Japan-Maldives Foreign Ministers' Meeting and Working Lunch Hosted by Mr. Joe Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs
January 18, 2012
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On Wednesday, January 18, Mr. Koichiro Gemba, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a meeting with the Hon. Mr. Ahmed Naseem, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives, followed by a luncheon at Iikura Guest House hosted by Mr. Joe Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs. An outline of the meeting and the luncheon is as follows:
- Japan-Maldives Foreign Ministers' Meeting
(1) At the beginning, Minister Gemba expressed gratitude for the support from the Maldives in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, including a call by President H. E. Mohamed Nasheed for donations from the people of the Maldives, as well as providing approximately 700,000 cans of tuna, a figure that is more than twice the population of the Maldives, in addition to the donations by the Government.
In response to this, Minister Naseem stated that the support was extended voluntarily by the people of the Maldives, who have a very favorable feeling toward Japan. He also stated that the Maldives was able to graduate from least developed country (LDC) status owing to Japan's support for its development over a long period of time.
Furthermore, Minister Naseem stated that President Nasheed intended to invite 25 to 30 children together with their families to the Maldives from the affected areas. ,. Minister Gemba responded that children would surely be pleased by the invitation and expressed his gratitude for this most generous offer. He added that he had learned about President Nasheed's desire to visit Japan and would therefore like to coordinate the timing of the President's visit.
(2)Minister Gemba praised the consolidation of democracy and the progress of economic reform in the Maldives, and noted that, despite the disadvantages of graduating from LDC status in terms of tariffs, imports of bonito and tuna from the country to Japan were increasing, including through the efforts of Ambassador Ahmed Khaleel in Japan. Minister Gemba also stated that Japan would continue its support to the Maldives to the extent possible such as through the dispatch of survey missions in the agricultural and fishery fields, and expressed his intention to further improve the bilateral relations.
Minister Gemba referred to the test broadcasts being conducted by the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation using the Japanese system of terrestrial digital broadcasting, as well as cooperation by Japanese enterprises in such fields as water supply, sewerage and photovoltaic power generation. He expressed his expectations that the Maldives would make further use of Japan's superior technologies for economic development and disaster prevention.
(3)In response to this, Minister Naseem stated that he considered the increase in bilateral trade to be a welcome trend and that he hoped to further strengthen cooperation with Japanese companies as the Maldives graduated from being an LDC. He noted that as Japanese technologies excelled especially greatly in terms of disaster prevention, he wanted to make further use of them, including for communications. He also hoped to explore the possibility of an FTA between the two countries in the future.
In response, Minister Gemba indicated the importance of enhancing substantive economic ties, and stated that he wanted to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral economic relations at the working level.
Minister Naseem expressed appreciation for the dispatch of the Japanese missions and stated his hopes for support from Japan in agriculture and fishing to which his country attaches great importance.
(4)Minister Gemba appreciated the cooperation by the Maldives on the use of Male Airport by Self-Defense Force (SDF) aircraft providing supplies to its anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia. Minister Naseem stated that pirates had been appearing frequently near the Maldives recently, and that he wanted to work with Japan to address the issue.
(5)Minister Gemba expressed further gratitude for the cooperation of the Maldives in the international arena, in areas such as U.N. Security Council reform and UN resolutions on the situation of human rights in North Korea. Minister Naseem responded that cooperation with Japan in the international arena was based on the will of the people of the Maldives, and with regard to the issue of U.N. Security Council reforms, he stated that the Maldives would continue its full support for Japan's position. - Luncheon hosted by Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Joe Nakano
At the luncheon hosted by Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Joe Nakano following the Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Nakano and Foreign Minister Naseem exchanged their views on wide-ranging areas in a friendly atmosphere, touching upon the formers' visit to the Maldives in November 2011 to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit. They discussed a wide range of topics including the strengthening of cooperation between Japan and SAARC, the strengthening and expanding of exchanges between Japan and the Maldives in tourism and other areas, regional issues, cooperation in the international arena in areas such as climate change, and bilateral cooperation.
- (*This is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)
(END)
Related Information (Visit to Japan by Hon. Mr. Ahmed Naseem, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives)
Related Information (Japan-Maldives Relations)
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