Islamabad, February 17: President Asif Ali Zardari will visit Japan during February 21-23 for talks with that country’s top leadership aimed at boosting bilateral and economic ties.
Zardari, who is visiting Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, will make a state call on the Japanese Emperor and hold summit-level talks with the premier, said a statement from the Foreign Office. This will be Zaradri’s second visit to Japan since assuming office in 2008.
The President will also meet cabinet members, parliamentarians and leading businessmen.
“The visit will provide an opportunity to brief the Japanese leadership on (Pakistan’s) views on key international and regional issues as well as discuss ways and means to further expand bilateral political and economic ties,” the statement said.
Zardari’s meeting with the businessmen will help project Pakistan as a destination for Japanese investment, it added.
Japan is one of Pakistan’s major trading partners and a key development partner, extending assistance for projects in health, education and human resource development.
Japan has actively participated in the Friends of Democratic Pakistan Forum and hosted the FODP Ministerial and Donors Conference in Tokyo in April 2009.
It pledged one billion dollars at the Donors Conference in Tokyo.
It also extended aid for people displaced by military operations against the Taliban in Swat and Malakand.
—PTI