Japan-Colombia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

September 13, 2011
Japanese

On Tuesday, September 13, Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba held a Japan-Colombia foreign ministers’ meeting with H.E. Ms. María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Colombia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Furthermore, in advance of the meeting, the two foreign ministers took part in the signing ceremony for the Project for the Improvement of Program Production Equipment of Community and Indigenous Radio Stations, an aid project funded by Japanese Cultural Grant Assistance.
The overview of the meeting is as follows.
(1) At the start, Foreign Minister Gemba said that he hoped the cultural grant agreement signed between the two countries would be of help in improving disaster prevention and supporting multicultural coexistence in the concerned regions. Foreign Minister Gemba also mentioned that Foreign Minister Holguín was the first visiting Foreign Minister since taking up his present post. Following this, he expressed his gratitude for the sympathy and support that Japan had received from the Government and people of Colombia in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake. In reply to this, Foreign Minister Holguín expressed her gratitude for the signing of the cultural grant agreement, which she said would be very beneficial for communities in border areas, adding that the signing of an investment agreement on September 12 represented the first step in building a new relationship between Japan and Colombia, and also mentioning Colombian President Santos’s attitude of placing emphasis on ties with Japan. In addition, Foreign Minister Holguín expressed her admiration of the Japanese people for the efforts they are making to recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

(2) Foreign Minister Holguín explained about Colombia’s free trade policy and its Asia-oriented policy, and also said that she wished to move forward as quickly as possible with the joint research for the bilateral economic partnership agreement (EPA) as agreed between Prime Minister Noda and President Santos on September 12, to which Foreign Minister Gemba concurred.

(3) Foreign Minister Gemba said that he expected Colombia to play an active role as a country that could act as a bridge between the industrialized and the developing nations. Both foreign ministers agreed that the two countries would cooperate closely for the success of COP 17, which is scheduled to be held in South Africa. Moreover, they agreed to continue with their dialogue on the issue of United Nations Security Council reform.

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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