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Welcoming Speech by H.E. Ambassador Lukman Faily
In the morning hours of Tuesday June 1st 2010, I stepped for the first time onto a land far from my home in the far east of our ever smaller earth. I came to this far land not only out of personal desire but carrying the remarkable honour of representing my country, the Republic of Iraq, as its ambassador to this great nation. The President of Iraq, His Excellency Jalal Talabani, has accredited me as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the nation of Japan. On June 25th 2010, I was given the great honor and privilege of presenting my official Letter of Credence to His Imperial Majesty Akihito the Emperor of Japan.
As a proud Iraqi citizen, I fail to imagine a higher privilege than serving my country by representing its interests in a nation as culturally affluent and internationally respected as Japan. Prior to my arrival I was told many different stories, facts and opinions about this nation but, as I learned after I arrived, nothing I was told came close to describing the marvellous reality that is Japan. Since I set foot in this nation I have been nothing short of amazed at this great country which possesses a treasure of natural beauty in its people and its abundant nature, in its people's robust strength of character, and in its culture which artistically combine sophistication with simplicity, serenity with harmony, and cutting edge technology with tradition. After a gap of more than 15 years of frozen diplomatic, political and economic relations between Iraq and Japan, my predecessor, H.E. Dr. Ghanim Aljumaily, now our ambassador in Riyadh Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, planted the seed that will see the development of the relationship between our two momentous nations. It is my designated task as the Ambassador of Iraq to continue on strengthening this bond and to work on building a future oriented and deep partnership between our two nations. In an effort to nurture the seed that has been planted before us, I am committed to strengthening and developing the partnership between Japan and Iraq embodied in the Declaration of Establishing a Comprehensive Partnership between Iraq and Japan. This declaration, signed in January of 2009, focuses on three sectors: electricity, oil infrastructure and human capacity building through training courses. I believe that these three vital domains of our partnership need to be strengthened and developed. In addition, I envision a grander partnership that includes, but is not limited to, education, transportation, health, tourism, and technology. I have and always will, keep the doors of the my embassy wide open for any individual or institution that shares my vision of greater partnership between Japan and Iraq and would be glad and honoured to aid you and work with you on accomplishing this task. As a final note, I would like to state that our two nations have in common countless sets of core values and vie towards a similar vision for a future world that is both more peaceful and prosperous. The world we envision and vie for is one whose members share all that they possess that is good and learn from all that is good from this world’s grandiose civilizations. I leave you with a traditional Japanese haiku that embodies my vision and commitment to bridging the great nation of Japan with the Republic of Iraq. To be a leader One must first dream then act out Fulfilment is yours
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