Latvian-Japanese economic relations 1918-1940
2016
Karnups, V.P., University of Latvia, Riga (Latvia). Faculty of Business, Management and Economics. Dept. of Global Economics Interdisciplinary Studies
Currently Latvia and Japan enjoy close and friendly relations and engage in active political co-operation; economic ties develop in a dynamic way and there is excellent co-operation in culture and education. This article provides an overview of Latvian-Japanese economic relations in the interwar period. Although Japan had been one of the first nations to recognise Latvia de facto (10 January 1919), Latvia established formal diplomatic relations (de iure) with Japan on 21 January 1921 together with the other large powers. In the interwar period Latvian and Japanese economic relations were mainly confined to foreign trade. A Commercial and Navigation Treaty was signed in 1925 and came into force in 1928. This Treaty formed the basis of Latvian and Japanese economic relations up to 1940. Latvia’s main imports from Japan in the interwar period were food products (mainly rice and spices), fats and oils, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, agar, soya beans, and haberdashery (buttons and pearls), whilst Latvia’s main exports to Japan were paper and paper products, Šprotes and other fish conserves. In general, despite a growth in trade in the late 1930s, trade and thus economic relations were of marginal significance to both countries in the interwar period.
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