Japan-Singapore Foreign Ministerial Talks

October 27, 2007

On October 27 (Sat), Mr. Masahiko Koumura, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Brig. Gen. George Yong-Boon Yeo, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore, during his visit to Japan, held talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 16:00 in the afternoon. The gist of their talks was as follows:

At the meeting, Minister Yeo said that he met with Mr. Yang Jiechi, Foreign Minister of China, on October 26 (Fri) and they confirmed that Singapore and China would cooperate closely with each other to make progress on the Myanmar issue toward the East Asia Summit (EAS), which will be held in Singapore this November. Minister Koumura stated he had exchanged views on the Myanmar issue on October 26 (Fri) with Dr. Ibrahim Gambari, Special Advisor to U.N. Secretary-General, who was also visiting Japan, and told him that the Government of Japan would provide full support for his good offices efforts.
Minister Yeo said that to make progress on the Myanmar issue, it was necessary to promote national reconciliation through dialogue between the parties concerned, as well as to provide support for Dr. Gambari, and that it was important for ASEAN members, Japan, China, India and other countries concerned to be united and cooperate with each other. Minister Yeo has also said that he exchanged views on the issue with China yesterday and plans to visit India shortly. He asked Japan to provide support in making progress on the Myanmar issue.
In response to Minister Yeo’s statement, Minister Koumura said that he placed high hopes on Singapore as the chair of the EAS as well as on Minister Yeo, and that the Government of Japan would provide full-scale support for Minister Yeo’s efforts. The two foreign ministers confirmed that the two countries would cooperate closely with each other.
Regarding the EAS, Minister Koumura said the Government of Japan wished to cooperate with Singapore, the EAS’ chair, to make a success of the EAS, proceed with concrete cooperation in the field of climate change, and issue an appropriate statement on the issue of North Korea. Minister Yeo said that climate change and regional integration were important issues, and that he hoped the North Korea issue would make progress.

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