Maravi

Sata leaves for Japan

Sata leaves for Japan
By Bivan Saluseki in Tokyo, Japan
Mon 08 Oct. 2012, 14:30 CAT

PRESIDENT Michael Sata is this week expected on a working visit here where he will have a series of meetings with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, including the Emperor Michiko and Empress Akihito at the imperial palace.

According to an evolving programme, President Sata will also have meetings with officials from Keidanren - Japan's Federation of the Private Sector, Hitachi executives and the president of Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).

He is then expected to meet African ambassadors, chief executives of Toyota and attend a reception hosted by the Japanese government, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

President Sata will also visit Hokkaido University and other agricultural projects before attending mass at Kita Ichijo Catholic Church in Hokkaido.
About half of the milk in Japan is produced in the vast, scenic countryside of Hokkaido, the largest of Japan's 47 prefectures and northernmost of Japan's four main islands.

Cows are a symbol of this prefecture with souvenirs, locally produced snacks with bovine-inspired packaging.

The Japanese government is hoping to attract tourists by seizing the chance to promote Japan at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group, which begins in Tokyo tomorrow.

With the public and private sector acting together, the government aims to showcase the attractiveness of the nation's culture through various events.
The government also aims to restore the image of Japan, which was damaged following the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent disasters.

The annual meetings - being held in Tokyo for the first time in 48 years - are formal gatherings of financial and central bank chiefs from the 188-member countries and make up the highest decision-making bodies of the two organisations.

About 20,000 people involved in the meetings are expected to visit the country.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened up in view of the IMF/World Bank meetings with more than 5,000 police officers and some sniffer dogs to sanitise public places.

Security officials said the deployment was a precaution against terrorist attacks and sporadic protests.

Labels: JAPAN, MICHAEL SATA

posted by MrK @ 3:13 PM