PRESS RELEASES

JENESYS 2.0 Youth Badminton Exchange participants paid courtesy call to Prime Minister Abe

13 June 2014

    On 10 June, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call by 15 participants of the Youth Badminton Exchange from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam who were visiting Japan under JENESYS 2.0.

    At the outset, Prime Minister Abe said that JENESYS 2.0 aimed for an active youth exchange between Japan and other Asian countries, and expressed his wish that participants would enjoy watching the Yonex Open Japan 2014 in which Japan’s and other countries’ top players competed.

    Prime Minister Abe also mentioned that he hoped that participants would come again to Japan to represent their countries’ badminton team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and that through this programme participants could make many new friendships.

    On behalf of the participants, one participant from Malaysia said that they particularly enjoyed watching the Yonex Open Japan 2014, where they were able to see themselves the athletes play; and that this Youth Badminton Exchange programme was the first step for them to realize their dreams of competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.