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Annex III
ADDRESS

by

Mr. I. Arakatsu
Chairman
Conference Organizing Committee in Japan

Your Excellency the Minister, Mr. Chairman, Dr. Kasahara of FAO, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great honour and pleasure to express a few words of welcome on behalf of the Conference Organizing Committee in Japan on this occasion of the opening of the FAO Technical Conference on Aquaculture.

Ever since the Japanese Government made its decision to host this Conference in Japan at the request of FAO, we have been making every effort through our Conference Organizing Committee, jointly staffed by both government and private institutions, to make the present Conference most fruitful.

It is indeed our great pleasure to see this Conference now being opened with so many experts participating from more than 40 nations and international organizations.

As all of you are fully aware, the importance of aquaculture has rapidly increased internationally, particularly in recent years. It is truly appropriate in view of such circumstances to hold this Conference to review and sum up the results of several regional gatherings on aquaculture which have been held in various parts of the world over the past several years. Japan is one of the countries which has multiple experiences in this field. We believe, therefore, that through the active exchange of views with the foreign participants, we can contribute to the further development of aquaculture in the world. We also believe that our plan to have the choice of three tours after the Conference will contribute to deepen your understanding of the present status of aquaculture in Japan. We hope that those participants who come to Japan for the first time will acquaint themselves with the way of living and customs of the people, in addition to the practices in aquaculture, so that they will fully understand Japan.

In closing, I would like to say a few words about the preparations for the Conference as the Chairman of the Conference Organizing Committee in Japan. Although we have made our best efforts, it is possible that you will have inconveniences owing to our unfamiliarity with organizing such international conventions. We hope you will let us know whatever you find unsatisfactory. We are ready to meet your requests as far as possible.

Taking this opportunity, we would like to extend our thanks to all those people concerned who kindly cooperated with us in preparing for the present Conference. Our thanks also go to the staff of the Secretariat who have devoted their energy day and night to bring the Conference into being.

Finally, I sincerely hope that your stay here in Japan will prove to be a very pleasant one.

Thank you very much.


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