Japanese envoy leaving after completing tenure

Islamabad : Ambassador of Japan Matsuda Kuninori is returning to his country after completing a tenure of two years and 10 months in Pakistan.

In a message, the outgoing envoy said he expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the support and kindness of Pakistanis during the period.

“The people of Pakistan have always welcomed me and treated me with great friendliness. The Japanese people in Pakistan also understand and support for the work of the Embassy. Once again, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you all. I wish for the further development of Japan-Pakistan relations in the future as a conclusion of my farewell address,” he said.

The ambassador said unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the movement of people and economic activities had been substantially restricted.

He, however, said through the pandemic, the world, including Japan, had seen a dramatic shift of working styles, and more Japanese companies had come to utilise excellent human resources in Pakistan through the Internet.

“Pakistan, with a population of over 220 million, has great potential as a consumer market and a wealth of human resources, with over 60% of the population under the age of 30. If these are utilised efficiently, it will no doubt have a positive impact on the economies of both Japan and Pakistan.”

The ambassador said on economic cooperation, the two countries had engaged in improving Pakistan’s economic and social infrastructure, especially in the five pillars in which Japan has strengths, water and sanitation, health, education, disaster prevention, and infrastructure development for export industries.

“We hope that such cooperation with Pakistan will contribute to the expansion of bilateral economic relations, including the promotion of trade and investment in both directions.”

Moreover, over the past two years and ten months, bilateral defence cooperation have been steadily enhanced with the aim of stabilising not only Pakistan but the entire region. The participation of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force’s destroyer in multilateral maritime military exercise, AMAN21, organised by the Pakistan Navy for the first time in February this year is the best example.

“The ties between the Japan Self-Defence Forces and the Pakistan Armed Forces have also been further strengthened through the cooperation in evacuating Japanese and Afghan nationals working in the Embassy and JICA from Afghanistan to Japan.”

He said the seeds sown through the cooperation between the Japanese embassy and the government of Pakistan during my tenure will blossom in the near future.

The ambassador said he was sure that the wonderful opportunity would lead to progress in cooperation between Japan and Pakistan in various fields such as politics, economy, culture, and national security.

Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/902433-japanese-envoy-leaving-after-completing-tenure