On the afternoon of May 21, International Department, Director-General, Tetsundo Iwakuni visited the Myanmar Embassy in Kitashinagawa, Tokyo and met with Ambassador to Japan, Hla Myint.

Iwakuni handed over a message to the ambassador from Katsuya Okada, Chair of the "Countermeasures Headquarters for the Myanmar Cyclone and Sichuan, China Earthquake", addressed to Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Than Shwe of Myanmar. In addition, while expressing condolences for the victims and the bereaved due to the cyclone, Iwakuni requested that Myanmar accept the assistance of aid workers from Japan and other countries who have accomplished many achievements in disaster relief.

In response, Ambassador Hla Myint emphasized that while his government has been in contact with the United Nations and other international bodies, the neighboring ASEAN nations, as well as NGOs from various countries, they were accepting aid workers in addition to relief supplies.
The ambassador also specifically named some Japanese NGOs while expressing gratitude for their rapid response.

Furthermore, Iwakuni suggested, "Myanmar should make specific requests to the international community." The ambassador stated, "The Yangon International Airport does not have the facilities to unload relief supplies from airplanes, as the labor involved takes time and will create a bottleneck for victims," and mentioned that he had met with Foreign Minister Koumura on the previous day and presented the problem at the Yangon Airport.

The meeting lasted for about thirty minutes. Before leaving the embassy, Iwakuni once more expressed his heartfelt feelings of condolence to the deceased by saying, "We feel that for relations between the people of Japan and Myanmar to become closer and warmer through this disaster would be the greatest condolence to the victims."

The 2 million yen donated by the Democratic Party of Japan will be sent to Japanese NGOs working in Myanmar will be of direct assistance to cyclone survivors in the area.

(08/05/21)