Pakistan and Japan are going to celebrate their 71st Diplomatic Relations anniversary on April 2023, which reflects the longstanding deep-rooted relations and cooperation between the two countries. Pakistan gained independence on 14th August 1947 when Japan was struggling to overcome the shocks of the world war and with the determination of its wonderful leadership, commitment, and extra ordinary hard work of its, it emerged as a powerful economy in the world with five decades.
Japan has been a key development partner, a major investor and a significant export destination for Pakistan. Since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties in 1952, Pakistan and Japan had maintained very close and friendly relations, and with the passage of time this journey of partnership in development continued smoothly and flourished every day. Japan announced to provide of US$ 77 million in aid in areas such as humanitarian assistance, rehabilitation of social infrastructure, education, health disaster prevention, agriculture, etc at the Geneva Convention held on 9th January 2023. Last year both countries celebrated their 70th Anniversary of diplomatic relations and on this auspicious occasion Prime Minister of Japan His Excellency Kishida held a summit meeting with Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr.Shehbaz Sharif in New York. Foreign Minister of Japan H.E Hayashi also met the foreign minister of Pakistan Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Cambodia. There were also two visits to Pakistan by Japanese parliamentary Vice Ministers Mr. Satomi Parliamentary Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry visited Pakistan and attended and co-chaired the 7th Pakistan Japan Government Business Joint Dialogue which was successfully held on 29th September 2022. Yutaka Arima, Director General Southeast Asian Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan visited Pakistan. His delegation included Tsutsumi Taro, Director Keilo Ikemoto, Assistant Director, and Yasushi Nakagawa Acting Consul General of Japan in Karachi. There is excellent business cooperation between Pakistani and Japanese companies. There are about eighty Japanese companies working in Pakistan and their contribution to Pakistan’s GDP and generation of employment is very much appreciated by Pakistan and its people.
There is a dire need to do serious efforts to increase Pakistani exports to japan and technology transfer and also collaboration of Pakistani universities and institutes with their Japanese counterparts and exchange of knowledge and learning advance technologies, scientific research from Japanese universities, scientists, and research institutes. There is also a great potential to cooperate in Information Technology and Computer (ICT) sector and Japanese support to create Technology and IT Parks in Pakistan. It is good news that two Japanese IT companies have already functioning in Pakistan. There is also need of more investment in auto sector. International Quality Auto parts are also manufactured in Pakistan which would be an added advantage for Japanese companies if they invest there. Pakistan is a fortunate country which have a 60 % youth in its population which is ambitious and keen to acquire knowledge and to learn technology and Japanese support in this regard might be great beneficial. Japanese development projects through OECF and JBIC are also had significance importance for Pakistan’s economy and highly acclaimed. Also, The Japan International Cooperation Agency renders valuable services to Pakistan.
It is also worth mentioning that in 1930 a chair of the Urdu language has been established in Tokyo University and Takusokoh University. Since then research and interest in Urdu in Japan and the people of South Asia started. At the 1951 San Francisco Peace Conference, Pakistan was the only major country invited from South Asia. In 1952, Pakistan opened its Embassy in Tokyo. President Ayub Khan visited Japan in 1960 which was followed by Prime Minister Ike’s visit to Pakistan in 1961. During PM Ike’s visit, the agreement to start two projects on Yen Credits and Transfer students were concluded. Resultantly, eighty Pakistani students were transferred to Japan.
In August 2000, PM Yoshiro Mori visited and assured Japan’s desire to continue highest level engagement with Pakistan. Pervaiz Musharaf reciprocated his visit to Japan. During the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Pakistan on 30 April -1st May 2005, Pakistan-Japan Joint Declaration entitled “Pakistan-Japan at a new frontier; towards a renewed, enhanced and robust relationship” was signed. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz visited Japan in August 2005.Japan welcomed the 2007 return of democracy in Pakistan. It not only hosted the Friends of Democratic Pakistan and Donors’ Conference in Tokyo in April 2009, but also pledged US$1 billion at the Conference. Japan has also come forward to assist Pakistan in its flood relief and rescue operations. It announced contributions for flood relief and rehabilitation efforts at the Pakistan Development Forum on 14-15 November 2010.
Japan is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean and bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan. It has 6,852 islands, covering 377, 975 sq km. Tokyo is its capital. It is the 11th most populous country in the world, and the most densely populated one. About three fourth of its terrain is mountainous. It has a population of 123. 2 million. It is a developed country, a member if OECD. It is 3rd largest economy of the world. It has the highest life expectancy in the world, a global leader in the automobile, robotics, electronic industries. It has made significant contribution in science and technology. It is a member of UNO, G20, and Group of Seven. Japan has eight largest exclusive Economic Zones in the world; covering 4.47 million sq km. Japan is the second highest ranked Asian country in the 2022 Global Peace Index, after Singapore. It spent only 1 % of Its GDP on defence. Japan ranked sixth in the Global Competitiveness Report in 2019. It attracted about 31.9 million international tourists in 2019. The 2021 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Japan first in the world out of 117 countries. Its revenue from tourism is US$ 46.1 billion. Japan has a large industrial capacity and is home to some of the largest and most technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals. Its manufacturing output is the third highest in the world. It is also third largest automobile producer in the world and is home to Toyota, the world’s largest automobile company. It has 1.2 million km of roads. ASIMO is an advanced humanoid robot manufactured by Honda. Japanese companies are responsible for a number of important innovations, including having pioneered the transistor radio and the Walkman (Sony) , the first mass-produced laptops ( Toshiba) , the VHS recorder (JVC) , and solar cells and LCD screens ( Sharp). Japan is also famous for its robotics and there are many types of robots that are used in restaurants, hospitals, parks, or in different companies. Japan is also the leader of bio-medical research in the world. In 2015 it established The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development to help implement biomedical research and development projects and improve the support infrastructure for clinical research.
Economy
GDP (Nominal): US$ 5, 040 billion (2021)
GDP (PPP) : US$ 6,100 billion (2021)
GDP Rank : 3rd
GDP per Capita: US$ 40,574 ( Nominal )
GDP Per Capita : US$ 49,188 (PPP)
GDP by Sector
Sector % of GDP
Agriculture 1
Industry 30.1
Services 68.7
Exports: US$ 728.93 billion (2021)
Export items:
Items % of total exports
Transport equipment’s 21
Machinery 19.9
Electrical machinery 18.7
Chemicals 12.4
Manufactured goods 10.4
Raw material 1.7
Export Partners
Country % of total
China 22
USA 18.4
ASEAN 14.4
European Union 9.2
South Korea 7
Saudi Arabia 6.9
UK 5.9
Turkey 5.9
UK 5.9
Turkiye 5.9
India 5.9
Imports : US$ 742.09 billion ( 2021)
Import Items
Items % of Imports
Electrical machinery 17.6
Mineral Fuel 16.6
Machinery 10.5
Foodstuff 9.9
Chemicals 9.9
Manufactured Goods 9.3
Raw Material 6.9
Import Partners
Country % of Total imports
China 25,9
ASEAN 15.7
EU 11.00
UK 5.6
USA 11.0
Australia 5.6
South Korea 4.7
Pakistan’s Trade Statistics
Year Exports million $ Import $million Total trade $ million Balance of trade Total export of Pakistan $ bn % share in export Total import $ million % in total import
2017 216.9 2,297.1 2,514 (2,080.2) 21.911 1.0 57.518 4.0
2018 217.4 2,281.6 2,499.0 (2,064.3) 23.778 0.9 60.39 3.8
2019 202.8 1,362.5 1,565.2 (1,159.7) 23,818.8 0.9 50.511 2.7
2020 166.7 1,139.1 1,305.8 (972.4) 22.24 0.74 45.04 2.5
2021 202.9 2186.2 2,389 (1,983.3) 28.88 0.7 73.10 3.00