Considered to be Asia’s new frontier, Myanmar has grown to be a landscape of prominence. With an elected government since 2010, coupled with social and economic reforms, the nation is filled with prospects for global investment and trade. Myanmar possesses plentiful of resources and an economy with mammoth potential for growth. Slowly, the international market is also opening up despite many sanctions from the western nations.
Many Asian countries are slowly making inroads into the nation, opposing such sanctions and emphasising a ‘constructive approach’. While Chinese presence has been domineering, the presence of Japan has the potential for surpassing the former.
The Myanmar-Japan relation is strengthening with each passing day. One of the recent testimonies to this was the disbursement of few ICU beds, syringe and suction pumps by the Japanese government on 15 August. From ruling the British colony Burma during the World War II, Japan has come a long way to establish bilateral ties of mutual friendship and goodwill.
Throughout the junta rule, Japan primarily emphasised engagement by way of humanitarian assistance, and direct aid supp as an incentive for positive changes. In this regard, Myanmar was the first recipient of Japanese reparations in southeast Asia in 1954, though it occurred before the military take-over of the civilian government. However, the relationship remained lukewarm since the US sanctions on the junta.
Yet, Japan resumed its aid as the post-junta civilian government strengthened its hold as an appreciation for change. In fact, when the civilian government came to power in Naypyidaw, Tokyo waived close to $3 billion in debt, and committed to new loans for a range of infrastructure projects.
A considerable amount of this aid has been for the development as well as the improvement of the health services, transport corridors, and other civic facilities. For instance, in recent times, both the nations have signed four loan agreements worth about $1.1 billion in the beginning of 2020 to fund sewerage, urban development, power distribution and infrastructure improvement projects in seven regions and states in Myanmar.
Additionally, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in March 2020 signed loan agreements (L/A) ODA for contributing to economic and social development through railway improvement and strengthening electricity supply capacity.
Japan’s direct investment has been steadily rising in recent years. According to the Myanmar government, Japanese investment in Myanmar between 2011 and now has exceeded $1.7 billion. More than $ 11 million has been channelled into Thilawa Special Economic Zone. A total of 114 enterprises have been permitted to operate their businesses in Thilawa SEZ, where 39 businesses are from Japan and 27 firms from Singapore.
Most of the investment came to industrial, transport, real estate, hotels and tourism sectors. Toyota Motor Corppration is setting up an automotive assembly plant on 21 hectors of land in Thilawa SEZ in the suburbs of Yangon. The new factory will produce 2,500 Hilux pick-up trucks per year from 2021. Since its establishment in 2015, Thilawa SEZ has attracted 113 investment projects and 76 companies have begun commercial operations. Successful establishment of Thilawa SEZ marks a new phase in promoting bilateral relations between Myanmar and Japan.
Japan has been contributing to the education sector as well. Recently, Human Resource Development Scholarship is introduced on July 2020 that aims at providing young governmental officials who will be leading the country in future with an opportunity to study in Japan for Master’s and PHD degrees and gain necessary skills and knowledge. It is expected to contribute to solving development issues in Myanmar and strengthening the bilateral relations by creating human networks.
While contributing to the sectors for development, one area where Japan has been indifferent or sometimes cold- hearted is the case of the Rohingyas. Undeniably, Japan is actively involved in the development of resource-rich Rakhine state where displaced Rohingyas are residing in the open-air camps which can rather be called detention centres. While after the major exodus in 2017, Japan has opposed economic sanctions, saying that such a “drastic” response would only “fuel the situation.” However, the failure in taking measures remains quite questionable.
Tokyo has been silent on the Rohingya issue. It is slowly trying to create a better place in the Rakhine state that might alleviate the age-old social problems the region is dealing with. In general, Japan continues to espouse the idea that a steady aid relationship is critical to achieving change. T
The nation’s policy of quiet engagement has been quite effective in its own way. However, not pointing fingers at what is wrong also resembles participating in the act. At some quarters it is merely fantasy to hope that the Myanmar government or military will automatically change their stance and become more inclusive and less oppressive as they economically expand.
It is important to understand that proper policies are required to safeguard the rights of minority communities that are rendered ‘stateless’ Not addressing such concerns will not reap benefit in the future. Japan being a close ally may help in bringing this point into consideration.
The Rohingya issue has gained prominence for its ruthlessness, on the international stage. As Japan has, they may play a role of a mediator in resolving the issue. While Japan may want to not speak out in open however ignoring the issue will not reap any benefit for either party.
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Sreeparna Banerjee is a Junior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation Kolkata with the Strategic Studies Programme.
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