Ambassador Monji and Consul-General Tanabe’s Official Visit to the Province of Saskatchewan: October 23-26, 2016
Mr. Kenjiro Monji, Ambassador of Japan, paid an official visit to the province of Saskatchewan from October 23 to 26, 2016. The Province is approximately 650,000 square kilometers in area, about 1.7 times larger than Japan (378.000 square kilometers). The population is about 1.15 million people and there are approximately 500 Japanese living in the Province. Mr. Kunihiko Tanabe, Consul-General of Japan at Calgary, also paid an official visit to Saskatchewan with the Ambassador and attended meetings with government officials and other events.
On October 23 in the capital city of Regina, Ambassador Monji and Consul-General Tanabe met with The Honourable Brad Wall, Premier of Saskatchewan; The Honourable Corey Tochor, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan; The Honourable Lyle Stewart, Minister of Agriculture; The Honourable Dustin Duncan, Minister of Energy and Resources; The Honourable Jeremy Harrison, Minister of the Economy; and other government officials. Topics discussed during the meetings include the political and economic situations in Japan, Canada and the Province, and economic and cultural relations between Japan and Saskatchewan. They exchanged views on how to further strengthen cooperation and friendship between Japan and the Province.
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Ambassador Monji, Premier Wall, Minister Duncan, Consul-General Tanabe |
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Ambassador Monji, Speaker Tochor, Consul-General Tanabe |
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Ambassador Monji, Minister Harrison, Consul-General Tanabe |
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Ambassador Monji, Minister Stewart, Consul-General Tanabe |
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Ambassador Monji, the Honourable Nadine Wilson, Provincial Secretary, Consul-General Tanabe |
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Ambassador Monji, Dr. Louise Greenberg, Deputy Minister of Advanced Education, Consul-General Tanabe |
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Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan |
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At the Legislative Assembly |
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During their visit Ambassador Monji and Consul-General Tanabe met with executives of enterprises, research institutes and universities, as well as with Japanese and Japanese-Canadian people. They received briefings from these organizations and exchanged views on how to further deepen cooperation between Japan and Saskatchewan in the areas including economy, trade, education and research. Ambassador Monji and Consul-General Tanabe also visited the PotashCorp’s potash mine. Potash is a mineral used for fertilizer and this mine, capable of producing about two million tons of potash a year, exports potash to Japan.
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With executives of STEP (Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership) |
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With Dr. Atkinson, Vice President of the University of Saskatchewan (4th from right) |
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With people from Japanese and Japanese-Canadian communities in Regina |
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Entrance of potash mining facilities |
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Down to 1,000 meters below ground by elevator |
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Electric vehicle for moving inside the mine |
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In front of the tip of excavator |
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Belt conveyor carrying potash to processing facilities |
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Inside of processing facilities |
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Warehouse for processed potash |
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Product is shipped by freight train |
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During their official visit to Saskatchewan, Ambassador Monji and Consul-General Tanabe met with government officials, and business and university executives, and had fruitful exchanges of views on how to reinforce relationships between Japan and the Province, and other various themes. In order to further strengthen the ties between the provinces of Canada and Japan, Ambassador Monji is planning to pay official visits to other provinces.
