Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Sugiyama Akira presented a collection of books on politics, economics, history, culture, literature and arts from the Nippon Foundation to South Eastern University Vice Chancellor Prof. M.M.M Najim in the presence of Librarian M. M.M Rifaudeen on September 28.
An advocate of international peace, the Nippon Foundation is the foremost public welfare and philanthropic organization in Japan to promote Japanese language, spread cultural awareness and understanding of customs essential to coexist in harmony.
The South Eastern University is the third recipient in Sri Lanka to receive the books donated from the Nippon Foundation. Its READ JAPAN PROJECT has gifted over 65,000 books to 1,011 libraries in 136 countries and regions so far. The Embassy expects that this programme will uplift the interest of students in Japan and inspire them to pursue higher education in Japan from this reputed institution.
Ambassador Sugiyama expressed his desire to further cultivate untapped potential of scholarly interactions with the South Eastern University and hoped that the books will symbolise “rising hope” for the next generation, like the emblem of “rising sun” used in the South Eastern University.
Vice Chancellor Professor Najim said that this is a stepping stone to further strengthen the links established by academic staff who have studied in Japan while reaffirming that this donation will sprout manifold opportunities to better acquaint prospective students with the cultural diversity to accelerate academic exchanges between the two countries.
