Press Conference, 22 July 2008

Foreign Minister Koumura's Southeast Asia meetings
Election assistance to Cambodia
Visit by Prime Minister of Kuwait
Aid to Africa
Questions concerning Foreign Minister Koumura's trip to Viet Nam
Questions concerning the House of Representatives' Justice Sub-committee schedule

I. Foreign Minister Koumura's Southeast Asia Meetings

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon.

Today I have brought with me a couple of announcements.

First, today, Tuesday, the 22nd of July, Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura is visiting Singapore to attend a series of ASEAN-related meetings. They are the ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and Korea) Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers' Informal Consultations, the Japan-ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meeting. Apart from those multilateral meetings, the foreign minister is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts, today and tomorrow.

On his return trip home, Foreign Minister Koumura is also scheduled to briefly visit Viet Nam to co-chair the 2nd meeting of Japan-Viet Nam Cooperation Committee in Hanoi.

Related Information (Press Release)

II. Election assistance to Cambodia

Second, Japan has dispatched a governmental election observation mission composed of 23 members for the General Elections to be held on this coming Sunday, the 27th in Cambodia. Hitoshi Kimura, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, is heading the mission.

Related Information (Press Release)

III. Visit by Prime Minister of Kuwait

Third, Kuwaiti Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohamed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah will be visiting Japan from Saturday, the 26th to next Tuesday, the 29th. His Majesty the Emperor is scheduled to receive Prime Minister Nasser, and Prime Minister Fukuda will hold the summit meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart on next Monday, the 28th.

Related Information (Press Release)

IV. Aid to Africa

The next two announcements are related to Japan's follow-on effort to the TICAD IV or the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which was held in Yokohama at the end of May this year.

First, from Thursday, the 24th to Friday, the 25th, at the United Nations University, which is in Aoyama, Tokyo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, together with WHO, or World Health Organization, and others will co-host the International Tuberculosis Symposium entitled "Toward Elimination of TB in the World - From Asia to Africa." Her Imperial Highness Princess Akishino, the president of Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association, will grant her attendance to the opening ceremony and deliver a speech. Experts from the Philippines, Kenya, and Sudan will also share their approaches to the eradication of TB in their respective countries.

Also to follow up on what the Government of Japan has pledged in the area of education in Africa, Japan has recently decided to extend a total of 6.8 million US dollars in two terms to Guinea. This would cover the Guinea's plan to build 21 elementary schools and 5 junior high schools in the capital city and at large.

In another African nation of Malawi, Japan has decided to provide grant assistance for a road improvement project.

Not in a TICAD context but for a similar purpose of improving roads, Japan has also decided to provide grant aid to Nepal.

V. Questions concerning Foreign Minister Koumura's trip to Viet Nam

Q: I would like to ask some questions about the visit to Viet Nam by Mr. Koumura. How do you evaluate the significance of Foreign Minister Koumura's visit to Viet Nam?

Mr. Taniguchi: How do I evaluate the significance of the visit... . I think this is one of the most significant trips that Foreign Minister Koumura has made to the Asian nations. There are a couple of reasons behind me saying so. Number one, Viet Nam and Japan are celebrating one of the most important years in their bilateral history. That is to say, it is the 35th anniversary this year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Japan. In both nations, a number of events are going on. If you look at the schedule for the events taking place in Viet Nam, you see a number of them, such as "Japan Cinema Festival", "Japanese Language Festival", a charity golf tournament and so on. They are planned and being implemented.

The same can be said about what is going to happen on Japan's side in Tokyo. Come September, I understand that there is going to be something called "Viet Nam Festival 2008" which is being run by the former head of Toyota Motor and our honorary goodwill ambassador to Viet Nam and Viet Nam's goodwill ambassador to Japan, the famous actor Ryotaro Sugi and others.

I believe this is going to be one of the biggest events in size and scope to commemorate the 35th anniversary. So, Foreign Minister Koumura, basically, is going to go to Viet Nam to nail down that importance to the minds and hearts of the people in Viet Nam. So that is one reason.

The second reason why I say this is going to be a very much significant trip is that the Japanese business community has, to an even more increasing degree, interests in penetrating into the Vietnamese market and investing into the Vietnamese market. That is being evinced by the fact that a number of economic missions have been going back and forth between Viet Nam and Japan.

Viet Nam, as a place to do business, is really gaining a larger mind-share, if you like, among Japanese business leaders.

Foreign Minister Koumura is certainly going to remind business communities on both sides in Viet Nam and in Japan of the strategic importance that the Vietnamese market increasingly, currently, bears. From those reasons I would say the trip that Foreign Minister Koumura is making is very much important.

Q: Which improvement to the Viet Nam-Japan relations will be discussed at the 2nd meeting of the Viet Nam-Japan Cooperation Committee as well as the bilateral Foreign Minister's meeting?

Mr. Taniguchi: About the discussion for the second meeting of the Viet Nam-Japan Cooperation Committee, I am afraid I can disclose very little. To save the candid climate of discussions for the Viet Nam-Japan Cooperation Committee, I should refrain from telling you what is to be discussed and what is not to be discussed, but when it comes to the bilateral between the Foreign Ministers from the two nations, I should say that lately, Japan's diplomacy toward the region has been focused heavily on trying to help build effective networks of transportation and logistics by providing financial and other assistance to what we call the CLV nations, Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam. We are talking about helping to build the East-West Corridor, overarching the peninsula, so that the region is going to be really called a "region of hope and development". That is the driving force behind Japan's diplomacy in general terms for that region and Foreign Minister Koumura is going to say, once again, that Japan is willing to help build such infrastructures in Viet Nam and in neighboring nations and he is going to refer to the amount of financial assistance that Japan is willing to give to Viet Nam and the region, such as to help build the East-West Corridor by providing 20 million US dollars. So those are the points that Foreign Minister Koumura is going to mention.

Obviously, because this is the most important year to commemorate the 35th anniversary, both Foreign Ministers will talk more about how to enhance people-to-people connections even further.

Q: What do you think about the Japan-Viet Nam EPA negotiations process? Will the process be concluded in the near future? Will the Japanese side release some compromise to speed up the process?

Mr. Taniguchi: The expectation is high. We have to conclude the Viet Nam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement sooner, definitely, rather than later. That said, as is often the case with negotiations for any EPA, you cannot do it overnight. It will take some more time, but I am not sure if I can give you a timeline as to how soon we will be able to conclude the EPA. So I should stop here, not making any comment on the schedule.

But again, Japan has forged the ASEAN-wide EPA already and it has been signed and it is waiting to be made effective. Given the salience of Viet Nam, as I briefly mentioned, as both a consumer market and a destination for direct investment, the EPA that Japan and Viet Nam are currently working on will bear a great importance to both economies, the Vietnamese economy and the Japanese economy.

Q: How do you appreciate the role of Viet Nam in the region?

Mr. Taniguchi: What Viet Nam represents is the following, if I may say so. Number one, if you work hard, it will pay off; that is the first message that the Vietnamese people are sending to the neighboring region. Within the ASEAN framework, the CLV region represents something called a late-comer. Nonetheless, they are catching up very much rapidly and lately the Vietnamese economy has been benefiting hugely from the influx of investment from Japan and other countries. So, if you maintain a stable society and better governance structure, then it will pay off. I think that is one of the most important messages that Viet Nam is sending to its neighboring nations. In this context, I should like to mention that the authority in Naypyidaw should also learn that if they can open their economy and if they can gradually improve their governance structure so that they can get more support and investment from the international community, including Japan, there is certainly going to be a much better future that people of Myanmar fully deserve.

I also think that's the kind of message that the Vietnamese people are sending to the people in Myanmar, through their own experiences to have dealt with the international community and more and more the Japanese business community and the Japanese people.

Related Information (Press Release)

VI. Questions concerning the House of Representatives' Justice Sub-committee schedule

Q: Concerning the PCI case, Pacific Consultants International, do you think this case will be discussed at the Justice Committee of the House of Representatives?

Mr. Taniguchi: It is something that I cannot answer. I have no knowledge about it at the moment and you should ask the appropriate people at the House of Representatives.

Back to Index