Press Conference by the Press Secretary 27 April, 1999

1. Japan's Contribution to the Kosovo Crisis
2. Position of the Government of Japan on the tripartite talks on East Timor
3. Statement of the Japan Investment Council
4. Official Visit of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to the United States of America
5. Legislation on the Japan-US Defense Cooperation Guidelines
6. Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) funding
7. Assistance to Kosovo
8. Aviation Agreement with the State of Israel
9. Position of the Japanese Government on comments made by newly elected Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara on the People's Republic of China
10. Recent trade issues with the United States

1. Japan's Contribution to the Kosovo Crisis

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: Good afternoon. I have several announcements to make. The first is about Japan's contribution to the Kosovo crisis. The situation in Kosovo is a cause of great concern to the international community. The international community faces the challenge of putting an end to the systematic repression and massive forced expulsion of the civilian population in Kosovo as soon as possible, and to change this region from a region of war and confusion to that of peace and prosperity.

   There are a number of efforts being made towards an early political solution to the Kosovo crisis centering around United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and others. Japan strongly hopes that the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will accept the international community's demands as reflected by the Secretary-General's statement. There is the acute need to help the great number of refugees and to alleviate the burden on the part of the neighboring countries to Kosovo which have accepted these refugees. With a view to exploring the ways in which Japan can contribute to the alleviation of this crisis, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a survey mission to Albania and Macedonia recently. On the basis of their findings, we have decided to provide assistance worth approximately US$ 200 million which falls into four categories. The first is refugee assistance. As you know, we have already extended US$ 15 million of refugees assistance to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international organizations concerned. We have decided to add US$ 25 million to this which would mean that our refugee assistance will total US$ 40 million. This will be provided to the UNHCR, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and a number of other international organizations. Also, as a part of the refugee assistance, we have sent 1,000 tents. In addition to this, we have decided to provide 10,000 blankets and 5,000 sleeping mats to the UNHCR. In monetary terms, the 1,000 tents, including the cost of air freight, amounted to about US$1 million and these blankets and sleeping mats, including the transport cost, will also amount to US$ 1 million. In terms of material assistance, it will come in total to about US$ 2 million. The second category is the assistance to the neighboring countries which have been accepting a large number of refugees. Our survey mission found that the situation is very acute in the sense of the burden imposed on those countries. In view of this, we have decided to provide US$ 30 million worth of grant aid to Macedonia and Albania, which would be broken down roughly to about US$ 20 million to Macedonia and US$ 10 million to Albania. This is what we will be providing immediately. We also intend to provide an addition US$ 30 million beyond this US$ 30 million which we will be providing immediately, which will make the total amount to be provided to these countries US$ 60 million over the next two years. As a ballpark, we have thought about the next two years and have decided to provide US$ 30 million first, and another US$ 30 million for a total of US$ 60 million in two years.

   In addition to this financial assistance, we will send medical specialists and other support staff and also provide related medical equipment as assistance to medical and other fields. For example, there is a hospital in Macedonia where there has been a large influx of refugees. We will be sending several medical experts through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to this community to provide technical advice and guidance to the doctors in the field. We also intend to provide some medical equipment, such as an electrocardiogram (EKG) and other equipment.

   The third category is something which we contemplate sometime in the future -- hopefully as soon as possible. This is that once a peace agreement is reached, we intend to provide approximately US$ 100 million to assist the rehabilitation of Kosovo and the return of refugees. Our plan is to provide this US$ 100 million to the "Human Security Fund" at the United Nations. This Fund was established at the initiative of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi when Dr. Yutaka Akino, Professor at Tsukuba University, lost his life while he was performing his duty as a part of the UN mission in Central Asia, in the Republic of Tajikistan. That is when we established this Fund which can be used for a number of purposes including helping the international organizations concerned in combating environmental degradation, the challenge of drug traffic, international organized crime, refugees, poverty, small arms and so forth. The idea is that first, there needs to be a peace agreement, but beyond that we will be ascertaining the needs which may arise in the context of the rehabilitation of Kosovo. We will look at ways in which this Human Security Fund can contribute to meeting these needs.

   The fourth category is in terms of personnel. We intend to provide financial support to assistance activities carried out by Japanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There have been four Japanese NGOs which have been active in that area, the Association of Medical Doctors for Asia (AMDA), the Association for the Assistance to Refugees (AAR), Japan Emergency NGOs (JEN) and the Japanese Red Cross. We will be providing financial support to these activities. This will be a case of the Government and Japanese NGOs acting in unison to help the plight of those people affected. We will also provide assistance which will enable Japanese volunteers to participate in activities conducted by international humanitarian organizations, for example, through the UN volunteers. With respect to this fourth category, we will be determining the actual assistance as and when we identify the specific programs or projects.

   We have made this decision to extend about US$ 200 million worth of assistance, but it is also true that the situation in Kosovo remains fluid. When the Cabinet met this morning to decide on this assistance, Prime Minister Obuchi specifically told the Ministers concerned to continue to monitor the situation, bearing in mind that we may very well need to consider further assistance measures as the situation develops in the future. In that sense, this may not be the end.

2. Position of the Government of Japan on the tripartite talks on East Timor

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: My second announcement is about East Timor. Over the weekend, we heard the news that as a result of the tripartite talks between the United Nations, the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of Portugal, there was an agreement reached, in principle, on East Timor. Following this news yesterday, Prime Minister Obuchi sent a letter to President B.J. Habibie of the Republic of Indonesia, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura sent a letter to Foreign Minister Ali Alatas of the Republic of Indonesia, in which they expressed Japan's welcome of this agreement in principle as a result of the tripartite talks. They also paid their tribute to the efforts on the part of all those concerned. They also expressed our hope that this agreement will be signed as scheduled on 5 May and that the Indonesian Government will continue its upmost efforts towards the maintenance of security and safety in East Timor. We do consider this agreement resulting from the tripartite talks as a major step forward to the peaceful solution of the East Timor issue. We look forward to further progress being made on the East Timor issue in accordance with this agreement. Japan, on its part, is prepared to make as much contribution as possible to this end in close coordination and consultation with the United Nations and other countries concerned. That is my second announcement.

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3. Statement of the Japan Investment Council

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: My third announcement concerns the statement issued by the Japan Investment Council which met this morning. The Japan Investment Council is chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by a number of Ministers focusing on encouraging inward investment in Japan -- that is, investment to Japan by foreign countries. This morning, they issued a statement entitled "Toward an Age of Diversified Ideas through Foreign Direct Investment in Japan." The main points of this statement are, first, that the Government of Japan welcomes foreign direct investment in Japan with open arms, based on the recognition that greater inward direct investment contributes to the balanced development of the global economy and the revitalization of the Japanese economy.

   The statement also notes that the investment climate in Japan has improved remarkably over the past few years due to a number of measures taken by the Government -- for example, modifying government systems relating to business management and promoting deregulation, and also lowering the effective corporate tax rate to around 40%, which is an internationally comparable level. There has been bilateral consultations or discussions taking place, for example, between Japan and the United States, on this general question of improving the environment for inward investment.

   There has also been an increasing awareness or interest on the part of foreign businesses about Japanese investment. As a result, inward direct investment has soared, registering 2.2-fold growth in 1998 over the previous year. We do feel that more can certainly be done and it is necessary to accelerate further such a trend of increasing inward direct investment.

   In the statement issued this morning, the Japanese Government declared that no effort will be spared to further promote inward direct investment. We will be basing our efforts on the "Seven Recommendations for Promoting Foreign direct Investment in Japan," which is a report submitted by the Expert Committee of the Japan Investment Council. This Expert Committee has been chaired by Professor Haruo Shimada of Keio University. It has among its members, a number of prominent Japanese personalities, as well as representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, the European Business Committee, a Korean businessman, and Mr. Peter Tasker, who is well-known for his financial expertise as well as for his novels. I talked about the "Seven Recommendations"; they comprise, for example, making further efforts to improve the various assistance relating to enterprise management. That includes such items as expanding worker dispatching businesses and free-charging employment referral services. It has to do with labor mobility in general. It also includes reviewing pension portability, in the sense that when a businessman moves from one firm to another, what he may have contributed in terms of funded pensions will not be lost, but will be carried on to wherever he may be newly employed. It includes a full-scale examination of the consolidated taxation system and so forth. Secondly, the recommendation is to make further efforts to promote deregulation. We have had this Three-Year Deregulation Action Program and continued efforts are called for in terms of international harmonization of regulation.

   The third and fourth items might be of interest to you, as well. The third recommendation is to facilitate the establishment and operation of international schools for foreign residents in Japan. Specifically, it recommends that we should look at such measures as facilitating the transfer of closed-down schools and the other public assets for the use of international schools, and to study measures to facilitate private sector financial support for international schools in terms of facilitating private sector donations to these schools, for example. Also, it recommends examining permission for foreign children graduated from international schools to enter Japanese universities. The fourth recommendation is to provide more extensive information on health and medical care for foreigners, for example, through reviewing the regulation on advertising contained in the Medical Care Law, thus, enabling medical institutions to freely advertise that they offer services in foreign languages.

   The fifth item is to promote closer coordination between the national and local governments through meetings on promoting inward direct investment in regional areas. The sixth item is to establish a comprehensive system for providing information concerning inward direct investment. The idea is to have a database on the basis of which potential foreign investors can look for places to invest and to gather the necessary information. The last item is to respond quickly to complaints and requests, for which greater use should be made of the Office of the Trade and Investment Ombudsman.

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4. Official Visit of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to the United States of America

   Q: Mr. Numata, I would like to ask you, who are the important figures who will be accompanying the Prime Minister during his trip to the United States?

   Mr. Numata: Well, the Prime Minister and his advisors. There are some reports about the possibility of some businessmen accompanying the Prime Minister and so forth. That is not quite true, in the sense that we do not envisage any businessmen accompanying the Prime Minister, as such. There have also been some speculations that at the official dinner to be hosted by President William Jefferson Clinton of the United States of America, on 3 May, some prominent Japanese personalities may be invited. That may be true, but this happens to be a dinner to be hosted by President Clinton. The decision rests with President Clinton. The United States Government has made certain inquiries of us and we have responded to these inquiries with respect to our possible attendees of the dinner. I do not think the United States Government has announced the final decision. I am not in a position to go into the details of somebody else's guest list.

   Q: Will Mr. Yanagisawa be accompanying the Prime Minister?

   Mr. Numata: I am not quite sure at this moment.

   Q: One more thing, what is the main objective of Prime Minister Obuchi's Official Visit to the United States?

   Mr. Numata: This is an Official Visit by Prime Minister Obuchi to the United States. President Clinton extended the invitation for Prime Minister Obuchi to make this Official Visit to the United States when he came to Tokyo last November. In fact, this is the first Official Visit by a Japanese Prime Minister in 12 years. Although there have been a number of Prime Ministerial visits to the United States, there has been no Official Visit for 12 years. You may ask what is the point of an Official Visit. Firstly, it does show the warm welcome on the part of the host -- that is President Clinton -- and there are certain ceremonies such as a welcome ceremony, the dinner I mentioned and so forth. Beyond that, normally these Official Visits consist of the official part for a certain number of days in Washington, DC, as well as the unofficial visits. This time Prime Minister Obuchi will be first going to Los Angeles, then to Chicago, and then to Washington, DC. As far as the official part of the visit is concerned, I am sure the Prime Minister will have a lot to discuss with President Clinton in the general sense of reaffirming the importance of the alliance relationship with the United States which share the same ideals and values, and which are engaged in cooperative endeavors across a very broad range of fields with the shared objectives in mind. The reaffirmation of that friendship, alliance relationship and the cooperative relationship is one important goal. In that context, they are very likely to be discussing our bilateral relationship, as well as a host of regional issues in our part of the world, for example, the Korean Peninsula, China, possibly Indonesia -- in the context of helping the efforts in Indonesia towards further democratization -- and Kosovo may very well come up. I hasten to add that I am not in a position to second guess what the leaders may actually be discussing. In terms of economic questions, the whole set of measures that Prime Minister Obuchi has been taking with a view to putting the Japanese economy back on the track to growth may certainly come up. In some way, the two leaders may very well reconfirm the importance of the United States and Japan as the number one and number two -- United States, number one and Japan, number two -- economies of the world working closely together for the stability and development of the world economy including, importantly, the Asian economies. Those are the possible agenda between the two leaders. I also mentioned the Prime Minister's travels across the United States. This is in fact, the first time in eight years, that the Prime Minister will be making good-will visits to these regions in the United States. Through these trips and through his encounters with the American people, including young people, the Prime Minister will be able to reaffirm the importance of the people-to-people exchanges which does provide a very important underpinning to the flourishing friendship between our two countries.

   Q: I was wondering that this is the first visit by a Japanese Prime Minister in 12 years, it may be the last one in the 20th century, and it is coming after the Chinese Prime Minister visited the United States. I would like to know from you what Japan expects from this Summit and what will it take to make it a success?

   Mr. Numata: What we expect out of this forthcoming meeting between Prime Minister Obuchi and President Clinton is, as I said before, the reaffirmation of the importance of our alliance relationship which is bound by shared values and objectives, and on that basis, to map out the courses of action which both Japan and the United States may be tackling together. Earlier, I mentioned, some regional issues as well as economic issues. There is one other important aspect which is the joint endeavors by the United States and Japan in addressing such global issues as the environment and poverty, development and other issues. We have had this common agenda with the United States and of which there have been a number of important projects in such areas as polio eradication, dealing with AIDS and so forth. Not only in terms of reaffirming the value of our alliance relationship, but also in noting the expanding scope of our cooperative relationship and giving further impetus to the further expansion of this kind of cooperative relationship is something that we are looking forward to. As I said earlier, with respect to the Prime Minister's encounters with the American people in general, including the young people, we also look forward to giving further impetus to people exchanges between our two countries.

   Q: Just a follow-up to my question, might not Prime Minister Obuchi explain to the American President measures for stimulating the economy? And are there any more things that he is going to take to stimulate the economy?

   Mr. Numata: We have a number of measures which we have taken and which we are still in the process of taking, and these measures are beginning to have some effects. What we are concentrating on is to make sure that these measures work. I think that will be the focus for now. It may be a bit too early to talk about new or additional measures.

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5. Legislation on the Japan-US Defense Cooperation Guidelines

   Q: In the Pentagon's East Strategy Report, the Pentagon says that these Defense Guidelines mark a "new era in US-Japan relations and regional security." You talked a lot about reaffirming this importance, but I am kind of looking for something as enthusiastic on the Japanese side about these new guidelines. Is it fair to say that this begins a new era in US-Japan relations and regional security?

   Mr. Numata: Yes, I think it is fair to say that. Although, as a public servant, I hasten to add that the legislation has been passed by one house and it still has to be passed by the other house. I am not quite sure if I can talk about all of this in the past tense without incurring the wrath of the Upper House. With that proviso, it is true that this Guidelines legislation, when passed, will mark a very important landmark in providing the legal basis for the kind of activities which could be called for as we look at the uncertainties in this part of the world, and which for years have been -- if you will -- a sort of missing link in the chain. When I talk about the chain, I am talking about the whole set of arrangements which would make it possible for the Japan-US security treaty to operate effectively when contingencies arise. In making sure that there will be these arrangements in place in legal terms, it does provide an important landmark.

   Q: Does it, for example, enable Japan and the US to respond more quickly as situations might arise in the region?

   Mr. Numata: To be a little more specific, in the "areas surrounding Japan" -- the situations arising in the areas surrounding Japan which have an important impact or effect on the peace and security of Japan. What this new legislation provides for is that it will make it possible for us to engage in search and rescue operations with respect to, for example, the US military personnel who might be out there in action, or to provide rear-area logistic support to the US forces which could be dealing with contingencies in the areas surrounding Japan. These, we feel, are very important elements which would make it possible for the United States with Japan's help to respond in a timely manner to the situations that they would have to deal with.

   Q: If I could go back to this word "reaffirming" of the Japan-US security alliance. Is it fair to say that these Guidelines will make the alliance more of a reciprocal relationship, of course staying within the Japanese constitution?

   Mr. Numata: Yes, perhaps it is fair to say that if you choose to use the word "reciprocal" in that sense. There will be more than has been the case before that we will be able to do in terms of helping the US forces when it is engaged in dealing with some contingencies which arise in the areas surrounding Japan. Let me make one other point about this legislation. For the past year, there has been a very intensive debate on this -- as you know -- and this has been the subject of very active consultation among the political parties concerned. These intensive debates have been reported in detail in the media. I think it is important not to forget, that in these intensive debates on the legislation on the actual wording of the legislation and so forth, the bulk of that debate was with a view to having the legislation passed in the Diet, rather than opposing the legislation as such. That is a very important point to remember which in a way also shows that, among the political parties concerned, there is, in general, support for this arrangement to make it possible for Japan to help US forces in certain circumstances. I might also mention that the question of the inspection of ships, as a result of the consultations of the parties concerned, has been left out for now, but the three parties concerned are to thrash this out with a view toward coming up with separate legislation on this in the course of this session of the Diet. Then again, the debate is not about whether or not to have the provisions which will allow the inspections of the ships, but how. Taking all these factors together, I may come back to the first question you asked and say that the fact that the Guidelines legislation is on the way to being passed and the sentiment of the public behind and so forth, does seem to indicate an important change.

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6. Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) funding

   Q: In addition to these Guidelines, I suppose passage by one house is an achievement which the Prime Minister can bring with him to the United States, is he also coming with some sort of formal guarantee for KEDO funding?

   Mr. Numata: As far as Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) funding is concerned, the agreement on the question of KEDO funding was reached in the KEDO Council which was attended by us, the representative from the United States, the representative from the Republic of Korea and the European representative. We are now in the process of preparing for the submission of this agreement to our Diet. There has already been substantive agreement reached with our partners on this agreement which will enable us to provide US$ 1 million to KEDO. We expect that this agreement will be signed shortly and will be presented to our Diet for approval.

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7. Assistance to Kosovo

   Q: Concerning Kosovo, Pakistan is planning to send troops for international peace-keeping force to Kosovo. These troops will come from several Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran. What is Japan's comment on such?

   Mr. Numata: We are not making such an offer. The short answer is that we are not making such an offer. We feel -- on the basis of the survey mission that we sent to the field -- our role is in providing refugee assistance which is acutely needed, assistance to the neighboring countries which have taken upon themselves the great burden of looking after these refugees, and also sending out our personnel in the sort of areas that I mentioned. I think we can best make our contribution in those areas.

   Q: So you do not support this?

   Mr. Numata: No, I am not saying whether or not we support Pakistan's offer. I am talking about what Japan is doing. I think what Pakistan or some other Islamic countries choose to do is their own decision.

   Q: Do you think it is good?

   Mr. Numata: I only heard it now, so it is a bit premature to comment.

   Q: A number of countries around the world, such as most of the EU countries and quite a number of G7 and G8 countries, are accepting refugees. What about Japan?

   Mr. Numata: You are quite right in saying "a number of EU countries."

   Q: And the United States.

   Mr. Numata: The US made the offer. The UNHCR, Mrs. Sadako Ogata, UNHCR, -- we have been in touch Mrs. Ogata as well -- has said that it is best, under the circumstances, to keep the refugees closer to their homes. If they go too far from their homes, what is important which is the repatriation of the refugees, might become that much more difficult. Though this may not be Mrs. Ogata's words, it might have the undesired effect of implicitly endorsing the ethnic cleansing. We have been in touch with the UNHCR and other people. We have examined the possibility of receiving some refugees in Japan, but on the basis of the survey that we have conducted, and on the basis of the exchanges that we have had with the UNHCR and other related organizations on the immediate needs that exist on the field, we do feel that although the possibility of taking some refugees in Japan can continue to be under consideration, our immediate options lie in the sort of assistance that I have outlined today. I do not think there have been any refugees actually accepted by either the United States or Australia so far. That is true, I have checked it.

8. Aviation Agreement with the State of Israel

   Q: Last week, Japan signed with Israel the Aviation Agreement. Do you have some details?

   Mr. Numata: The Aviation Agreement was signed with Israel on 23 April in Tokyo. This has been under discussion between US and the Israeli Government for quite some time, in fact, since the 1970s. There has been a sort of increased focus on this aspect of our relationship and on the possibility of an aviation agreement between Japan and Israel especially since around 1991 with the progress of the Middle Eastern peace process. Since 1991, when former Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama visited Israel, there have been increasing exchanges of people traveling back and forth between Japan and Israel. There have also been a number of political, economic, cultural and other exchanges. In the light of this increasing aviation demand between our two countries, we stepped up consultations on this and we started the preliminary consultations in June 1992. One could go into a whole lot of details about this, but the Agreement enables Japan and Israel to establish and operate direct, regular air services. There are several possible air routes which might be taken by either Japan or Israel. There are several options laid out. Each of the contracting parties will be looking at the situation and other factors to determine the actual routes. On our side, it will be the Kansai New International Airport. In Israel, it will be the Ben Gurion International Airport where the planes will be landing. We hope that the planes will start flying as soon as possible. Both Governments and also the airlines will be further exploring the situation to determine the actual inauguration.

   Q: I remember some officials in the Transport Ministry expressed concern about the security situation and they said that is why Japan is hesitating to conclude the agreement. Do you think now the security environment of the region allows for such a treaty?

   Mr. Numata: That may have been true somewhere along the process in the sense that when you try to open regular air services with some other country, there are a number of factors that you need to take into account. Firstly, the traffic at the airport. I have talked about that. The problem in the sense of traffic in the airport has been alleviated by the Kansai New International Airport. There is understandably also the concern about airport security and so forth. We have conducted these negotiations for quite some time and in the course of intensive negotiations, both sides have thrashed out their concerns and they have come to the conclusion that they are reasonably satisfied with the situation. So, they have come to this Agreement.

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9. Position of the Japanese Government on comments made by newly elected Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara on the People's Republic of China

   Q: The Chinese Prime Minister reported that he would issue a warning against Mr. Ishihara in a statement on 26 April as a result of his continued statements which show hostility against China.

   Mr. Numata: Is this a report from the Chinese Prime Minister?

   Q: Yes.

   Mr. Numata: I have not seen this report.

   Q: Where does the Japan Government stand between Mr. Ishihara and the Chinese Government?

   Mr. Numata: We stand for the Japanese Government. Having heard about the statements made by the new Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, some of which have to do with the People's Republic of China, to the best of our knowledge, these statements are statements made by Mr. Ishihara on his own behalf. Those statements in no way change the position of the Japanese Government. In that sense, we stand for our own Government. Speaking for the Japanese Government, if you take for example, the question of Taiwan, the position of the Japanese Government has consistently been the position expressed in the Joint CommuniquJ between Japan and the People's Republic of China when we normalized our relations in 1972. We strongly hope that the issues relating to Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue between the parties directly concerned on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. And our position with respect to how China may be called, for example, is that we should call it "China" and not revert to some other phrases which were used in the past.

10. Recent trade issues with the United States

    Q: Can I ask an economic question? Recently, we have had some statements from US officials. Treasury Secretary Rubin urged Japan to take more steps and now the Deputy Commerce Secretary said last week that given the state of Japan's economy, more needs to be done. He also said that the Japanese Cabinet's new deregulation plan, which was mentioned earlier today here, did not go far enough though it was a good start. I am wondering if you have any response to this new serge in pressures from US officials.

    Mr. Numata: I am not quite sure if I agree with your characterization of this as "a new serge in pressures." I do not think that we are under the impression that we are subjected to a new serge of pressures. That is one thing. My second point is that these people whom you mentioned are entitled to there own views. Our feeling is that we have been and we are doing our upmost to improve our economic situation, to stimulate our economy, and to deregulate our economy further. Talking about deregulation, that has been a subject of very intensive consultation between us and the United States. There was a senior-level meeting on the subject. The consultations are still continuing. We hope to have something tangible by the time of the Prime Minister's visit. I referred earlier to our efforts in the macroeconomic field. We continue to exert our upmost efforts with a view to having tangible results as quickly as possible. Our dialogue with the US continues in that context.

    Q: Does the Japanese Government have any fear concerning Mr. Obuchi's visit because of the trade friction with the US?

    Mr. Numata: No, I do not think that we have any fears. I do not know why you use the word "fears." This invitation by President Clinton is in itself an indication of the warm feeling that President Clinton has towards Japan. I think we have a very solid basis on which -- I have said repeatedly -- we reaffirm the importance of the alliance relationship which is based on shared values and objectives. As they talk, they may talk about some bilateral trade issues, although I do not think we have any burning desire to raise these bilateral trade issues from our side. If they are raised, I am sure the Prime Minister will respond to that. That is only one aspect of our relationship. What is of overriding importance is the fact that we do enjoy a flourishing alliance relationship which encompasses not only our bilateral cooperation in the context of a bilateral relationship, but a host of issues of common interest which both Japan and the United States have in many parts of the world. I must have established a record for the length of this press conference.

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