Japan donates jasmine trees for capital

ISLAMABAD:

In line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ’Clean-Green Pakistan’ initiative, Japan on Tuesday donated 20 jasmine trees for the Japanese Park in Islamabad.

Japanese Ambassador Kuninori Matsuda, along with the State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul, planted the trees at the park in a special tree plantation ceremony.

“Many residents enjoy visiting this park, it has become a symbol of friendship between Japan and Pakistan,” said Ambassador Matsuda, noting that the park opened nearly 35 years ago in 1985 when the then-Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone visited Pakistan. “Tree planting at the Japanese Park is a small contribution by the embassy towards the Clean-Green Pakistan initiative of PM Imran,” the envoy said, adding that the embassy had planted trees at its compound last November as its contribution to the cause.

Matsuda said that playground equipment had been donated to the park for children as a gift from the children of Japan. In 2015, Japan refurbished the equipment. And when bamboo trees at the park fell due to the heavy monsoon rains this summer, the embassy took special interest to rehabilitate them by donating new trees to the park.

Gul and Matsuda then exchanged views on the importance of technical cooperation on the issue of climate change, especially referring to the area of next-generation solar cells, carbon recycling and electric vehicles.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2020.