The government of Japan Thursday conferred "The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays" award to Dr Md Ekhlasur Rahman.
Dr Ekhlasur, director of Yamagata Dhaka Friendship General Hospital, received the award at the official residence of Ito Naoki, ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh, for supporting Japanese nationals in need of medical care in Bangladesh and for his contribution to strengthening Bangladesh-Japan ties in the medical field.
He is the 14th Bangladeshi national and the first doctor in the country to receive the decoration from the government of Japan.
Ambassador Naoki expressed his gratitude to Dr Ekhlasur for proactively providing medical service with Japanese standards and treatment to the country's nationals in Bangladesh.
"The 300-year-old Japanese Edo period dictums 'medicine is a curing profession' and 'medical practice is a benevolent act' exactly describe Dr Rahman," he said.
Dr Ekhlasur completed his PhD at Yamagata University Graduate School of Medicine in 1996 and worked as a clinical fellow at Yamagata Saiseikai Hospital in Japan.