Latin America and the Caribbean
Courtesy Call on Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Eri by Young Leaders of FEALAC member countries
March 18, 2025
On March 17 2025, Ms. ERI Arfiya, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs received 11 young leaders among FEALAC member countries (Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Chile, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Mexico, and Mongolia) who were invited to Japan through the “24th FEALAC Young Leaders Invitation Program”. A summary of the courtesy call is as follows.
- Parliamentary Vice-Minister Eri welcomed the young leaders from FEALAC to Japan, and expressed her hope that, through the invitation program, they will deepen their understanding on Japan's efforts to support startups as well as the usage of science and technology, and that they will contribute to further developing the relations with Japan in the future. Regarding the visit to Hiroshima, she expressed her hope that it would be an opportunity to learn about the realities of atomic bombings and to reflect on history. She also emphasized that the Government of Japan will continue to cooperate with FEALAC to strengthen the tie between Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, taking the opportunity of various occasions such as the FEALAC Foreign Ministers' Meeting, which is planned to be held this year.
- In response, the young leaders expressed their gratitude to the Government of Japan for the invitation to this program as part of Japan's efforts at FEALAC and the fact that they have learned a lot of things from Japan in the field of science and technology. Introducing each country’s startup support by using the science and technology, they expressed their willingness to leverage the experience and knowledge they gained through this program to solve problems and improve initiatives of their countries. They also mentioned that they would like to make use of the experiences after returning to their countries.