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On March 27, Administration Committee Chair, Hideo Hiraoka received a courtesy call from El Salvador Minister of Governance Gregorio Ernesto Zelayandia Cisneros and exchanged opinions on a variety of issues. The meeting was also attended by El Salvador Ambassador Martha Lidia Zelayandia, Director-General of the International Department Issei Tajima and Vice Director-General Misako Yasui.
At the start of the meeting, Hiraoka welcomed the El Salvador delegation and referred to the political situation of El Salvador where a change of government had taken place recently. Hiraoka stated administration parties in both Japan and El Salvador have to respond to the desire of the people for reform.
Minister Zelayandia expressed his appreciation for official development assistance received from Japan and offered his deep condolences to the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Zelayandia admired the efforts of Japanese citizens toward reconstruction and stated “Measures to deal with states of emergency and disaster prevention measures are also critical issues in our country. We would like to learn from the experiences of Japan and lead Central America in the field of risk management.” Zelayandia also commented that El Salvador’s provision of support to Japan following the disaster triggered a change of attitude amongst the people of El Salvador, saying, “They stopped thinking that they would just simply be the recipients of assistance at all times, and started to develop a sense of solidarity.”
Both agreed on the importance of cooperation between the two earthquake-prone countries, and the meeting ended in a convivial mood.
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