Top > Announcement > Press Conference by Foreign Minister > January 17, 2012

(* This is a provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only. The original text is in Japanese.)

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 11:26 a.m.
Place: In front of Minister’s Reception Room

Main topics:

  1. Opening Remarks
    • (1) Cabinet oral approvalof appointing Akihiko Tanaka as the next president of JICA
    • (2) Expressing Japan’s interest in participating in the TPP negotiations
  2. Q&A: (To be posted shortly.)

1. Opening Remarks

(1) Cabinet oral approvalof appointing Akihiko Tanaka as the next president of JICA

Minister Gemba: At today’s Cabinet Meeting, the appointment of Mr. Akihiko Tanaka, Vice President of Tokyo University, as the next President of JICA has been approved.
Mr. Tanaka, as you all well know, is a prominent scholar in international politics who is highly acclaimed in the world as well as in Japan. His works and activities encompass a wide ranging fields including diplomacy, security, politics and economics, and he has been involved in making various proposals to the government.
I think he is highly qualified to assume the post of the next President of JICA. His inauguration as President is scheduled for April 1, and I hope that he will perform well as the head of the implementing agency of Japan’s ODA.

(2) Expressing Japan’s interest in participating in the TPP negotiations

Minister Gemba: In response to our expression of interest in participating in the TPP negotiations, the U.S. government had invited public comments and had received about 110 comments before the deadline on Friday, January 13 local time. As such comments were submitted to the U.S. government, I would rather refrain from commenting on each one of them. I understand that organizations such as the United Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Meat Export Federation, the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Insurance Association were all supportive of our participation in TPP negotiations. On the other hand, however, it appears that the American Automotive Policy Council(AAPC) and the American Federation of Labor and
Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) made statements opposing Japan’s participation in TPP negotiations. Although the comments submitted after the deadline will also be accepted and we need to go through the details of the comments, for now I think we can say that the majority of the comments submitted support Japan’s participation in TPP. We should note, however, that such supportive comments came with the request for further improved market access in Japan. At any rate, the U.S. government will consider its policies based on these comments, and I hope that the development of such a process will contribute to promotion of the consultation with the U.S. government toward our participation in TPP negotiations.

2. Q&A: (To be posted shortly.)

- (To be posted shortly.)

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