A group of Qatari young leaders is set to visit Japan this month under the Rising Leaders Programme of Qatar Leadership Centre (QLC).
Yesterday, Japanese ambassador Shingo Tsuda addressed the young leaders prior to the scheduled visit, the Japanese embassy said in a statement.
Present on the occasion were Dr Mohamed Najdawi, director of Leadership Knowledge Base, QLC; Takumi Hiraga, general manager of the Doha Liaison Office, Itochu Corporation; and most of the 37 participants who would pay a visit to Japan from October 16 to 20.
In his remarks, the ambassador emphasised the importance of human development for a nation and praised the Qatari leadership’s vision. “Thanks to the initiative of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the Qatar Leadership Centre was established, and today, energetic and promised young leaders in Qatar have gathered here from different fields in both the government and private sectors,” he said.
Encouraging the participants, the envoy said: “The Rising Leaders Programme provides you with plenty of chances for first-hand learning to make all of you leading players of your nation. For this purpose, Itochu Corporation has been playing a significant role to make this opportunity more valuable to everyone. You will be listening to lectures on stories of success, attending workshops and visiting prominent companies such as Toyota, Sony and NEC Corporation.”
Ambassador Tsuda also touched upon the “excellent relationship between the two countries”, saying: “In the year 1972, diplomatic relations between the two countries were established, and Japanese companies started engaging in the oil and steel sector in Qatar. Japan also initiated the first LNG project in the 1980s and became one of the pioneers in the development of the LNG industries in Qatar. Since then, Japan has been the biggest trading partner of Qatar amounting to $35bn in 2014.
The frequent exchange of visits between the two countries was “another landmark in the good relationship” between the two countries, he observed, while also referring to the Japanese embassy granting a multiple-entry visa valid for three years to Qatari nationals to “promote further people-to-people exchanges between two countries”.
Following the ambassador’s speech, Hiraga from the Doha Liaison Office of Itochu Corporation – which has been co-ordinating the trip – said: “I strongly hope all of you learn a lot from this trip and wish you to be a fan of Japan.” It was followed by a group photograph of the envoy and the participants, together with Itochu Corporation staff and embassy’s officials.