Four Japanese girls, who helped make a success of the Ivory Coast pavilion at the Expo 70 exhibition in Japan last summer, have been visiting Abidjan at the invitation of the Ivory Coast government. On Thursday (Dec 10), they met the President of the National Assembly, Mr Philippe Yace.

The four girls -- Fumiko, Akemi, Mikuko and Chizuko -- are all in their twenties. The Ivory Coast government invited them to make a fifteen-day visit in gratitude for their help during Expo 70.

While visiting Mr Yace, the girls delivered a message to him. It congratulated Mr Yace on the speech he delivered at Expo 70, which was chosen by Japanese television companies as the best message sent to humanity during the exposition. The theme of the speech was "Human Progress in Harmony."