10/19/2011
Japan''s minister shows sincere appreciation to Kuwait for oil donation

Japanese Disaster Management Minister Tatsuo Hirano on Wednesday showed his sincere appreciation to Kuwait for the 5 million barrels of crude oil donation to Japan in response to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. During his meeting with Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi here, Hirano, who doubles Minister for Reconstruction in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake, also pledged utmost efforts to distribute the Kuwaiti donation to many people effectively and immediately, noting that he is originally from one of the worst-afflicted areas. The delivery ceremony of crude oil donated by Kuwait was held on Oct. 12 in Yokohama city, eastern Japan, hosted by Minister of Economy, Industry and Trade Yukio Edano. Ambassador Al-Otaibi expressed his heartfelt condolences to Japan and the Japanese people in the northeastern area and told Hirano, "The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant incident is beyond our expectation. Therefore, the role of Minister Hirano is very important for the prompt recovery and reconstruction of Japan." In response, Hirano said, "Although the Japanese government has begun nuclear decontamination in the areas, it takes time. However, I commit myself to conduct the immediate, certain, and safe decontamination." The minister also mentioned that Tokyo has learnt many things from the March 11 disaster, such as how to prepare and how to take action after the natural disaster. "We will continue to study the case of March 11 and transfer the information to the world," he affirmed. Al-Otaibi explained the experience of his visit to Kesennuma city in April and said ,"The area was largely affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but the people maintained their high spirits, and it gives me and the world a great hope." Al-Otaibi and First Secretary Mohammad Al-Mutairi visited the city in northeastern Japan to show Kuwait's solidarity with survivors from the March 11 disaster. While in Kesennuma, Kuwait's top diplomat here also delivered soccer balls, school supplies, food and living necessities on behalf of the government and the people of Kuwait, with two countries' national flags painted, specially-designed 240 soccer balls were chosen to give children here a hopeful future in the aftermath of the catastrophe. Meanwhile, Hirano showed his intention to reinforce friendly Japan-Kuwait relation beyond the oil cooperation, such as cultural and educational cooperation. In addition, he promised to conduct the memorandum of cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, which was signed in September 2010 by Dr. Ahmad Bishara, Secretary General of the Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee (KNNEC), and Katsuhiro Hosoi, former Director General of Agency for Natural Resources and Energy under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.