Japan says the achievements made by Pakistan in counter-terrorism are very impressive and the two countries need to further cooperate at the governmental level for the prevention of terrorism.
Japan's ambassador to Pakistan Takashi Kurai in an exclusive interview conducted by News and Current Affairs Channel of Radio Pakistan said the number of terror attacks and casualties have significantly reduced in the past couple of years.
He said that there are great prospects of further enhancing economic relations between Pakistan and Japan and the trade and investment is growing rapidly.
The need for further enhancing people to people contacts will help identify further areas of cooperation between the two countries. And the exchange of people is necessary but the driving force for this exchange should come from the non-governmental entities and Government can create favorable circumstances for the exchange process.
Referring to the economic relations, the ambassador said that trade volume between the two countries stood at nearly two billion dollars in the year 2015 while the investment volume remained seventy million dollars during the same period.
The Japanese ambassador said security as well as favorable businessmen environment and infrastructure have improved in Pakistan which will help attract investors not only from Japan but other countries as well.
He said Japan could provide modern technology to Pakistan for Airport security. Japan has installed Explosive Detection System in Islamabad International Airport, Lahore and Karachi Airport. Face recognition system is in the process of being installed at Karachi International Airport to ensure maximum security at the airport.
Takashi Kurai said his country is providing assistance to Pakistan in infrastructure development, social stability and balanced development in the tribal areas.
Referring to the education cooperation, he said Japan has scholarship programs affiliated with the Ministry of Education and so far more than 300 students have visited and studied in Japan.
When asked about Afghan issue, Takashi Kurai said peace in Afghanistan is important not only for the neighboring countries but also for the world at large. He said dialogue is the only way forward for achieving stability in Afghanistan.
