Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur has lauded the contribution of Japanese volunteerism to the local development of Ghana. He made the remark when he met a team of volunteers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at the Flagstaff House on Friday. The team of volunteers, led by Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Naoto Nikai, is in the country to provide rural community service in the educational sector. The Japan International Cooperation Agency' (JICA) volunteer programme was established to support Japanese citizens from various backgrounds who wish to assist in the economic and social development of developing countries. In Ghana, the program has dispatched some 1,180 volunteers into various parts of the country since its formation 37 years ago. The Vice President also said Ghana remains grateful to the volunteers for their contribution to the overall development of Ghana especially in the areas of education, health and youth development. These sectors, the Vice President, remarked are very critical areas which government commits a lot of its attention. Mr. Amissah-Arthur used the occasion to urge the volunteers to use their stay here to strengthen the good relations between Ghana and Japan. He urged the volunteers to use Ghana's peaceful dispensation and hospitable population to make their work effective. The Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Naoto Nikai, was grateful to the Ghana government for opening its doors to the Japanese volunteers who he said continues to have a worthy experience from the Ghanaian people.