On July 8, 2021, Ambassador Abdali met with Mr. Yoshitaka Seki, Mayor of Omuta City.

 

At the outset, Ambassador Abdali expressed that “I chose Fukuoka Prefecture and Omuta City for my first official visit to convey my condolences and sympathy to the family of the late Dr. Nakamura Tetsu as well as to appreciate the people and municipality of Omuta City for hosting the pre-Games training camp for our athletes.”

 

Ambassador Abdali reaffirmed the commitment of the people and Government of Afghanistan to building on the legacies of Dr. Nakamura and added that the Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan is planning to make a film on Dr. Nakamura’s life and projects in Afghanistan and emphasized that the completion of this film would require cooperation from both the Afghan and Japanese sides. He also proposed to establish a sister city relationship between Nangarhar and Omuta cities to expand cultural exchanges and economic ties.

 

Ambassador Abdali also suggested to establish and expand collaboration between Omuta and Kabul municipalities as well as to build upon existing MOU and further expand cooperation in the field of sports.

 

Mr. Yoshitaka welcomed Ambassador Abdali’s proposals and reaffirmed Omuta City’s commitment to continue working with the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tokyo and the PMS team towards actualization issues discussed during this meeting.

 

Mr. Masaru Murakami, Chairman of Peshawar-Kai and PMS, Mr. Najibullah Safi, Counselor of the Embassy, and staff members of the PMS also participated in this meeting.