Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - The Minister of Preschool Education, Agrippina Shin, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Uzbekistan, Yoshinori Fujiyama.

During the meeting, the Minister emphasized that Japan is a strategic partner of the Republic of Uzbekistan and over the years of diplomatic relations between our countries strong ties have been established in key areas of the socio-economic direction. The parties noted the importance of the visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Japan in December 2019 for the development of relations between states.

Agrippina Shin presented a summary of the results achieved over the years of the Ministry of Preschool Education, including in the field of international cooperation.

At the same time, special attention is paid to the established cooperation of the Ministry of Preschool Education with Japanese governmental and non-governmental organizations regarding the implementation of joint projects, including:

- A project to provide scholarships for the training of national personnel (JDS) as part of the Government of Japan Gratuitous Assistance Program;

- A project to provide gratuitous assistance to small-scale social projects of the Government of Japan;

- Attracting volunteers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the state multidisciplinary specialized preschool organization with the Imkon rehabilitation center for children in the Aral Sea region (Nukus).

During the meeting, the Minister also proposed a number of directions for the potential development of cooperation with Japan in the field of preschool education:

- study of the experience of Japan and the construction in Uzbekistan of a preschool educational organization according to the Japanese model;

- involving the private sector of Japan in the process of expanding the network of preschool educational organizations of the republic;

- production of children’s educational toys, manuals, games and multimedia products for preschool children;

- cooperation in the development of IT-solutions in the field of preschool education;

- attraction of gratuitous external assistance to Japan on equipping with rehabilitation and specialized equipment state pre-school educational institutions for children with disabilities.

Mr. Fujiyama supported these initiatives and noted that the Japanese Embassy in Uzbekistan is ready to explore the potential for cooperation in these areas.