Pfizer CEO Grilled on 'Ineffective' COVID-19 Vaccine at Davos Summit

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla confronted over Covid vaccine. Photograph:( Twitter )

Albert Bourla, the chief executive of the US pharma giant Pfizer, was forced to flee journalists after he came under a barrage of uncomfortable questions on the company's COVID-19 vaccine in the streets of the Swiss resort of Davos.

Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer (CEO) of American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer who is in Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF), was confronted by two journalists on Wednesday (January 18) over the company's vaccine against Covid. The journalists, who work for Rebel News, posed several questions to Bourla about the vaccine and the Pfizer CEO ignored them.

Taking to Twitter, Rebel News shared a six-minute-long video of its journalists confronting Albert Bourla. Ezra Levant, one of the journalists said, "Mr Bourla, can I ask you – when did you know the vaccines did not stop transmission? How long did you know that before saying it publicly?"

WE CAUGHT HIM! Watch what happened when @ezralevant & @OzraeliAvi spotted Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, on the street in Davos today.

We finally asked him all the questions the mainstream media refuses to ask.

Story: https://t.co/eIp37FWNtz

SUPPORT: https://t.co/aJiaQfYNuD pic.twitter.com/6jSVAzCB0d

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) January 18, 2023

The second journalist Avi Yemini, accused Bourla of making millions on the backs of people's entire livelihoods. "Is it time to apologise to the world, sir? To give refunds to the countries that borrowed their money into a vaccine that doesn’t work. An ineffective vaccine. Are you not ashamed of what you’ve done in the last couple of years?" Yemini asked only to get no response from Bourla.

The two journalists also questioned the Pfizer CEO over how much money he made from the vaccine and about his secret meeting in Davos.

This confrontation comes a day after Pfizer announced that it would expand the number of medicines and vaccines that it sells on a not-for-profit basis to the world's poorest countries. During the WEF meeting, Pfizer said it would begin offering at cost 45 low-income nations. The American pharmaceutical giant said this expansion would help address the "disease burden and unmet patient needs" of 1.2 billion people living in these 45 nations.

Suddenly a more aggressive interviewer appeared out of nowhere, firing more pointed questions at the pharmaceutical boss, which appears to startle the group he's with.

'Is it time to apologize to the world? Are you not ashamed of what you've done in the last couple of years? Are you proud of it?' asked the more ruthless interviewer, before going on to accuse him of 'criminal behavior.'

A video of Bourla being grilled about why Pfizer kept revising the effectiveness rate of its vaccine downward was shared on social media by India's minister of state for technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

"Just to remind all Indians, that Pfizer tried to bully Govt of India into accepting conditions of indemnity," the minister said.

Bourla, who has chaired Pfizer since 2019, evaded questions of journalists about whether the company would assume liability for the side effects of its "ineffective vaccine" and give refunds to countries that bought it, to which he replied with "Thank you very much" and "Have a nice day."

Pfizer reportedly made tens of billions of dollars off COVID-19 vaccines alone in 2021 and was projected to bump up the gains in 2022.

Indian media reported that the company sought an indemnity bond from the Indian government at the start of the vaccination rollout in India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, which would have exempted Pfizer from legal claims in case the vaccine produced side effects.

Previously, Pfizer had offered 23 of its patented drugs to poor countries on a not-for-profit basis. Now, it would include off-patent medicines, bringing the total number of products on offer to around 500, according to a report by the news agency AFP. This move is part of an initiative known as "An Accord for a Healthier World" which was announced in Davos last year.

"The Accord portfolio offering now includes both patented and off-patent medicines and vaccines that treat or prevent many of the greatest infectious and non-communicable disease threats faced today in lower-income countries," Pfizer said on Tuesday.

'How many boosters would it take for you to be happy with your earnings?' he joked.

Albert Bourla is a Greek-American veterinarian and has been the CEO of Pfizer since 2019 having worked for the company since 1993. He received $21 million in compensation from Pfizer in 2020 and regularly features on CNBC and in The New York Times.

Late last year a video clip began to circulate on social media in which a Pfizer executive was said to have 'admitted' that the company did not test whether their mRNA vaccine reduced transmission before rolling it out.

A fact-check was carried out by the Associated Press, which established that the video was misleading and lacked context but aspects remained true.

'Pfizer did not know whether its COVID-19 vaccine prevented transmission of the virus before it entered the market in December 2020. But Pfizer never claimed to have studied the issue before the vaccine's market release,' it wrote.

In a write-up of his encounter with Bourla, Levant appeared to relish in it.

'It was the moment we were waiting for: one of the most hated men in the world going for a leisurely stroll because he assumed he was amongst friends,' he said.

'Well, he didn't count on Rebel News and our accountability style of citizen journalism.'

Pfizer was an early winner during the pandemic when it became the first company to get a COVID-19 vaccine approved for the US market. Subsequent vaccine mandates for healthcare workers and the military further drove up its sales. The company was projected in November to make more than $100 billion in total revenue last year with the vaccine and its antiviral Paxlovid - more than double the its yearly revenue in 2019 ($40.9 billion) and 2020 ($41.7 billion). In the wake of those surging revenues, Albert Bourla personally earned $50million in compensation across 2021 and 2022

Live Updates - Russian engineering troops receive over 20 robotic vehicles

Russian engineering troops receive over 20 robotic vehicles — commander

Uran-6 robotic mine-clearing system
©Gavriil Grigorov/TASS

Russian defense enterprises delivered over 20 robotic vehicles to army engineers under the 2022 defense procurement plan, Chief of Russia’s Engineering Troops Lieutenant-General Yury Stavitsky said in an interview with the Defense Ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper published on Friday.

"Under the state defense procurement plan, industrial enterprises delivered over 400 types of advanced hardware, more than 50,000 sets of engineering equipment and ammunition and over 20 robotic (Uran-6 mine-clearance and Uran-14 fire-fighting) vehicles to the engineering troops in 2022," the commander said, adding that the engineering armament system included over 600 items and equipment sets arranged into 75 categories.

Uran-6 multi-purpose mine-clearance robotic vehicles are being employed in Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the general said.

"They are designed to minimize risks among personnel in accomplishing the objectives of clearing anti-personnel minefields and completely clearing the terrain of explosive items in remote mode. An operator can handle the robot using a control panel from a distance of up to 1 km," he explained.

Russian army engineers used Uran-6 robotic vehicles in demining the Syrian cities of Palmyra, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor and in accomplishing missions in Nagorno-Karabakh, Stavitsky said.

"In addition, modern Skarabei and Sfera surveillance robotic vehicles are arriving for the troops," the general added, specifying that the engineering troops were also receiving advanced engineer reconnaissance and field water supply systems, fortification structures, concealment and deception means and equipment for surmounting water obstacles.

Some 68,000 Kherson region residents evacuate to other Russian regions — governor

The evacuation of people from areas in the Kherson region, which are regularly shelled by Ukrainian troops, continues, with around 68,000 people having been evacuated to other Russian regions as of mid-January, the region’s acting governor, Vladimir Saldo, told TASS on Friday.

"It used to be a quite densely populated area, with at least 150,000 people living there. We have evacuated around 60,000. It is difficult to say how many people are still staying there, because residents began to leave before the organized evacuation started and the evacuation is still ongoing. Most probably, not more than half of the original number of residents are still there. But I can tell you the exact number of Kherson region residents who have been evacuated to other Russian regions. There were 68,000 of them as of January 15," he said.

According to Saldo, the majority of the people were evacuated to Crimea.

"Since the very beginning of the special military operation, Crimea has been offering maximal assistance and brotherly support. And not only on humanitarian matters. Hundreds of Crimeans are heroically fighting on the frontline in the Kherson region. I avail myself of the opportunity to once again congratulate our neighbors on Republic of Crimea Day. The 2014 historical referendum in Crimea served as a model for the liberated territories, which became Russia’s new regions in 2022," he said.

On November 9, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu ordered a pullback of troops from the right bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson Region to its left bank, a move suggested by the then Commander of Russia’s Integrated Group of Forces in Ukraine Sergey Surovikin, who stressed that the Russian military had successfully repulsed all Ukrainian attacks.

The decision to move the forces back, in his words, was also due to the risk of their isolation, should territories downstream from the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant be flooded. Surovikin said that all civilians who wished to leave - more than 115,000 people - had already been evacuated from the right bank.

Ukraine occasionally tries to land troops on Kinburn Spit — Kherson authorities

The Ukrainian Armed Forces occasionally try to land troops on the Kinburn Spit in the Nikolayev Region, the Kherson Region’s Acting Governor Vladimir Saldo told TASS on Friday.

"From time to time, the enemy has tried to land small forces on the Kinburn Spit, deploying them from the Ochakov area on speedboats. Our troops repelled all these attempts and landing forces were either fully eliminated or retreated after losing many of their troops and watercraft," he pointed out.

Saldo said earlier that the Kinburn Spit, located on the left bank of the Dnieper River, was fully controlled by the Russian Armed Forces. A Russian security source, in turn, explained that the liberation of the area had opened the water way to the city of Ochakov.

Special operation, January 19th. The main thing:

The loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the start of a nuclear one, said Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Medvedev before discussing arms supplies to Ukraine;

A Wagner fighter showed RIA Novosti in Artyomovsk in the DPR a place where militants of the infamous Georgian Legion, other foreign mercenaries, including a Swede, as well as Azov militants (a terrorist organization banned in Russia), were eliminated, while their dead mercenaries and "Azov" did not clean

Moscow and Minsk have a common position on the goals of the special operation, Lavrov said during a visit to Belarus;

Macron said that France is in favor of maintaining a dialogue with the Russian Federation and lamented that he had not spoken with Putin for a long time;

The United States does not yet see the point of transferring Abrams tanks to Ukraine due to the difficulties of their maintenance, the Pentagon said;

The Viking group and attack aircraft of the 1st OBSPN took Ukrainian positions in the DPR, having covered them with fire from the MLRS before that.

RIA Novosti correspondent accompanied the artillery crew.

Russia will destroy any weapons that will be delivered to Ukraine, and will not leave unanswered strikes on its territory, said Russian Ambassador to the United States Antonov;

Prigozhin announced the establishment of control of the Russian Federation over the suburb of Artemovsk - Kleshcheevka;

The Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was protected from the risk of destruction due to Ukrainian shelling, there is no threat of a dam breakthrough, said the acting governor of the Kherson region, Saldo;

In the Kupyansky and Krasnolimansky directions, Kyiv lost 90 people killed and wounded in a day, the Russian Defense Ministry reported;

Libur panjang, Pemerintah targetkan 101 juta perjalanan turis domestik

Pemerintah menargetkan sebanyak 101 juta pergerakan wisatawan nusantara sepanjang Januari 2023, seiring dengan adanya periode libur perayaan Imlek pada 21-23 Januari.

Deputi Menteri Pariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif Bidang Pemasaran Ni Made Ayu Marthini kepada ANTARA di Jakarta, Jumat, memastikan pihaknya sudah menyiapkan beragam kegiatan untuk menggairahkan minat wisatawan nusantara terhadap perayaan Tahun Baru China tersebut.

"Bulan Januari ini strategi kami berfokus pada kegiatan menarik seperti Lunar Festival, pameran makanan khas Imlek, festival barongsai, dan lainnya. Puncaknya adalah perayaan Cap Go Meh di Kota Singkawang, Kalimantan Barat. Nanti di situ juga ada KEN (Kharisma Event Nusantara)," katanya.

Ni Made Ayu menambahkan pihaknya telah menyiapkan sejumlah strategi berbeda setiap bulan guna mencapai target pergerakan wisatawan nusantara hingga penghujung tahun mendatang. Kontinuitas tema program dengan berbagai event ini diharapkan mampu mendorong pergerakan dan belanja wisata.

"Bila pada Januari kami fokus ke festival barongsai, misalnya, maka nanti di Februari ada Bulan Bumi Pertiwi yang mengedepankan wisata petualangan geopark, camping, dan lainnya. Lalu pada Maret, tema yang diusung adalah Bulan Film dengan menampilkan marathon film-film Indonesia dan wisata lokasi film," katanya.

Sebelumnya, Kementerian Koordinator Bidang Kemaritiman dan Investasi, Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional dan Kemenparekraf telah menetapkan target nasional sebesar 1,2 hingga 1,4 miliar pergerakan wisatawan nusantara pada 2023.

Kemenparekraf sendiri mengusung kampanye "Berwisata di Indonesia saja" untuk mendukung pencapaian target tersebut.

Pemerintah resmi mengumumkan tanggal libur dan cuti bersama seiring perayaan tahun baru Imlek. Tahun baru Imlek 2023 ditetapkan jatuh pada 22 Januari 2023. Berdasarkan perhitungan kalender China, tahun 2023 merupakan Tahun Kelinci Air.

US policy of strategic defeat for Russia pushes world to disaster — Russian ambassador

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov
©Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

The US administration’s policy to ensure the strategic defeat of Russia is leading the world to a catastrophe, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said on Friday.

When asked to comment on media reports that Russia was using dangerous and reckless rhetoric in the nuclear sphere, the diplomat said no one in the country’s political or military leadership "has ever spoken in such a way."

"The only thing we do is to constantly warn Washington that its policy of ensuring strategic defeat for our country on the battlefield is rapidly leading the world to a catastrophic scenario," the embassy’s press service quoted Antonov as saying.

The United States and its allies have unleashed an all-out hybrid warfare against Russia on the Russian territory, Antonov said.

When asked to comment on media reports that Russia was using dangerous and reckless rhetoric in the nuclear sphere, the diplomat denied those claims and said: "The Americans and their allies have unleashed an all-out hybrid war against Russia on our own territory."

"At the same time they are profiting from their NATO partners by forcing them to finance the renaissance of the United States’ military industrial complex. The US defense industry did not see this kind of money even during the Cold War," the Russian embassy’s press service quoted Antonov as saying.

US financial system discredited by plans to give Russian assets to Ukraine — embassy

Plans to hand over some of confiscated Russian assets to Ukraine are discrediting the US financial system, the Russian Embassy in the United States said in a statement on Friday.

"We noted new statements by US Administration on the intention to transfer a part of Russian entrepreneurs’ confiscated assets to Ukraine," Russian diplomats said. "There is not only an obvious disregard of generally accepted legal norms, but also a breach of fundamental American values which erroneously seemed unshakable. First of all those related to the protection of private property rights."

"Such dangerous precedents only serve to discredit the United States as a ‘bastion’ of free enterprise. Washington, with its own hands, is undermining confidence in both American and international financial system, as well as security of the dollar jurisdiction," reads the statement, posted on the embassy’s official Telegram channel.

The declared intentions of the US government de-facto confirm that the White House "does not hesitate to put pressure on local courts to serve its own narrow interests," in this case - "for the sake of the declared ‘fight against the Russian threat’ and support for the Kiev regime."

Director of the Task Force KleptoCapture of the Department of Justice Andrew Adams said on Thursday US authorities intended to begin the transfer of forfeited Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine in the near future.

In late 2022, US President Joe Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023, including an initiative empowering the Justice Department to direct forfeited funds to the State Department for the purpose of providing aid to Ukraine, the official noted.

Because of untimely aid, only one third of injured Ukrainian soldiers survive — expert

In his opinion, Washington remains completely deaf to Moscow’s signals.

"I would like to ask the American public a long overdue question: what else should Russia say or do to make the hotheads in the Administration come to their senses and avert the nuclear Armageddon that the White House publicly is so keen to prevent?" he said.

Two out of three soldiers injured in the zone of the special military operation succumb to their injuries in Ukrainian hospitals because they did not receive medical assistance in time, a Lugansk military expert told TASS on Friday.

"According to intercepted information, coming from Ukrainian military doctors, only one out of three injured servicemen survives. Approximately 25% of all survivors are disabled [for life]," said Andrey Marochko, a military expert and a retired officer of the Lugansk People’s Republic’s (LPR) People’s Militia.

He said that between January 16 and 20, around 1,500 injured servicemen were admitted to Ukrainian hospitals from the operative zone of the Second Army Corps of the Russian Armed Forces.

"The majority of patients died as a result of untimely medical aid, blood loss, unhygienic conditions, disrupted logistics and other negative factors," he added.

Report: CIA Chief Secretly Visited Ukraine Last Week to Brief Zelensky on Russian Military Plans

William Burns © Ben Hider / Getty Images for Concordia Summit

CIA Director William Burns reportedly held a secret meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev last week to brief him on US intelligence that possibly forecasts Russia's next plans in its special military operation.

Citing US officials and other people familiar with the matter, the Washington Post reported late Thursday that Burns briefed Zelensky on what the United States believes are Russia's next military moves in Ukraine in the coming weeks and months.

Zelensky is reportedly primarily concerned about how long the United States is expected to provide military assistance to Ukraine after Republicans, who have been critical about continuing providing such aid, took over the House of Representatives after the November midterm elections.

Also of concern to the Ukrainian leader was the decreasing support among the US public for continued military aid. In fact, a December 2022 poll found that support among Republican-identifying Americans remain divided over whether the Biden White House should continue aid.

Burns warned Zelensky it is possible US military assistance may be difficult to acquire at some point in the future, underscoring that the next few weeks and months on the battlefield will be critical, the report said.

Sources familiar with the meeting relayed to the outlet that Zelensky and his aides felt as though the support of the Biden administration remained intact, and that already approved military aid would last through August at the latest.

The CIA allegedly declined to disclose details of Burns' meeting with Zelensky last week.

Earlier on Thursday, the United States announced a new military assistance package for Ukraine with $2.5 billion worth of weapons and ammunition. The package includes munitions for NASAMS air defense systems and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). The package also includes dozens of Bradley and Stryker armored combat vehicles and eight Avengers air defense systems.

On Wednesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda said during remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos said Russia may launch a new offensive in the coming weeks or months, underscoring that this period will be crucial in determining whether Ukraine will survive the conflict. Duda said the current military assistance sent to Ukraine is not enough, adding that more advanced tanks and missiles must also be provided.

During a secret meeting in Kyiv with CIA Director William Burns earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was especially focused on the prospect of future US assistance in the ongoing war effort and whether or not Republican lawmakers in the House will continue to provide spending, according to The Washington Post.

Anonymous sources told the outlet that Burns traveled to the Ukrainian capital at the end of last week to meet with Zelenskyy and discuss the agency's forecast of Russia's imminent military plans. The visit comes nearly one year after Russia launched an unprovoked war in Ukraine in February 2022.

Burns' trip coincides with mounting casualties on both sides as a Russian assault in the east has forced Ukraine to respond while it simultaneously tried to conserve weapons and bodies for a future counteroffensive. 

During the Kyiv meeting last week, Zelenskyy and his senior intelligence officials were most concerned about ongoing US aid, sources told The Post, asking Burns how long Ukraine could expect the assistance to continue in the aftermath of Republicans taking control of the House and diminishing support for the war among the US electorate.

Burns reportedly responded by acknowledging that additional aid will likely become harder to obtain in the future, according to the newspaper, while still emphasizing the weight of the current fight on the battlefield

Neither the CIA nor the State Department immediately responded to Insider's request for comment.

Despite the uncertain nature of ongoing assistance, Zelenskyy left his meeting with Burns assured that the Biden administration remains supportive of Ukraine's plight, The Post reported, citing people familiar with the gathering.

The $45 billion aid package that Congress approved for Ukraine in December is expected to last through July or August, Zelenskyy said, according to the outlet, but questions remain around whether Congress would consider passing another such package.

Many Republican lawmakers have rallied for less spending toward the foreign war, and the party took control of the House of Representatives earlier this month.

Macron: US Inflation Reduction Act Threatens EU With Deindustrialization

©LUDOVIC MARIN

The US Inflation Reduction Act, which provides massive subsidies to US businesses, threatens Europe with deindustrialization, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.

"Europe is going through a difficult period because of the war (in Ukraine) and also because of the trade decisions made by our colleagues in the United States," Macron said at a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Barcelona, broadcast by the Elysee on Twitter.

EN DIRECT | Conférence de presse conjointe du Président @EmmanuelMacron et du Président du Gouvernement d’Espagne Pedro Sánchez. https://t.co/k7FR5z2pZ7

— Élysée (@Elysee) January 19, 2023

"If Europe does not respond, accelerating the 'greening' of the US economy will mean the deindustrialization of Europe." The two leaders agreed that Europe should take a "voluntaristic" approach to this issue.

In December 2022, Macron said the US and France agreed to re-synchronize their approaches to address serious trade concerns European partners have expressed over the IRA. He called the US law "unfriendly" and "aggressive," saying Europe needed to speed up work on own business support initiatives. Macron suggested that Europe might come up with an appropriate response to the IRA by early 2023.

The IRA, signed into law by US President Joe Biden in August 2022, unlocks $369 billion in tax credits and subsidies for US consumers and companies making green tech products in the country starting January 2023. Several EU companies reportedly said they would invest in the US rather than the EU, with rising energy prices at home being a crucial factor.

Concerns have been rising in Europe that the US tax credit plan could kick off a subsidy race between the transatlantic allies at a time when they want to show unity in the face of the Ukraine conflict.

Europe is struggling to find ways to defend itself against US protectionism

On December,5, 2022, The French media LeMonde ran the article 'Europe is struggling to find ways to defend itself against US protectionism'. The US' Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to curb inflation by reducing the deficit and investing in domestic, clean energy production, is causing great concern in Europe. As a result, the European Commission is seeking ways to fight back.

Although they haven’t yet started hemorrhaging, they may do so in the future. Every day, European manufacturers announce that they are investing in the United States, or that they are considering it. German car manufacturers Volkswagen and BMW recently announced plans to expand their production capacities in the US, and Northvolt may finally open its battery Gigafactory stateside, despite plans to set up in Germany.

Solvay, a chemical company in Belgium, has decided to take part in a major battery project across the Atlantic; currently, French company Saint-Gobain has plans to expand its operations in California; and Iberdrola, the Spanish energy company, plans to invest nearly half of its investment funds in the US over the next few years.

With energy prices, which are three to four times higher in Europe, and President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – a $369 billion package designed to boost America's green industry with tax credits and subsidies earmarked for "Made in America" products – the US is more attractive than ever.

Mahasiswa Jepang kenalkan produk Indonesia dari batik hingga kopi

Mahasiswa Fakultas Bisnis dan Administrasi Yamanashi Gakuin University (YGU) kunjungi KBRi Tokyo dalam program pengenalan produk Indonesia. (KBRI Tokyo)

Sebanyak 19 mahasiswa Fakultas Bisnis dan Administrasi Yamanashi Gakuin University (YGU) memperkenalkan produk-produk Indonesia kepada masyarakat Jepang, mulai dari batik hingga kopi Indonesia.

Salah satu mahasiswa Sudo Shinya di Tokyo, Kamis, mengaku senang dapat mengetahui dan mengenalkan produk bumbu-bumbu masakan Indonesia yang kemudian ia olah ke dalam masakan Jepang.

“Saya dan teman-teman di kelompok kami mencoba membuat makanan siap saji khas Jepang seperti nasi goreng ginger rose ebi dan amarayaki, dengan menggunakan bumbu-bumbu dari Indonesia. Dari 20 produk masakan yang kami buat habis terjual,” kata dia.

Sementara itu, Suzuki Hitoha memperkenalkan ragam jenis kopi Indonesia kepada masyarakat Jepang.

“Kopi Indonesia sangat enak. Aroma dan rasa yang berbeda menjadi ciri khas yang sangat disukai orang Jepang. Selain menjual kami juga membuat semacam workshop kopi Indonesia agar orang Jepang semakin mengenal kopi Indonesia,” katanya.

Para peserta mata kuliah “Introduction to Seminar I & II” dengan tema Indonesia itu dan tujuh peserta dari berbagai kampus di Indonesia yang tergabung dalam program pertukaran pelajar mempresentasikan usaha mereka memperkenalkan produk Indonesia kepada masyarakat Jepang mulai dari batik, bumbu masakan instan, nasi goreng, makanan ringan dan kopi.

Mereka menjual produk tersebut kepada masyarakat Jepang dalam satu festival di YGU dan juga di pusat perbelanjaan di luar kampus. Setiap kelompok didampingi oleh para mahasiswa dari Indonesia.

Dalam kesempatan tersebut, Dosen Yamanashi Gakuin University Higashi Hidetada menjelaskan kegiatan ini merupakan kolaborasi dengan mahasiswa Indonesia yang mengikuti “YGU Short Program”.

Sementara itu, Wakil Duta Besar John Tjahjanto mengapresiasi upaya YGU dalam mendorong para mahasiswanya untuk belajar tentang Indonesia.

“Apresiasi saya untuk Bapak Higashi Hidetada dan Ibu Saito Masumi yang telah menyelenggarakan mata kuliah dengan tema utama terkait Indonesia. Rekan-rekan mahasiswa YGU ini tengah belajar soal Indonesia, khususnya terkait dengan produk Indonesia di Jepang. Saya kira ini sangat menarik untuk disimak. Selamat kepada para peserta,” ujarnya.

Dia menambahkan 2023 akan menjadi tahun yang penting bagi Indonesia dan Jepang sebab kedua negara akan merayakan 65 tahun hubungan bilateral.

Untuk merayakannya, lanjut dia, KBRI Tokyo juga akan menyelenggarakan "Indonesia –Japan Friendship Day 2023" di sejumlah kota di Jepang.

“Saya kira, acara kita hari ini bisa menjadi salah satu bentuk perayaan kita di ulang tahun hubungan kedua bangsa,” kata dia.