H. E. Mr. Peteris Vaivars, Ambassador of Republic of Latvia to Japan, visited Rokko Hoyoso in Nishinomiya City on August 25. He was there to deliver a lecture to students who were there to attend the Summer Intensive EU Workshop 2009, hosted by EU Institute in Japan, Kansai (EUIJ-Kansai).

In the lecture entitled, "Impacts from the Global Crisis on Latvia Economy", the Ambassador briefly introduced the history and society of Latvia. He showed various statistics, such as macro economy, finance and the national budget to explain the severe effect the global financial crisis has had on Latvia economy since last autumn. At lunch and coffee break before and after the lecture, the Ambassador answered questions about the economy, politics, society and culture in Latvia asked by attending students from the three universities (Kobe University, Kwansei Gakuin University and Osaka University) that make up the EUIJ-Kansai.

The Ambassador then visited Kobe University to pay a courtesy visit on President FUKUDA Hideki and Vice President/Director in charge of International Exchange NAKAMURA Chiharu. Pointing out the fact that Riga, the capital of Latvia, and Kobe City have been sister/friendship cities for 35 years, and that Kobe University Faculty of Engineering and Riga Technical University had made an exchange agreement, the Ambassador expressed his wish to further develop academic exchange between Kobe University and Latvia. President FUKUDA responded by saying that he would like a chance to visit Latvia sometime soon to help further this matter.