On 26 May, Armenia’s Minister of Emergency Situations Felix Tsolakyan received representative of the Office of Uzbekistan of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Armenia Murai Hiromitsu.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the three-year “Improving crisis communication and public awareness for disaster risk management” program and the course and organizing of the “Improving anti-fire equipment” program.

The minister attached importance to the multilateral cooperation of the Ministry of Emergency Situations with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency and added that the main purpose of the programs under implementation is to take measures to reduce disaster risks and raise the level of public awareness.

In particular, in the first phase of the actions envisaged within the scope of the “Improving anti-fire equipment” program, the regional departments of the Rescue Service in Shirak, Lori and Syunik Provinces. The departments of Shirak and Lori will each receive 5 firefighting trucks and one escalator, while the department of Syunik will receive 4 firefighting trucks and one escalator.

The machines will be transferred during a solemn ceremony to be held on 6 May.

Expressing gratitude for the reception, Murai Hiromitsu stated that the Japanese government attaches importance to the cooperation with the Republic of Armenia in crisis management and, in this sense, offered to take advantage of Japan’s rich experience in resisting disasters.

At the end of the meeting, Minister Tsolakyan expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for the assistance and, expressing the gratitude of the Armenian people, recalled that there is an Armenian khachkar (cross-stone) placed near the memorial dedicated to the innocent victims of the Spitak Earthquake, eternalizing the memory of the Japanese rescuers who died during the rescue efforts.