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A Happy New Year!
Two months have passed since I arrived in Karachi on the 8th of November last
year. I have made a series of courtesy calls on Governor, Chief Minister and
Ministers of the Sindh Government, President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Consul-Generals of the countries in Karachi, etc. I also visited the factories of Japanese companies in Karachi.
The Consulate-General of Japan held a reception celebrating Emperor Akihito’s
79th birthday at a local hotel on the 20th of December last year. About 350
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guests, including the Speaker of the Sindh Assembly, the Minister for Rehabilitation of the Government of Sindh, the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and the Consul-Generals of the countries in Karachi,
have attended. On that day, a truck of Hino, cars of Toyota and Suzuki, bikes of Honda and Suzuki,
generators of Honda and Bridgestone tyres were displayed and booths of JETRO and Japan Information
and Culture Center (JICC) of the Consulate-General of Japan were set up, thereby the Japanese products
produced and sold by the Japanese companies in Karachi were promoted and the Japanese culture was
introduced to the attendees. At the booth of the JICC, the DVDs on the Emperor and Empress’s visit to
foreign countries and Japan’s recovery from the disaster were shown and the pictures and messages of
encouragement to the victims of the disaster conveyed to us from Pakistani children and Japanese posters andtraditional toys were displayed.
The Consulate-General of Japan organized about 20 events to commemorate the 60th anniversary
of diplomatic relations between Japan and Pakistan last year and the events that were held since my
arrival in Karachi were “Photo Exhibition of Recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake”
held from November 12 to 16, 2012 and “Film Show on the recovery from the disaster” held from
December 3 to 7, 2012. The Lecture on “Japan-Pakistan Relations” by myself was given to the
students and teachers of the University of Karachi on the occasion of the launching ceremony of the
book entitled “Pakistan-Japan Relations–Chronology” compiled by Dr. Khalil-ur-Rahman Shaikh and
published by Pakistan Study Centre of the University of Karachi.
I will try to write an update on the activities done by our Consulate every few months henceforward.
January 2013
Akira Ouchi
Consul-General of Japan in Karachi
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