MAYOR S.BATBOLD MEETS TOKYO GOVERNOR YURIKO KOIKE

Tokyo /MONTSAME/ Mayor of the capital city and Governor of Ulaanbaatar S.Batbold's official visit to Japan continues, and he met with Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike on April 19, Wednesday. Mayor S.Batbold expressed his delight at meeting his counterpart while Mongolia and Japan mark the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year. “Strengthening the friendly relations with Japan is a priority to Mongolia”, said Mayor S.Batbold, noting the important role of people-to-people relations in bilateral relationship. He also spoke about his intentions to work together with the Governor on bringing Ulaanbaatar and Tokyo closer than ever, and upgrading the current levels of cooperation especially during their tenures. He continued to talk about Ulaanbaatar’s friendly ties with some 30 cities around the world including Moscow, Beijing, Seoul and Pyongyang, the Ulaanbaatar authorities’ objective to connect Northeast Asian capitals and Northeast Asian Mayors’ Forum initiative, expressing hope that the Tokyo authority will participate in the annual forum this year. Mayor S.Batbold then invited Governor Yuriko Koike to visit Ulaanbaatar at her convenience, who previously visited Mongolia while working as Environment Minister. For her part, Governor Koike said, “Ulaanbaatar is a developing city, therefore, it has issues just like other major cities around the world. We would like to cooperate with Ulaanbaatar”, expressing her readiness to join hands with the Ulaanbaatar governor. Kh.Aminaa