TOKYO: Pakistan’s trade with Japan remains extremely disappointing as compared to India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, data from Trading Economics has shown, which points to lack of seriousness on part of the government authorities.
For the last four consecutive years, India has been exporting more than $4 billion annually to Japan on an average, Bangladesh has been exporting more than $1 billion, whilst Sri Lanka despite its small economy also exported more to Japan annually than Pakistan. Pakistan has not been able to achieve the target of $200 million exports to Japan after 2018.
According to data obtained from Trading Economics, for Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, in the year 2018, India’s exports to Japan were $4.73 billion, Bangladesh’s exports to Japan were $1.43 billion in the same year, whereas Sri Lanka exported $225 million. Pakistan exported merely $216 million worth of goods to Japan, even lower than Sri Lanka.
In 2019, India's exports to Japan were $4.86 billion, Bangladesh’s exports to Japan crossed $1.5 billion, Sri Lanka’s exports rose to $281 million, while Pakistan’s exports to Japan dropped to $186 million.
In 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic struck economies across the world, India’s exports to Japan were $4.04 billion, Bangladesh’s exports were $1.31 billion, Sri Lanka’s $245 million, while Pakistan's exports to Japan further plunged to $166 million.
As of November 2021, data showed that India’s exports to Japan stood at $5.23 billion in 2021, while Pakistan’s exports so far have touched only $197 million in 2021, whereas data for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka has not been updated to this point.
According to economists, disappointing figures from Pakistan suggest that the government of Pakistan has failed to pay due attention to the Japanese market, which needs to be noted. Moreover, the post of Minister of Economy has been vacant in the Embassy of Pakistani in Japan for many years and so far no appointment has been made, which showed the lack of seriousness of the government of Pakistan towards the economic importance of Japan.
