Japan Launches Year Of Inter-Regional, Twin City Exchanges With Russia

The opening ceremony of the Year of Russian-Japanese Inter-Regional and Twin City Exchanges took place in the city of Sapporo on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on Saturday

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2022) The opening ceremony of the Year of Russian-Japanese Inter-Regional and Twin City Exchanges took place in the city of Sapporo on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on Saturday.

Holding the event was agreed during a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the 2019 G20 Osaka summit. However, Japanese Foreign Ministry decided to postpone the ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, both the Russian and Japanese sides advocated the early holding of the event.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has made significant adjustments to these plans.

Nevertheless, we are pleased to note that, despite the difficulties, more than half of the 42 endeavors planned under this initiative have been successfully implemented. This, in particular, includes the meeting of the Subcommittee on Inter-Regional Cooperation of the bilateral Intergovernmental Committee on Trade and Economic Issues, Preparation of Agreements on Cooperation between a number of Russian subjects and Japanese prefectures, and visits of cultural workers," Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin said at the ceremony.

In addition, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov also delivered an address at the event.