Japan has named Matiur Rahman, First President of Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JBCCI), and Mohd Abu Sayed, Former Country Manager of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Bangladesh, for the 2021 imperial decorations.
Matiur Rahman, Chairman and Managing Director of Uttara Group of Companies and President of Bangladesh Motorcycle Assemblers & Manufacturers Association, will receive “the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette.”
The conferral is in recognition of his great contribution to promoting economic interaction and mutual understanding between Japan and Bangladesh, the Japan embassy in Dhaka said.
Abu Sayed will receive “the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays.”
The conferral is in appreciation of his great contribution to taking care of Japanese graves in Bangladesh.
The embassy said Matiur Rahman contributed to the establishment of JBCCI and the promotion of the investment of Japanese companies in Bangladesh as the first chairman of JBCCI from 2004 to 2006, making efforts to improve the business environment for Japanese companies and to build strong economic partnership between the two countries.
Thanks to his continuous contribution, more than 300 Japanese companies are currently operating in Bangladesh and the number has tripled in the past 10 years, the embassy said in a statement.
Abu Sayed maintained the war cemeteries including war graves of Japanese casualties in Cumilla and Chattogram as the former country manager of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Bangladesh for about 33 years from 1987.
Respecting the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, he worked in good faith to keep the war cemeteries clean and tranquil, without any distinction between casualties of the Commonwealth of Nations and Japan, the embassy said.
The Orders of the Rising Sun, established in 1875, was Japan's first award. It features rays of sunlight radiating from the rising sun. Japan is called the land of the rising sun.
The design of the award symbolises energy as powerful as the rising sun in parallel with the "rising sun" concept of Japan.
