Reception to celebrate the Birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan

2024/2/29
Ambassador Ohmori gives a welcome remarks.
Honourable Lemogang Kwape, Minister of Foreign Affairs gives his speech.
     On the 22nd February 2024, H.E. OHMORI Setsuo, Ambassador of Japan and Madame OHMORI Emi hosted a reception at the Avani Hotel to celebrate the 64th birthday of His Majesty the Emperor Naruhito.

     The event was attended by approximately 220 participants, with Honourable Lemogang Kwape, Minister of Foreign Affairs as the guest of honour. The evening was graced with other dignitaries such as His Excellency Former President Festus Mogae, Members of Parliament, Dikgosi, Heads of the diplomatic corps, senior Botswana government officials and other distinguished guests.
 
      Ambassador OHMORI congratulated His Majesty the Emperor on his birthday and talked about the relationship between Botswana and Japan which has strengthened through various cooperation, including the activities of JICA volunteers, the exchange of children's paintings between Ben Thema Primary School and Chigasaki Primary School in Yokohama, the construction of educational facilities through Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects, and the constructions of Kazungula Bridge and the One Stop Border Post. He expressed his desire to further deepen the friendship between the two countries based on cooperation in various fields.

     Honourable Kwape reflected on the various cooperation shared between Botswana and Japan at multiple levels, ranging from yen loans for the response to the COVID-19 crisis, to the donation of musical instruments by Japanese NPOs. He said that he looks forward to participating in the TICAD Ministerial Meeting for the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) to be held in Yokohama in 2025.