Ambassador Laurel Calls on Mayor of Sapporo Mr. Katsuhiro Akimoto
On a visit to Hokkaido Prefecture, Ambassador Jose C. Laurel V called on Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto of Sapporo.
Ambassador Laurel calls on Mayor Akimoto.
During their meeting, Ambassador Laurel underlined the long history of friendship between the governments of the Philippines and Japan, and the long tradition of people-to-people exchanges. He observed that the recently opened direct flights of Philippine Airlines between Manila and Hokkaido opens up an important avenue for deeper friendships between the Filipino and Japanese people. He thanked the Mayor of Sapporo for displaying the Philippine flag on this year’s Snow Festival poster, announcing the 70th anniversary of the world-famous festival. He expressed his wish to work with the Government of Sapporo to encourage more Japanese people to visit the Philippines to learn English, especially in time for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Mayor Akimoto thanked Ambassador Laurel for the donation of the Philippine Government, saying that it will provide great relief to the people after the September 2018 earthquake. He shared his excitement at the increased prospect of more exchange of visits as a result of the recently opened direct flights from Manila to Sapporo, and shared that the Hokkaido Vice Mayor visited the Philippines to promote the Hokkaido Snow Festival.
Also present in the meeting were Vice Mayor of Sapporo Mr. Machida Takatoshi, Mr. Yuichi Mikami, Director-General of the Mayor’s Office, Director of International Relations Department of the City of Sapporo Mr. Tomita Hidenori, Philippine Embassy Minister for Political Affairs Evangeline Ong Jimenez-Ducrocq, Honorary Consul of the Philippines in Hokkaido Mr. Ken Tobe.
