On Friday, 17th February 2017, Her Excellency Kae Yanagisawa, Ambassador of Japan to Malawi, exchanged Notes with Hon. Goodall Gondwe, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Development for the Project for the Improvement of Television Broadcasting Equipment and Japanese Television Programs to the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) under the Cultural Grant Assistance. The function was held at the Ministry of Finance and was witnessed by Honorable Nicholas Dausi, M.P. Minister of Information, Communication and Technology.
Japan considers the importance of a good and reliable local television broadcasting because people benefit a lot as they are able to follow events and get exposed to the educational information necessary for their lives. Therefore, their awareness on different issues increases resulting to enhanced intelligence and empowerment.
The Government of Japan extended the grant amounting to 71.2 million Japanese Yen (equivalent to 620 000 USD at current rate) to facilitate the procurement of broadcasting equipment for the MBC TV Station as well as TV Programs from Japan. Through this grant, outdated equipment at MBC will be replaced and its studio facilities will be modernized and will help to improve the quality of production. In addition, Japanese TV Programs which are educative and informative programs focusing more on Mathematics, Science and Technology, Health and Agriculture will help to positively impact on socio-economic development in one way or the other.
Japan’s relation with MBC has been long and a fruitful one. JICA has provided technical assistance by sending Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and Senior Volunteer to MBC and also JICA has received members of staff from MBC to train in Japan. |
