Japan-Costa Rica Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

September 15, 2010
Japanese

Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, held a meeting with Mr. Rene Castro, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Costa Rica, who is visiting Japan, on September 15 (Wed.) for about 50 minutes from 11:00 a.m. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

At the start of the meeting, Minister Okada welcomed Minister Castro, who is the first Cabinet member of the new administration of President Laura Chinchilla Miranda to visit Japan, saying that he is greatly encouraged by the new administration’s eagerness to promote relations with Japan as part of its foreign policy for Asia. Minister Castro said in response that he was happy to visit Japan first among the Asian countries, as Japan and Costa Rica have long enjoyed friendly relations and as Japan is an important partner in the field of climate change.
On climate change, the two leaders agreed to cooperate toward the success of the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Mexico. Minister Okada pointed out the importance of building a fair and effective international framework featuring major emitters including the United States and China, and noted the necessity of producing a definite outcome at COP16. In response, Minister Castro explained about his country’s proactive efforts taken to address climate change, and stressed the necessity of giving due attention to small island and vulnerable states.
In addition to the above, Minister Okada noted the importance of UN Security Council reform. The two leaders concurred on continuing discussion on this and climate change. They also exchanged views on such topics as biodiversity, science and technology.

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