Embassy to promote Japanese language education

Islamabad : As Japan eyes the import of skilled workers from Pakistan, the country’s embassy in Islamabad intends to team up with the local universities to offer Japanese language courses.

“We [embassy] want to promote the education of Japanese language here mostly to benefit the Pakistanis wanted to go to Japan for employment and therefore, I visited some universities and wanted to visit more, especially those in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta, but the current coronavirus crisis impeded the plan. As soon as the things return to normal, we will ensure the speedy work on the proposed Japanese language courses,” Japanese ambassador Matsuda Kuninori told ‘The News’ here.

The envoy said the embassy had planned to bring Japanese language teachers to Pakistan to work with the local teachers.

He said the creation of linkages between Japanese and Pakistani universities was also on the cards for academic and research collaborations that would also help Pakistani workers get jobs in Japan.

Matsuda Kuninori said Japan’s engineering and IT sectors had vast employment opportunities for Pakistanis, so he wanted more and more skilled workers from the country to avail themselves of those opportunities.

He praised Pakistan for successfully fighting terrorism over the years and said the security situation in the country had improved.

“Pakistan is no more a dangerous place to

travel, so I see tourist and business arrivals from Japan go up in the next few years,” he said.

The ambassador also said his country would ease travel guidelines for Pakistan over the effective handling of internal security threats, especially terrorism, over the years.

“We will downgrade Pakistan in terms of security threat,” he said.

Matsuda Kuninori said the embassy would encourage Japanese journalists to visit Pakistan to cover tourist and Buddhist sites in publications and news channels.

“We [Japan] have no reliable publication about Pakistan, so we are going to invite our media friends to come here and write about interesting sites and events for own countrymen, who are interested in religious, nature or recreational tourism,” he said.

The envoy said the aged and shrinking population and labour force had forced the Japanese government to import skilled workers from 10 countries, including Pakistan, in fields, including healthcare, agriculture, fisheries, hotel management, food and beverages, aircraft maintenance and airports ground handling, shipbuilding, material processing, industrial machinery, constructions, car mechanic, electronics, electronic machinery, IT and engineering.