively. Statement of Intent between National Institute of Defense Studies Japan and National Defence University was also signed in June 2016.
The Mission has been proactively projecting the 'True Image' of Pakistan through public and trade diplomacy efforts. Visits and interactions by inspirational individuals such as mountaineer Ms Samina Baig, leading entrepreneur and philanthropist Ms Seema Aziz, prominent media and literature personality Ms Moneeza Hashmi, politician of Japanese heritage Minister Ms Hameeda Waheedudin, all collectively highlighted the vibrancy and strengths of a modern and progressive Pakistan.
The first ever Calligraphic Art Exhibition was held at the Embassy. The Chief Guest visiting the Embassy for the first time in history to inaugurate an Art Exhibition was a member of the Imperial Family, Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado. Another important event was "Connecting Pakistan Japan through Message of Peace and Harmony in Faith, Art and Culture" which garnered immense interest in Japanese society. In an unprecedented visit, for the first time in Pakistan-Japan diplomatic history the Honourable First Lady Madame Akie Abe, wife of Prime Minister Abe, visited the Embassy to grace the occasion as Chief Guest. In addition I delivered presentations and talks on Pakistan in over fifty leading universities and think tanks and launched a successful internship program for Japanese students from different universities. Since 2013 over forty students have successfully completed their internship program with the Embassy.
Bilateral trade has increased and stands at US $1.9 billion with our exports to be $465mn. Value-added exports of textile grew by around 11 %. Importantly there are 81 Japanese corporations flourishing in Pakistan with Suzuki and Toyota amongst others posting record profits in the current year. There have been regular trade delegations from Pakistan representing Textiles, Food, Leather, Surgical, Engineering, Pharmaceutical and Sports Goods sectors and numerous Business Missions from Japan visited their counterparts in Pakistan. Proving that Pakistan could meet Japanese world-class standards in the food industry, mangoes were finally imported commercially after decades of trying, paving the way for other Pakistani agricultural products.
As 2017 approaches, the 65th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations, we look forward to further reinvigoration of an important friendship between two friendly Asian democracies, Pakistan and Japan, that are committed to peace and understanding particularly through trade, business and infrastructural development that will empower and uplift our respective societies.