Japanese embassy celebrates Emperor’s 79th birthday

Japanese Ambassdor to Qatar Kenjiro Monji has hailed the growing relations between his country and Qatar. He lauded the bilateral relations a reception held yesterday at the Japanese embassy to coincide with the 79th birthday of the Emperor of Japan. Recalling the initiatives made by Qatar to developing relations with Japan, the envoy showered praise on the chairperson of the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani who he said played a stellar role in launching the project Qatar-Japan 2012 to mark the 40th anniversary of relations between the two countries. Meonji thanked the ministry of culture, art and heritage and many other forums and institutions that co-operated with the Japan embassy for the success of the project. The ambassador also specially recalled the visits made by HE the Chairman of Administrative Control and Transparency Authority Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah to Japan and Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba to Qatar. He reminded the gathering that included HE the Minister for Culture, Art and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari that Japan continued to be the single largest business partner of Qatar with the total bi-lateral trade crossing $31bn in 2011, with the rise in LNG imports from Qatar. “The importance of Qatar as a major energy supplier will be elevated in the future in view of Japan’s newly adopted energy policy after the nuclear disaster last year. Monji expressed the hope that Japanese companies would contribute to the preparation for FIFA World Cup 2022 and for the fulfillment of the objectives set by the Qatar National Vision 2030. The ambassador said the concluding event of the Qatar -Japan 2012 would be the Japan booth at Doha International Book Fair starting tomorrow.