Iwaki: The Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah yesterday inaugurated Qatar Friendship Fund’s new educational project in the Japanese city of Iwaki in the Tohoku region.
It is third of the fund’s rehabilitation projects in areas affected by earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Dr Al Attiyah gave the key of the project, which costs $6.9m, to students from Iwaki.
The ceremony was attended by Qatari Ambassador Yusuf Mohammed Bilal, Kuwait’s Ambassador Abdulrahman Al Otaibi, Mayor of Iwaki, Toshio Shimizu, representative of Japanese Junior Achievement Organisation, students and teachers of preparatory and secondary schools in Iwaki, the fund’s Goodwill Ambassador Tetsuya Bessho, dignitaries, guests and residents.
In a speech, Dr Al Attiyah praised strong ties between Qatar and Japan at official and popular levels, saying despite geographical distance, Qatari people and the world had witnessed the disaster (earthquake and tsunami) which affected everyone.
He expressed pride in Japan’s swift recovery from the tragedy and saluted the courage of Tohoku’s residents who, he said, are a source of inspiration for everyone around the world.
He said since the launch of the fund in 2012, several projects had been completed in Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, focusing on healthcare, fisheries and entrepreneurship. The fund is looking forward to completing the rest of the projects in the coming months, he said.
Shimizu thanked the people of Qatar for the generous donation and said it comes at a time when the city needs to get out of the effects of the disaster.
Two students delivered speeches in English and Japanese, thanking Qatar for the donation and said the current school building is comparable to other buildings in major cities in Japan and this motivates them to exert more efforts in study.
A short film on Qatar highlighted the lives of parents and grandparents, the discovery of oil, Qatar in the present and Qatari-Japanese relations. Students from Music Education Centre presented traditional Japanese songs, accompanied by musicians from Japanese Heritage. QNA
