Okawa City Council hopes to foster close ties with Kuching
KUCHING: A delegation from Okawa City, led by its council chairwoman Mieko Kawano, paid a courtesy call on Kuching South Mayor Datuk James Chan at his office in Kuching City South Council ( MBKS) yesterday.
Okawa, a city in the Fukuoka Prefecture, is a major furniture manufacturing and timber processing centre in Japan.
The Japanese delegation comprised officials from the city council and owners of furniture factories and sawmills there.
They are on a familiarisation visit to Sarawak, one the main sources of timber for their furniture factories and sawmills, and also to establish ties with city and town councils in Sarawak.
Chan said he was delighted to receive the delegation as he once worked in the timber industry before taking up his mayorship.
He added that he admired the technologies, work culture and management of those in Japan timber industry.
Kawano, who is also the head of the Women’s Organisation of Okawa, said her city council hoped the visit would pave the way for close ties between Okawa City and Kuching through the councils here.
Earlier, Padawan Municipal Council ( MPP) deputy chairman Dato Ahmad Ibrahim hosted a luncheon for the visiting delegates at a Japanese restaurant here.
During the luncheon, they exchanged ideas on town management and explored possibilities of collaboration through exchange programmes between MPP and Okawa City Council.
Today, the delegates are paying a courtesy call on Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan and also attending a briefing on the timber industry at Sarawak Timber Industry Corporation ( STIDC) headquarters, before visiting the STIDC Timber Museum.