Japan’s first resident Ambassador to Mauritius calls on the Prime Minister

The first Ambassador of Japan with residence in Mauritius, Mr Yoshiharu Kato, paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, yesterday afternoon at the Treasury Building in Port Louis.

Discussions between the Prime Minister and the Ambassador centred around the strengthening of the good relations between Mauritius and Japan. The need to enhance collaboration in various sectors was also highlighted. Mr Kato recalled that the first Japanese Embassy in Mauritius opened this year, and stated that he was honoured, as the first Resident Ambassador, to have been granted an audience with the Prime Minister.

Earlier, the Ambassador presented his credentials to the President of the Republic of Mauritius, Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim.

The newly appointed Ambassador joined the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980. He served in various positions including Senior Deputy Director and Senior Regional Coordinator at the Second Southeast Asia Division of the Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department in the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau. Prior to his posting to Mauritius, Mr Kato was Consul-General of Japan in Surabaya in Indonesia.

Japanese – Mauritian Relations

Diplomatic relations between Mauritius and Japan were established in 1969. Through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Land of the rising sun has been providing technical assistance to Mauritius in several areas, namely disaster risk management, coastal protection and rehabilitation programme, and landslide management.

In July 2017, the State Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, Mr. Shinsuke Suematsu, was on official visit to Mauritius, accompanied by a delegation of representatives of 15 Japanese companies. A Memorandum of Cooperation to promote collaboration in the field of public infrastructure, transport and quality infrastructure investment was then signed with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport. Representatives of the Japanese companies also participated in business meet and networking session organised by the Board of Investment.