Prime Minister Naoto Kan received a courtesy call from representatives of youth participants of the 23rd Ship for World Youth (SWY) program at the Prime Minister's Office.

The SWY program is one of the international youth exchange programs of the Government of Japan. It aims to make a visible international contribution from the perspective of human resource development by providing youth from countries around the world with occasions to build human networks and promote collaborative works.

A total of approximately 300 youths from 13 nations are participating in this year's program. Together, they will engage in exchange activities on board and at countries of destination ports during the 41-day voyage which runs from late January to the beginning of March.

After shaking hands with each representative, Prime Minister Kan delivered an address and gave words of encouragement to them. He said, "We are facing a particularly large number of issues today that require the joint efforts of all of the people on Earth, including global environmental issues. I hope that various discussions on the future of the Earth will take place as you engage in exchange activities on board with people from 13 nations over the course of the weeks ahead.
I also hope that the experience you gain in the next several weeks will contribute greatly to the activities you will carry out around the world in the future."