Meeting between Mr. Masahiko Koumura, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Special Advisor to U.N. Secretary-General

March 7, 2008

On February 28, Mr. Masahiko Koumura, Minister for Foreign Affairs, held talks with Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Special Advisor to U.N. Secretary-General, for about 40 minutes starting at 11:30 a.m. The outline of their meeting was as follows.

1. Professor Gambari made the following statements:

(1) He (Professor Gambari) will be visiting Myanmar in early March as Foreign Minister Koumura had kindly prepared the ground with Foreign Minister U Nyan Win of Myanmar at the Japan-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in January this year.

(2) He has a positive attitude toward the timetable of the formulation of the constitution and the election announced by the Government of Myanmar, but further credibility and legitimacy would be needed. For that, participation by all those concerned including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would be important. It would be necessary to make dialogue between the Government of Myanmar and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi more substantive.

(3) On assistance for the National Economic Forum, he wished to exchange views with the Myanmar Government.

(4) He hoped Japan would continue to play a leading role toward the improvement of the situation in Myanmar.

2. Foreign Minister Koumura made the following statements:

(1) The Government of Japan has been extending full support for Professor Gambari’s activities and fully understood his statements.

(2) On the Myanmar issue, there are various opinions in the international community, and it is important to coordinate well in dealing with the matter. He had met Dr. Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State, the day before at the Japan-U.S. Foreign Ministerial Meeting, and they totally agreed on continuing to support Professor Gambari.

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