ISLAMABAD - Japan would provide jobs to around 350,000 workers from 10 different countries, including Pakistan, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, Kuninori Matsuda said.

The labour force would accommodate in 14 major sectors including nursing care, building clinic, agriculture, fisheries, hotel management, food and beverages, aircraft maintenance and airports ground handling staff, shipbuilding, material processing, industrial machinery, constructions, car mechanic, electronics and electronic machinery in cards to import skilled labour force, Kuninori Matsuda told APP here.

Talking to APP, the ambassador said Pakistan and Japan agreed to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in November for export of thousands of hi-tech skilled labourers from Pakistan to Japan.

He said Japan intended to attract around 350,000 blue-collar workers from all over the world over five years by 2025 and further enhance this number by 2030.

He said in the current scenario, Japan facing a shortage of labour force, adding, “We need to import skilled labourers from 10 countries including Pakistan, India,

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other Association of South East Asian Nations (ASAIN). He also praised the Pakistani workers who were working in Japan, saying that they were more skilled and working with full commitment and honesty.

He further said professional skills and proficiency in the Japanese language would be a must for workers to work in Japan under this policy.

He said Japan and Pakistan have enjoyed historical diplomatic and economic relation, where Japan has always supported Pakistan in every situation.

Replying to a question, the ambassador said that Pakistan and Japan are looking for increasing bilateral cooperation in agricultural-based industry and value addition as Japan has already announced grant aid to enhance productivity in relevant agricultural fields.

He said Japan was also looking for enhancing the cooperation in the auto parts industry for enhancing the capacity of local labour and providing employment opportunities in Pakistan.

He said Japanese companies were interested to establish the industrial units of auto parts in Pakistan for bringing investment to provide an opportunity to the local people.

Recently Japan announced a grand of US $ 5.2 million to support Agri-Food and Agro-Industry development in the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, he said.

The senior diplomat said this amount would be utilized for enhancement of productivity and capacities of relevant sectors in the cattle meat value chain in districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Abbottabad, Kohistan and D I Khan and apple value chain in province of Balochistan in Quetta, Killa Abdullah and Pishin.

He said both sides have more potential to increase bilateral trade from the current volume of trade and double the figure to exploit the resources.

He said Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was already working on the potential agro-based region of Khyber Pakhtunkwa including Hazara, Swat and Chitral as in Gilgit Baltistan for promoting innovation and value addition culture in these areas.

He said through JICA, the Japanese government was also working on cold storage for the preservation apple, apricot and other perishable fruits.