Japan's PM Naoto Kan thanks the world for aid and support

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has extended his gratitude to the entire world for the assistance rendered to Japan after the earthquake and the tsunami on March 11. In an open letter issued on Monday, Naoto Kan said that through Japan's own efforts and with the help of the global community, Japan will recover and come back even stronger, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Japanese Prime Minister recalled that the unprecedentedly powerful earthquake and the ensuing tsunami had taken numerous precious lives, and even today evacuation shelters were the only refuge for more than 150,000 people. “At that desperate time people around the world rallied to our side bringing hope and inspiring courage”, said Naoto Kan. We are still receiving a tremendous outpouring of encouragement, prayers and support from people worldwide. We deeply appreciate the {Kizuna} (IPN – strong bond between friends and family) our friends around the world have shown and I want to thank every nation, entity, and you personally, from the bottom of my heart”, reads the letter. The Moldovan Government offered 1 million lei in aid to Japan. Earlier the Chisinau City Hall also transferred 500,000 lei to the account opened specially for this purpose, and the municipal water utility Apa-Canal donated other 200,000 lei. Additionally, the Moldovan-Japanese Foundation, together with the community of Japanese people living and working in Moldova, launched a public fundraising campaign. A further amount of about 260,000 was collected by the companies which benefited from the Japan-funded program dedicated to small and mid-sized enterprises.