Ambassador Bowman Reaffirms Strong Ties Between SVG and Japan

By Admin. Updated 3:19 p.m., Friday, 26 September 2025, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).

St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Non-resident Ambassador to Japan, Her Excellency Andrea Bowman, has reiterated the strong diplomatic ties shared between St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and Japan.

Ambassador Bowman made these remarks recently at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Day event held on 24 September at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan.

Osaka is a prefecture in Japan with a population of more than eight million people.

Ambassador Bowman, who is SVG’s resident Ambassador in Taiwan but oversees most of SVG’s diplomatic relations in Asia, including Japan, stated:

“Saint Vincent and the Grenadines established diplomatic relations with Japan on 15 April 1980. Since then, our countries have shared forty-five years of constructive and developmental relations, which have focussed primarily on people-to-people progress.”

“The Japan Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project stands out in particular in this regard, with its emphasis on direct human development. Collaborations in the areas of fisheries, healthcare, education, disaster reduction and mitigation are also of major significance.”

She continued:

“In 2024, in recognition of the depth of the relationship between our countries and in appreciation of our Prime Minister’s outstanding contribution to strengthening this bilateral relationship, the Government of Japan conferred one of its highest decorations to foreign nationals, the ‘Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun’, on Dr The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The conferment of this honour of friendship, dignity and partnership supports the calibre of the six-month presentation, from April to September 2025, which our country has mounted at its pavilion here in Osaka, Japan.”

Meanwhile, some Japanese officials have expressed the view that St. Vincent and the Grenadines should establish an embassy in Japan.

There are several Vincentians living, working, and studying in Japan.

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