Japanese community in Seychelles celebrates Emperor’s birthday |18 February 2020

Minister Mondon and Ambassador Makoto proposing a toast to the Emperor (Photo: Jude Morel)

To mark the birthday of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, which falls on February 23, the Japanese community in Seychelles hosted a cocktail reception at the Eden Bleu hotel on Saturday.

The event was attended by many dignitaries including the Designated Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Local Government, Youth, Sports, Culture, and Risk & Disaster Management, Macsuzy Mondon; the Japanese ambassador to Seychelles, Tominaga Makoto; the Minister for Employment, Immigration & Civil Status, Myriam Telemaque; Minister for Habitat, Lands, Infrastructure and Land Transport, Pamela Charlette; Chief Justice Mathilda Twomey, among others.

“In the past year we have done quite well in the sense that we have improved the relationship between Seychelles and Japan,” said the ambassador.

He continued by adding that Japan has been put once again in the spotlight of the world by hosting the G20 summit for the first time.

“Japan is regarded as an exemplary society, built on a foundation of respect, tolerance, dedication, mutual understanding, peaceful ideas and continued devotion to international engagement, as such it remains a model for the world to emulate,” said Minister Mondon.

She added that as we celebrate this milestone we must also reflect on what they represent in terms of friendship shared between our two states.

“A tangible achievement of our bilateral engagement culminated into the opening of the Japanese embassy in Victoria. This serves as a reminder of how one of the world’s largest economies can engage with one of the smallest on equal footing,” Minister Mondon added.

She continued by saying that we must reaffirm our commitment to progress further on this path of shared success, shared vision and common dedication.

She ended her speech with a toast to the Emperor.

Christophe Zialor