Pakistan can develop only through education: Japan’s CG tells JAMSHORO: Japan’s Con¬sul General in Karachi Akira Ouchi on Tuesday delivered a lecture at the Area Study Centre, Sindh University Jamshoro and explained his country’s diplomacy and international contribution. He apprised the students of the campus and gave them tips for begging scholarships for higher education in Japan. He also shed light on Japan-Pakistan relations. “Japan is a pro-active contributor to peace in the world and its policy is based on the principle of international cooperation. We have constantly followed the path of peace like any peace-loving nation since the end of World War II,” he said. Japan had declared in the UN General Assembly in September 2013 that it was pursuing the policy of promoting women participation in society; empowerment of women by engaging them in greater efforts in the fields of health and medical care; and encouraging women participation and ensuring their protection in the area of peace and security, he said. Mr Ouchi said Japan had allocated official development assistance (ODA) in excess of $3 billion over the next three years to achieve these goals. He said that South Asia with a population of over 1.6 billion was becoming increasingly important on the international scene. He said Pakistan has great potential of development in the future. “The key to success is education. Basic education for all and higher education, especially in the area of science and technology, is important in economic development,” he stressed. He said Japan established diplomatic ties with Pakistan in 1952 and the two countries had been maintaining a friendly relationship throug¬h¬out the period. The diplomat said that Japan had dispatched its election observation mission at the time of the recent general election in Pakistan. “Our observation was that Pakistan successfully held the general election fair and transparent in a democratic way and the government was transferred democratically,” Mr Ouchi said. He said that since 1954, Japan had been extending its ODA to Pakistan. The cumulative amount of the ODA up to 2012 was about $6.67 billion, he said. “Pakistan is a country with great potential for economic growth and Karachi is the key area of such economic growth. The country has manpower and natural resources such as copper and coal,” he observed. Mr. Ouchi further said that Japan had no natural resources but had only human resources, who were well educated adding that human resources of Japan had such qualities as sincerity, honesty, dedication, discipline, punctuality and consideration for others. “These qualities are as important as technical skills; Pakistan has many natural resources, it can develop by imparting quality education within its soil,” he said. Shedding light on basic education system in Japan, the CG said: in Japan about 98% of junior high school graduates go on to high schools and about 48% of high school graduates go to universities, about 6% go to junior colleges while about 17% go to specialized technical colleges and the rate of high school graduates who go to study at higher level is about 80%. He said. He suggested that in Pakistan too, the key for success of country’s development is only education especially in the area of science and technology which is also important for economic growth of the country. The lecture was followed by a question-answer session. In reply to a query, he said Pakistan had great potential to become an economic power provided it resolves the issues that afflict it, particularly terrorism. The Consul General said: Pakistan has a favourable situation considering the abundance of natural resources, its geographical location, size, diversity, and its large youth force. “So many ingredients for a strong economic development are here.” he remarked. Later, the consul general visited the campus and institute of Sindhology. He also visited SU Mirpurkhas campus. Earlier, Mr. Ouchi was decorated with Sindhi Topi and Ajrak by the vice-chancellor Prof. Dr. Imdad Ali Ismaili and Director ASC Prof. Dr. Hamadullah Kakepoto. Talking on the occasion vice-chancellor said that Japan was playing a vital role for the welfare of masses and improvement of different social sectors in the country. He hoped that Japan would continue to play its role in the development of education and health sectors in Pakistan and it would continue issuing scholarships for the students especially. He said Sindh lagged behind in education and health sectors as compared to Punjab province. The Sindh University would welcome Japan’s support to improve education, and other social sectors, he added. Dr. Ismaili said that Japan, through determination and hard work of its citizens, became a modern industrialized nation and started extending Yen Loan Assistance to Pakistan in order to promote its economic growth and capacity building endeavor that led to poverty reduction.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 10:04:26 +0000