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Japan-Latvia Summit Meeting (Outline)

January 22, 2009

  On January 22 (Thu), for about 50 minutes from 18:15, Prime Minister Aso had a meeting with Mr. Ivars Godmanis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, at the Prime Minister’s Office.  The outline of the meeting was as follows:

1.   At the beginning, Mr. Aso welcomed Mr. Godmanis’ visit to Japan and the steady promotion of the bilateral relationship between Japan and Latvia through VIP visits including the visit of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan to Latvia in 2007.  He also showed his expectation that the bilateral relationship would be further strengthened by the dispatch of Mr. Takashi Osanai, Japanese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, to Latvia.
     In response, Mr. Godmanis said that it was a pleasure to see Mr. Aso following the ASEM Summit Meeting held in Beijing last year.  He also said he had had a satisfying time since his arrival in Japan the day before.
    
2.   On economic relations between Japan and Latvia, Mr. Godmanis wished to promote them further in the future and cooperate in the areas of timber, medical products, distribution flow and dairy products.  
     Mr. Aso evaluated Latvia’s active efforts towards the expansion of trade and the promotion of investment.  As the trade between the two countries was increasing, he also expected their economic relations would further develop.
    
3.   On financial and economic matters, Mr. Godmanis mentioned that Latvia was now in severe economic conditions, and wished to gain some insight about Japan’s experiences after the mid-1990s.
     Sharing Japan’s past and present efforts and pointing out the necessity of expanding domestic demand and increasing public spending, Mr. Aso said that Japan would continue to contribute actively to the stability of its own and global economy.
    
4.   On the promotion of tourism to Latvia, Mr. Godmanis introduced a plan to place charter flights from Japan into service this summer.  Mr. Aso expressed his appreciation for the plan, and commented that numbers of Japanese tourists are increasing thanks to the current appreciation of the yen.

Related Information (Japan-Latvia Relations)