Japan Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Norikazu Suzuki told the media during his visit to Palau last week that 2019 will be a very important year for both countries as it will mark the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
“We would like to establish a win-win relationship for the future and I would like to say that next year will be an important year,” Norikazu said, adding that 2018 is in fact the beginning of the so-called “future win-win relationship” of the two countries.
Norikazu also discussed the furthering of initiatives on people-to-people exchange between the two countries.
The young Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister also said of the plans to ease regulations for visa applications for Palauans.
Norikazu also did not fail to mention Japan’s plans to collect the remains of Japanese soldiers who perished in Palau during the World War 2.
“Japan and Palau have a very strong historical ties so collecting the remains of the war dead is an important project and there are many events for the war dead in Japan,” Norikazu said.
During his stay in Palau, Norikazu also paid respect to Japanese soldiers who died during the war by visiting a monument in Peleliu State, Palau’s island that was one of the staging grounds of the bloodiest battles during World War 2. (Rhealyn C. Pojas)