Ambassador Okuda’s Official Visit to Alberta
Ambassador Okuda made an official visit to the Province of Alberta from December 3rd to 6th, 2014. In the provincial capital, Edmonton, the Ambassador paid courtesy calls to a number of provincial dignitaries, including The Honourable Jim Prentice, Premier of Alberta, The Honourable Frank Oberle, Minister of Energy, and The Honourable Verlyn Olson, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. In addition, the Ambassador met with representatives from the Japanese Community and academia.
The Ambassador also visited Fort McMurray in the northeast region of Alberta, where he participated in a private tour of an oil sands development site and exchanged views with a Japanese company.
Japan has maintained a highly cooperative relationship with the Province of Alberta, which is rich in natural resources and one of the largest grain producing regions in Canada. Japan imports a significant amount of agricultural products such as rapeseed, wheat and pork, as well as mineral resources like coal, which makes Japan the third largest exporting country for Alberta in the world. Alberta is also known for the world’s third largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Japanese companies in the Province are actively engaged in this field.
Ambassador Okuda emphasized the importance of distributing Alberta’s rich energy resources to the international market and expressed his expectations of further strengthening the relationship between Alberta and Japan in various fields such as science and technology and through twin city agreements.
Throughout this official visit, Ambassador Okuda reaffirmed the contribution and powerful presence of Japanese companies over the years in the Province of Alberta. Also, the Ambassador fully recognized the Province’s keen interest in expanding trade and investment ties with Japan and in further promoting academic and student exchanges. Ambassador Okuda expressed his commitment to continue every effort to meet these expectations.
|
