ISLAMABAD, Mar 14 (APP):The Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, Kuninori Matsuda on Sunday appreciated the role of Pakistan’s community in Japan during the ‘Great East Japan Earthquake’ occurred on March 11, 2011 and said that the government and people of Japan will never forget the services rendered to the Pakistan’s community in this crucial situation.
The Pakistan’s community in Japan has won the hearts of Japanese People during this difficult time and both sides can be proud of this friendly humane attitude, Ambassador Kuninori Matsuda told APP here.
While admiring the role of volunteers during the huge disaster, he greeted volunteers especially hailing from the Pakistani community in rescue, reconstruction and rehabilitation works in the areas affected by the earthquake and Tsunami including Kamaishi city, coasts of Iwate prefecture, Ibaraki, Chiba and south of Miyagi.
The Ambassador said the Japanese government had prioritized the economic and industrial revival of areas hit from ‘Great East Japan Earthquake’ to ensure human safety and provide livelihood to affected people.
After the huge disaster in ‘Great East Japan Earthquake’, rescue, rehabilitation, reconstruction and revitalization were the biggest challenges which were overcome by the joint efforts of Japanese central and city government, local community and especially the commitment shown by expatriate Pakistanis living in Japan’s affected areas, Matsuda said.
The envoy said in Japan, the government was always prepared for disaster and had adopted the preemptive measure to meet any untoward incident, however this time, “We face three different types of catastrophes which are beyond our imagination. But the government’s teamwork, unity and determination helped to revive the socioeconomic life of earthquake and tsunami hit areas of Japan.”
He said Japan experienced the strongest earthquake in its recorded history recently as it struck below the North Pacific Ocean, 130 kilometers east of Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region, a northern part of the island of Honshu.
The ambassador said the disaster education was part of the curriculum in local education institutions including school, colleges and universities to aware the future generation for adopting the preemptive measure to minimize the loss against the calamities.
He said preemptive measures through education, utilization of modern technology, political will, sense of responsibility, teamwork and unity were the major measures adopted by the Japanese nation to revive from the ‘Great East Japan Earthquake’.
While replying to a question, he said Japan and Pakistan are considering further cooperation and exchange of information to deal with future natural disasters, and a coordinated strategy is needed to deal with such situations.
The Japanese Ambassador further said that Japan and Pakistan are located in areas prone to major natural disasters such as earthquakes and climatic conditions where preparedness for natural disasters is of utmost importance.
He said the Japanese government raises awareness in school curricula to protect children from natural disasters.
That is why, despite the devastating tsunami and earthquake in 2011, not a single child was killed in these areas, he added.
He said Japan had introduced reforms in the education sector in 1970 and now our education system was producing the modern innovative technology driven generation, who could adequately work in any sort of situation for economic, social and cultural growth of the country.
Replying to another question on cooperation and coordination between the Japanese and Pakistan’s disaster management institutions, he said, “We are in close coordination with National Disaster Management Authority NDMA) to enhance the cooperation and information sharing in future to minimize the loss in natural disasters.”
Ambassador Matsuda said Japan and Pakistan are committed to extend cooperation in every sector of the economy to boost trade and investment relations between the two countries.