Governor Proclaims North Carolina and Japan Friendship Day 2024

NORTH CAROLINA AND JAPAN FRIENDSHIP DAY

2024

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, North Carolina and Japan have enjoyed decades of friendship, alliance, and economic partnership; and 

WHEREAS, more than 225 Japanese-owned companies operate in North Carolina from approximately 500 individual locations across the state; and

WHEREAS, more than 30,000 North Carolinians work at a Japanese-owned company; and

WHEREAS, over the last decade, Japanese economic development projects were the largest source of foreign investment in North Carolina, with more than $17.5 billion in capital investment and more than 9,000 jobs announced; and

WHEREAS, trade between North Carolina and Japan continues to thrive with Japan importing more than $1 billion in North Carolina goods and exporting more than $2.8 billion in Japanese goods to North Carolina; and

WHEREAS, Governor Roy Cooper visited Tokyo in 2023 to participate in the Southeast U.S./Japan (SEUS/Japan) Economic Partnership Conference and has continued to build stronger ties with Japanese business; and

WHEREAS, North Carolina will host the 46^th Annual 2024 SEUS/Japan Annual Joint Meeting in October to further strengthen economic development relations between North Carolina and Japan; and

WHEREAS, the North Carolina Japan Center at NC State University has served to strengthen the state’s academic, business, and cultural ties with Japan since 1980; and

WHEREAS, Nagoya University Global Campus is located on NC State University’s Centennial Campus and offers dual-degree programs, large-scale student exchanges, joint faculty research with industry partners, and global internships for students from both institutions; and

WHEREAS, on April 12, 2024, North Carolina will welcome Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, his wife Yuko Kishida, and a delegation of Japanese dignitaries and media members for a State visit, emphasizing the deep economic, academic, and cultural ties between the state and Japan and representing a historic trip for a sitting head-of-state to visit North Carolina;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim April 12, 2024, as “NORTH CAROLINA AND JAPAN FRIENDSHIP DAY” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

                                                                           ________________________________________

                                                                                                           Roy Cooper

                                                                                                              Governor

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twelfth day of April in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.