Dinner Hosted by H.E. Mr. Koichiro Gemba, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, for H.E. Mr. Houshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq

May 29, 2012
Japanese

On Tuesday, May 29 from around 7 p.m. for about 1 hour and a half, H.E. Mr. Koichiro Gemba, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, hosted a dinner meeting for H.E. Mr. Houshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq, who is currently visiting Japan upon an invitation by the Minster for Foreign Affairs. The dinner took place at the Iikura Guest House following the First Japan-Iraq Joint Economic Committee Meeting. The overview is as follows:

Foreign Minister Gemba stated that Iraq is a key to peace and stability in the Middle East, and that Japan would like to hold high-level political dialogues with Iraq. He also commented that Japan is interested in strengthening exchanges and cooperation with Iraq in various fields, particularly in the areas of education and culture. Furthermore, Foreign Minister Gemba mentioned that he expects that Iraq will peacefully overcome challenges that Iraq faces through a democratic process of dialogues between the major political forces in Iraq.
Foreign Minister Zebari stated that Iraq would like to engage in political dialogues with Japan, and with regard to exchanges in the field of education, he mentioned that Iraq plans to dispatch 10,000 foreign exchange students. He added that Iraq has already built cooperative relationships with relevant Japanese institutions, and intends to continue to strengthen such relationships. Foreign Minister Zebari commented that with regard to the domestic political situation in Iraq, democratization has not yet reached the level of democratic nations such as Japan, but Iraq will make efforts to achieve stability.
The Foreign Ministers exchanged candid opinions regarding regional including Iran, and Syria, among others. Foreign Minister Gemba praised Iraq for having held a meeting between Iran and the EU3+3 in Baghdad concerning Iran's nuclear issues on Wednesday May 23.

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

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