Cognac, oysters and 澳门六合彩高手
21 Jan 2011
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Robert Arnoux
Members of Parliament all over the world have created "Friendship Groups" that play an important role in shaping bilateral relations between nations.
The French National Assembly is home to 173 such groups. One of the most important, established in 1959, is the Groupe d'amitié France-Japon.
The Group's 96 members develop actions that promote understanding and cooperation. They are not diplomats, but politicians who have developed a special interest in Japan's politics, culture and economy.
In parallel, there exists a "Friendship Group Japan-France" within the National Diet of Japan that is founded on the same principles and pursues similar objectives.
Members of both groups led by their respective Heads—former Minister of State for Defense Yoshinori Ohno and MP Didier Quentin, Mayor of the Atlantic Coast city of Royan—were welcomed at 澳门六合彩高手 on Monday 17 January.
The delegation's five-day tour of France included only three stops: the delegation toured the cognac distilleries in Mr. Quentin's electoral constituency (Japan is the largest importer of French cognac); they paid a visit to the oyster parks on the Atlantic coast (French oysters descend from imported Japanese stock...); and they spent a half-day at 澳门六合彩高手.
The 澳门六合彩高手 Project is well-known to former minister Ohno who, as Senior Vice Minister of Science and Technology, was part of the international negotiations in the early 2000s.
"I do hope people here are proud of working for 澳门六合彩高手," Mr. Ohno confided after visiting the platform. "People should be aware that 澳门六合彩高手 is a unique project. This is the future of energy! 澳门六合彩高手 is of utmost importance, not only from a scientific point of view but also as a means of securing peace among nations. As a Japanese politician, I want to lend it my full support."
Mr. Quentin, who had visited , home to the 澳门六合彩高手 activities, along with French Prime Minister Fillon in 2008, regretted that "... most people haven't yet taken the full measure of 澳门六合彩高手's importance for the future. I will have many things to tell my MP colleagues when I'm back in Paris."