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Senator the Honourable Pearnel Charles Jr., Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, received a Courtesy Call on Friday, April 13 in his new portfolio capacity from H.E. Hiromasa Yamazaki, Ambassador of Japan, at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices.

The Minister congratulated Ambassador Yamazaki on his appointment as Head of Mission to Jamaica last year and commended his continued work towards advancing the two countries’ bilateral relations between the two countries.

Ambassador Yamazaki affirmed that Japan places much emphasis on its relationship with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Jamaica’s important role in the regional bloc.

Underscoring the fact that “Jamaica and its rich culture have much to offer,” HMOS Charles expressed confidence that there will be many bilateral meetings to come, as Jamaica and Japan deepen the collaboration in areas such trade, particularly in its niche coffee market and climate change resilience.

The State Minister expressed deep appreciation for Japan’s contribution to Jamaica’s climate change resilience programme, by way of a grant of J$1.6B to the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), for the procurement of equipment aimed at bolstering the island’s emergency communication systems, before, during and after a disaster.

Senator Charles also expressed appreciation to Japan for its continued grant assistance in other technical and economic programmes, volunteer missions, scholarships and training courses through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Jamaica and Japan are in their 54th year of diplomatic relations.

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