A TOP level delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan, including Japanese Ambassador to Guyana and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Yoshimasa Tezika, met President Donald Ramotar on Tuesday for talks in a bid to organise the first ever Japan/Caricom Friendship Year 2014.
The initiative which will facilitate political, economic and cultural cooperation and people exchanges in both Japan and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is aimed at improving the image of the Community in Japan and vice versa.
“We hope that this friendship year will be the most appropriate opportunity to enhance our relationship,” Director of Mexico, Central America and Caribbean Division, Latin America and Caribbean Affairs Bureau in the Ministry, Yasushi Noguchi, told the Government Information Agency (GINA).
He was accompanied by Ambassador and Director General, Akira Yamada and Naoki Yoshimura, First Secretary, Public Relations and Cultural Officer at Tuesday’s meeting with the President, looking at environmental issues and cooperation at the bilateral level. The talks follow a Japan/Caricom Joint Consultation meeting on Monday.
The Japanese have been supporting Guyana in efforts to fortify the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC), one of the main reservoirs at the centre of Guyana’s climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.
The partnership is based on a US$56.7M Joint Declaration on Enhanced Cooperation in Environment and Climate Change that has catered for Japanese engineers conducting tour of duties in Guyana to assess and advance ideas on strengthening the EDWC.
President Ramotar had expressed the Guyana Government’s appreciation for the support which also included the commissioning of a $1.6B Water Treatment Plant at Corriverton Berbice in Region Six. At the multilateral level, the two countries have shared common positions.