Islamabad: Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Takashi Kurai called on Minister for Communications Hafiz Abdul Karim and congratulated him on assuming the charge of his ministry. Speaking on the occasion, the ambassador said that his country had great interest in the development of road infrastructure in Pakistan as shown by the initiation of multiple highway projects with the financial and technical assistance of Japan. Kurai informed the minister that the most important highway project currently underway with Japanese assistance was the Rakhi Gajj-Bewata section (N-70) connecting Punjab and Balochistan. “It is a state of the art project involving unique design and advanced technology”, he said. Kurai further said that work on 33km long section commenced in 2016 and would be completed by July 2019 at a cost of Rs23 billion. “Work on different sections of the Indus Highway (N-55) has been successfully completed”, he added. Federal Minister Karim thanked the ambassador on his visit. According to details, Karim said that Pakistan and Japan enjoy close and cordial relations. He also expressed hope that the relationship between the two countries would be further strengthened in future. “Pakistan has always appreciated Japan’s cooperation in the development of road infrastructure”, he said. Karim also proposed the dualisation of the Indus Highway section between Dera Ghazi Khan and Shikarpur. The ambassador appreciated the proposal and assured the minister of all possible cooperation in this regard. Published in Daily Times, August 17th 2017.