ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: In order to promote creativity among the talented students of Pakistan, art and speech competitions about Japan were organised at the National Art Gallery (NAG) on Thursday.

The Japan Embassy in collaboration with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) arranged the competitions which were participated by different schools of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The Japan Embassy has been organising these events in various cities of Pakistan since 1995.

Two students from each school of 12 to 14 years age group drew pictures in the art competition on the theme of their own choice relating to Japan and Pakistan.

The competitions were held with an aim to promote self-esteem, self-discipline and self-motivation among the students and to develop aesthetic sense among them.

Director Visual Art and Curator National Art Gallery (NAG) Mussarrat Nahid Imam, Fauzia Minallah, renowned artist, writer and publisher of book on Sadako along with a representative of the Embassy of Japan made up the panel for the art competition.

Similarly, one student from each school competed in the speech competition in Urdu with a topic relating to Japan.

This competition provided an opportunity for the talented students to focus on growing cordial relations between Japan and Pakistan.

The art and speech competition has been very popular among the school children for the past several years mainly because of the interesting topics and freedom for the children to express themselves. The students participating in the competition were also given souvenirs, participation certificates and many attractive gifts.

On the recommendations of the judges, the first prize of the children's art competition went to Maheen Shahid from the City School, Islamabad, second prize to M Hamza Ayaz from Beaconhouse, Margalla Campus, Islamabad, and the third prize to Dilawaiz Sultan from St Mary's Cambridge School, Rawalpindi.

In the speech competition, Summiya Najam from Bahria College, Islamabad got first prize, Abdullah Amir from Joint Staff School & College, Rawalpindi bagged second prize and the third prize winner was Tayyaba Aslam from Springfield Public School, Rawalpindi.

The Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan Hiroshi Oe, Mrs Midori Oe, Syed Ijlal Haider Zaidi, President Pakistan-Japan Cultural Association (PJCA) and Hassan Abbas Raza, Acting Director General PNCA, awarded certificates and souvenirs to the position holders of the art and speech competition.