WELCOMING REMARKS
BY
H.E. BARAKA H LUVANDA, AMBASSADOR OF TANZANIA TO JAPAN AT THE TOURISM PROMOTION EVENT ORGANIZED BY THE EMBASSY IN COLLABORATION WITH FLEX INTERNATIONAL CO.LTD, TOKYO, 04 JUNE 2022
Mr. Matsuyama-san,
Representative of Flex International Co. Ltd,
and Our Host Today,
Mr. Shiro Otsu-san,
Co-organizer of this event,
Invited Guests,
Dear Friends,
My Colleagues at the Embassy,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Kon'nichiwa!
Jambo!
A very Good Afternoon to All!
My role this afternoon is simplified. I have been assigned to make a welcoming remark which should not have taken more than two minutes to accomplish. It would have actually required me to say: Yoko So! Karibuni sana!
But let me abuse this privilege by saying a few things in just only 648 words:
First, on behalf of my colleagues at the Embassy and, on behalf of my wife here present, I wish to express our profound appreciation to all of you for finding time to come, especially on a weekend like this to share with us your precious time. As we say in Kiswahili (our national language), asanteni sana.
Secondly, I wish to thank the organizers and sponsors of this event, Flex International. I thank you very much and I hope that this will not be the last time you do this.
Thirdly, I want to express, once again, our deepest appreciations to Flex International for tourism promotional work for Tanzania and, for the entire East Africa as a preferable tourism destination.
You have been doing this for quite a long time since your establishment in 1988. I have checked the statistics before COVID-19 kicked-in in 2020 they are impressive and, so I do hope that once COVID-19 sets us free as it now looks like, we will be having some good numbers.
Friends, it would be a remiss on my part if I did not thank “those behind the scenes’ who are always forgotten, for the sterling preparations of this event. Thank you so much.
Friends,
Let me mention that this event today provides us with the opportunity to learn more about the abundant tourist attractions in Tanzania that you have not heard before. Even for those of you who have visited Tanzania before will be surprised to hear about them and I will leave this assignment to Kazuma-san to walk you through. But I also want to invite you during your spare time, to view the famous Royal Tour Documentary by Her Excellency President Samia Suluhu Hassan which was launched recently and is trending widely. It is available in most social media.
Friends,
To make this event more colourful and memorable, we have organized it in such a way that you will have an opportunity to socialize amongst yourselves and to have a chance to taste the Tanzanian cuisine, the drinks from tea, coffee, beer, wine, famous konyagi and the nuts, etc. And, it has been confirmed to me that we have quite a lot of these since it is a weekend.
As we all know, travel and tourism industry has suffered severely because of COVID-19 not only here in Japan, but also all around the world. As Japan finally reopens its borders, we want to assure you that Tanzania has taken all the precautionary measures to ensure that the health and safety of our travellers remain our top priority.
You would certainly want to note that in August 2020 Tanzania was issued with the UNWTO safe destination certificate and since then we have been receiving quite a significant number of foreign visitors. And so, I hope that our friends from this country will make their way to this exotic tourist destination-Tanzania in large numbers to enjoy the seamless and safe end-to-end experience.
Let me conclude by welcoming you, once again here at Tanzania House and wishing you a great moment together.
Arigatou gozaimasu!
Tanzania e Yoko so.
Welcome you all to Tanzania.
Karibuni sana.
