(Koror, Palau) Ambassador Yamada has a rich career and a wealth of experience in foreign affairs and especially the specialized agency of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT), as the Secretary General of the organization. With his heavy involvement in the ICT world, Palau looks to tap into his expertise to
[restrict] further develop its ICT sector, policy, and regulatory regime. The sector is progressing well in Palau, but further work must be done to successfully access the benefits of the information superhighway. More critical for Palau in this area is to get gain proficiency and practical applications to be ready to effectively utilize Palau’s first submarine cable to support e-health, e-education, e-government and e-commerce.
Japan has been instrumental in our infrastructure development and security including – reconstruction of the Japan-Palau Friendship bridge, major roads in Koror, Japanese Government/Sasakawa Foundation’s support in providing us additional maritime patrol vessels/boats and fuel support, JICA ODA Grant for Water Supply Improvement Project for Koror/Airai of $17 Million and the most recent JICA ODA Grant for the Project for Renovation of Palau Mariculture Demonstration Center Facility of $6.6 million.
Palau welcomes Ambassador Yamada and looks forward to yet another fruitful working relationship with the Japanese Government and the people of Japan. [/restrict]