Courtesy call on Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, by Mr. Roland Koch, Minister President of the State of Hessen, Germany

March 10, 2010
Japanese

Mr. Roland Koch, Minister President of the State of Hessen, Germany, paid a courtesy call on Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on March 10, during his visit to Japan. An overview of the meeting is as follows.

Minister Okada stated that there are a variety of fields in which Japan and Germany could cooperate including the economy, climate change, nuclear disarmament, and non-proliferation. Minister President Koch responded by saying that even though Japan and Germany were geographically separated, they still shared a number of things in common. He also said that Hessen had a variety of events planned for the 150th anniversary of Japan-Germany Relations which will take place in 2011 and that he hoped to strengthen the cooperative relations between the two countries even further.
In response to a question from Minister President Koch, Minister Okada expressed his opinion that Japan considered China to be a neighboring country with which interdependent relationships were furthering, and that it was important to continue deepening such relations.
Minister Okada also stated that advancing the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was important with respect to furthering cooperation between Japanese and German industries, and that he would like Minister President Koch’s support. Minister President Koch responded by saying that such a viewpoint was also important from the viewpoint of the current status of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. The Minister President also stated that he was aware that Dr. Guido Westerwelle, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, who recently visited Japan, had proposed the commencement of joint study for strengthening economic relations, and that he would personally support this concept.

(END)

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