Six attend youth exchange programme

SIX participants from Papua New Guinea left for Japan on Sept 24, for the International Youth Development Exchange (Index) programme for 2016.
Under the programme, the Japanese government, through the Cabinet Office of Japan, invited six youths from the field of government, academic, journalism and sports.
They will be joining participants from Austria, Bahrain, Dominican Republic, Laos and Lithuania also invited for the programme.
The participants will visit Tokyo, Shimane Prefecture and Kagawa Prefecture during their stay in Japan from Sept 26 to Oct 16.
Activities will include discussions with youths from Japan and other participating countries, tours in both urban and local areas and visits to cultural sites.
They will also have an opportunity to enjoy home-stay with families in Kagawa Prefecture, thus, gaining first-hand experience with the Japanese way of living.
The Index programme is an interactive project started in 1994 in commemoration of the marriage of the Crown Prince.
It is to promote mutual friendship and understanding between Japanese youths and youths from overseas countries while promoting bilateral relations.
It is also expected to nurture and develop youths who can demonstrate leadership skills in various fields and facilitate social contribution.
As such, participants are expected to share the knowledge and experience gained through the programme with respective organisations and communities after returning to their home countries.
The Embassy of Japan believes the participation of PNG youths in the programme will make a great contribution to further promoting goodwill and amiable diplomatic relations between Japan and Papua New Guinea.
The embassy said it will give insight to the participants of Japanese culture, people and its ways of living compared to their nation.