Visit of Ms. SUZUKI Takako, Ambassador on Special Mission, to the Republic of Namibia
From 20 to 22 March, Ms. SUZUKI Takako, Member of the House of Representatives, visited the Republic of Namibia as Ambassador on Special Mission. During her visit, Ambassador SUZUKI attended the Inauguration Ceremony of Hon. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of the Republic of Namibia, as well as paid a courtesy call on the President. The overview of the visit is as follows.
1. On March 21, Ambassador SUZUKI attended the Inauguration Ceremony of President Nandhi-Ndaitwa and the 35th Independence Anniversary as well as a luncheon hosted by President Nandhi-Ndaitwa.
After the luncheon, Ambassador SUZUKI paid a courtesy call on President Nandhi-Ndaitwa. On this occasion, she handed the letter from the Prime Minister ISHIBA and conveyed a congratulatory message from Prime Minister ISHIBA. In addition, while referring to the importance of strengthening cooperation in the fields of agriculture, education and human resource development, on which Namibia places importance, she expressed her expectations for the participation of the President in TICAD 9 this August.
President Nandhi-Ndaitwa expressed her gratitude for the dispatch of Ambassador on Special Mission as well as the support provided by Japan to date and asked Ambassador SUZUKI to convey her best regards to Prime Minister ISHIBA and the Japanese people.
2. Prior to the Presidential Inauguration Ceremony, on March 20, Ambassador SUZUKI attended a dinner hosted by H.E. Dr. Nangolo Mbumba, Former President of the Republic of Namibia (*).
At the dinner, Ambassador SUZUKI expressed her gratitude to the former president for all of his efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries. Former President Mbumba expressed his hope for further strengthening cooperation with Japan.
*Dr. Mbumba was the President incumbent at the time of the dinner on March 20.
3. During her visit, Ambassador SUZUKI also visited the BeFree Youth Campus, where the mobile medical clinic provided by Japan and the 'Shoe Laundry Initiative Tidy Tekkies', a base for youth startups, are located. She also held discussions with JICA staff and Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCVs) working in Namibia.
Ambassador SUZUKI also actively encouraged the participants from various African countries attending the presidential inauguration ceremony (including the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the former President of South Africa) to strengthen their relations with Japan and to attend TICAD 9.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
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