Press Conference, 22 September 2006

Announcements and documents available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website
Japan's official development assistance (ODA) to the Democratic Republic of Congo
Arrival of 200 Chinese high school students to Japan as part of the Japan-China 21st Century Exchange Program
New column on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website
Questions concerning the Vice-Ministerial Level Meeting between Japan and China
Question concerning revelations of over-billing for ODA
Follow-up questions concerning the Japan-Chile Economic Partnership Agreement

I. Announcements and documents available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon.

Since last Friday, the following entries have been uploaded on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. I will just make a brief introduction of what they are.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso issued a statement on the coup d'etat in the Kingdom of Thailand.

The Press Secretary, Director-General for Press and Public Relations, has released a statement on the situation over the remarks of Pope Benedict XVI on Islam.

A statement by Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Kiyohiko Toyama at the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development is also there for you to see.

A release is there also, on the protocol between Japan and the United Mexican States related to improvement of market access condition based on an agreement between Japan and Mexico for the strengthening of economic partnership. And there is a release uploaded on the signing of the protocol of the agreement between Japan and Mexico for strengthening of economic partnership.

Another release made available on the web is about Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process Dr. Tatsuo Arima's attending the Ministerial-Level Meeting on the UN Security Council.

Lastly, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's comments on the agreement in principle on major elements of the Japan-Republic of Chile Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are also already uploaded for you to look at.

II. Japan's official development assistance (ODA) to the Democratic Republic of Congo

Mr. Taniguchi: After that I shall introduce the following.

First, on Japan's ODA attempts. Today on Friday, 22 September, the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency grant aid of about US$1.5 million, or about 166.5 million yen, to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that is helping to organize and promote elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The assistance will be used for such election activities as the conducting of election campaigns, awareness-raising campaigns, voting, ballot counting, tallying votes, and announcing the results of the elections, which are being organized by the Independent Election Commission of the DRC and the UNDP.

The Government of Japan already extended emergency grant aid of about US$7.57 million dollars in February 2005 for the election process in the DRC. However, owing to the delayed schedule of the electoral process, the DRC is facing a shortfall of about US$46 million. Japan's new aid is to help recover the shortfall so that the much-awaited election process gets rolling once again and democracy will take firmer root in that important country the DRC and, by extension, the Great Lakes region of central Africa.

Related Information (Press Release)

III. Arrival of 200 Chinese high school students to Japan as part of the Japan-China 21st Century Exchange Program

Mr. Taniguchi: From 10-18 October, another group of 200 high school students from the People's Republic of China is visiting Japan, making it the third wave in the year-long program of inviting as many as 1,100 Chinese high school students. They will be coming first to Tokyo, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then flying to western parts of Japan such as Ehime, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Okayama, visiting local high schools while spending two nights with host family members. Their activities will also include an opportunity for them to see how the local communities and governments are coping with environmental pollution.

As a reminder, of note also is that separate from the short-term program the year-long version is already going on, in which 37 Chinese high school students are staying in many parts of Japan at host family homes and school dormitories. You can see how it is going by visiting their weblog at www.jpf.go.jp .

IV. New column on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website

Mr. Taniguchi: Lastly, if you are interested, the web site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started to run a new column, entitled "MoFA Speaks FORTY-ONE Languages," which is a series of interviews with 41 different linguistic experts. I frankly did not know that the Ministry's linguistic expertise included as many as 41 different languages.

V. Questions concerning the Vice-Ministerial Level Meeting between Japan and China

Q: Could you give us a little bit of information about the expectations or the agenda for the weekend talks between the Vice Foreign Ministers? Is it just coincidental that the timing is coinciding with the change of administration here?

Mr. Taniguchi: Actually, Beijing and Tokyo have both agreed to give a veil of mystique to the dialogue, so that a maximum amount of freedom of discussion is going to be preserved. Both Governments, Japan and China, have decided to say almost nothing about it, except for the schedule and the venue. The venue, I believe, is going to be in Tokyo, and there is going to be no excursion scheduled this time around, such as the one we had the last time; both of them went to Niigata.

In terms of the timing, it is very much timely, I should say, that the representatives of both Ministries of Foreign Affairs can get together to think of the long-term future, and about how to better the bilateral relationship.

Q: Just to clarify, as far as the venue, is it in Tokyo, or are they going to be outside Tokyo?

Mr. Taniguchi: There is going to be no excursion, so I believe that everything is going to take place in Tokyo.

Q: That will be a two-day meeting?

Mr. Taniguchi: Yes, it is.

Q: It would be probably natural that the Japanese representative Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shotaro Yachi would talk with the Chinese representative about how the next Japanese Prime Minister would hold talks with the Chinese President. At this point it is natural that they will start discussing for arrangements between the two leaders.

Mr. Taniguchi: Precisely because I anticipated that sort of question, I used the word "mystique." As I say, it is timely for the two Governments to think about the mid- to long-term future, and there are many things to be discussed, not only the bilateral leader relationships, but also many other things. I should say Mr. Yachi has got a proven track record in solving and addressing difficult issues in a cordial, frank fashion. I am sure he is going to do that with his counterpart, with whom he has already developed a good working relationship.

VI. Question concerning revelations of over-billing for ODA

Q: Another topic that has been in the news this week. I am wondering, what is the reaction or involvement of Ministry of Foreign Affairs - is there any sort of investigation going on - regarding the revelations about the Japan International Cooperation Association (JICA) consulting firm that was over-billing for ODA. What has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said about that?

Mr. Taniguchi: It is very much regrettable. PCI is the name of the company. We are aware that there was an inappropriate procedure conducted by PCI, and at the moment JICA is conducting its own investigation. It will probably ask PCI to return the money, including an amount for interest, to JICA as soon as the investigation is over. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' view would be that we would very much like to have the procedure proceed as smoothly as possible, and then we are going to have appropriate oversight over the dealings. We are going to be even more watchful of the company in question.

Related Information (Japan's ODA)

VII. Follow-up questions concerning the Japan-Chile Economic Partnership Agreement

Q: One other topic. I guess it is not a completed free trade agreement (FTA) between Japan and Chile; they are calling it a framework, I believe. What is the significance of this? I know that they have been talking for about seven months, but what will happen from here on out? As far as Japanese consumers and Chilean consumers are concerned, what ramifications are we going to see for trade? I know about Chilean wine; I do not know what else might be coming from Chile to Japan.

Mr. Taniguchi: I would be happy to take that. First and foremost, the amount of time that both Governments have spent to conclude this negotiation was among the shortest; it took just seven months. Ordinarily, negotiations on EPAs and FTAs take many more months, sometimes two to three years, or even longer. Given the nature of the negotiation, it has got to involve many experts, such as legal experts, commercial experts, and diplomats, of course. We would very much like to use this negotiation as a model for the future, because we are very much keen on accelerating the process of negotiations when it comes to forging FTAs or EPAs with other nations. Indeed, we have just started the negotiation process with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). I saw members of the GCC in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today, and we are hoping to conclude the negotiations with the GCC as soon as possible. For that matter, the sheer fact that the negotiation with the Chilean Government has taken just seven months is in itself an achievement.

In terms of the ramifications for consumers, this has got to be huge. From Japan to Chile, as much as 99.8 percent of traded goods will go to Chile without customs, and from Chile to Japan, as much as 90.5 percent of the goods exported from Chile to Japan will be tax-free. Within the next 10 years, the expectation is that in the two-way trade, 92 percent of traded goods will be made tax-free. If you recall that Chile is a huge producer of natural resources such as copper, Japan is importing a lot of copper from Chile. Chile has been very keen on concluding this treaty because of the fact that Japan is among the country's biggest markets. Also, in terms of the agriculture and fishery products, market access to Japan is projected to be far broader and easier. In terms of the fish, we are going to gradually decrease the tax custom for the next ten years. As you just mentioned, Chilean wine is very much favored by Japanese consumers, and the cargoes of wine also will take a similar procedure over the next 12 years; gradually the customs on imported wine from Chile is going to be decreased.

In terms of the timeline, I should say that the Joint Study Group, which is usually set up in advance to formal procedures starting, was set up in November 2004. There were only four research meetings conducted by the Joint Study Group from January 2005 to September 2005, and in November 2005 the official negotiation was launched between the two leaders of the countries at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Korea. There were in total six meetings from February this year until this month. We have been very much proud of the fact that they have done this at a very much accelerated pace.

Q: I am just curious, in relation to these meetings, since Japan has been negotiating a lot of EPAs in the last few years - are there any prospects of Japan signing one with China or the Republic of Korea (ROK)?

Mr. Taniguchi: I can say something about Japan and the ROK. The Japan-ROK EPA processes are in theory still going on, and we are hoping very much that the negotiation process is going to be relaunched and they will gain speed so that it will be complete as soon as possible. With China, we have not started anything yet.

Q: About the previous item, Japanese consumers will be able to enjoy Chilean wine, but why will they not be able to enjoy Chilean rice and wheat?

Mr. Taniguchi: As is often the case with FTAs and EPAs, there is an area called sensitive items. Each nation has its own sensitive items; when it comes to those items, rather than addressing those difficult items straight on, the accepted procedure is such that the involved parties will spend more time on such things as would take shorter time to negotiate on. That, I can say, is a universally accepted formula, and I think the Japanese and Chilean Governments are following that standard path.

By the way, at the moment, the Chilean economy is enjoying huge trade surplus with Japan.

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